Brighton and Hove Albion fans are both incredibly proud and desperately disappointed at this moment in time following the two legged defeat to Italian Serie A side AS Roma in their debut appearance in Europe in the Europa League competition.
We were not totally outclassed in the opening leg, but we were seriously outscored as they took a commanding 4-0 victory to give them the advantage, and despite a far more dominating showing in the return leg at the Amex, we could only secure a 1-0 victory and we went out on aggregate.
There was plenty to be proud of though throughout our entire run in the competition and even the two games against Roma themselves, and that is what all Seagulls fans should remember – whilst also hoping that our upward curve in more recent years sees us back in European competition sooner rather than later choosing a trusted bookmaker is important and for those fans who like a small flutter, we are close enough this year for it to maybe happen again as we certainly trust Roberto De Zerbi.
In some ways it is probably a little bit predictable that given our main issue in Europe this year was goalscoring, that the media dug into that and looked at former strikers with European league experience, particularly in light of the fact that under manager De Zerbi we are far more free flowing in front of the oppositions goal than we ever have been in our previous years in the top flight of English football.
Whilst it is complete speculation based on what we saw from Deniz Undav during his, well, six months with us in reality before we then took the decision to loan the 27 year old German out to Bundesliga side VFB Stuttgart, given his record for them this season it is not that big a leap from the media really.
Having seen the very basics of what he could potentially prove to be for us – he was clinical finisher in the realms of Glenn Murray in the eyes of many in the fan base, but his first touch let him down way too often and he was definitely too slow at adjusting to the more physical nature of our game – but his eight goals in 30 appearances across all competitions could have been a sign of what was to come. Not least the vast majority of his showings for us were substitute appearances.
The media angle will get some support amongst the fans, at Stuttgart where his job is ‘more finish, less ball work’ in 18 appearances and seven substitute showings, he has found the back of the net 15 times.
The question of whether or not we used our reported £6 million signing from Tony Bloom’s co-owned Belgium side Union St Gilloise appropriately, remains a valid one.
But again, he showed flashes, but was largely poor – few questioned the decision to get him out loan at the start of the 2023/24 campaign so he could have a chance of thoroughly rebuilding his confidence before returning and making a far better impact for us, so in many ways it is a little bit trite to now – with nothing but hindsight – call it a bad decision.
He had a good record at his former club, but nobody knew how he would cope with the challenge of the Bundesliga, and that in no way changes based on the fact that he has performed well enough to get his first German international call up this month under manager Julian Nagelsmann for their upcoming games against France and the Netherlands.
It could have easily gone very differently, so I fail to see, even in an opinion piece, why Brighton’s decisions here should be second guessed.
After all, in acknowledging that we are more free scoring under De Zerbi when compared to our previous Premier League performances, can it really be claimed that we would have scored more given his own PL record, but basing it purely on our two game failure to outscore Roma, which in itself is now based on his Belgium and German form and not his form for us. By the way, last time I looked Roma were Italian, which makes the comparison even more bizarre.
Again though, having been better settled, better adjusted, maybe Undav could have been a greater asset for us this year but we are back to ‘what ifs and buts’.
As we all know some players take six to twelve months when coming to a new club before they can show their best, and that is outside of moving country.
But if we are doing so well in front of goal under the current gaffer as the report acknowledges, then maybe we should trust our plan to get his confidence flying again and give him another shot.
As opposed to, you know, suggesting an out of confidence player only showing flashes of what he was capable of doing, may have made a telling difference in two games just because his stock is now high and the club have had a disappointment.
