Brighton finding out value of Veltman in injury absence

The rest of the Premier League has always underrated Joel Veltman – but has his latest injury absence told us that Brighton fans have done the same?

It is not unusual for a player’s abilities and talent to enhance mythically when they are out of the team. Take Jakub Moder for example.

The Poland international developed from a bang average midfielder yet to score a Premier League goal into a bloke whose return after 14 months was eagerly anticipated because of the difference he could make to Roberto De Zerbi’s Albion last season.

Likewise, Beram Kayal. I liked Kayal. Who didn’t? But his reputation went from good Championship player to someone who could come back from a broken leg and take the Premier League by storm as Brighton sought to survive their first top flight season.

Veltman though is different. There has been such a substantial contrast between results – but more tellingly performances – when he is in this Brighton team and out of it that we can conclude he is vital to success. It is no myth fostered in an injury absence; it is cold, hard, fact.

The Albion’s record with Veltman in the team this season reads six wins, four draws, one defeat. Without him, it is zero wins, two draws, three defeats.

All three of Brighton’s clean sheets have come with Veltman playing. The Albion have conceded 12 times in 11 matches Veltman has started at an average of 1.09 per game.

Take Veltman out and that average jumps to 2.8 goals conceded per game. 14 having been shipped in the five Premier League fixtures he has been absent for.

Those numbers do not lie. But there is more. WAB wrote last week about the damaging habit Brighton have developed of conceding two goals in quick succession.

It has happened seven times this season: Chelsea, Spurs, Wolves, Liverpool, Fulham, Leicester and Crystal Palace.

Manchester United and Southampton were VAR decisions away from adding their names to that lengthy list. Plucky Little Bournemouth a 96th minute rattling of the crossbar.

Of those seven games in which Brighton shipped twice in 10 minutes plus the three near misses, Veltman was on the pitch for only Spurs, Wolves, Liverpool. He also featured in the lucky escapes against United and Bournemouth.

Capitulations and near-capitulations versus Chelsea, Southampton, Fulham, Leicester and Palace all occurred without him.

The Albion have been accused of having a game management problem. This is precisely where they need Veltman. He is a subtle master of the dark arts, who knows how and when to waste time and lure opponents into not performing near their best.

Not many right backs can claim to have marked peak Jack Grealish and peak Wilfried Zaha out of games before. Veltman has.

Arsenal fans probably would not agree with the subtle tag used to label Veltman two paragraphs up, recalling his role in getting Declan Rice sent off when Brighton drew 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium back in August.

It was a prime example of Veltman’s intelligence. Knowing Declan Rice was on a yellow, he set up a situation to lure Rice into kicking the ball away and delaying the restart just a couple of weeks after officials were specifically told to clamp down on kicking the ball away and delaying restarts.

Rice himself is a fine, clever player. It says something when Veltman managed to trap even him into a second booking, leaving the Gunners to play out most of the second half with only 10 men and opening the door for a Seagulls comeback.

Injury to Veltman has therefore denied Brighton their cleverest, shrewdest and arguably most experienced defender.

Lewis Dunk might have been Albion captain for six seasons now, have over 250 Premier League games under his belt and a handful of England caps.

But Veltman came through the famous Ajax academy. He has delivered trophies in the high pressure environment of playing for the Netherlands’ biggest club. Reached a Champions League semi final. And racked up more than 30 matches for the Dutch national side.

The footballing education and career Veltman has enjoyed is up there with James Milner and Danny Welbeck in this Brighton squad.

To watch the goals Brighton have conceded with Veltman on the injury list is to wonder what might have been if he were there.

He does not make the mistake Tariq Lamptey did against Palace and challenge for a header he is never going to win, allowing Tyrick Mitchell the freedom of the flank to cross for the second Eagles goal.

You can even make an argument – and it’s admittedly a bit of a stretch – that the third does not happen with Veltman on the pitch.

Maybe he covers around for when Dunk misses the clearing header? Or maybe he’s talking to Jan Paul van Hecke, preventing his Dutch compatriot going walkies into midfield and leaving Dunk exposed?

Jamie Vardy scored for Leicester from the right sided area of the Albion box you would normally find Veltman patrolling.

Poor goals have been shipped from set pieces and crosses into the box against Palace, Fulham and Southampton.

As a general rule, Brighton have been decent defending set pieces until recent weeks… and a distinct lack of Veltman.

This of course is all ifs, buts and maybes. With a huge amount of conjecture thrown in. Maybe the problems Brighton are currently going through run deeper than injury to Veltman?

The Albion have been without Jack Hinshelwood, Ferdi Kadioglu and Welbeck through this poor sequence of results.

Hinshelwood and Kadioglu can cover right back and would offer more defensive stability than Lamptey, who has found himself replacing Veltman by default. Fabian Hurzeler has had no other realistic alternative than Lamptey.

There is also the thorny issue of Dunk coming straight back into the starting XI. Not only had Igor done nothing to warrant losing his place in a back four to accommodate the captain, but he was also forming a relatively good partnership with Van Hecke.

Is it coincidence than Van Hecke is in his worst form of the season after having Igor ripped away from him?

What cannot be denied is that there is a glaringly obvious Veltman-sized hole in this Albion team right now. A hole which opponents are gleefully taking advantage of.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. And the absence of Veltman is underlying just how important and valuable he is to Brighton.

The sooner he is back, the better.