If you analyse most goals scored each week you will discover somewhere in the build-up, a member of the team who has conceded, has made a mistake. It is the primary responsibility of the coach to try to stop these mistakes happening. Invariably, these mistakes are the result of players making the wrong decisions. One way the coach attempts to deal with this problem is to make those decisions for him. During the game the player attempts to follow the instructions of his coach that he has received during training.
The Brighton team are very much the product of Gus Poyet’s coaching. There is no doubt that Poyet’s style of play has brought the club a great deal of success. The downside of this is the manager of the opposing team is fully aware of the way that Brighton play. At this level, they are shrewd enough to develop a strategy that will make things difficult for Brighton.
Every home game this season has followed a similar pattern. Brighton build-up play is always slow and measured. The ball is stroked from side to side as the players look for the opportunity to make the decisive pass forward. This is always difficult as the midfield is always packed denying Brighton’s forwards the space they need. At the same time they have been coached not to give the ball way. This results in a tendency to avoid making a longer, more difficult pass. Their task is made more difficult by their forwards closing them down very quickly.
In the games against Doncaster Rovers and Liverpool, Brighton needed to go behind before they increased the speed and variety of their passing. The same thing happened against Leeds on Friday. In the 18th minute Leeds launched the ball forward and managed to get five of their players into Brighton’s penalty area. Adam Clayton’s shot was blocked but it fell kindly to Andy Keogh who had no trouble from scoring close-in.
The situation got even worse six minutes later. Leeds played a long ball to the left side of the defence. Gordon Greer appeared to have enough time to clear the ball into the stands. However, he decided to try and get the ball under control in order to start off a Brighton attack. This did not happen and Greer was dispossessed by the hard-working Keogh. He quickly gave it to Snodgrass who was able to pass it inside to Ross McCormack, who was standing with his back to goal. As he was at least 25 yards from goal, there seemed little danger. But at the moment, McCormack, who is in great form at the moment, swiftly turned and fired an unstoppable shot just inside the post. McCormack then gestured to Michael Brown on the bench to get his money ready. Apparently, Brown gives McCormack £100 every times he scores in a match (McCormack has to give Brown £50 if he fails to do this).
It was clear that at half-time Poyet told them to play at a higher tempo and within two minutes of the restart, Brighton had reduced the deficit. A misdirected Leeds throw-in was picked up by Ashley Barnes near the corner-flag, he made a clever first-time pass to Craig Mackail-Smith. With his back to the goal, he made a delightful turn and in the same movement passed the ball past Lonergan into the net.
The confidence seemed to drain out of Leeds. They stopped closing down the Brighton players with the ball and they therefore had the time to pass the ball into more dangerous areas. In the 60th minute LuaLua went on a run and for about the first time that evening, he managed to end it with a pass that was close to another Brighton player. The speed of Mackail-Smith, made it a much better pass than it was. Even so, he was going away from goal and did not seem an obvious danger. Leigh Bromby, obviously surprised by Mackail-Smith’s pace, decided to make a tackle, but unable to get the ball, only managed to give away a penalty. Barnes, who is one of the most confident penalty takers I have seen, coolly smashed the ball into the top corner.
Brighton was now dominating the game and it seemed that it was just a matter of time before they got the winner. However, we had to wait until the 84th minute before Barnes conjured up some magic on the right-wing, and Mackail-Smith, showing the kind of great movement that enabled him to lose his marker, just got his toe to the ball before Bromby could clear.
Most fans must have thought that it would not be too difficult to close the game down against a demoralized and apparently exhausted Leeds team. To their credit, they seemed to get a burst of energy after going behind and Vayrynen tested Ankergren with a shot that he could only parry the ball to Adam Clayton who fired over the bar.
In the second minute of extra-time, a Leeds attack broke down. Ankergren had the ball in his hands and I fully expected him to wait a few seconds in order to enable the players on both sides to leave the penalty area and then for him to roll the ball to one of his defenders. That is what Gus Poyet has coached him to do. That is what he does over 95% of the time. Instead, inexplicably, he cleared the ball upfield, where not one Brighton player was standing. The ball went straight to their goalkeeper, who immediately launched the ball into the still packed penalty area. McCormack managed to head the ball onto Howson, Paynter, moved in to tackle, then deciding that he might bring him down, pulled out, and allowed him to get to the bi-line. His cut-back cross with easily knocked in by McCormack.
It is not difficult to imagine what Poyet said to Ankergren after the game. He told the Sky Sports interviewer: “That is not us. We do not play 3-3 games. I will take 0-0 or 1-1. This is something we need to put right.” However, it would be a mistake to concentrate too much on Ankergren’s strange decision to give the ball to the opposing goalkeeper in the last minute. Poyet will need to address the problems that are emerging during the first-half of his team’s games.
John Simkin
In the last minute of extra time Ankergren kicked the ball upfield and with no one in an advanced position it went straight to the goalkeeper. Lonergan then hit a good long ball into the penalty area. The ball bobbed around before it found McCormack in front of goal who had an easy task of equalizing. Does this mean we need a new goalkeeper in January?
Brighton was slow and sloppy in the first-half and deserved to be two-nil down at the break. The second-half was much better. They were faster to the ball and this was especially true in front of goal where Mackail-Smith scored with two neat finishes. A third was scored by Barnes from a penalty.
Overall it was a fair result with Leeds deserving a point.
Alex Davies
