No goals are no problem for key man Welbeck

Hands up, who thought Danny Welbeck would be the next player to be written off by certain sections of the Brighton Twitterati?

Not many would be my guess. Why, it was only five months ago that Albion fans were getting in a panic at Day Guy entering the final few weeks of his contract. A new two-year deal was subsequently signed and all was right in the world again.

For any player to be bearing a brunt of criticism when Brighton sit fourth in the Premier League having lost just once all season is a little bizarre to start with. For it to be Welbeck of all people, even more so.

Dat Guy’s crime would appear to be that he is yet to score in the 2022-23 season so far. Anyone who views his contribution purely by lookking at a scoring chart clearly does not understand football.

Whilst it might have been nice if Welbeck had chipped in with one or two goals from his six starts and one substitute appearance, his role and importance to Brighton goes far beyond sticking the ball in the back of the net.

Looking from a pure and simple statistics point of view, Welbeck has three assists. That is more than any other Albion player, even Pascal Gross.

Gross of course is no stranger to being written off. It is hard to keep track of the number of times that Der Kaiser has been the player supporters wanted dropped from the team, only to consistently prove the doubters wrong.

Here Brighton are, in their sixth season in the Premier League and still Gross remains the most creative player with the numbers to back that claim up.

Like Gross, Welbeck deserves a place in the Albion starting XI for his assist record alone. But to fully understand why Welbeck is one of the first names on the team sheet, then you have to watch him.

Welbeck has the skillset of a traditional target man centre forward. He can hold the ball up. He brings others into play. It makes him perfect for playing as a lone striker, working with quick and nimble forwards buzzing around him.

He combines all that with the sort of mobility, speed and intelligence you do not always associate with a tall striker. And that is where Welbeck really makes a difference.

Off the ball, he makes runs into areas that stretch and pull defences apart. An opposition centre back focused on what Welbeck is doing often finds themself being led astray, creating space and gaps which other Brighton players can exploit.

It is not just Welbeck’s movement which is clever. Dat Guy sees things other players do not. Nine times out of 10, he knows exactly where to find a teammate and the precise weight and direction needed to get the ball there.

Take the opener scored by Leandro Trossard in Liverpool 3-3 Brighton. Welbeck received the ball with Joel Matip closely attending. A deft flick to the left from Welbeck caught the home defence and Trent Alexander-Arnold in particular by surprise.

Trossard was able to skip around the England international right back with ease, fire across Alisson and into the opposite corner of the goal to give Brighton the lead.

Welbeck was involved in the second too. He made one of those runs into the channels which so confuses opponents. Alexander-Arnold did not know whether he should abandon Pervis Estupinan to pick up Welbeck.

Matip was unsure whether he should follow Dat Guy out to the left. If he did, it would leave a gap in the middle. If he didn’t, then Welbeck would have a lot of time on the ball in a dangerous area.

As is so often the case, a decision was not made either way. Welbeck latched onto a pass in acres of space, cut back inside and played a low pass to the edge of the box.

One Solly March touch later and Trossard had the beating of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson to double the advantage. Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Matip, Alisson… all are good players. All struggled against Welbeck.

The main beneficiary of Welbeck’s work has been Trossard. Since the 2-1 win at Arsenal back in April when Welbeck began his current run in the side, Trossard has plundered nine goals in 13 matches. Before that, he had nine in 20 months.

Cutting in from the left flank to link up with Welbeck has put Trossard in the best form of his Premier League career. Take Welbeck out of this Brighton side and you can be fairly certain that Trossard’s hot streak will become lukewarm at best.

Welbeck does not need to score 10 goals this season himself if he can help Trossard to get 15. Gary Hart did not score once in the Great Escape of 2009 but his contribution was massive as the perfect foil for Lloyd Owusu to fire Brighton away from the clutches of League Two.

There is one final overwhelming piece of evidence which shows the difference Welbeck makes to Brighton. Potter in his penultimate game in charge rested Welbeck for the trip to Fulham.

Lo and behold, the Albion gave a toothless display in which they suffered their only defeat of the season so far. No coincidence.

Welbeck will not care what his critics are saying. He probably does not even know there are critics. In any case, he has faced far worse in the pressure cooker environments of Manchester United and Arsenal. His injury record too has given people plenty of ammunition to throw at him through the years.

Touch wood, but the hamstring surgery Welbeck underwent a year ago has led to him enjoying his best run of games for several seasons.

An injury-free Welbeck is one of the reasons that Brighton went from six defeats in a row and only one goal scored between February and April to their current flying form.

Those questioning him would do well to remember that. Let us hope it does not take another injury, three months out and the Albion’s results taking a turn for the worst for everyone to realise that Welbz is Dat Guy for Brighton.