5 things we learned from Brighton 4-1 Estoril
If you could not be bothered to spend the hottest weekend in Sussex history watching a rerun of Brighton 4-1 Estoril then do not worry – we have you covered.
The Albion rounded off a week of training in Portugal with a behind closed doors friendly against Estoril. No fans were allowed and no stream was allowed, meaning that the only way Seagulls supporters could catch what happened was by watching the game once it had finished and was uploaded to the internet.
Fun, huh? Typically, Brighton managed to score four goals in a match in which no fans could see what was going on. What are the odds that next week’s trip to Reading ends 0-0?
This did at least appear to be a more meaningful exercise than last Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Union SG, which was to all intents a glorified training session.
Here are five things we learned from Brighton 4-1 Estoril.
The new away kit colour is even more confusing than first thought
First things first – what is going on with the colour of the new Brighton away kit? Nike and the Albion have labelled it crimson, which it definitely is not.
The images that accompanied the reveal of the kit made it appear a orange, like Donald Trump’s skin when he has gone particularly over-the-top with his bronzing regime. And now in the photos and highlights from Brighton 4-1 Estoril, it looks to be dark pink.
Nike have created their own footballing version of The Dress, that internet sensation from 2015 whereby some people saw the colours of a dress as blue and black whilst others saw white and gold.
Brighton will presumably next wear the new crimson/orange/pink kit against Reading, a rare friendly that supporters can actually attend.
One can only sit and wonder what colour it will appear at the incredibly-named Select Car Leasing Stadium. Especially after 20 pints before kick off, the minimum amount of alcohol needed to make a trip to Reading seem remotely bearable.
Jeremy Sarmiento and Julio Enciso give Brighton something different
Not having a plan B has been one of the biggest problems for Brighton under Graham Potter. When their passing football fails to fire or they spend 90 minutes playing sideways pass after sideways pass, the Albion and unable to change approach as the squad is thin on players wanting to use pace and directness to run at opponents.
Based on what we saw in Brighton 4-1 Estoril, that might be about to change. It was mightily refreshing to see Julio Enciso and Jeremy Sarmiento doing radical things like sprinting with the ball and taking on defenders when they were introduced from the bench on the hour mark.
Estoril were unable to cope. There is obviously a big difference between tormenting players from the club that finished ninth in the Portugese Primeira Liga in the final 30 minutes of a friendly played in 30 degree heat and doing it to Premier League defenders.
But the fearlessness of Enciso and Sarmiento was joyous. Enciso earned an assist for the Albion’s third goal, collecting a Deniz Undav path out on the right and bamboozling Estoril left back Tiago Araujo via a series of stepovers before sweeping a low pass to Kaoru Mitoma to finish.
Brighton’s plan for Enciso had originally been to send him out on loan this season. His performances in the two friendlies played so far will do no harm to his chances of convincing Potter to keep him around.
One question mark over Enciso is whether he can cope with the physicality of the Premier League. There are less worries about Sarmiento in this department, who appears to have got bigger over the summer.
He is now deceptively strong, which he showed on a couple of occasions when Estoril decided the best way to stop him was by trying to outmuscle him.
Physically, Sarmiento is ready to make an impact on English football. Presuming Potter allows both he and Enciso to express themselves rather than coaching them into only ever passing the ball, they offer something different to the Albion. That can only be a good thing.
Neal Maupay can benefit from increased competition for places
The arrivals of Undav and Mitoma have increased the competition for places in the front line. Neal Maupay is under threat like never before in his Albion career.
He responded to that with two goals in Brighton 4-0 Estoril. The first came within 60 seconds of kick off, a hilarious back pass from Lorientz Rosie going nowhere near his goalkeeper Daniel Figueira to leave Maupay with a tap in.
Maupay’s second saw him react to convert a Lewis Dunk downwards header after a left wing cross from Marc Cucurella.
A good block from Figueria denied the Frenchman a 20 minute hat-trick. Maupay nearly had an assist too when doing well to play in Danny Welbeck but Figueria again made the save.
Maupay tends to start campaigns well before fading off after January. Potter though has had very few options to replace Maupay over the past three seasons, thanks to Danny Welbeck’s injury problems and Aaron Connolly single-handedly keeping The Sun‘s gossip pages in business.
If Maupay slacks in 2022-23, he knows he will be out the starting XI. That can only be a good thing in terms of keeping him on his toes.
Marc Cucurella is still a Brighton player
You may have noticed that the name Cucurella was mentioned as playing a part in the Albion’s second goal against Estoril.
This probably come as a surprise seeing as the wild-haired Spaniard has agreed personal terms on 74 different occasions with Manchester City, according to half of Twitter.
One “in-the-know” account even tweeted that City had just completed the deal whilst Cucurella was on the pitch. It would be quite the feat for him to put pen-to-paper on a City contract at the same time as playing in a behind closed doors friendly for Brighton.
The transfer of Oleksandr Zinchenko from the Etihad Stadium to Arsenal is apparently imminent. That will presumably increase City’s determination to land a replacement left back, in which case they will be more likely to meet Tony Bloom’s asking price.
With over six weeks still to go of the summer transfer window, it remains a very real possibility that Cucurella will join City.
For the moment though, we can enjoy watching hundreds of Twitter users make fools of themselves and City supporters losing their minds that they have not managed to sign a player from little old Brighton for £15 million.
Manchester City fans never used to be this precious before the Abu Dhabi sportswashing machine started pumping in their oil money, did they?
Brighton are not taking any risks with their more injury prone players
Eyebrows were raised when none of Adam Webster, Tariq Lamptey or Enock Mwepu were involved in Brighton 4-1 Estoril.
The trio were three of the most frequent absentees in 2021-22 and many Brighton fans wondered whether they had all broken down again with the Premier League season three weeks away.
No is the answer to that. Potter confirmed to The Argus afterwards that all three not coming on was precautionary rather than the result of suffering injuries.
It says much about the depth Brighton have at the moment that their absences could be easily covered. Jan Paul van Hecke and Matt Clarke have boosted Potter’s defensive options, although whether they both remain at the Albion for the coming campaign remains to be seen.
Solly March had superseded Lamptey in the right wing back pecking order towards the end of last season. Enciso took over from March on this occasion with Pascal Gross and then Sarmiento fulfilling the number 10 role that Mwepu occupied with such success when fit last season.
