Graham Potter
We hear it every time, and we heard it this time: Be careful what you wish for. Chris Hughton felt like the most British non-British manager and Potter the most foreign British manager, so although the usual actors switched places the advice still rained down: Don’t lose what you have, play it safe.
Forget that Hughton almost took Brighton down after doing such a wonderful job at Brighton. Forget that results had fallen off a cliff. Forget that Potter had a grand vision to take Brighton forward that excited the club and persuaded them to back him. People on the outside thought that they knew best.
Brighton had become one of the most predictable clubs in the Premier League; they are now one of the most interesting. Tottenham were dreadful on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean that Brighton don’t deserve great credit. Speak to their supporters, and they will tell you that this landmark victory has been in the post for some time. We told you so ourselves.
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Most impressive is how quickly Potter has changed Brighton. The average age of the starting XI has dropped, and the team that faced Tottenham on Saturday was the youngest since they were promoted – it contained no player aged 30 or above. Last season, Hughton gave just 110 league minutes to players aged 21 or under (all given to Yves Bissouma before he turned 22 in late August). This season, that total already stands at 453 minutes and Steven Alzate and Aaron Connelly were two stars of Saturday’s win.
Tactically, there is variation where once there was certainty. Potter typically prefers to start with a 3-4-2-1 formation – in itself a significant change from last season – but is regularly prepared to tweak and switch mid-game. The style of play has been transformed, from direct, low-possession football to possession-based play. Brighton’s average possession has gone up 13% from one season to the next.
The signings have helped. Neal Maupay has allowed the responsibility on Glenn Murray – and the way in which playing Murray subscribes the team to a certain strategy – to diminish, but the addition of Aaron Mooy is the brainwave. He and Pascal Gross now get to share creative duties, rather than Gross carrying those on his shoulders.
One of the misnomers of safety-first football is that bedding in and defending with a low block at least avoids your side conceding goals. But the opposite can be true. Brighton are playing more expansively and with such confidence that their opponents are being penned back and given something to think about in their own third. Brighton have conceded 10 goals in eight games and have already played Manchester City away. No team has more clean sheets in the league.
The Premier League is sold as the Promised Land, and it is indeed great to pit yourselves against the game’s elite. But after the initial surge of excitement, it’s not much fun watching a team try and draw games 0-0 or keep the score down and grind out home wins against easier opposition. What Brighton – and many of their supporters – wanted was to try to have some fun. For fans, that’s what it’s supposed to be about.
Appointing Potter might be a misstep. It might still cost Brighton their place in the Premier League. But equally might allow this non-elite club to thrive in the top flight and hit upon a method of becoming even greater than the sum of their parts. It might mean that they find something better. And right now, life under Graham Potter feels better and tastes sweeter.
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