Cucurella’s display shows March finally has serious competition on the left flank
Brighton snatched a late winner against Premier League new boys Brentford thanks to Leandro Trossard’s fine strike.
It was another late smashand-grab away victory for Albion which sees them sixth in the Premier League table on nine points from four matches played so far.
The blonde-headed Belgian winger’s goal in the 89th minute was the end product of some fluid Brighton buildup play, that included some great work from Alexis Mac Allister.
Early evidence suggests Albion have added resolve and character to their play which, coupled with their obvious footballing ability, could continue to see them excel this year.
After the game Potter was asked about his team’s “maturity”, the boss said: “. You’ve got to suffer at times, especially with the crowds back in attendance .
“The longer the game goes on the more you can try to control things a little bit better. The margins went in our favour with a bit of brilliance at the end.”
Marc Cucurella debut
The Spaniard looks like he possesses pace in abundance, sharp acceleration and a cultured left-foot. There was one pass I saw that made me think of Thiago for Liverpool – the way he sweeps it with a lot of zip and pin-point accuracy. When you see that, you get a feel for the player’s technical ability, which is of a high level.
Potter said “He’s a good player, good character. Not easy to come into, this atmosphere is hostile. Tight ground, tight pitch. I thought he acquitted himself well. Nice to have Solly as an option as well when he’s [Cucurella] getting a bit tired.”
March is coming back from a slight hamstring injury so it’s no surprise he started on the bench. But now he knows he has serious competition.
Cucurella is here to start and March has a fight on his hands; healthy competition is good for any club, it will raise the bar.
This is a great opportunity for Cucurella to become a star at Brighton and in the Premier League as the wing-backs are the main men in a 3-5-2 system.
March and Lamptey were the stars last year before injuries cut their seasons short. Will we be saying the same about Cucurella in a few months? I think we might be.
Benham vs Bloom
This was also the ultimate data derby: Benham vs Bloom. Former friends who ended up going separate ways. Bloom took over Brighton in 2009; Benham bought Brentford in 2012.
Both started in the lower divisions of English football and have now met for the first time in the top flight – the result of two similar decadelong projects.
Boyhood fans of their clubs, Bloom and Benham use numbers and science to run their ships as efficiently as possible.
Within their business models, a key factor is to buy players at low prices with the expectation of selling them for huge figures in the future - a way in which Liverpool have catapulted themselves back to the top of European football while still making profit. For example, Brighton recruited Ben White from Southampton’s Academy back in 2014 for free, seven years later he has been sold to Arsenal for £50million.
For Brentford, Ivan Toney was bought from Peterborough for £5million last year and is now valued at £25million, according to transfermarkt.com
The amount of talent and future talent on the pitch was clear: Toney, Cucurella, Bryan Mbeumo, Yves Bissouma, Kristoffer Ajer, Robert Sanchez to name a few.
Make no mistake about it, this is a great time to be supporting either club.
9
Albion have nine points from four matches
A player with technical ability at a high level
5
Benham paid £5m for Toney