Brighton have started the Premier League season well under former Östersund and Swansea manager
Graham Potter. Potter, of course, has previous Premier League experience, albeit limited:
he played a small number of games for Southampton in 1996/97, including a sub appearance in
the famous 6-3 win over Manchester United. His playing career never really hit the heights,
but Potter is quickly making a name for himself in management, implementing a style at Brighton
that is in many ways a radical departure from his talented, but pragmatic, predecessor Chris
Hughton.
Potter’s team have used a number of formations this season and, indeed, system flexibility
is one of his hallmarks. The narrow 4-4-2 and a 3-4-3 with wing backs have been the
most common systems, but Potter has also used a 3-5-2 with variants.
Within these systems, though, there are several key tenets that Potter sticks to. Firstly,
and an area of continuity from Hughton’s set-up, Brighton press with their forwards
but tend to otherwise construct an organised, compact mid and low block. The strikers hassle
and harry the opposition to try to force long balls, which can then be intercepted or won
aerially – if the opposition do play through the initial press, then they meet a rigid
two banks or four or banks of four and five, with the midfield line moving across the pitch
to generate central numerical supremacy.
Brighton’s other major feature under Potter is the desire to build from the back. In Mat
Ryan, they have a keeper who is very good with the ball at his feet and in Lewis Dunk,
Adam Webster, and Dan Burn, they have defenders who can pass or carry the ball well. Brighton
like to use Dunk as a kind of sweeper when playing with three defenders, but in either
formation the principles are the same – to create numerical superiority in low positions
on the pitch to allow Brighton to play past high pressing sides.
In transition, Brighton will either play quite long, again using the strong passing skills
at the back and the movement and aggressive running of forwards like Neil Maupay, or build
using short passes through the centre and using the wide areas – this form of possession-based
football is far from ponderous though, and both of Brighton’s methods rely on quick
passing and dynamic running off the ball.
A key area is the right half space, where Pascal Gross, consistently the most creative
and able player under Hughton, is again important. Brighton look to play Gross into space in
this area, either with progressive passes from the back or quick interchanges through
central midfielders Dale Stephens and Davy Propper. Gross can then act as a pivot for
an attack through the wide area, shifting the ball wide for an overlapping run by Martin
Montoya, or shifting the angle back inside to look for runs from Maupay or Aaron Connolly,
both of whom exhibit excellent running off the ball to isolate or drag centre backs from
their positions.
On the left hand side, Potter uses Dan Burn either as a left-sided centre back with licence
to carry the ball forwards in a three man back line, or as a left back in a four man
back line.
Burn’s versatility in this role is crucial for Brighton, as it means they can comfortably
switch between formations, with Solly March or the versatile Steven Alzate playing as
a left wing-back. As a left-sided centre back Burn can carry to break to the press, pop
little passes out to the wing back and maintain his run, or play passes infield before becoming
a deeper wide option to receive the ball back.
And in a 4-4-2, Potter likes the wide midfielders like Leandro Trossart or Aaron Mooy to play
fairly narrowly to create overloads in central areas and facilitate passing through the opposition,
so Burn’s ability to overlap is key – again, though, the intention is the creation of little
diamond-shaped passing options so that Brighton can progress the ball at speed while retaining
possession. Potter is lucky to have a player with Burn’s versatility in this regard,
but he’s also making the most of him.
The clearest indication of Brighton’s shifting styles is the eye-test, but the numbers stack
up too. Last season, Brighton’s xG per 90 was the second lowest in the league, at 0.94
– this season they sit at 1.27 after 12 games played.
Indeed, in every metric so far this season Brighton have shown improvement. You can see
how they are keeping the ball more, passing more, making more attacking passes and from
better areas, and shooting more, all without allowing more shots against.
Potter’s coaching philosophy of tactical adaptability, keeping possession and moving
the ball quickly, and intelligent positioning on the pitch has been added to Brighton’s
existing ability under Hughton to defend in a good shape, but with some more pressing
added. It’s a solid mix which has seen players like Burn, Dunk, and Maupuy shine and Potter