Why it’s time for Chris Hughton to ditch 4-3-3

Remember those heady days back in October, when Brighton and Hove Albion ground out three consecutive 1-0 wins? What we’d give for just one victory like that now.

It seems mad to think that at the time there were murmurs of discontent about “only” winning by a single goal against West Ham United, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The theory went that Chris Hughton had an extremely talented squad at his disposal and that we were capable of playing much more positive football. We could sweep aside opposition teams if only he’d abandon his cautious 4-4-1-1 in favour of something like 4-3-3.

Hughton duly did so at the start of the December. The result has been an astonishing collapse in form and an extremely pointed lesson for all of us in being careful what you wish for.

The 4-3-3 dream started well enough, delivering victories at Huddersfield Town in its first outing and that memorable 3-1 Amex hammering of Crystal Palace in its second. Many of us felt vindicated by those two results, but perhaps we were toasting the success of 4-3-3 too early.

They weren’t exactly good games to judge the new formation on. Huddersfield are proving themselves to be by far and away the worse team in the Premier League this season, and we had an extra man for over an hour at the John Smith’s Stadium. It was hardly a stringent test.

Palace at home wasn’t either. Sure, we took the lead through Glenn Murray’s penalty when playing 4-3-3 but Shane Duffy’s early red card and Murray’s first half injury meant that we actually played most of that game with a 4-4-1. We certainly weren’t deploying 4-3-3 when Leon Balogun scored with his first touch or Florin Andone netted that brilliant individual goal on the stroke of half time.

Discarding those two results, the reality of 4-3-3 is that it has delivered a grand total of one Premier League win in the past 11 games, a 1-0 home victory in late December against an out-of-sorts Everton. That’s relegation form.

So, what are the problems with Brighton playing 4-3-3? How long have you got…

It’s made us leak goals at an alarming rate
Brighton had the eighth best defensive record on the Premier League last season, which goes a long way to explaining why we stayed up. Maty Ryan, Lewis Dunk and Duffy were excellent throughout the campaign, but they also had a lot of help from having another bank of four in front of them.

In the first 13 games of this season playing 4-4-1-1, we conceded 19 goals. In 4-3-3’s 11 matches to date, 20 have flown past Ryan and David Button. Struggling Fulham have scored four past us in a single half and struggling Burnley notched three at the Amex at the weekend. Removing the added protection that a midfield four offers has weakened us defensively and when you are a side who relies on defence to survive, that isn’t good news.

It leaves the full backs hopelessly exposed
Gaetan Bong has become the boo boys new favourite in recent weeks, but there is a reason that he has looked out of his depth. With a four man midfield featuring two wingers, both full backs have help when it comes to defending.

Last season, Bong knew that if he was in trouble, Solly March would be there to help him out. Likewise Bruno and Anthony Knockaert down the right, who had an almost telepathic understanding when it came to both attacking and defending.

4-3-3 pushes the wide men much further up the pitch and leaves the full backs hopelessly exposed, which is particularly acute in Bong’s case as Jurgen Locadia shows as much desire to get back and defend as a vegan would to visit KFC.

It’s blunting our most creative player
Pascal Gross, remember him? He was our WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Season in 2017-18, scoring seven times and claiming eight assists to be hailed by the pundits as one of the best Premier League buys of last year.

Gross’ success came because he was being deployed in the number 10 role, where his creativity was given free reign and he could find space to work his magic in behind Glenn Murray.

In a 4-3-3, he’s tasked with more defensive duties which is frankly a waste of his talents, especially when the task of making things happen which was previously Gross’ is now seemingly falling to March and Locadia.

It’s reducing our outlets by narrowing the pitch
One of the most frustrating moments of the Burnley game came when Dunk and Duffy spent what felt like an hour stroking the ball between themselves because there were bugger all options to give it to. The Albion’s midfield three were static, the front three were static and with the Clarets having retreated into two banks of four, the only option was seemingly to smash it long and hope for the best. Not what you want to be doing against a side who make the Jolly Green Giant look like a dwarf.

Playing 4-3-3 means that you lose width. Whereas last season we had the common sight of Dunk or Duffy going to the full backs who would then feed one of the wingers to get attacks started, those outlets no longer exist. Instead, the pitch is narrowed which compacts everyone into a smaller space and all of a sudden, picking out a blue and white shirt becomes a lot harder.

It’s making Dale Stephens look like a donkey
A player who has perhaps suffered even more than Bong from the change is Dale Stephens. Stephens is now being asked to fill a defensive midfield role that is crucial to the success of 4-3-3 which he looks ill-equipped to do. As a result, he’s enduring some of the worst form of his Albion career. Which brings us nicely onto…

We don’t have a defensive midfielder to make the system work
4-3-3 works best with an outstanding midfielder to sit deep as a pivot – think Sergio Busquets at Barcelona. That player has to have the ability to do the dirty work in winning back possession and then possess the passing range to turn defence into attack.

The Albion don’t really have anyone who can do that. Stephens’ recent form has proven he isn’t capable of it, there are still question marks over Yves Bissouma’s defensive ability which isn’t exactly what you want from a defensive midfielder and if you play Davy Propper there, you’re asking a man who rarely tackles to make tackles frequently.

The closest fit is probably Beram Kayal. The Israeli international has become something of a forgotten man since being unceremoniously dropped, ironically as a result of the change to 4-3-3. But he played in all three of those 1-0 wins in October and has both the defensive and attacking sides to his game needed to fulfil the role.

Looking to the future, more interesting was the signing of Romanian international Tudor Băluță for £2.5m from FC Viitorul Constanta. According to our Romanian football expert Alexandru Avram, Băluță has spent his entire career in “the Busquest role” which may well be why the Albion have purchased him. Whether we’ll still be playing 4-3-3 by the time he eventually arrives in England is anyone’s guess of course.

We’re covering less ground and not working as hard
One of the most interesting statistics that we saw in the aftermath of the Burnley game was that last season, the Albion ranked eighth in the division for distance covered. This season, we sit 18th.

How much of that is to do with 4-3-3? With 4-4-1-1, the wingers were getting up and down the line. Gross was charged with covering huge distances and Murray’s work rate was ridiculous for a bloke who isn’t long off collecting a bus pass.

That hard work was another one of the reasons for the Albion’s success. Has 4-3-3 made us lazier? Whereas before, Stephens and Propper knew they were the only two men in the middle, do they now take it easier knowing there is a third body to help out? Likewise, does playing a front three mean that Murray doesn’t need to cover as much ground with Locadia and March thinking they are now strikers and so don’t need to get back and help?

There’s no definitive answer to that but it’s an interesting point.

Conclusion
Everything that the Albion’s Premier League survival in 2017-18 was built upon appears to have been sacrificed with the move to 4-3-3. We’ve surrendered our excellent defensive record, we’re working far less harder as a team, we’re static across the park, Pascal Gross is too deep and previously solid Premier League players like Bong and Stephens are looking like League One plodders.

Brighton’s success so far in the top flight has come from a solid 4-4-1-1, being difficult to beat and grinding out results. Not conceding four times away at the second worst team in the division or letting in three at home to a side below us in the table.

If we want to avoid being pulled into a desperate battle for survival, then 4-3-3 has to go. It hasn’t worked so far, and with the relegation zone just three points away, it’s time to get back to what we know works.