Everyone has the right to a bad day at work
Brighton undoubtedly had a bad day at the office in their 26th Premier League game of the season, losing 3-0 at home to Burnley.
It was something of a surprise result which not many people would have predicted before kick off. The Seagulls created 11 chances and yet Burnley scored from three of their four on target shots, meaning that the reason for defeat could be put to the Brighton defence.
This was reminiscent of the Rayo Vallecano team of 2016 under coach Paco Jémez. It has been six years since Vallecano lit up La Liga, winning promotion to the top league of Spanish football followed by demotion.
In that time, Jémez and his players made sure to attract plenty of admirers with the way they played and their innocence. Rayo played nice, aggressive football, they scored plenty of goals and created opportunities but were often undone by their defence.
They were the team who would score three but concede four. 52 goals from 38 matches was one more than Sevilla in seventh managed and eight more than Villarreal in fourth who qualified for the Champions League. Rayo’s concern was the 73 they conceded at the other end that led to their relegation.
Brighton 0-3 Burnley at the Amex brought back memories of Rayo. Brighton had shots and they could have equalised after Wout Weghorst first goal in the Premier League gave the Clarets the lead.
Shane Duffy had a weak shot at Nick Pope. Former England international Adam Lallana headed just wide from Tariq Lamptey crossing. Brighton did not transform their superiority into goals.
After Burnley scored their second, Brighton completed the second half with 75 percent possession but without having another effort.
The goal which made it 3-0 came from Aaron Lennon to end any Seagulls hopes of reversing the situation. What a goal it was, in off the bar to leave Robert Sanchez with no time or chance for reacting.
It was certainly a bad performance from Brighton to lose a team who had won only once all season. However, we should remember to look at the bigger picture and what the Albion have achieved so far to sit ninth in the standings.
Everyone has the right to a bad day at the office, even football players. If football were predictable, then it would not be the football we love. It would be something else, with far fewer followers.
There is another lesson from Rayo and Jémez – recognising the path is right even when results might not go correctly. Jémez returned to Rayo in 2019 three years after leaving with no bitterness to continue his work because everyone realised that what he did first time around was right.
Brighton can use the defeat to Burnley at the Amex as a lesson themselves. Potter will analyse what worked and what didn’t and then make sure the same thing does not happen against Aston Villa, with Brighton hoping to avoid failing to score in three successive Premier League games for the first time this season.
Dimitris Manakos @dimitris_manakos
