Reminder: Brighton under De Zerbi are fantastic to watch
Late in the afternoon on Saturday 18th February 2023, I looked down at the coffee stain on the concrete near my seat that has apparently resisted the effects of all known industrial cleaners over the past seven seasons to check that I wasn’t having a bad dream.
I really was awake and in a rapidly emptying Amex, having witnessed a crime against football and natural justice. I am of course referring to Brighton 0-1 Fulham.
A few hours earlier, with the gloom of a thick February fog trying to force itself down onto the pitch, I’d arrived pessimistically believing that our undefeated run was probably due to end against the Cottagers, a team who are to Brighton what Brighton are to West Ham United.
The absence of Fulham’s star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and an absurdly one-sided start to the game got my hopes up. By the closing minutes I hadn’t given up believing we would score another late winner as we did against Bournemouth, but was filled with the unshakeable belief that it would inevitably be ruled out by VAR.
A frustrating draw, I consoled myself, would at least maintain the status quo in the table, so unjustly imposed on us by Stockley Park’s outrageous failings a week earlier.
No way would a Fulham side, who had no more threatened to trouble our keeper in 85 minutes than I have a gym in 25 years, come away with the three points…
It was an awful game to watch, more so because unlike those desperate days of drought under Potter, we know Roberto De Zerbi can make it rain goals.
The feigned injuries, the dreadful refereeing, and the apparent choice of the VAR officials to not even try to make up for their glaring and confessed crimes at Selhurst that were so hard to take.
That luck which saw Lewis Dunk deflect Tariq Lamptey’s shot into the Liverpool goal last month seems to have abandoned us. Those dual victories over Jurgen Klopp’s men suddenly seem a long time ago.
Off the pitch too the news is not good. Midfield general Adam Lallana appears to be out for the season, some weeks at least before Jacob Moder can make his return.
Another Big Six club seems set to fall into the hands of Arabian peninsula royalty with no limit on the cash they can splash on transfer fees and wages.
How do Brighton compete with Qatari money funding Manchester United, Abu Dhabi money funding Manchester City, Saudi money funding Newcastle United or the mega-rich American owners at Chelsea and Liverpool?
Any hope that the closing of the transfer window would give some respite from speculation over our best players proved short-lived.
Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and Evan Ferguson continue to be linked with those Super League sides who, Chelsea apart, seem to be slowly recovering their stranglehold on the European places. Gloom.
So cheer me up. Remind me that we went what felt like two dozen games without a win this time last season, and still finished ninth.
Point out that we still have one or two games in hand on teams around us. One of those matches is against Crystal Palace, a fixture changed more times than the place names round the Cabinet table.
Players and fans should be easily fired up for that one, both for the rivalry itself and the robbery which took place at Selhurst Park.
Remind me we are still in the top 10 of the biggest league on the planet. Tell me again that we’ve a lot more to see from Julio Enciso, Facundo Buonanotte, Even Ferguson and Yasin Ayari.
The long-awaited return of Moder is still to come. We can still enjoy the thrill of seeing Kaoru Mitoma accelerate towards the by-line. And Caicedo, Mac Allister and the rest cannot go anywhere till the summer.
Reassure me that there are still 14 Premier League games to go, plus of course a fifth round tie that could lead us back to the hallowed turf of Wembley in the FA Cup.
Luck changes. Money, as Todd Boehly and Graham Potter are finding out, doesn’t guarantee success. And even the Big Six aren’t immune from VAR mistakes, as Arsenal discovered recently.
I would rather see us play brilliant, attacking football – even if the final ball or shot on goal is a duff one or even if we concede on the break – than time waste and defend for 90 minutes.
As frustrating as it’s been these last few games, Brighton and Hove Albion under De Zerbi are a joy to watch.
Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC
