I don't know about you, but I've actually been to the Amex Stadium. It's a perfectly lovely and serviceable place (and the beer is reasonably priced), but it's absolutely in the middle of nowhere. You can't walk there, as it's quite some way (uphill mostly) from Brighton itself, and occupies a spot in a valley that it shares with the University of Sussex. And, as it turns out, it's in the perfect spot to catch any bad weather blowing in off the English Channel; directly into the faces of the away fans, I should add.
So it wouldn't have been much fun for Arsenal fans on Saturday evening. They may have had a pleasant day in Brighton itself (despite the rain), but would have had to leave fairly early to get bussed up to the stadium. And I guess that many will wish that they'd have stayed in The Lanes, because they'd have uncomfortably watched a distinctly uncomfortable 90 minutes of football as the team battled - somehow - to a goalless draw.
This was obviously a bit of a let-down after last week's ritual slaughtering of The Old Enemy, but I think that we have to put some things into context here. Firstly, Brighton had a proper game plan, and their players carried it out to the letter. And secondly Arsenal missed the positional sense - and left-footedness - of Granit Xhaka, but most importantly failed to adapt to the conditions.
Brighton have had an excellent start to the season, so a point is no disgrace. Their manager had actually analysed how to make things difficult for Arsenal, and by making it difficult for Arsenal to play out short from the back by means of a targeted press, but additionally make it equally hard to go long because of their three man-mountain centre halfs meant that possession was turned over far too frequently for our comfort.
In truth, it was a tedious game and a hard watch - one that won't live long in the memory - so we just need to bank the point and move on.
There were no surprises on the team sheet, with Lokonga replacing the injured Xhaka. And whilst he is a more progressive player than the Swiss he isn't acclimatised to the Premier League yet, and is probably more suited to a more comfortable contest than the one he had on Saturday.
Additionally, there would have been a distinct advantage to having a left-footer alongside Partey, as Tierney was often left with no real out ball apart from a dink down the line, with either of Arsenal's central midfielders likely to turn into trouble in taking the ball off of him due to Brighton's shape. Brighton put pressure on Tierney, and especially Ben White - who of course they know a lot about - in order to restrict the ability to play out from the back. Conversely, they often left Tomiyasu as the free man, and he frankly had a torrid time both in and out of possession.
Ahead of them, Partey was not at his best; often out-numbered to be fair, and Odegaard had as poor a game in an Arsenal shirt as I've seen. Saka had his moments, but the most effective offensive player in the Arsenal side was once more Emile Smith Rowe. He looked, if anything, even better when he switched from the left hand side to the Number 10 position when Odegaard was hooked after an hour, and almost came up with a unlikely (and frankly undeserved) winner late on.
Right up top, Aubameyang was simply over-matched by the three enormous Brighton centre halves, and we saw some marked improvement - for a short while at least - when Lacazette went on to replace him and started to come a little shorter to receive the ball and link up the play a little more. The game was not suited to Auba's strengths, that's for sure.
There's not a lot to report on, incident wise, to be honest. Saka had a very early chance that he made for himself, and he and ESR were definitely a threat on the occasional counter attack (I'm not sure why Saka was switched to the left in order to accommodate Pepe late on, by the way, as I feel that he is far more effective from the right than the left and should have been left there).
And it wasn't until the last 10 minutes that Brighton - despite their dominance of possession and almost constant pressure (the irritating Maupay at the centre of that) - managed a shot on target. Indeed, the only real scare was when Ramsdale batted a cross down in the first half and was clearly fouled by Duffy, causing him to spill the ball; only for Dunk to blast over the bar. Foul not given, but I suspect that VAR would have ruled the goal out. Late on, Ramsdale's timely intervention prevented Maupay from tapping into the empty net, but aside from that there was a lot of huff and puff - all of which made it a hard watch! - but no end product.
New left wing back Cucurella looks a great addition for Brighton, and they look sure to finish in the top half of the table. Neat, tidy and often decisive in possession; they are a very effective side and as such, and in the circumstances of the appalling weather, a point is no bad thing. One thing is for sure; last year, Arsenal would have lost this game.
All of which makes me despair when I read some of the stuff I saw on social media in the aftermath of the game. Things are simply too black & white for some people; why it should suddenly be #ArtetaOut just 6 days after the Spurs game is simply beyond me. It's as if Twitter takes away peoples' sense of perspective. Pathetic!
So we move on to another Interlull - and the delights of Andorra vs England! - and return with two winnable home fixtures in the space of a week after that. COYG!
No comments:
Post a Comment