Football

Premier League teams’ performances: Brighton under Potter can entertain but must replace sold mainstays

Brighton play likeable football, have an interesting team, but will be without two mainstays from the new season. The Seagulls need to find a new leader after the departure of Yves Bissouma, without whom they will find it hard to save themselves.

Published

2 years ago

6. 8. 2022

Eduard Nosek

The management team

The story of coach Graham Potter is very specific. He got the small Swedish club Ostersund into the Europa League, where they even beat Arsenal, then with a one-year stopover at Swansea, they made it to the Premier League.

Potter has printed a new style of play for the team and Brighton’s football is really enjoying itself. The three defender system is bearing fruit and Brighton are playing mid-table under his guidance.

Goalkeeper

Robert Sanchez is the clear leader between the three sticks. The wider member of the Spanish national team has the coach’s confidence and the fans have quickly grown to like him too. He will be backed up by young Dutchman Kjell Scherpen.

Defenders

Another stopper has left the defence after the winter departure of Dan Burn. Shane Duffy will be a guest at Fulham, leaving many central defenders in the squad. The one certainty is captain Lewis Dunk, who will have a big responsibility.

Adam Webster has also established a solid position in his three years in the blue and white, and the role of right-back will be filled by the great all-rounder Joel Veltman. He can also fill in at wing-back or midfield in an emergency.

It is worse with the substitutes who are not so experienced. Chelsea’s big talent Levi Colwill has come on loan and should be the number four stopper. Matt Clarke and Jan Paul van Hecke probably won’t get many chances.

Midfielders

As far as wing-backs go, Marc Cucurella grabbed a chance last year, replacing the injured Tariq Lamptey and moving to Chelsea on Friday. However, Lamptey will be expected to produce the same performances from the new season as he did in 2020/21.

The other side will be sharpened by a possibly modern-day icon. Solly March was there for Brighton’s promotion to the Premier League and has remained loyal to the club ever since. If it wasn’t for frequent injuries, he would probably be playing at a top club.

Midfield mainstay Yves Bissouma has left and will be extremely difficult to replace. Enock Mwepu, Pascal Gross should fill the hole. The former mentioned is reliable defensively, the latter a classic six with excellent kicking technique.

Either Alexis Mac Allister or the experienced Adam Lallana is on offer at number ten, Potter preferred the younger Allister last year. Steven Alzate, Moises Caicedo, Kacper Kozlowski and the versatile Jakub Moser will also be waiting on the bench for a chance in midfield.

Forwards

The two-man attack will be led by Leandro Trossard. He can also play against weaker opponents from the number ten position, but mostly he should play on the top line. Speed, good shot, good ball handling.

He and Neal Maupay have long complemented each other well, as the French hitter is typologically completely different. A killer who doesn’t back down from a fight, and he’s got great finishing. The cornerstone of Brighton.

In addition, the bench will be ready for experienced Super Joker Danny Welbeck or Deniz Undav, who had a hand in 35 Belgian league goals last season.