I've always thought possession means f*&% all, it's what you do with that possession that matters.

I've been so frustrated for years that we win the ball back and p*&^ about waiting for the opposition to get back into formation. It's so blindingly obvious. I think our team need a major part of their pay to be not only win related, but goals scored related.

1 goal up means sod all in the premiership, you need at least 2 goals to feel any sort of security during a match. You don't see City, Manure or Loonypool settling for 1 goal, they are always hungry for more, But it's no good being gung ho about it, so perhaps a clean sheet bonus might help, provided the goals were much more profitable.

1 hour ago, WhiteWall said:

This is exactly what I want. High intensity,  high tempo, high pressing, one and two touch football through the midfield and final third. One thing we can all surely agree on, when you see the words High Intensity,  your mind does not automatically picture Graham Potter.

The players play like they’re high when they’re on the pitch. Best we can offer I’m afraid. 

Graham Potter after his team scores their first goal in a month 

 It's absolutely crazy how people can call Sarri or Tuchels football negative and cautious and back a manager who's teams have scored 1 goal or less in over 85% of games he's managed in English football and who took off our attackers when we scored our first goal in a month at home to a championship team.

Edited March 5, 20233 yr by TimesUpPotter

1 hour ago, The Rising Sun said:

Being better than Potter is hardly an endorsement at the momeht

Exactly, so how about stop talking about our past managers since every single one of them is better than Potter, Lampard did a better job than Potter.

18 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

I don't think the win saves Potter's job but it definitely buys him time to be sacked at the end of the season versus immediately. I'm not too convinced with the managers we are linked with should Potter leave so I'd prefer the club take their time to make the right choice of manager from now to the end of the season.

I agree. Ultimately I suspect that the decision on Potter will be made at the end of the season, unless we were to be pulled closer to the relegation battle. The win yesterday provides a little more daylight in that respect. But I don't think a few wins here and there would be enough to save Potter's job once the season is over. 

On 04/03/2023 at 11:02, reparto corse said:

Entertaining football has been non-sense from the beginning. Brighton scored a grand total of 42 goals last season. Well below the average of 53,5.

Brighton's record with Potter.

2019-20:  Goals scored: 39.  Points: 41.  League position: 15th

2020-21:  Goals scored: 40.  Points: 41.  League position: 16th

2021-22:  Goals scored: 42.  Points: 51.  League position:   9th

So far this season Brighton have already scored 43 goals*  in the league with another 15 games to play.

* 11 of those goals were with Potter in charge ( 6 games ) but 5 of them were scored in 1 game v Leicester City, ironically it was his last game in charge at Brighton.

 

Edited March 5, 20233 yr by WeatherMan

11 minutes ago, WeatherMan said:

Brighton's record with Potter.

2019-20:  Goals scored: 39.  Points: 41.  League position: 15th

2020-21:  Goals scored: 40.  Points: 41.  League position: 16th

2021-22:  Goals scored: 42.  Points: 51.  League position:   9th

So far this season Brighton have already scored 43 goals*  in the league with another 15 games to play.

* 11 of those goals were with Potter in charge ( 6 games ) but 5 of them were scored in 1 game v Leicester City, ironically it was his last game in charge at Brighton.

 

For most of the 3 seasons under Potter, Brighton were certainly struggling to score goals. However, there were some signs that things were turning around in that respect. They had a terrible run of losses in Feb/Mar last year, but the last 8-9 games they finished strongly and scored almost 2 goals per game. That form continued into the first 6 games of this season, before Potter moved to us. De Zerbi has done a great job there, although the pattern of results suggests the club was moving in the right direction either way. That being said Potter  has different expectation levels here, and I don't think he was the right choice for a club of our size.

54 minutes ago, TimesUpPotter said:

Graham Potter after his team scores their first goal in a month 

 

 It's absolutely crazy how people can call Sarri or Tuchels football negative and cautious and back a manager who's teams have scored 1 goal or less in over 85% of games he's managed in English football and who took off our attackers when we scored our first goal in a month at home to a championship team.

The fact that people thought Potter would get us scoring more goals than under Tuchel is crazy to me

12 minutes ago, forbzy said:

For most of the 3 seasons under Potter, Brighton were certainly struggling to score goals. However, there were some signs that things were turning around in that respect. They had a terrible run of losses in Feb/Mar last year, but the last 8-9 games they finished strongly and scored almost 2 goals per game. That form continued into the first 6 games of this season, before Potter moved to us. De Zerbi has done a great job there, although the pattern of results suggests the club was moving in the right direction either way. That being said Potter  has different expectation levels here, and I don't think he was the right choice for a club of our size.

Not sure how coaches can progress in their careers if they can't make the jump to a bigger club... anyway at the moment we sacked Tuchel I thought this is highest idiotism and hiring Potter felt even worse. However I see Potter fitting to owners ideas very well in many ways. 

Football and the results naturally come first and that very thing is where we struggle. 

6 minutes ago, evissy said:

Not sure how coaches can progress in their careers if they can't make the jump to a bigger club... anyway at the moment we sacked Tuchel I thought this is highest idiotism and hiring Potter felt even worse. However I see Potter fitting to owners ideas very well in many ways. 

Football and the results naturally come first and that very thing is where we struggle. 

If a coach makes a big jump, then they have to get results early to prove themselves. Potter hasn't done that, if anything he's done the opposite

3 hours ago, evissy said:

Play FIFA or eFootball.

Great response.  Why should Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool play high tempo football and it not be feasible for Chelsea.

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

Exactly, so how about stop talking about our past managers since every single one of them is better than Potter, Lampard did a better job than Potter.

I agree.

We shouldn't bring up past managers on this forum..

So why did you actually bring up a past manager in  your comment ?😝😝😝

 

Edited March 5, 20233 yr by The Rising Sun
Info

11 hours ago, just said:

 

Also agree with @Blueboys. I too did not see this alleged big improvement towards the end of his reign. The last 5 games of the season only saw us win one game. That run included a 2-2 home draw with Burnley! We got 3rd place because Tottenham and Arsenal imploded, rather than our Sarriball reaching new heights.

 

 

That's like saying we only won the double because United drew to Blackburn and picked 1 point out of 6 up vs Villa.

Edited March 5, 20233 yr by Argo

3 hours ago, RMH said:

This graphic tells that the slow and intricate teams have better chances of top four and winning the league than the most direct and fastest, who are fighting relegation. But it could also indicate that the lower PL teams are more park the bus and counter attack, while the top teams have to break those teams and they do it with slow and intricate passes between the defensive lines.

Liverpool 2 seasons ago were a possession based team - but they were relentless is chasing down and hammering a way through a deep defence. 
 

It wasn't the same slow passive possession (for the sake of possession) that we had.

Possession doesn't have to mean slow low intensity, negative and backwards. We don't need to be a counter attack - kick and rush football. But we do need to stop the passive and negative football

 

Edited March 5, 20233 yr by nonotnowjim

2 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Exactly, so how about stop talking about our past managers since every single one of them is better than Potter, Lampard did a better job than Potter.

It really is becoming boringly monotonous.

Honestly makes me angry thinking we were on same points as Liverpool just a couple of weeks ago and now they are 3 points off 4th.

11 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Liverpool 2 seasons ago were a possession based team - but they were relentless is chasing down and hammering a way through a deep defence. 
 

It wasn't the same slow passive possession (for the sake of possession) that we had.

Possession doesn't have to mean slow low intensity, negative and backwards. We don't need to be a counter attack - kick and rush football. But we do need to stop the passive and negative football

 

We were a bit like that under Tuchel, our pressing was far better than it is now at least. The main difference between us and Liverpool was that they had Salah, Mane and Firmino up front whilst we had Havertz Mount and Werner. 

Just now, Drogba1 said:

We were a bit like that under Tuchel, our pressing was far better than it is now at least. The main difference between us and Liverpool was that they had Salah, Mane and Firmino up front whilst we had Havertz Mount and Werner. 

We were nothing like that under Tuchel - save for a few special occasions (real madrid game for example).

In general we were slow, insipid and unimaginative under TT. 

3 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

We were nothing like that under Tuchel - save for a few special occasions (real madrid game for example).

In general we were slow, insipid and unimaginative under TT. 

3rd highest goals scored in the league with a dire set of attackers would say otherwise. That was in spite of an injury crisis. How many of our attackers last year would even start for Liverpool? Arguably not one. 

9 hours ago, OriginalS said:

You do realize Potter is known for ultra slow buildup? Brighton were essentially the slowest team in progressing the ball in the entire league under him. And so have we been under him unsurprisingly.

So if you want fast and direct football you are obviously backing the wrong horse.

Passes per sequence ?

Means nothing by itself .

A sequence of 3 passes going sideways is different to a sequence of 3 passes going forward.

Or am I missing something with this graph?

17 hours ago, Blueboys said:

Hazards G/A in the league that year were 50% of the teams goals. We lost 4-0 at Bournemouth, 6-0 at City even Spurs beat us more than once that season. We stole 3rd at the end of the season ending with 3 draws and a win because spurs and arsenal both bottled it in the last 7/8 games. 
 

Yes we played well in that final but let’s not pretend it was some amazing season in which we were playing amazing football

 

You could say the same under Mourinho then, Hazard pulled the strings in almost all of our goals when we won the league under Mou. Especially in the 2nd half of the season when we dropped off, almost every game we were relying on magic from Eden, every bit of attacking play came through him. 

36 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Liverpool 2 seasons ago were a possession based team - but they were relentless is chasing down and hammering a way through a deep defence. 
 

It wasn't the same slow passive possession (for the sake of possession) that we had.

Possession doesn't have to mean slow low intensity, negative and backwards. We don't need to be a counter attack - kick and rush football. But we do need to stop the passive and negative football

 

I’m just pointing out how sh*t use of stats people do. 

22 hours ago, just said:

Sarriball confused me as much as some of our players, hence some of their media comments at the time. The Europa League win against Arsenal was of course great, (and glosses over much of what went before), but it most certainly was not representive of the "Sarriball" we watched being played for much of that season. Slow, repetitive passing, often backwards and sideways. A cautious, possession based system that failed to commit players forwards in numbers. Usually it took an age to get the ball up to the opposition box and when we did, no one was there. And then there was the man himself. People say Potter has no charisma, but Christ on a bike, Sarri quite literally wore a permanent expression akin to a slapped arse and he had absolutely no rapport at all with the fans. He wanted to go at the end of the season. IMO he never really gave the impression he EVER wanted to be here.

Maybe because he was getting sh*t and boos from the home support every match week? I find it utterly incredible how Sarri was genuinely tasked to change the entire philosophy and culture of the club, and the fans who wanted him out midseason are now ironically telling us to be patient with Potter. 

Unlike Potter, I could see what Sarri wanted to do DAY 1. He had assurance in the football he wanted to implement and he stuck by it, which led to one of the best European nights in the club's history. Matter of fact, he laid the foundation for this club to play in a progressive manner that led Tuchel to being able to manage this team to run circles around Real Madrid and dominate City in the Champions League final. 

f**k me. Let's not be patient with Sarri, who literally had to change everything, but let's be patient with Potter. 😄

6 hours ago, enigma said:

As I say, I don't think he's blameless whatsoever, but the issue is bigger and deeper than Potter. This goes back five seasons and more. I really think the old ownership hindered us with poor signings, no clear sign of style, no patience with any manager, even the most successful ones.

We haven't had a true identity since José's first stint here almost two decades ago. We haven't had a proper striker for many seasons now. We let Giroud go, who at least would have done a reasonable job. We seemed to have targeted wide attackers, but nobody as the target man.

For me, I would have tried for someone like Vlahovic in Jan, but it didn't happen. We have known since the start of the season that Aubameyang was never really going to do a good job for us. 

Unfortunately I think Potter came in at the wrong time and has taken a large brunt of the blame for what is happening and has been manifesting for a few seasons, which is due to the fault of previous ownership. As much as Roman was good for us, he also left the squad in arguably a worse state. 

The fact we never replaced previous league winners with as much like for like quality as we could is pretty mad. I will always go back to 2010/11. We sacked Carlo, but could have signed Gerrard, Pirlo, Aguero, David Silva and others. We failed to do so. We signed a past prime Torres and couldn't rely on Drogba any longer. since then we struggled with a genuine world class goalscorer. 

Honestly, AVB had a really hard job when he came in, he gets viewed too harshly. Most of our squad were past their prime (and players like Lampard admitted to not playing for him), plus we had a misfiring Torres up front. He had us 5th when he was sacked if I remember, compared to the job Potter's doing now he wasn't half bad at all

So Liverpool's front three have scored as many goals in 23 minutes today as our entire group of forwards have scored in the last 16 games ... 

Terrific ... 🙂