News

The Media Review: Liverpool

The media reflect on Albion's 2-0 defeat to the Reds.

By Nick Szczepanik • 13 March 2022

By Paul Hazlewood
Danny Welbeck went closest to scoring for Albion on Saturday afternoon.

Albion head coach Graham Potter said in the build up to Saturday’s match that Liverpool are “a level above” the rest of the Premier League and he was proved right by the Reds’ 2-0 victory at the Amex.

Although many reporters mentioned that the Seagulls had been unbeaten in their previous three games against Jurgen Klopp’s men, the fact remains that the team from Anfield has never lost a league match in Brighton (or Hove), and they seldom looked like doing so despite a bright start from Albion. 

Freddie Keighley of the Mirror website wrote of the promising opening that “Brighton may have come into the match on the back of four consecutive league defeats but they did not appear short of confidence in the opening 15 minutes at the sun-drenched Amex.

“The hosts were the more intense side and their well-coordinated pressing prevented Liverpool from settling into any sort of rhythm in a similar fashion to how Inter Milan did in midweek.

“It was a reminder of what Brighton are capable of under Graham Potter - not that the Reds needed their memories jogged after tossing away a two-goal lead in October's reverse fixture at Anfield.

“However, the Seagulls could not maintain the level they started the game with and were soon picked apart in somewhat disappointing fashion.”

03:24

MA+ members & STH only - Log-in required

An existing MyAlbion+ membership or season ticket is needed to view this content. Please note that new memberships take 24 hours to be active to view, registering today for Luton Town match streaming will not be valid in time.

Potter: I can't fault the boys

Tom Barclay told the sad story in the Sun on Sunday. He wrote, “Brighton actually started this game fairly well, keen to end a run of four straight league defeats, and went close with Neal Maupay’s 25-yard effort. But all their early optimism was checked when Diaz broke the deadlock inside 19 minutes.

“Matip, fresh off winning February’s Player of the Month award, was encouraged to bring the ball forward and clipped a pass over the top. Diaz burst past Tariq Lamptey and Joel Veltman, keeping his focus on the ball which he headed into the net, before being taken out by Sanchez.

“VAR then checked for a possible red card for serious foul play, yet in the end Sanchez escaped without even a yellow card. BT Sport pundits Peter Crouch, Steve McManaman and Rio Ferdinand were stunned by the decision not to send the goalkeeper off, with the latter branding it a WWE move. Though Tony Pulis, working for the BBC, said ref Mike Dean and Stockley Park had called it right.

“Brighton were fortunate not to be 2-0 down when Salah’s shot looped up off Lewis Dunk and bounced off the crossbar on 57 minutes.

“Three minutes later, the lead was doubled by Salah from the penalty spot. Naby Keita had blasted a shot into the raised arm of Bissouma, who had no complaints as Dean pointed instantly to the spot.

“Brighton had the odd moment, with sub Danny Welbeck’s header being well saved by Alisson, who also had Potter and the home fans baying for blood when they thought he had carried the ball out of his box.

“But really this game was never in any doubt once Diaz had put his body on the line to progress Liverpool’s quad-chasing cause.”

02:16

MA+ members & STH only - Log-in required

An existing MyAlbion+ membership or season ticket is needed to view this content. Please note that new memberships take 24 hours to be active to view, registering today for Luton Town match streaming will not be valid in time.

PL Highlights: Albion 0 Liverpool 2

In the Mail on Sunday, Joe Bernstein wrote that “Brighton were something of a bogey side for Liverpool having not lost to Klopp’s team in their previous three games. But Graham Potter’s side are not in the best form at the moment having now lost five on the bounce.

“They still weaved pretty patterns but lack a goal threat and their energetic full-back Tariq Lamptey was surprised to see Diaz chase back and harry him whenever he tried to bomb forward.

“Potter introduced former Liverpool player Adam Lallana at half-time but he lasted only eight minutes before he had to disappear with a hamstring problem. By that time, Brighton had missed their best chance of an equaliser - Trossard blazing over from eight yards when he needed a bit more composure – and from then onwards their belief dwindled.

“After 61 minutes. Naby Keita’s shot was blocked by Bissouma’s hand and Salah put all his pent-up frustration into leathering the penalty down the middle as Sanchez dived out the way.

“Brighton sent on their final change, Danny Welbeck for Bissouma, but the home side still complained about not getting many decisions from referee Mike Dean, who was booed mercilessly at the final whistle.

“Even the normally mild-mannered Potter expressed his displeasure when Alisson was judged not to have carried the ball out of his penalty area.

“Liverpool could have extended their lead in the closing stages when Diaz was foiled by Sanchez one-on-one while Alisson kept his clean sheet with a good tip-over from Welbeck.”

Some of the best lines came from Jim White (no, not the talkSPORT and former Sky Sports presenter) in the Sunday Telegraph

“Acting as the perfect hosts, Brighton tested their visitors with just the one shot on target all game,” he wrote. “This was Graham Potter’s side’s fifth successive league defeat. More to the point, in that sequence they have scored just once. 

“’It’s not easy to have perspective on the back of the run we’re on,’ said Potter. ‘At the moment we’re suffering. But it’s not like we’re sat at the bottom of the league five points adrift.’

03:00

MA+ members & STH only - Log-in required

An existing MyAlbion+ membership or season ticket is needed to view this content. Please note that new memberships take 24 hours to be active to view, registering today for Luton Town match streaming will not be valid in time.

March: Things didn't go our way

“While they may be comfortably safe from relegation, his team’s role increasingly seems to be to offer top four managers the opportunity to make patronising remarks even as they bank three points. As Jurgen Klopp duly demonstrated. 

“’I like Graham a lot, I hope the people here know what they have,’ the Liverpool manager said. ‘Real football people recognise what he has done. I like watching his team, I don’t like playing them.’

“Not that it looked as if he were in any discomfort: Liverpool were in charge for all but ten minutes of this game. And while Brighton struggled to find the net, goals are a very different matter for Klopp’s players. Their second strike, for instance, was the club’s 2,000th Premier League goal. And, in scoring it, Mo Salah, recorded his twentieth league goal for the fourth successive season. How Brighton’s fans must have watched on in envy wondering how their side might fare with a striker of his calibre. Well, any striker actually.

“It was not that Brighton began badly. Playing in their yellow and blue change strip as a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine they started as brightly as their shirts. In the opening moments, the busy Tariq Lamptey found Neal Maupay, who misdirected his header over. Maupay then shot just wide, before playing in Leandro Trossard who seemed to have space to shoot, but Alisson slid in to smother. 

“The difference between the sides is that from anywhere and everywhere, danger always lurks with Liverpool. 

“So they continue to close in on Manchester City. While at Brighton the sole consolation seems to be that every other manager thinks their boss is doing a great job.”

Paul Rowan in the Sunday Times wrote that “Brighton will reflect on what might have been in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The diminutive Alexis Mac Allister somehow won a headed duel with Virgil van Dijk and the ball landed perfectly at the feet of Leandro Trossard but he shot over the bar.

“Brighton have lost their past five Premier League games, making the locals jittery, but should be safe with 33 points already in the bag.”

So is Albion’s season effectively over? Sam Dalling of the Observer seemed to think so. “Brighton are demob unhappy,” he wrote. “They are neither upwardly or downwardly mobile this season and this was their fifth consecutive defeat. With one victory in 11, home is offering little comfort.

10:11

MA+ members & STH only - Log-in required

An existing MyAlbion+ membership or season ticket is needed to view this content. Please note that new memberships take 24 hours to be active to view, registering today for Luton Town match streaming will not be valid in time.

Extended PL Highlights: Albion 0 Liverpool 2

‘“It’s not easy to have perspective or zoom out when you are suffering,’ said their manager, Graham Potter. ‘The boys gave everything; it’s just the opponent was better.’

“Before falling behind they buzzed around in the yellow and blue strip they wore to show solidarity with Ukraine. They showed plenty of bravery, resulting in the rare sight of Fabinho looking slightly exposed by the neat triangles around him.

“They perked up again in the second half with Leandro Trossard blazing soon after the break. Then came the sad sight of Adam Lallana limping off against his former club five minutes after being introduced. But despite some late home pressure, Alisson’s clean sheet looked in danger only when he tipped acrobatically over from Danny Welbeck.

“For Potter, a past problem that had seemingly been resolved has reared its head again: possession offers little if not accompanied by goals. With one in five games those have dried up.”