“Brighton March to Solly’s tune”
The riverside sessions
Fancy watching the mesmeric effects of falling drops of rain upon a still river and the beautiful reflections of a historic toy town in the shadow of the oldest iron bridge in the entire world?
Then step right this way!
14th January 2023
BRIGHTON 3 (March 46 and 53, Welbeck 81)
LIVERPOOL 0
“Oh Sussex, Sussex by the Sea!
Good old Sussex by the Sea!
You may tell them all we stand or fall,
For Sussex by the Sea”.
Ever the traditionalists, Brighton and Hove Albion still enter the field of play to the glorious musical refrain of “Sussex by the Sea” and I can’t help but think of a Sussex born gentleman who didn’t support Brighton but rather tolerated Manchester United to placate a wife who bore him four children. A footballing agnostic, an Arsenal fan and two Liverpool fans isn’t a bad return for a passionate fan of Manchester United and boy can I still see her beaming smile as she used to sing this grand old seaside anthem in deference to the man who adored her.
That grand old anthem to a long ago footballing past reverberated around a stadium for a newer footballing future today as seventy year old records were broken by a team in blue and white stripes who thoroughly dismantled a team that were on the verge of quadruple winning greatness mere months ago. In the first half in particular, “the men from Sussex, Sussex by the Sea” were simply dismantling and pulling apart a team they played at their own, and now old, game. Bloody minded determination to “rat around” in midfield, to grab that damn ball back, control the tempo of a pressing game, squeezing the life out of the middle third of the pitch with strikers retreating to defend and start attacks, midfielders pressing forward for transitional loose balls. Brighton reminded me so much of the Liverpool team that were on the verge of ridiculous greatness less than a year ago.
And I have no idea where that team has gone.
"Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles" - link to Amazon
Injuries have seen the core of the team missing either long term or stop and start short term, and Sadio Mané will always remain a huge miss. I called this season early on as a “Sword of Damocles” affair. After threatening to win everything in sight last season, this year would always be a huge come down regardless but I never saw the downfall being so rapid and so far south, and on the south coast of Sussex by the Sea. At the break, the Reds had registered just one single shot off target only and by the end of their chastening and 3–0 thrashing, for that’s what this afternoon was, a thrashing, they’d added just two shots on target (two tame headers in fact) and only garnered their first corner of the game in the 90th minute.
Aside from this, I noted Joël Matip’s yellow card just after the quarter of an hour mark as Brighton’s Japanese striker Kaoru Mitoma ran both him and his defensive mates ragged, causing havoc wherever he roamed, and the yellow card dished out to skipper Jordan Henderson on half an hour as he “left one on” Moisés Caicedo. It was a legitimate if snide tackle on the Ecuadorian and a badge of honour of sorts. Caicedo had been magnificent for the first 30 minutes of the game, the central hub to all of his team’s bright and inventive work as well as the hard yards of persistent tackling, pressing and harassing the Reds to relinquish control of the ball. Henderson’s tackle was one of authority, to kick, hassle and hustle Brighton out of their stride, and his team into theirs. That it failed so miserably speaks volumes for the team he currently leads and a team that isn’t even a shadow of their former selves.
It’s looking far worse than that.
"A final word from The Boss" - link to Amazon
Brighton were magnificent and fully deserved of their comprehensive win. I compiled my matchday notes in 15 minute quarters today and the team in the blue and white stripes dominated every quarterly phase. Ending my first quarter of notes with Brighton acting as “terriers in the middle of the field”, this was exemplified by ex Liverpool Red Adam Lallana, the industry of World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister and the nagging, probing forward runs of Kaoru Mitoma. The second 15 minute spell was all Moisés Caicedo and the lead up to the half-time break was now Kaoru Mitoma probing and stretching the Reds defence once more, the deep intuitive positions being taken up by fellow striker Evan Ferguson (who was outstanding) and the correctly ruled out goal from Solly March for offside.
March would get his goal, two in fact, the second a wondrous move that cut open the Reds midfield and defence before his sublime cross shot past a helpless Alisson Becker in the Reds goal and on 53 minutes, Brighton had a deserved two goal cushion. Ten minutes later, and after a team move that calmly and assuredly swept from defence into midfield and back again, one touch, two touch passes pulling the Reds out of position and creating ever larger swathes of untroubled possession in the centre of the field, Kaoru Mitoma drilled a low shot forcing Alisson Becker into another score line saving save. Controlled possession, stretching the opposition, slowly, slowly then, with space to play and opposition players out of position, quick one-two passes in small triangles and you’ve released your striker(s) again, bearing down on goal.
It was all so reminiscent of a Liverpool team from not a long time ago.
Brighton’s third goal came from a throw-in (yes, a throw-in) and with a touch or two of class, ex Arsenal and Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck scored a well taken goal, and that rather put a humbling full stop to a quite dreadful afternoon.
Shall we sing another bar of “Sussex by the Sea” or shall we just forget that this afternoon even happened?
Afterword
Liverpool Boss, Jürgen Klopp
“Congratulations to Brighton, they played an outstanding game. I really thought in moments we made it a little bit too easy for them, but in general they played outstanding and we didn’t”.
“We had these moments, but there was no moment in the game where we could get a little lift and go from there. Then doubt comes and it is horrible to watch, to be honest. I think everybody with a Brighton shirt on or a Brighton heart enjoyed the game a lot and I don’t think anybody with a Liverpool heart enjoyed it for a second”.
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.