Brighton scripted history by securing a coveted spot in Europe for the first time ever following their sixth-place finish in the 2022-23 Premier League season.
The Seagulls lost their manager Graham Potter midway into the season, which risked derailing their campaign. However, the board acted swiftly and announced Roberto de Zerbi as Potter’s replacement. Under De Zerbi, Brighton were a treat to watch as they produced attacking football and went toe-to-toe with some of the division’s top teams.
A place in the Europa League is a fantastic achievement, but that would not satisfy De Zerbi. The Italian is a very demanding and competitive manager who will want his team to break into the top four next term. On that note, here are the three areas the south coast side should improve on in the 2023-24 campaign.
1. Defending set pieces
Brighton scored goals in so many ways this past season—except when it comes from set plays. Neither were they prolific from set-pieces nor defended well. In fact, defending from set pieces has been their Achilles Heel for many years, and this year was no different.
This is clearly an area of concern for De Zerbi’s side, as “18 of their 53 goals conceded have come from set-pieces”, a statistic that includes goals from corners, free-kicks, throw-ins, own goals, and penalties.
- Avoid errors leading to goals/own goals
Brighton generally defend well as a unit even against stronger opposition. However, a couple of their defenders do make the odd mistake in dangerous areas at times.
The Seagulls have been moulded into a possession-based football side by Graham Potter, and De Zerbi has made this team braver and much more of a goal threat. They tend to play out from the back, with the goalkeeper and defenders attempting risky passes and through balls.
However, relentless pressure from the opponents has led to Brighton making four errors throughout the last season. They also scored six own goals. These two aspects of the game are something De Zerbi will want his team to avoid as much as possible next year.
- Chances conversion
Despite scoring an impressive tally of 72 goals, chance conversion stands as one of Brighton’s biggest problems.
It would appear that the south coast side miss chances with regularity. Their average xG stands at 2.00 but have netted 1.89 goals per match, meaning they underperformed. A fact that won’t surprise fans given Danny Welbeck’s glaring misses and sub-par showings of Denis Undav.
Using the xG metric suggests Brighton are underperforming in front of goal—and that there is work to do if they are to improve on their sixth-place finish last term. (Stats courtesy: FootyStats)
