Brighton & Hove Albion 2023-24 Season Review: May
May brought with it the end of the most glorious spell in Brighton & Hove Albion history as the Albion said arrivederci to Roberto De Zerbi after the final game of the 2023-24 season.
De Zerbi and the board were unable to find common ground in terms of the club’s approach to the transfer market. Combine De Zerbi criticising the club in public and the thin skin of Tony Bloom and Paul Barber OBE and a parting of the ways was the sad yet inevitable outcome.
Brighton did at least make the announcement that De Zerbi would be leaving 24 hours before the visit of Manchester United. That meant the man who led the Albion into Europe for the first time ever received the send off he deserved from the Amex faithful.
They even gave De Zerbi a microphone to address the crowd. A brave move given you can never predict what he is going to come out with. De Zerbi for his part was totally complimentary about the Albion.
It was a classy way for him to sign off, with the applause of the Brighton faithful and a chorus of “Roberto De Zerbi, we want you to stay” ringing in his ears.
As for the actual football through May, Brighton ended the 2023-24 season with their best set of performances for some time.
After weeks of being criticised for having no Plan B, De Zerbi adopted a more pragmatic approach. The result was four points from two clubs chasing European qualification and good showings against two of the most expensively assembled sides in world football.
Albion end long wait for home win over Villa
Brighton kicked off May by ending a 40 year wait for a home win over Aston Villa. It represented a first Albion victory in six games, whilst Joao Pedro became the first Seagull to score a goal since Danny Welbeck at Liverpool on March 31st.
The barren run of form, facing opponents Brighton have a shocking record against and De Zerbi saying after the previous week’s 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth that his players were lacking motivation resulted in thousands of empty seats across the Amex.
Those who did show up saw a different side to the Albion. Brighton focussed on being rock solid defensively, meaning Bart Verbruggen did not have a save to make all afternoon.
The Albion then patiently bided their time for an opportunity at the other end. It duly arrived with two minutes remaining. Simon Adingra burst into the box, where he was clipped from behind by Ezri Konsa for a penalty.
Up stepped Joao Pedro, looking to make it 11 successful conversions out of 11 for the season. Villa goalkeeper Martin Olsen had other ideas and kept out Pedro’s spot kick.
Not that it mattered. Pedro reacted quickest to head the rebound home for his 20th goal of 2023-24, getting May off to a winning start for Brighton in the process.
Brighton shut up shop against Saudi Sportswashers
Having taken three points from a Villa side chasing Champions League football, Brighton went to Newcastle for their second game of May to face a Toon outfit still in the race for a top six finish as the 2023-24 campaign approached its conclusion.
The Saudi Sportswashers had been in stunning form at St James’ Park since January, averaging over three goals per game.
To counter such free-scoring opponents, De Zerbi maintained the same pragmatic approach which delivered victory over Villa.
It helped Brighton restrict Newcastle to only one goal as the Seagulls made the long journey home with a respectable 1-1 draw.
Brighton took the lead with 18 minutes played via the rare sight of a Joel Veltman goal. Pascal Gross sent over a corner, Danny Welbeck flicked it on and Veltman scrambled the ball over the line from close range.
It was only Veltman’s fourth for the Albion, his first for 14 months and broke his duck away from the Amex. At least one Dutchman was having a successful afternoon; whilst Veltman was busy netting at St James’, the Netherlands were booted out of Eurovision hours before the grand final.
Newcastle’s equaliser arrived in the fifth minute of first half stoppage time. Veltman had limped off injured just before and his replacement Tariq Lamptey was not yet up to speed with the threat posed by Anthony Gordon.
Gordon tricked and teased his way around Gross and Lamptey, eventually releasing Lewis Hall whose low square ball across goal was tucked home by Sean Longstaff.
Verbruggen made a series of important saves in the second half and Newcastle saw a goal chalked off late on for a clear offside.
It would have been harsh on Brighton had the Sportswashers found a winner. The Albion deserved to sign off their season on the road with a point.
Billion pound bottle jobs just beat Brighton
The penultimate game of the 2023-24 season brought Chelsea to Brighton on a warm May evening. The Blues were finally starting to resemble something like a team costing £1 billion to put together, hitting a good run of form through the final few months of the campaign.
Chelsea of course responded to this improvement by sacking Mauricio Pochettino a couple of weeks later. They do not want to give up their title of biggest basket case in English football without a fight.
Given the difference in financial backing between Brighton and Chelsea, the Blues should have strolled to victory over an injury-hit Albion side. Instead, they found themselves desperately hanging on in the closing stages for a 2-1 win.
Cole Palmer gave the visitors the lead on 34 minutes with his 22nd goal of the campaign. That snake Marc Cucurella slithered his way to the by-line and delivered a cross met by a brilliant Palmer header.
Brighton felt they should have been awarded a penalty early in the second half. A trip in the box on Simon Adingra from Malo Gusto went unpunished by both Michael Salisbury and VAR.
How and why was a genuine mystery as it looked a stonewall foul. De Zerbi was not impressed, saying afterwards: “The referee, I didn’t like him today.”
Chelsea doubled their lead on 64 minutes against the run of play. Gusto broke down the right and his low cross was swept home by Christopher Nkunku.
De Zerbi sent on Danny Welbeck in response. Reece James was shown a straight red card when VAR alerted the video assistant to the Chelsea captain kicking Pedro off-the-ball.
There was a certain amount of irony at VAR actually doing what it was brought into the game for on the same day it was revealed Premier League clubs would be given a vote to scrap the system for 2024-25.
Pedro survived the attack from James, going onto cross for Welbeck to prod home from close range in the 95th minute. Chelsea’s earlier timewasting meant there were still three minutes to play after that.
The Albion though could not force an equaliser, leaving the WAB Twitter account flooded by Blues fans from Lagos gloating over their billion pound squad squeaking a one-goal win over Brighton, who were apparently “finished” as a club because of the result.
Grazie Mister
With the announcement De Zerbi was to leave Brighton, the final 90 minutes football of the 2023-24 season against United paled into insignificance. It was all about saying Grazie Mister and goodbye to Adam Lallana.
The football itself saw De Zerbi ironically sign off with 90 minutes reminiscent of his predecessor as Albion head coach, Graham Potter.
Brighton were much the better side for 75 minutes, creating numerous chances none of which they could take. A visibly emotional Lallana departed to a 55th minute standing ovation on his final appearance as an Albion player.
The Seagulls’ wastefulness was punished by two United goals in the final quarter hour. Diogo Dalot put the Red Devils ahead with a clinical finish and Rasmus Hojlund wrapped up victory two minutes from time, easily running around several challenges before beating Jason Steele.
With that, the curtain came down on an unforgettable campaign. Yes, form fell off a cliff in the final three months as injuries and tiredness caught up on a squad lacking the depth required to compete on multiple fronts.
But an 11th placed finish was a price well worth paying for those memorable Europa League nights and away days against Marseille, Ajax, AEK Athens and Roma.
We now wait to see whether De Zerbi’s successor can lead the Albion back to Europe – or if Brighton hit their peak under the charismatic, popular Italian.
May 2024 record: P5 W2 D0 L3 F3 A9
Results: 1-0 v Aston Villa (H), 1-1 v Newcastle United (A), 1-2 v Chelsea (H), 0-2 v Manchester United (H)
League position at the end of the month: 12th
WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month: Valentin Barco
