Match Review: Brighton 0-0 West Bromwich Albion

Graham Potter said in the week leading up to this 0-0 draw with West Brom that he was relaxed about the striker situation at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Glenn Murray had just departed on loan to Watford for the season, leaving Potter with only Neal Maupay and Aaron Connolly to choose from.

Potter is now just one injury and one suspension away from having no available senior forwards in the Premier League. A freak training ground incident this week and Billy Reid might find himself dusting off his boots and leading the line against Chelsea in the season opener.

Having two strikers is a risky business, although that in itself is not as much as a problem as it may seem. In 2017-18, Chris Hughton had only Murray and Tomer Hemed to choose from in the first half of the campaign with Sam Baldock injured.

In 2018-19, Murray was pretty much the only centre forward we had given the other options were Jurgen Locadia and Florin Andone. One could not give a toss, the other would play three games and then be suspended or injured for another three.

Even last season, Potter effectively got through the campaign with just two strikers. He did not rate Murray enough to give him significant game time, meaning that the burden of goals fell on the shoulders of Neal Maupay and Aaron Connolly. And the Albion still managed to rack up their highest ever Premier League points tally.

The real issue with going into 2020-21 with only Maupay and Connolly was laid bare by Brighton drawing 0-0 with West Brom. We are not clinical enough and we do not have a plan B.

Brighton must have had at least 70 percent of possession against the top flight newcomers, which will no doubt have had Potter purring. Not much point doing all that if you cannot stick the ball in the back of the net though, is there?

West Brom were difficult to break down and when that happens, you need to adjust your approach. Try and find a new way through by throwing on a different sort of striker to ask different questions of a defence.

Switching a Connolly style runner for a target man like, er, Murray can often help to find a way through the deadlock. With just Connolly and Maupay to choose from, Potter no longer has any variety in his options. And variety is the spice of life, as anyone who has been to the Horsted Keynes Wife Swap evening can tell you.

The strikers were not the only problem in Brighton drawing 0-0 with West Brom. That Sam Johnstone in the Baggies goal did not have a save to make in the first half was as much the fault of the supply line as it was the struggling Maupay.

Alexis Mac Allister in particular looked like a player devoid of confidence, giving a performance far away from what many Albion supporters imagined when he arrived in January and the club’s social media team hyped him to the moon and back.

We were always a bit more sceptical. It was going to take a 21-year-old who had never played outside of Argentina time to adjust to England football – if he could even adjust at all.

There are plenty of examples of great Argentinian players who never managed to make an impression in the uniqueness of the Premier League, Angel Di Maria at Manchester United being the biggest one.

Is nine months enough time for Mac Allister to have settled in and be showing what he is capable of? Maybe not, and he was certainly not going to come in and be the next Lionel Messi as lots of people thought.

The jury remains out and based on this, he should not be starting next week when the real stuff kicks off against Chelsea – who Brighton drew 1-1 with last week in a much better spectacle.

There were other players who did not improve their cause for selection. Bernardo got 30 minutes in place of Steve Alzate in which he did little to earn the trust of Potter, highlighting that left back is an area that needs attention once the centre forward problem is dealt with.

Maupay seemed to be going through the motions, never really working well as a lone striker with Mac Allister just in behind. Dale Stephens too struggled, his days as an automatic first choice seeming to be over with the emergence of Yves Bissouma as a Premier League class holding midfielder.

Bissouma was easily the best player on the pitch and not just because he had Brighton’s only shot on target. He forced Johnstone into a routine save 10 minutes into the second half having covered every blade of grass before and after that effort.

Based on what we have seen since lockdown, we would be sticking a hefty wager on Bissouma being Brighton’s Player of the Season 2020-21 come next May if he carries on in this form.

Solly March had a lively showing down the left flank, having the Albion’s second best chance when bending one wide of the post late on.

March may have a lot of detractors, but he is one of the only players in the squad who offers genuine width. If Potter did not have a phobia of using wingers, then using the flanks is another alternative way to break down a stubborn defence like West Brom’s.

Keeping a clean sheet was pleasing, especially without Joel Veltman, Tariq Lamptey and Dan Burn. There were more minutes under the belts of Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster and Ben White as they continue to learn about playing with each other in a back three and Maty Ryan dealt with what he needed to.

Ryan not getting injured was an added bonus. Brighton announced that David Button had been sold to West Brom hours before kick off, leaving Jason Steele and Robert Sanchez as Ryan’s back up until Christian Walton returns from injury. Ryan being absent at any point before then would be an even bigger headache than the striker situation.

Clearly, there is much to work on for the Albion between now and the transfer window shutting in early October. They also need to get their technology up to scratch if live streaming is going to be the way in which the majority of fans watch in 2020-21.

Lots of people reported problems with MyAlbionTV during the first half. The club apologised afterwards, although on this occasion you could argue that the technical issues had done everyone a favour by not subjecting them to a first half of sheer boredom.

And whilst you should never read too much into friendly results – let alone a game in which neither side had their international players available – Potter should have learnt a decent amount ahead of the real stuff getting underway.

Leandro Trossard, Davy Propper and Connolly returning will help going forward. There is Jayson Molumby to fit in somewhere. Veltman and Lamptey will strengthen the defence.

Drawing 0-0 with West Brom under such circumstances is not a reason to lose the plot as some Albion fans seemed to be doing, especially if it injects a bit of urgency into the search for a striker.