Brighton's extreme approach under the microscope
- Published
There is no shame in losing the modern Chelsea but the nature of some of the four goals conceded was calamitous.
Manager Fabian Hurzeler only conceded four goals ahead of kick off, yet the blueprint had already been set - punish the Seagulls for their high line and chances will come.
Amad Diallo, Kai Havertz, Chris Wood and Ramon Sosa had all profited from mistakes due to the high line or from simply running in behind the defenders, usually camped around the 50 yard mark, whether in or out of possession.
On Saturday at Stamford Bridge, it was the Cole Palmer show but each of the four goals involved that very same weakness.
Of course, it is difficult to legislate when Adam Webster's poor pass back to goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was under-hit but it seems a risky strategy to be quite so extreme with this approach, given neither Webster nor Lewis Dunk are particularly quick.
Of course, playing so high up the pitch helped Brighton to two goals, exploiting Chelsea's errors in the build up as Georginio Rutter and Carlos Baleba both scored.
But ultimately, Brighton gave too much away, surviving two other goal scoring opportunities for tight offside calls, seeing Nicolas Jackson miss a host of chances, and Pervis Estupinian narrowly avoided a red card for a tactical foul on Noni Madueke when attempting to clean up in behind.
Ultimately, this high-risk, almost roulette-like approach seems risky, especially against teams of Chelsea's calibre despite potentially having its place against lesser opponents.