International breaks and poor officials ruined the week for Brighton
FA Cup elimination at the hands of Nottingham Forest and a 3-0 Premier League defeat to Aston Villa have made me realise just how much I don’t like international breaks and terrible match officials.
In the week leading up to the Forest game, we heard that Chris Wood would miss the match at the Amex. The Tricky Trees lost the services of their top scorer and ex-Albion striker because he had been injured playing for New Zealand.
Wood then had to make a 12,000 mile trip back home whilst carrying an injury. Having flown the same distance out to New Zealand 10 days earlier.
Forest just about coped without Wood as they still managed to make it through to the semi finals. But should their Wembley dream have been left hanging in the balance because of international duty?
This brings me to a point that some of you have probably thought about. All the top teams have to deal with players travelling over 20,000 miles, possibly playing 180 minutes of international football and then getting back to England just 48 hours before returning to Premier League action.
Or in the case of the Forest match, FA Cup action. Nuno may have lost Wood, but Brighton were more impacted.
Joao Pedro, Diego Gomez, Pervis Estupinan, Kaoru Mitoma, Simon Adingra, Yankubu Minteh and Carlos Baleba all had massive journeys to make before facing the Tricky Trees.
I have always wondered about the impact on a footballer’s metabolism and performance of travelling. The Forest game was evidence it is not good.
Brighton looked tired against the Tricky Trees. Fabian Hurzeler then had to pick a starting XI to face Villa five days later taking into account the tiredness displayed.
Still, that is football in 2025 and it is the same for all clubs. The authorities could still do more to protect and help players though.
Those thoughts followed me to the Amex for the Villa game. I did not feel comfortable, easy or confident about facing Unai Emery’s side. How right I was.
This was a massive game for Brighton, a chance to go five points ahead of Villa. But this is the Albion. We never choose the easy way.
Lewis Dunk said in his interview following the Forest game: “We know what we have to do. We have got nine big games to get to Europe. We can still make history”.
He also vowed the Albion would bounce back from FA Cup setback. They must be saving the bounce back for the match against Crystal Palace.
There was no TV present for Brighton against Villa except for cameras broadcasting for a US channel. Maybe we should stick a tariff on Premier League coverage in response to Donald Trump’s actions later that evening?
The final score was deceptive, I felt. The Albion played well in the first half with Brajan Gruda in particular showing willingness to chase every ball and put Villa under pressure.
If you watch back the extended highlights, you realise how unlucky Brighton actually were. Which brings me to my second point – match officials.
I was not impressed by Matt Donohue, who was in charge of VAR. In fact, I suggest he take a few weeks off to read the rules. Interventions only to overturn clear and obvious errors comes to mind.
You know the officials have been bad when even those of us in the East Upper are left extremely angry and with plenty to say about their performance.
One loss – especially one impacted by the referee and VAR – does not mean we have no chance of Europe. A nice win at Selhurst will soon turn the Villa defeat into a distant memory.
Now is not the time to turn our backs on the Albion. And I sincerely hope the reported booing at the final whistle was aimed at Stuart Attwell or Emiliano Martinez. The Villa goalkeeper scored a 9.1 for time wasting.
My advice to Fabian Hurzeler and the players for the trip to Palace? Keep scoring those goals. They cannot all be disallowed for offside or handball.
Anthony Taylor is the referee at Selhurst, so that may help. Famous last words…
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
