Brentford 2-0 Brighton: Albion go back in time to 2021
Watching Brentford 2-0 Brighton was like stepping back in time to the 2020-21 season. 73 percent possession, 21 shots, seven on target, zero goals, zero points.
Until Friday night under the Gtech Stadium lights, we thought those dark days were behind us. Apparently not. The government might have been able to rattle through two Prime Ministers and four Chancellor of the Exchequers, but the Albion were very much back in peak xG nightmare territory.
Football fans are always good for an overreaction and some Albion supporters did not disappoint, beginning to question Roberto De Zerbi after a grand total of 270 minutes in charge.
It took Graham Potter two-and-a-half years and six transfer windows to click. Potter was supported through runs like two wins in 18, no home win in 14, no win in any competition in 11, six defeats in a row, no home goal for three months.
De Zerbi deserves the same patience. Although he took over a side sitting fourth in the Premier League, his task is more challenging in the short-term than what Potter faced when he arrived.
The Italian is trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild the confidence of a squad who have lost their manager, assistant, first team coach, goalkeeper coach, whatever it is that Bruno did and recruitment specialist.
De Zerbi is installing a new style of play. The players are getting used to an entirely new coaching team. And it is all happening through the busiest, toughest period of the season in the lead up to the controversial winter World Cup in Qatar.
Nobody should be rushing to judge De Zerbi until after the end of the January transfer window at the very least. He needs the four weeks offered by the winter break to properly impart his ideas on those not on international duty, possibly supplemented by new signings suited to playing football the way he wants.
That may even include a new striker. Mention that dreaded S-word before and Potter and Andy Naylor would start lambasting and mocking Albion fans for being obsessed with signing a 20-goal-a-season centre forward.
No Seagulls supporter has ever said they think or expect Brighton to bring in Mo Salah or Harry Kane. Someone who can contribute five to 10 goals and offer a different threat in attack is actually what supporters would like to see.
If it is what De Zerbi wants, history suggests he will not be backwards in coming forwards. He left Foggia following a disagreement with the board, so is not afraid to tell his employers what he thinks.
Speaking after Brentford 2-0 Brighton, De Zerbi seemed frustrated when he said: “We had a lot of potential chances, many shots on goal, the last pass, the cross. Against Tottenham it was the same, a lot of shots but we didn’t score.”
Make that 35 shots against the Bees and in the 1-0 defeat to Spurs the previous weekend without scoring. Brentford on the other hand had Ivan Toney, who must surely be on the plane to Qatar following his outstanding form this season. Toney sits second to Erling Haaland in the Premier League scoring charts.
Toney scored both the goals in Brentford 2-0 Brighton. His first was of the highest quality, an improvised back heel from a low cross through the legs of Adam Webster which Robert Sanchez could only watch fly into the back of the net.
Whilst the finish was class, the Albion defending was far from it. Leandro Trossard, Pervis Estupinan and Lewis Dunk all could have put in a tackle at some point as Bryan Mbeumo and Frank Onyeka broke down the left channel to tee up Toney just before the half hour mark.
Toney’s second came from the penalty spot on 64 minutes. The striker went down in dramatic fashion after a clumsy challenge from Joel Veltman. Despite Toney’s very obvious theatrics, it was a foul.
By beating Sanchez from 12 yards, Toney extended his perfect spot kick record for the Bees to 20 penalties scored from 20 attempts. Anyone else want to stick money on his first miss coming in the World Cup final?
At that point, you felt that the Albion could have been out there for another three days and it still would have finished Brentford 2-0 Brighton.
Tony Bloom must have been a frustrated figure sat amongst the away support, watching the Seagulls lose to his arch rival Matthew Benham’s side for the first time in the Premier League.
A penny for his thoughts too when the travelling section began chanting about him having ID in relation to the new away ticketing collections policy.
Brighton supporters openly taking the piss out of the Albion’s chairman and benefactor was probably not what the club had in mind when they introduced North Korea-style checks on those having tickets for away matches.
More impressive that the club appointing Kim Jong-un as head of ticketing was the performance of David Raya in the Brentford goal.
Raya kept out a tame Danny Welbeck header, a Moises Caicedo piledriver from 25 yards, a Veltman snapshot from inside the six yard box, a Solly March header from point blank range and a Dunk effort from a corner.
Without their Spanish goalkeeper, Brentford would not have beaten Brighton 2-0. Toney aside, the Bees did not offer much going forward other than when Mbuemo smacked the bar with a brilliant first-time volley.
De Zerbi was booked in the first half for a coming together with Thomas Frank in the sort of touchline exchange not really seen from a Brighton manager since the days of Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named.
If De Zerbi could have run on the pitch and put the ball in the back of the net himself, you know that his passion would have led him on in a flash.
Instead, the Albion came away with nothing to show for their efforts. Nor for Enock Mpweu, whose name was sung for 10 straight minutes by Brighton supporters at the start of the game following his retirement with an hereditary heart problem.
There will no doubt be further tributes paid to the career of The Computer on Tuesday night when Nottingham Forest visit the Amex.
A result against the Tricky Trees would lift the mood considerably and give De Zerbi a bit more breathing space with the more demanding of Albion fans.
Whatever the outcome against Forest however, De Zerbi will still need time. Something which everyone would do well to remember as he attempts to rebuild the club following its ripping apart by Potter.
