Opposition View: Brighton & Hove Albion

After a rare free week from competitive action, Liverpool head to the South Coast to take on Brighton on Saturday afternoon. It has been anything but a happy new year for the Reds so far 2023 with a poor showing against Brentford and then lucky to walk away with a replay against Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup.

Now they face a team who has given them a great deal of difficulties in recent meetings. Like any team with a progressive identity, Brighton have evolved over the years from a team with a backs against the wall mentality under Chris Hughton to a team full of technical quality and players that rival teams covet a great deal.

From the outside, it looks like the Seagulls have not missed a beat with Roberto De Zerbi taking over from Graham Potter and telling his players to aim for the stars which has harnessed a new belief.

Scott from @weareBrighton explains that what at first seemed to be an uncertain time has actually become a change for the better and talks about why Brighton are a desirable club for young players to evolve their game.

Last time we spoke Graham Potter was in charge and putting his stamp on the club, which seemed to be a pleasant change from the dour Football of Chris Hughton. However his departure to Chelsea seemed acrimonious to say the least. What were your thoughts on how that transpired and if you have been impressed with the work of Roberto De Zerbi at this point of time?

If Potter had have just gone and taken his own coaching team with him, most Brighton fans would have wished him well. Instead, he and Chelsea waved enough money under the nose of Albion stalwarts like Bruno and Ben Roberts to convince them to up sticks as well.

Chelsea then bought our head of recruitment Paul Winstanley and were instantly linked with Leandro Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Robert Sanchez, the cleaner at the training ground, our mascot Gully and the bloke who drives the team bus.

Having already signed Marc Cucurella in the summer, it felt like Chelsea were assett stripping the Albion of everything. That is where the animosity has come from and it hasn't been helped by some bizarre comments from Potter like "I don't owe Brighton fans an apology" and "I'd have stayed at Brighton if I wanted an easy life."

Having said all that, the whole episode has been made rather enjoyable by the Albion appointing better head coach in De Zerbi whilst Potter flounders at Chelsea.

De Zerbi plays much more attacking football and in the space of four months has managed to sort out the problem of putting the ball in the back of net which plagued Potter for most of his three seasons.

He has also managed to connect with the fans in a way no boss since Gus Poyet has managed. Everyone is very excited about what the future holds under him and rightly so. Until Chelsea sack Potter and appoint De Zerbi, at least.

Brighton has made an artform of scouting players in places where other mid table (and some top six clubs) just do not look. As far as you know, what is the process that goes into searching for players such as Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister?

Recruitment is very data driven, used analytics tools which chairman Tony Bloom developed for his Starlizard betting company. It is no coincidence that Brighton and Brentford are so strong when it comes to recruitment when both are owned by those who have worked successfully in the professional gambling industry using mathematics and algorithms.

Brighton is also willing to put in the legwork to sign players from South America which others aren't. Manchester United could have purchased Caicedo before the Albion but found the complex web of third party ownership too much to cut through.

One United official infamously described it as "a clusterf**k". Well, that clusterf**k secured Brighton one of the best young players in world football for £4.5 million.

Further on Mac Allister, it must be pretty cool to have a World Cup winner in your squad. And the clip of him returning to the club was really well done, a true sign of a strong bond within the squad. How likely is it that you hold onto him for another season at least?

Brighton won't stand in a player’s way when it comes to a sale, as long as the buying club meets the asking price. That is why we are seeing so many good young players come to the Albion - they know it is a fantastic place to develop, put themselves in the shop window and if they do enough to earn a move, they will be allowed to take it.

Mac Allister will be no different. If somebody comes in during the summer and pays what Bloom wants, then he will probably go. Whilst it would be nice to keep him, nobody would begrudge him a move. He's a world champion, a fantastic player and most important of all a really good bloke with a fantastic attitude.

While Brighton have managed to get good return when selling players, what do you believe is the next step to truly establish yourself as a consistent top eight club. Do you think you have the pieces in place or are some more adjustments and additions required?

I think the next piece in the jigsaw is already in place - De Zerbi. Potter had Brighton on the periphery of the top eight but without scoring more goals and being able to overcome sides who sat back and defended, the Albion were going to struggle to get much higher.

De Zerbi has changed the playing style slightly, got us scoring goals and is instilling a winning mentality. Potter used to talk about Burnley and Norwich as being fantastic teams Brighton did well to take a point from; De Zerbi has told fans to dream of Europe. You can see that attitude rubbing off on the players.

Your club with its possession-based style of football has been easy on the eye in recent times but sometimes not received its due reward in terms of the final result. Having scored 12 goals in your last three victories, do you think De Zerbi and his staff have found the solution?

Well, Brighton have scored more goals than any other Premier League side over the past six matches, so it certainly looks that way!

The likes of Solly March and Adam Lallana couldn't score for love nor money under Potter and now they are finding the net regularly. De Zerbi has introduced Kaoru Mitoma, who looks like being the next Albion player to spark significant interest. And in Evan Ferguson, he may have found an internal solution to the lack of goal scoring striker in the squad.

In the last five fixtures with the Reds, you have only tasted defeat on one occasion (with 3 draws and 1 win). What do you think Brighton does that unsettles Liverpool?

Brighton just seem to play better against the stronger sides. The Albion have an equally good record against Arsenal and Manchester United and there was obviously the 4-1 humiliation of Chelsea.

European Super League Elite Six sides attack when they play Brighton and that has always played into the Albion's hands, certainly under Potter.

It has been against sides battling relegation that the Seagulls have tended to struggle.

Adam Lallana took over as temporary Player-Manager after the departure of Potter. That sort of senior leadership is invaluable in uncertain times. How is the former Red regarded by the Brighton faithful?

Lallana was helping out our Under 23s coach Andrew Crofts who was put in temporary charge when Potter walked. The passing of The Queen meant they never had to manage a Premier League match.

When Lallana was signed on a three-year deal, it was clearly with a view to keeping him at the Amex as a coach once he retires.

Having said that, he's been enjoying his best run of games and form since De Zerbi arrived. Potter loved using players in different positions and for Lallana, that meant playing as a six one week, an eight the next, and a 10 the next.

De Zerbi has used Lallana exclusively as a 10 in a 4-2-3-1 and it's led to something of an Indian summer. He's scoring goals and setting them up like its 2016 again.

What is your prediction for this fixture?

An entertaining 2-2 draw. And Liverpool to bid £80 million for Caicedo when you all see how good he is.