Brighton & Hove Albion 2023-24 Season Review: August
The sun shone, the goals rained in and the Albion spent seven days at the top of the Premier League. The sky seemed the limit for Brighton under Roberto De Zerbi as what promised to be an historic 2023-24 campaign carried on in August where the previous season left off in May.
Goodbyes had been waved over the summer to Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Robert Sanchez and Levi Colwill. Mac Allister went to Liverpool with the best wishes of everyone.
The first World Cup winner in Brighton history left in a dignified manner having earned the right to try his luck at one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Not so much Caicedo and Sanchez. Both forced through moves to Chelsea of all clubs. The Albion did at least receive adequate compensation, banking a British record £115 million for Caicedo. £25 million for a second choice goalkeeper was good business too.
Brighton attempted to keep Colwill at the Amex following the end of his season-long loan from Chelsea. A £30 million bid was not enough to convince the Blues to part with the young defender who had been so impressive in the second half of 2022-23.
With plenty of cash to burn, Brighton brought in the two most expensive players ever signed by the club. Joao Pedro arrived for a club-record £30 million. Carlos Baleba followed for £25 million. The goalkeeper department was strengthened by the £16 million capture of Bart Verbruggen.
James Milner arrived on a free from Liverpool, bringing experience and versatility to a young squad. Simon Adingra was tipped to be the next Kaoru Mitoma having impressed on loan with Union Saint-Gillloise the previous campaign, just as the Japanese Bullet Train did in 2021-22.
Roberto De Zerbi had enough credit in the bank to even convince Tony Bloom to bend his recruitment policy. After leading Brighton to sixth place and Europa League football, the head coach was given a say on recruitment alongside Bloom’s famous data and algorithms.
Mahmoud Dahoud and Igor Julio arrived per De Zerbi’s request. And by the end of the August transfer window, the Albion completed the shock signing of Barcelona wonderkid Ansu Fati on loan.
In doing so, Bloom broke the wage structure at the club to make a rumoured weekly contribution of around £180,000 to Fati’s take home.
Even the fixture list for August of the 2023-24 season seemed to favour Brighton. After completing the club’s first ever US Tour as part of the Summer Series, Brighton opened their 2023-24 Premier League campaign at home against newly promoted Luton Town on Saturday 12th August.
Young Albion hammer the Hatters
The Hatters were widely tipped to return straight to the Championship having been shock winners of the playoff final back in May.
It completed a miracle rise from non league football to the top division in only nine years and without any major financial backing.
Anything other than a Brighton win on the opening day would have been a surprise. Yet the manner in which the Albion dismantled Luton 4-1 was seriously impressive. Especially with two of the goals coming from debutants and three of the scorers aged under 21.
Brighton racked up 27 shots with 12 on target. They hit the woodwork twice and forced Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski into several fine saves. It could and should have been more than Brighton 4-1 Luton.
Solly March opened the scoring on 35 minutes. Kaoru Mitoma drifted inside and lofted a right footed cross into the box which March met with a towering header to get the Albion up and running for the season.
After sustained pressure on the Hatters goal, Brighton added goal number two on 70 minutes. Mitoma danced his way past Alfie Doughty and slipped in Pedro, who went down in the box under a challenge from Tom Lockyer.
Pedro dusted himself down and converted from the spot despite Kaminski getting a hand to it. From his debut spot kick past Luton in August, Pedro scoring penalties would be a sight Brighton fans become very accustomed to by the end of the 2023-24 season.
That looked like it was that until a Jacob Brown cross hit the trailing arm of Dunk as he attempted to slide in and block. Luton suddenly had a penalty of their own and when Carlton Morris converted, a lifeline back into the game.
The Albion though were instantly back on the front foot as young substitutes Simon Adingra and Evan Ferguson killed things off.
Kaminski parried a Pervis Estupinan shot and when Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu bizarrely opted to try keepy ups in the box from the rebound, Adingra punished by gaining the ball and ruthlessly volleying home.
Goal four arrived in stoppage time. Dunk hit a raking pass up the left wing for Estupinan to gallop onto. His low ball across the face of goal was slid in by Ferguson at the far post.
We’re Brighton & Hove Albion, we’re top of the league
A week later and the Albion headed to Wolves. Molineux has always been a happy hunting ground for Brighton and the Old Gold opponents the Seagulls have a very weird hold over.
Nothing summed that up better than Brighton hammering Wolves 6-0 in April 2023 despite De Zerbi resting Mac Allister, Caicedo and Mitoma.
Even so, the Albion winning 4-1 for the second week running was a stunning result. And the performance was even better, leading Gary Lineker to tweet midway through proceedings at Molineux “Brighton are playing like Brazil”.
No, Gary. Brazil could only wish they played like Brighton. Mitoma put the Albion ahead on 17 minutes with a magnificent solo goal reminiscent of Diego Maradona against England at the 1986 World Cup (the one without the use of hand).
Mitoma picked up possession out on the left flank just inside the Wolves half. From there, he ran 776 miles past 27 Wolves players faster than Concorde before beating home goalkeeper Jose Sa to score the greatest individual goal football has ever seen.
Or at least that is what it felt like. The speed, the balance, the skill… not many players in world football could produce a moment of individual brilliance quite like it. It was good enough to be nominated for Premier League Goal of the Season come the end of the 2023-24 season.
Three goals in the opening nine minutes of the second half took the game away from Wolves. Mitoma set up Estupinan, finding himself inside the Wolves box after a charge forward from left back to lash home.
A blistering counter attack provided goal three. Billy Gilmour raked a 40 yard pass down the left channel to send the outstanding Julio Enciso scampering away.
The outside of the right boot pass Enciso fed into the box when the temptation might have been to shoot was perfectly placed and weighted between two Wolves defenders for March to fire first time beyond Jose Sa.
The fourth Albion goal came from an attack down the opposite flank. Welbeck embarked on a mazy run, carrying the ball from one side to the other. Enciso drifted wide to collect a pass from Dat Guy before slipping another perfect low cross into March.
Rather than going for power as he had first time around, March opted for placement. His trusty left foot guided the ball into the bottom corner to leave Molineux a mixture of shell shocked and seething.
Wolves fans began streaming out. Those who remained did at least see their side pick up a consolation when Hwang Hee-chan headed home a corner after some terrible marking from the Albion.
Not that the goal mattered. With six points on the board, eight scored and just two conceded, Brighton sat top of the Premier League for the next seven days until West Ham United visited the Amex.
Enciso injured and Hammers end their hoodoo
It was in the gap between Wolves and West Ham games that Brighton suffered there first significant injury blow of the 2023-24 season; a theme that would extend far beyond August.
Enciso was ruled out for up to six months having suffered a meniscus tear in training. The blow came at a particularly cruel time for a player who had been utterly outstanding in the win over Wolves.
Still, Brighton went into their clash with Hammers in confident mood. The Albion were unbeaten in 12 Premier League matches against West Ham going right the way back to the 2017-18 campaign.
Such sequences cannot last forever, however. David Moyes arrived in Sussex with a game plan. One which other opponents would deploy to good effect in countering DeZerbiBall across the season.
West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse spoke about it afterwards, telling Match of the Day: “A lot of effort went in to the game plan, you have to respect Brighton.”
“We denied Brighton space and were compact and clinical. We had the composure to make the most of our chances when we had them – we executed our game plan perfectly.”
What also helped the Hammers was Adam Webster looking like he had never played football before in his life, starting when he gifted West Ham their opening goal.
Firstly, Webster passed the ball straight to Tomas Soucek. When Soucek then chipped a pass up the line, Webster was first to it.
His attempted back pass to debutant Verbruggen instead became a lovely through ball for Michail Antonio, who subsequently squared to Ward-Prowse to finish.
By the 30 minute mark, Brighton had completed 220 passes. West Ham just 13. More troubling than Brighton not making the most of their possession was some bright spark deciding to keep the red wine on top of the pie cabinets in the West Upper, rendering it boiling hot.
It was a challenge drinking one small glass. Which was problematic as four or five were needed to make the second half bearable once West Ham scored twice in quick succession either side of the hour.
The Hammers made it 2-0 when Said Benrahma crossed to the unmarked Jarrod Bowen at the back post. Bowen took a lovely first touch, followed by a deft finish with the outside of the boot past Verbruggen. It was the sort of goal you expect from a man whose father-in-law is Danny Dyer.
Bowen turned provider for the third goal. He hit a forward ball from the right flank which found Antonio in way too much space.
No prizes for guessing Webster was meant to be marking the Jamaican forward. When Webster did eventually get close to Antonio, he ended up being turned inside out. Antonio made the space required and drilled a powerful shot across Verbruggen and into the bottom corner.
Pascal Gross pulled one back with 10 minutes remaining for a history-making goal. Some nifty footwork from Der Kaiser bamboozled Benrahma, allowing Gross to pick out the bottom corner.
In doing so, he overtook Glenn Murray and Neal Maupay to become the Albion’s leading Premier League goal scorer on 27.
More chances came for Brighton in the time left after Gross netted but none found a way past Alphonse Areola.
A disappointing afternoon at the office but one quickly forgotten as August gave way to September and one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the 2023-24 season – discovering who Brighton would be paired with in their first ever Europa League campaign.
August 2023 record: P3 W2 D0 L1 F9 A5
Results: 4-1 v Luton (H), 4-1 v Wolves (A), 1-3 v West Ham (H)
League position at the end of the month: 6th
WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month: Billy Gilmour
