Matt Pole is joined by Brighton writers Derren Howard and Henry Bryant. Albion endured a week to forget after they let three points slip away in the Premier League, and crashed out of the Carabao Cup.
The Seagulls threw away a 2-0 lead to draw as struggling Wolves fought back to earn a Premier League point at the Amex on Saturday.
Brighton were then beaten 3-2 at home by Liverpool as they exited the Carabao Cup at the round of 16 on Wednesday night.
The three of them pick over the bones of these two game and look ahead to Albion’s next two matches against the Premier League’s top two - Liverpool and Manchester City.
The Seagulls threw away a 2-0 lead to draw as struggling Wolves fought back to earn a Premier League point at the Amex on Saturday.
Brighton were then beaten 3-2 at home by Liverpool as they exited the Carabao Cup at the round of 16 on Wednesday night.
The three of them pick over the bones of these two game and look ahead to Albion’s next two matches against the Premier League’s top two - Liverpool and Manchester City.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome to another episode of the Goldmouth Action Podcast, where we take a look at all
00:03the latest goings-on at Brighton over Albion. I'm Matt Pole and this week I'm joined by Brighton
00:08writers Darren Howard and Henry Bryan. Albion endured a week to forget after they let three
00:13points slip away in the Premier League and then crashed out of the Carabao Cup. The Seagulls
00:17threw away a 2-0 lead to draw as struggling Wolves fought back to earn a Premier League
00:21point at the Amex on Saturday. Brighton were then beaten 3-2 at home by Liverpool as they
00:26exited the Carabao Cup at the round of 16 on Wednesday night. We'll pick over the bones of
00:30these two games plus we'll look ahead to Albion's next two matches against the Premier League's top
00:34two, Liverpool and Manchester City. You can read all the stories we are talking about with videos
00:40and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk forward slash sport and you can check out other great
00:44videos on shotstv.com and freeview channel 262. You may also be watching on latest TV so thank
00:49you very much for tuning in but starting at the Amex on Saturday, Brighton against Wolves.
00:54Albion looked to be coasting to three points after substitute Evan Ferguson made it 2-0
00:58in the 85th minute after Danny Werbeck had opened the scoring at the end of the first half
01:03but Wolves struck twice at the death to claim just their second point of the season. Sum that up for
01:08us Darren, it seemed a bit of a horror show. How did they manage to throw that one away then?
01:14Yeah, it was an early, like you say, a horror show. Early Halloween gift for Wolves maybe but
01:20yeah, they were all right to be honest. For the first 85 minutes I thought Brighton looked good,
01:27especially in the first half and then in the second half Wolves were very competitive. They
01:33came in, played some good stuff and they had Brighton on the back foot for periods of the
01:39second half and I was quite impressed with Wolves actually. I like the way Gary O'Neill
01:43sets his teams up and I thought they caused Brighton quite a few problems without scoring
01:52until the death but Brighton got that second goal as you say. Evan Ferguson, a nice goal from him,
01:59his first in almost a year so great for his confidence but then they got the second goal
02:07and you could just feel the atmosphere change in the stadium. The fans thought they'd won the
02:12match. Some fans left, started to leave thinking we'll get the early train or get an early car and
02:19you just felt the intensity drop off and they went to sleep completely and the players did,
02:25the atmosphere in the stadium did and yeah, they were punished in the most ruthless way which can
02:34happen in the Premier League. They just all dropped off and then there was that mistake by
02:39Matt Swiffer at the end when it was 2-1 and they were marauding forward and just trying to
02:44get that third goal to kill it off. It was a 4v1 attack. Matt Swiffer had the ball in possession,
02:50could have picked out any one of the Brighton players but it was a loose pass, went straight
02:54to the Wolves defender, they went up the pitch and it was 2-2. So yeah, a disappointed end.
03:00They were in fourth place for a while but the draw knocks them back to six so a bit of a
03:09blow but I think it was just a bit of slack play at the end there really.
03:15Henry, why have Brighton struggled to beat teams near the foot of the table at home this season?
03:20Man Utd and Spurs are both seen off of the Amex but they just couldn't find a way to beat Ipswich
03:24and obviously not in the same kind of boat but Nottingham Forest had 10 men and now Wolves.
03:29What's been the deciding factor as to why they can't break these kind of teams down?
03:33Well, I think it is a matter of consistency. I mean, there's been a few games where the
03:39Albion have been able to press on and even nick a goal as we saw in that Man Utd game with
03:43João Pedro getting a goal to make it 2-1 in the last minutes of added time, 90 plus fifth minute
03:50and there was absolute limbs at the Albion. But against Wolves, as Dara mentioned, we looked
03:56naive when we did get that two goal lead and it's also sort of what Fabian Herzler was saying at
04:02full time in the press conference and from fan reaction it was almost taken as a defeat because
04:08it was 2-0 after those 85 minutes. It's an area of Brighton's game we need to see more of when it
04:15comes to these types of teams just being a little bit more ruthless. That was a key message from
04:21Fabian Herzler in a lot of the press conference comments that he gave and I think he's right.
04:26I think it is just due to maybe a lack of maybe some experience and in terms of the substitutions
04:33that Fabian Herzler made against Wolves, there were some criticisms from fans afterwards to say
04:40that maybe this wasn't the right decision and maybe it wasn't with the way that the game went
04:45and of course you can look at Matt Swiffer who's had that 4v1 opportunity, three players he could
04:51have picked out and just wasn't able to think in a clear way and get the Brighton players going and
05:00even get a third goal. Then it's 3-1, a completely different game and even more momentum going into
05:06the Carabao Cup that we've just had and just sort of been taken out of. So I think in terms of the
05:12way that Brighton are playing at the moment, it's one where it's either we're on the front foot at
05:19the last few minutes or someone else is on the front foot. It almost takes us to lose to get on
05:24the front foot and it takes another team to win for us to shy away from things and that's not how
05:32it should be. We need a bit more consistency, a bit more courage, a bit more hunger in the last
05:37dying embers of the game regardless of what the score is and for the best interests of not only
05:42the fans and the players but just the club in general because I think you could talk about
05:49this but we have had a good start. Sixth position and the youngest permanent manager in history
05:56of the Premier League. We can take that and obviously there's going to be some hurdles to
06:00jump over and make sure that in terms of the way we play we can build on from this and then when
06:07we played Ipswich, their defence I have to say did have a really good game and the newly promoted
06:13side were able to thwart attacks and then use De Lappe as a counter attacker and I think I believe
06:19they did hit the bar in that game. So it was quite unlucky for them and it was quite a deserved
06:26nil-nil. I don't think either side deserved to win that game but just getting on to the point
06:31of why we can't beat those sorts of teams, I think it's just because of the way that Brighton like to
06:37set up and in terms of the new styles of play that we've got sometimes we can get a bit leggy
06:42sort of in that last few periods of the game. Henry's mentioned it there Darren, naivety.
06:49We did praise Fabian Zola last week for sitting to grow as a manager after that hard-fought win
06:53against Newcastle but has the German kind of not learned his lesson in a way? I know he's
06:59green as a manager but is there still that naivety there? I don't know. I think it was just a problem
07:07The problem that was there is an easy fix really. It was just played to the final whistle.
07:14The substitutions that he made, there was some criticism. Henry was right and one of the main
07:20criticisms was Carlos Bolivar had a very good game and he was then withdrawn during the Walls match
07:28and Matt Swiffer took his place in the midfield and he was a Dutch international,
07:33Netherlands international midfielder who should be more than capable of coming onto the pitch and
07:38helping to see the game out. He's a 25 million pound midfielder and he should have...
07:47I don't think Herzl can... you can't really blame that on Herzl. I think it was just an
07:52individual error. I was looking at the game and I was thinking that Bolivar and Rutter who came
07:58off, I was thinking they were tiring towards the end of that game. They'd put a lot into it.
08:03They both did very well in the game but I actually did a piece on Sussex World and
08:09I thought he actually made the right call to take those two players off at the time he did
08:14and the players that came on, they should have just done their jobs a bit better
08:19really. I don't think there was anything wrong with the substitutions as such.
08:25They were wrong. I just think the intensity levels just dropped throughout. They thought
08:31the game was won at 2-0 and they really dropped off and yeah, Wolves came back into it as we know.
08:40But I would be reluctant to put the blame on Herzl for that one. I think he'd be the first
08:48to admit he hasn't got everything right this season and I still think this Brighton team are
08:52a work in progress as well. There's lots of new players being introduced and they're very talented
08:58individuals but they just need to sort of click and know what each other's doing properly as a
09:04team before they're the finished article. I still don't think they've had like a proper 90 minutes
09:10yet this season. They're in sixth place. They're going well and I still don't think they've put
09:15together a complete performance. I think there's so much more to come from this team and I still
09:22think Herzl, you know, he can improve a lot and get more from these players and get more from this
09:30team. So yeah, I think he did well in that Wolves game and I just think the players that came on,
09:38I'm not going to say they let him down but they made a couple of mistakes that they shouldn't
09:43have done. We've hammered Brighton a bit in the first half but there were definitely some
09:48positives to take away of the game. I think Darren mentioned the fact that Evan Ferguson's
09:52goal was his first in 11 months. How much of a confidence boost will that be for the Irish
09:58striker Henry? Bizarrely, I'm not quite sure why, he has received criticism in some quarters but
10:02you need to remember he's only just turned 20. Yeah, exactly that. I mean he burst onto the
10:08scene for the Albion last season in the first few games, getting a few fantastic goals there
10:15and I think that everyone and the media were getting very excited about this new talent that
10:21Brighton and Hove Albion have got and it's a striker to put the icing on top of the cake.
10:26This isn't another midfielder, this is a striker, this is the main man that you want and I think
10:34that when his injury did come and it was a long-term injury, a lot of people were sort of
10:39putting on a little bit of stick from him just because I think everyone expected so much from
10:43him and it's obviously going to take the young man time to recover from this and even in these
10:49first few games that he's been able to play, it's fantastic to see that he's scored and I think
10:56that the confidence that he'll get as he's only 20 is going to be monumental and in the Wednesday
11:03Carabao Cup fixture against Liverpool, although he didn't get the goal, he did have a good shot
11:09on target that was saved and then Odingra was able to tap it in to make it 2-1 and I think
11:18that that will give him some confidence even though it wasn't his goal, just that he is helping
11:22dictate the play. I think there's a lot more to come from him, only time will tell to see if he
11:28will sort of live up to the media hype that has been put on him but that is one of the things I
11:34think in terms of the way that young football players are portrayed in the media, there's so
11:38much hype and you can only imagine the pressure that they must go through through the social media
11:43platforms, the news outlets, all sort of saying you'll do one thing. So I think for him to get
11:49that goal is fantastic and I'm wishing him all the best for the rest of the season. I think he'll be
11:54able to net a few more goals and a few more appearances and he might be back to his ways
12:00from last season when he wasn't injured. Absolutely and another man who, Sean, and I think we've
12:05probably mentioned him on most podcasts this season, is a certain Mr Danny Welbeck and nine
12:09games in he has already scored more goals than he managed in 29 Premier League appearances last
12:13season. The former Man United national striker already has six Premier League goals this season,
12:18one more than he managed for the whole of last season. But how long can he keep this up for,
12:22Deron? Obviously he's got a well-known history of injury problems and they're going to have to
12:27wrap him up in cotton wool, aren't they, at this point? Yes, well he looks as fit as a fiddle at
12:33the moment. I think everybody was surprised to see him in the starting line-up against Wolves
12:38because he had that back injury against Newcastle. So he scored the winner against Newcastle and in
12:44the second half he had a bit of a collision with Fabian Scheer and he received some lengthy
12:50treatment on the pitch. He was taken to hospital and he couldn't move his leg. It was quite a
12:56worrying moment for him because the impact just hit a nerve and it made his leg go numb for a
13:06while. So there was some concern during the Newcastle match. That's why they were very
13:11cautious. He was receiving oxygen afterwards and he went straight to hospital in Newcastle.
13:19I think many people thought he would miss the Wolves game. Like you say, given his history,
13:25he's coming into his senior years now. He's 33 and he's probably thought let's go easy and see how
13:36he goes. But no, he went into the Wolves game and played very well and got another goal against
13:42Wolves. Then Evan Ferguson obviously came in for the Carabao Cup against Liverpool in midweek. I
13:52fully expect him to be in the starting line-up at Anfield this weekend. He's got quite a good
13:56record against Liverpool as well. So they'll be hoping his goal scoring form continues.
14:03I think he's playing some of the best football of his career at the moment. You look around at the
14:09other English strikers who are scoring in the Premier League. There's him, Ollie Watkins and
14:15I think he's up there with the best of the English strikers. There has been some tentative
14:22calls or maybe would Thomas Tuchel have a look at him for some of the qualifying games that he's
14:28got coming up as well. It's remarkable to think that he could have perhaps played himself into
14:34contention for an international call-up. I think his last appearances were under Roy Hodgson. I'm
14:42not sure. Did he play under Southgate at all? I'd have to check that. Whichever way it goes,
14:50if he could get another England appearance in the later stages of his career, that would be
14:56amazing. But from Brighton's point of view, he's been fantastic. He's helped Jorginho,
15:01Rutter, No End as well. Those two have got a great combination. I spoke to Fabio Herzella
15:07and asked him about this Danny Welbeck and Rutter combination and then with Jal Pedro
15:12potentially coming back in as well. He thinks that there's the potential that the three of them can
15:18all play together. It wouldn't just be one combination or the other. He thinks there is
15:24a potential to play Pedro, Welbeck and Rutter as well, which would be quite interesting and a
15:31different way of attacking. He's that player who can play. He's been playing higher up the pitch,
15:36but he's quite versatile as well. Long may it continue.
15:42As someone who turns 33 next year, Darren, I'm quite worried about the fact that I'll be going
15:46into my senior years next year. Well, I have a midlife crisis and we're going to take a little
15:55break and when we come back, we'll talk all things Liverpool v Brighton in the Carabao Cup.
16:00Welcome back to part two, where we'll discuss Brighton against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.
16:05Cody Gakpoe scored twice to help send holders Liverpool into the quarterfinals of the League
16:09Cup. A thrilling 3-2 victory at Brighton. You were at the Amex for that one, Henry.
16:14Sum that up for us, please.
16:17Well, I think it was a mix of quality from Liverpool and a few more naive mistakes at
16:22times from Brighton. Again, unfortunately, Brighton kept it 0-0 in the first half.
16:27Had a good chance to make it 1-0 in the early stages of the game with Lamptey
16:32having a shot straight at the goalkeeper. But in the 46th minute of the second half,
16:37Gakpoe was given space to shoot just outside the box and it was a lovely finish into the top
16:42corner. Lovely goal. Quite sad to see for Brighton fans, but it was a lovely finish.
16:49And then Brighton tried to react again with Lamptey crossing a ball into Odinga,
16:54whose brilliant-headed effort was saved onto the post just minutes later. And then for Gakpoe's
16:59second, Lamptey was dispossessed, maybe a little bit cheaply, with Liverpool players charging at
17:06him and Jason Steele wasn't able to save the shot at his near post because there was so much power.
17:13And in terms of what happened next, I feel like Brighton just weren't able to
17:19dominate the game. Liverpool were able to make sure that they had won this game, saw it through.
17:25And even though Brighton had a little charge late in the end of the game to,
17:31you know, change their fortunes, make this 3-0 after they got a goal for 3-2,
17:36I think that overall it just wasn't Brighton's night. I think naive mistakes on the pitch just
17:43showed up too easily. And a few of the goals almost looked like a training ground goal. I mean,
17:48Matt Whiffer was at fault for one of the goals, in my opinion, where he was muscled off of the
17:54ball by Luis Diaz in his own box when the ball went up into the air. And it just seemed like
18:00he is still lacking confidence. But although it was 3-2, we've got another chance to,
18:06you know, maybe rectify what we've done with the sort of second leg of the back-to-back
18:13games against Liverpool in the league. So, we'll see if Brighton are able to do something there.
18:19Absolutely. Well, Fabian Hatzeler made eight changes to his start in XI following Saturday's
18:23draw against Wolves, including a first start for summer signing Brian Gruder.
18:28Darren, who stood out for the Seagulls against Liverpool and how did the new boy get on?
18:33Yeah, Brian Gruder, he's sort of worked his way into the game. I think he's,
18:38again, he's, like you say, he arrived in the summer, 25 million signing from
18:42Mainz and he struggled with a few injuries. He sort of arrived with a knock and they spent the
18:48time sort of just getting him up to speed, getting his fitness ready. And this was his first start.
18:53He's had a couple of substitute appearances and he's a player that predominantly likes to play
18:59on the right and then cut inside with his left foot. Very skilful, clever on the ball. And Fabian
19:08Hatzeler, he's described him as a street baller. He said he just likes to get the ball down and,
19:14you know, just play as though he's having a kick around with his mates, which is great.
19:19But the challenge is sort of like embedding that into the team structure as well. So, I think,
19:27yeah, he looks promising. And I thought throughout the game he worked really hard. He closed the
19:33Liverpool players down as well. And he also showed glimpses of what he can do on the ball as well. So,
19:38I think the more he gets used to this Brighton team, playing under Herzegovina, playing with
19:43his teammates, and the more he gets used to the intensity and the stronger he gets,
19:49I think he's got a lot of potential. So, yeah, he's certainly one to keep an eye on as well.
19:56And I was pleased to see Tarek Lamptey back in the starting lineup as well. He's been out of
20:03the team. I was sort of thinking at the early part of the season that Herzegovina just really
20:07doesn't fancy him at all. And he's just sort of been on the sidelines. But he's been getting an
20:13opportunity of late. Herzegovina said that he's looking sharp. He's looking fit. He's played some
20:17games for Ghana. And he's now come back and he's probably in the best shape that he's been since
20:24Herzegovina has been at the club. And he started at right back. So, he's been behind Joel Veltman.
20:31But at some stage, I'd love to see Lamptey at right back and then Jankuba Minter ahead of him.
20:37I just think that's just full of pace down that right-hand side. Maybe it might not be
20:43the best defensively, but it'd be great fun to watch going forward. So, yeah, I was pleased to
20:50see Lamptey back in the team. I'm a big fan of his. When he's fit, he's such a threat
20:58to the defence. I remember against Marseille last season at the Velodrome, he was one of the best
21:04players for Brighton. So, I'd love to see him sort of get back to that level. So, for me,
21:10Lamptey and Gruda, yeah, I think they were the positives from the evening.
21:17Well, speaking of full-backs, one concern for Albion will be a potential injury sustained to
21:22Ferdi Kadioglu. The Turkish full-back was replaced by Pervis Estupinayan in the second half. And
21:28what's the latest on Kadioglu, Henry? Was he mentioned in Hazala's post-match press conference?
21:34He was indeed in the pre-match press conference. Hazala was saying that
21:39Kadioglu's injury is not that bad and hopefully he will be an option. And it's been good to see that
21:44the Turkish transfer record has been growing in confidence at the Albion. I mean, in the first
21:52few little appearances he made off the bench, he did look slightly shaky. He took a little bit of
21:57time to get used to the Premier League pace. But he's really finding his feet in this team
22:03and he's becoming a really, really valuable player for the Albion. And I think the fact that he is
22:10someone with aggression and pace and is able to attack that wing and spray the ball to the
22:16wingers very quickly makes him a really good option. And maybe a key reason as to why Bryson
22:22wanted him to turn around defence into attack quickly and start attacks like that, because he's
22:28been really, really good to watch. I think a lot of Bryson fans I've been speaking to are saying
22:33he's already becoming a little bit of a fan's favourite already. So it's really nice to see
22:38that he's moulded into the club and sort of developing himself and improving game by game.
22:45Following the 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool, Albion have now conceded 11 goals in the last
22:50five games in all competitions to the Amex. Why are the C goals suddenly so leaky at the
22:55back, Darren, and how can Atzela resolve this? Obviously, home form will be key if they want
22:59to push for Europe and just even go on to win things this season.
23:03Yes. Yeah, it is a concern, I think, and it's something they need to work on. Atzela always
23:10says clean sheets win championships, and they're struggling to keep these clean sheets, even
23:17against walls. During that second half, you're constantly worried, thinking they just don't look
23:25secure. There's problems. And I think they've had a lot of injury issues. Lewis Dunk missed
23:32that Wolves game. He injured himself in the warm-up. Van Hecker as well. He's struggled
23:37with his groin, so he's missed the last few games. And they haven't had a settled back line.
23:43Estupinjan has been in and out. Kadioglu's been on the left side. Jack Hinshawood was playing left
23:48back for the first few weeks of the season. Joel Veltman's probably been the mainstay down on the
23:55right full-back spot. But everything else has been changing. We've had Igor Julio playing at
24:01centre-back as well. There's been no partnerships, no consistency in that area of the pitch.
24:09Hopefully, once they get their injured players back, Lewis Dunk has got a chance to play against
24:14Liverpool this weekend at Anfield. Hopefully, you'll see them being a bit meaner at the back.
24:20But you're right, it's been far too loose so far, and it could cost them, like you say, a place in
24:27Europe if they don't sort that out. Hopefully, the more they play together, the better it will get.
24:37Deren, that's where the Seagulls will be this weekend in the Premier League.
24:40How do you see this one going, Henry? Can we glean much from the FA Cup clash going into this one?
24:46I think if the Albion are able to clean up a few of their individual mistakes and are able to gel
24:54a little bit more in defence, with maybe a few of the defenders coming back, I'd be interested to see
24:59who does come back for the Albion, because that'll be a big turning point as to how confident fans
25:04will be going into this game and what they think they can get out of it. I think that, in truth,
25:10though, Liverpool have just been so strong this season, especially in their Premier League. It's
25:15been really good to see how they've been operating under the new manager, Arne Slott. They seem to be
25:20doing really well with him. I think that in terms of the result for the Albion, this will be really
25:25tricky. I think a point would be a fantastic result from this, but I think in terms of the
25:31way that Brighton have been in the conceding of goals quite easily, quite cheaply at times,
25:38and the attacking threat that Liverpool have got and the form they're in right now,
25:42I just can't see Brighton getting anything from this.
25:44I admire your optimism, Henry. That's very positive. Following their trip to Liverpool,
25:50Brighton will then host Premier League holders Man City on the evening of Saturday 9th November
25:54to continue our positivity. It's a tough run of fixtures for the Seagulls and the fixer computer
25:59has really not been kind to Albion. How many points can you see the Albion taking from these
26:04games, Darren? It's a horrible run to say the least.
26:08Liverpool and Man City are two of the best teams in world football, really. It's a tough ask,
26:15but I don't know. Hersele was talking today about the challenges to challenge the establishment,
26:22basically, and he sees Man City and Liverpool as such. I don't know. I think they went to Newcastle
26:33and just about kept a clean sheet, but you have to agree with Henry that defence is a bit of a
26:39concern at the moment and Liverpool are just lethal going forward. Man City aren't in their
26:46best moment, but they seem to be finding a way to win in the Premier League. If Brighton can come
26:52away two points out of that, maybe, I'd say they would think that's a result, that's a decent
26:58return from those two matches. It's going to be tough. I'd say their best chance could potentially
27:09be at the Amex against Man City, who aren't quite firing at the moment, but Liverpool away is going
27:15to be very tough. Man City might not have any players left by the trip to Albion. I think
27:18they've got 13 players at the moment, so all being well, they might be playing the runs of 17s.
27:23You feel sorry for them, don't you?
27:25Yeah, of course you do. Before we wrap up, we should probably mention Crawley Town.
27:30They suffered a 3-0 defeat at Northampton in League Two on Saturday. This Saturday,
27:35they are away at Maidenhead in the FA Cup first round, along with Worthing and Horsham.
27:40Worthing are at home to Morecambe, while Horsham make the trip to Chesterfield,
27:43and we wish all three of those teams the best of luck. Before we wrap up,
27:47score predictions. As we said, Liverpool v Brighton. Darren, how do you see this one going?
27:52I'm going to go for a very optimistic 2-2.
27:54Very optimistic 2-2. Henry, how do you see this one going?
27:58I'm not always this negative. I think it's going to be 2-1 to Liverpool.
28:05I think we'll see goals. I couldn't predict what the scoreline will be,
28:08but I think it'll be a high-scoring game, but I suppose we'll see on Saturday.
28:11Brilliant. Thank you very much for joining us, chaps. You can catch up with all the latest
28:14sports news covering everything we have talked about today at sussexworld.co.uk forward slash
28:18sport, and you can watch more excellent videos on shotstv.com and Freeview channel 262. Thank
28:23you very much for listening and or watching, and we will see you all next week. Cheers.