Brighton need a new striker – but it has to be the right one
Brighton & Hove Albion need a new striker. This is hardly pressing news given that the same sense of panic seems to set in amongst supporters every summer, but this time around the lack of centre forwards in Graham Potter’s squad seems even more acute than normal.
Following Glenn Murray’s season long loan move to Watford, the Albion have two first team strikers on their books with the Premier League season one week away.
It only takes an injury to Neal Maupay in training and a knock for Aaron Connolly on international duty with the Republic of Ireland and Potter is suddenly asking Billy Reid to dust off his boots and lead the line against Chelsea.
Brighton have never been blessed for strength in depth in attack since becoming a Premier League club. In the summer of 2017, Brighton failed to sign a striker, leaving Chris Hughton to go into the campaign with only Murray, Tomer Hemed and Sam Baldock as his options.
Baldock was then ruled out for four months through injury. Murray too picked up a problem in pre-season. And when Hemed found himself suspended for stupidly stamping on Newcastle United’s DeAndre Yedlin, the Albion had to go to Arsenal without a recognised centre forward.
Hughton’s solution was to play Izzy Brown as a false nine, an experience made 100 times worse by the fact that it was a midday kick off at Emirates. Hardly any pubs were open in the Finsbury Park area to provide the sort of alcohol levels needed to blot out that miserable viewing.
Brighton got away with their lack of strikers in 2017-18, largely because of Murray’s 14 goals. His 15 goals the following year also masked the fact that the other options – Jurgen Locadia and Florin Andone – were not very good.
Locadia did not care enough to make an impression and for every three games that Andone played, he would spend another three suspended or injured.
Hughton’s tactics also helped cover the lack of numbers. He rarely played anything other than one central striker, either in a 4-4-1-1 or a 4-3-3, meaning that three options were enough – just about.
Potter in contrast used a pairing far more frequently in 2019-20. Three players fighting for two positions made the Albion look light up front throughout the campaign.
Connolly as a result had a huge amount of responsibility placed on his young shoulders in his first season as a first team player. It is little wonder that at times he struggled to the point that a fair number of Albion fans felt that he might benefit from a loan spell in the Championship to rebuild his confidence. No chance of that happening now.
In a way, Potter’s reluctance to use Murray meant that you could argue we spent the whole of the 2019-20 season with only two strikers in the squad and still recorded our highest ever points tally. Why are we so desperate to see Brighton sign a new striker given last season’s success?
But what that argument actually does is strengthen the case for a new striker. Potter’s over reliance on two strikers with very similar skill sets highlights the fact that Brighton need a forward who is different to both Maupay and Connolly if they are to improve in 2020-21.
There is little point in spending millions of Tony Bloom’s money on a third player with the same attributes as the current options just to boost numbers. The Albion already look one-dimensional in attack and signing Neal Maupay version three will do nothing to change that.
We had numerous games last season where for all Brighton’s possession, we were unable to break down defences. Opponents had the easiest time in the world preparing to face the Albion as they only had to devise a game plan for one type of threat in attack once it became clear that Murray’s minutes were going to be limited.
Newcastle United away in September was an early indication of that when, despite having over 70% possession, we left St James’ Park with a 0-0 draw. Steve Bruce’s side carried out their roles to perfection.
Another good example came in the 3-1 defeat away at Plucky Little Bournemouth in January. Brighton were woeful to the point where Potter had to make one of his infamous treble substitutions to try and rescue a situation in part caused by a poor initial selection.
He threw on Leandro Trossard and Solly March to start delivering crosses into the box. The only problem with that was that he kept Murray on the bench as an unused substitute, and so we played out the final 30 minutes at the Vitality Stadium whipping in balls for the hobbit-sized duo of Maupay and Connolly to try and win in the air.
The strange aspect of the whole Potter-Murray thing is that Potter is not adverse to using a target man. Oliver McBurnie was his preferred choice to lead the line at Swansea City.
Such a success was McBurnie that he notched 24 goals in 2018-19, convincing Sheffield United to pay a club-record £20 million for him last summer.
Oh how Brighton could do with a player of those qualities now. If Maupay and Connolly cannot find a way to break down a stubborn Premier League defence, then chances are that Potter throwing on a player in the same mould is unlikely to make any difference.
The Albion need variety in their strike force. When we are struggling to find a way through, introducing a player with different qualities for a different approach can help to break the deadlock.
It makes you more unpredictable from the start too. When opponents are not certain of the threat that they will be faced with until 2pm when the team sheets are exchanged, it is much harder to set up compared to knowing it will be a Maupay or Connolly type forward.
The money that Brighton spend on a new striker has to go on a replacement for Murray who shares similar attributes to the veteran – and then Potter has to make the most of those attributes.
Easier said than done, of course. Signing strikers at any level of football is hard enough when every other club is looking at a small pool of players.
Signing target men is even more difficult. When Murray left first time around, it took 18 months to find a replacement in Leonardo Ulloa. Ulloa himself was not really replaced for two years after his departure – by Murray returning.
It is why some supporters have been so desperate to see Brighton make Aleksandar Mitrović their new striker for several seasons now. He is one of the few players who shares similar attributes to Murray, even if there are doubts over his temperament.
Not that it matters; Fulham are never going to sell to a relegation rival, just as the Albion were never going to allow Ben White to move to The Leeds United.
Brighton need their new striker to be tall, good in the air, have the ability to hold the ball up, play with his back to goal and bring others into the game.
Given the number of chances that Maupay and Connolly squandered last season, he could do with being clinical too. Murray was the third-most clinical striker in the Premier League in 2018-19, ahead of the likes of Mo Salah, Sergio Aguero and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
His deadliness in front of goal did not seem to be wavering with age either, making it even stranger that Potter did not trust him to play in a side which created plenty of opportunities.
Does such a player exist and is he in Brighton’s price range? That is the thirty million pound question. The Albion need to hope he does and that they manage to sign him. Brighton need a new striker – but it has to be the right one.
