And just like that, it’s all over.
It doesn’t feel like nine months ago we all crammed into Goodison Park for the season opener. A game where we didn’t know what to expect. Who is Fabian Hürzeler? The Japanese tour was cool… Amario Cozier-Duberry is the next Bukayo Saka!
Things change quickly in football. It’s an emotional roller coaster. It’ll make you feel emotions unmatched and unrivalled by any other.
Still, the songs of “Europe Again” started right there in Liverpool. Fans who made the trip to the 1800s wooden ground watched a funny 3-0 game. Yasin Ayari was on the back of a crazy pre-season and rightfully earned the right to the starting line-up. Most incredibly, James Milner was a regular at that time. Hürzeler saw the value in experience compared to taking the risk on Carlos Baleba!
Nine months is a long time. Things can change a lot in that period.
European dream over
Fast-forward to now, and Albion will come out of a 4-1 victory away at Spurs slightly disappointed with the fact that Europe is now over. Chelsea and Manchester United both winning prevented the eighth position from being available for direct qualification in the Premier League.
After the money and emphasis made on the season, it hurts. It hurts because it could’ve happened, it was foreseeable that it wouldn’t be based on the evidence of the inconsistency during the season, but it hurts even more knowing what could follow next.
João Pedro was left out of the squad, along with Pervis Estupiñan. Kaoru Mitoma has been infamously linked on social media with a move to both Bayern Munich and Arsenal.
Losing big players is inevitable when Europe is no longer a promise. When you don’t see targets over the line, it can lead to moves.
Players have a short career, I see it from both perspectives. They want to achieve everything they can in the minimal years they have at the peak of their powers. Short-termism is, unfortunately, key to a player, their family, and their agent’s point of view.
Sadly, with Mitoma now at his peak age of 28, a move seems inevitable. Pedro’s rumoured training ground bust-up will undeniably link him for a major move this summer too.
Thinking about what could’ve been with the stability of management and players will haunt me, potentially for a very long time.
Most of the players who have left the club now will have either won something or played in the top bracket of international football (Champions League). Whilst the plaudits will go to their achievements, it’ll forever make me wonder how far that could’ve been pushed here.
I am happy for the balance sheets and P&L [profit and loss] accounts to look good, but that isn’t why I support Brighton. When I was a 10-year-old watching this club newly in the Championship, nothing more mattered to me than playing higher and competing for more. I wanted to see Brighton win games of football, get promoted, and win a trophy!? Crystal Palace have beaten us there, and will now compete in the Europa League.
Irrespective of time spent in the top league respectively, we had the advantage in the last five years.
Success is measured based on what the team wins on the pitch, not how healthy the statements look year after year. Fair enough if the profits came out of the ticket prices, but unsurprisingly they don’t.
A brilliant win in Tottenham
Albion’s win was a good one. Jack Hinshelwood fired two goals impressively. So much composure, and a significant knack for knowing where to be in the box. Right place, right time isn’t luck for a striker. On the display of the last two games, I do not doubt that he knows exactly what he is doing.
Hinshelwood filled the Danny Welbeck and João Pedro sized void remarkably well.
The substitutions made the difference again for Hürzeler’s side. Simon Adingra struggled to make a mark on the game, similarly to Yasin Ayari. Spurs were more physical in midfield and out wide, and that changed after the break.
Diego Gomez along with Kaoru Mitoma totally changed the dynamic of the game and emphasised Yankuba Minteh’s strength off the right side.
Minteh caused havoc. Spurs all of a sudden had two sides to worry about, meaning their doubling up in defence was no longer effective.
Admittedly, Spurs were drunk. Very drunk. Despite a decent start, Ange Postecoglu’s men were noticeably ‘on the beach’ as the saying likes to go, and there really is no surprise why they are where they are in the league table. Gomez was comically taken down by former Albion midfielder Yves Bissouma, and the writing was on the wall.
O’Riley dispatched the penalty to secure a goal against his former manager, and despite fans’ want for a Hinshelwood hat-trick, the result was put beyond any reasonable doubt.
Diego Gomez fulfilled a beautiful moment towards the end, curling home a memorable strike from around 30 yards out. Gomez was reduced to tears, that goal was his first in a Brighton shirt… and his performance off the bench thoroughly deserved it.
As news filtered through elsewhere, the emotion dropped a notch. Happy we won, but can’t help but let that disappointment creep in with the knowledge that the gig is up. A season truly defined by moments, rather than consistency. To be expected for such a young side to a certain extent.
Time will tell, but this squad is capable of a great future in the beautiful game. If this season will be remembered as a transition season, despite initially being branded oppositely, it is important to keep that in mind for the following.
