STRUCK DOWN BY THE SEAGULLS …
A rare defeat just before an international break can be especially painful for an elite coach accustomed to winning. With most of the squad immediately departing to represent their countries and collect yet more air miles, there is no quick opportunity to respond on the pitch. This unusually long early-season pause also leaves plenty of time for reflection, frustration and tactical overanalysis. Mikel Arteta now has 19 days to consider Arsenal’s heavy loss to Brighton. Whether he spends them rearranging magnets on a tactics board or taking Win the dog around a nearly empty training complex, the Arsenal manager will surely be focused on understanding how his champions were so comprehensively beaten and preventing a repeat.
While Arteta reflects on the setback, Fabian Hürzeler can enjoy the break and perhaps devote some time to padel, the compact racket sport that requires rather less running than tennis. Nobody could accuse his players of lacking energy, however. Brighton overwhelmed Arsenal with relentless movement, intensity and carefully coordinated pressure. Their 3-0 victory did not fully reflect the scale of their dominance. “I’m extremely disappointed,” Arteta admitted after the match. “But first we must congratulate Brighton. They deserved to win and were the better team.”
Brighton wore stylish vintage blue shirts to celebrate their 125th anniversary and produced one of the finest performances in the club’s history. The team has changed considerably since the days of celebrated figures such as Peter Ward, Johnny Crumplin and headband-wearing Steve Foster. Today’s squad has a far more international character, with Charalampos Kostoulas, Luka Vuskovic and Diego Gómez among the players who could become future club favourites. “Congratulations to this special club, to everyone who contributed in the past and to those contributing today,” Hürzeler said after a memorable occasion on the south coast. “The history of this club is remarkable, and I hope everyone who has been part of the journey can enjoy this moment.” Hürzeler added that the quality of the performance mattered more to him than the score. At Arsenal’s training ground, Arteta is likely to attach equal importance to both.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There is little need for a press conference because the defining issue is already clear. Both incidents should have resulted in red cards. Considering how difficult we found it to play 11 against 10, imagine what might have happened if we had faced nine players for 50 minutes. All I can do is embrace my players, because they gave everything. Their first-half display showed enormous quality and character and put us in an excellent position to win after the interval. The referee is 41 and has no international experience, so he was clearly not appointed because of an outstanding reputation. Unfortunately, he arrived here and could not handle the extraordinary pressure inside this stadium. It felt like the kind of intimidating atmosphere associated with the 1980s, something rarely encountered today” – José Mourinho offered a forceful assessment, supported by an A4 printout, after Real Madrid’s derby defeat to Atlético.
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