[BerryBerryShrew]

Felt he gave Mitoma a bit too much respect. He may be weaker on his left but he still needed to get tighter to him when he went down the line.

 

[arnie_ni]

Felt he gave Mitoma a bit too much respect. He may be weaker on his left but he still needed to get tighter to him when he went down the line.

Id argue it was absolute disrespect. He didn't give a feck if he went down the outside because he knew it would come to nothing.

I've never seen anything like it. Defenders don't even show antony down the right as much as that

 

[BerryBerryShrew]

Id argue it was absolute disrespect. He didn't give a feck if he went down the outside because he knew it would come to nothing.

I've never seen anything like it. Defenders don't even show antony down the right as much as that

Maybe. It seemed to me like he was petrified of him cutting in on his right as opposed to him not caring about using his left. Either way, it was really over the top and unnecessary. Especially given how well he did against him in the FA Cup playing conventionally.

 

[Rockets Redglare]

He’s basically gave every right back the blueprint to stop Mitoma, who was doing his best Saint-Maximan impression by having loads of the ball and doing feck all with it.

 

[afrocentricity]

Maybe. It seemed to me like he was petrified of him cutting in on his right as opposed to him not caring about using his left. Either way, it was really over the top and unnecessary. Especially given how well he did against him in the FA Cup playing conventionally.

He played the same way

 

[DickDastardly]

Id argue it was absolute disrespect. He didn't give a feck if he went down the outside because he knew it would come to nothing.

I've never seen anything like it. Defenders don't even show antony down the right as much as that

A very unusual method.
Almost a joke.

Somehow it worked.

 

[arnie_ni]

A very unusual method.
Almost a joke.

Somehow it worked.

It was clearly tactical. He knew what he was doing and Mitoma didn't stand a chance

 

[Van Piorsing]

Mitoma had to resort to diving to even get one thing from this game and it was Bissaka who kept his cool to the end.

Positioning, I get it... far from perfect.

 

[RonaldoVII]

Thought he was excellent and my MotM.

 

[Lecland07]

Bissaka was great. Mitoma once again had the door shut in his face, just like in the FA Cup.

Felt he was good on the ball today, also.

 

[DickDastardly]

It was clearly tactical. He knew what he was doing and Mitoma didn't stand a chance

A bit too casual for my liking have to say, even if it was clearly tactical.

Anyone can hit a left footed goal if given enough time and space, and Aaron sure did leave a lot of that.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

How was he so excellent ,yeah everyone knows he showed Mitoma on the outside more, but it was only his passive defending which got him into positions like that. Really frustrating to watch a player without any aggression and positional sense. always too far from the player, Mitoma had too much fun and on another day he could have a goal or two or assist.

DOn't think there is too much to praise about AWBs performance today, he consistently put us under pressure for stepping off the defender..

 

[Sylar]

People kept asking why is he not engaging but he Basically had mitoma but letting him go outside and cutting out the cut back to his right.

This was the best use of awb because if he engages mitoma has him.

 

[Abraxas]

I thought him and Mitoma have had two great battles over the FA Cup semi and this game. Yes, AWB has done pretty well but overall I'd say it has been fairly balanced and AWB would feel this guy has given him some of his tougher games. It was smart to show Mitoma on the outside, but at the same time, he was getting to very dangerous crossing and shooting positions with relative ease and it was worrying. Some of it came down to a stroke of luck that the right option or direction/power on the shot was off rather than snuffing out the threat entirely. You could say AWB played the percentages pretty well to make the final action difficult.

 

[Ekeke]

Thought he did well, considering Mitoma was certainly up for it but it was absolutely a battle where both sides got some good shots in. Still its hard to think of a fullback who would have done better against Mitoma in the same situation and there certainly arent any that posters like to bring up as AWB replacements who tend to be auxillary wingers and would have twice the defensive workload that they're used to if they played for us.

 

[ti vu]

Good match up, and did his job. Mitoma doesn't have good enough end product. I don't think Mitoma trust his own crossing ability. Going outside even with space, he still stopped and tried to go inside. The one to look out for cross his Estubinan which Antony helped containing that threat.

So for Mitoma, AWB could afford not to be too close, leaving gap between himself and Lindelof that other Brighton players could exploit this pocket of spaces.

 

[Sylar]

I thought him and Mitoma have had two great battles over the FA Cup semi and this game. Yes, AWB has done pretty well but overall I'd say it has been fairly balanced and AWB would feel this guy has given him some of his tougher games. It was smart to show Mitoma on the outside, but at the same time, he was getting to very dangerous crossing and shooting positions with relative ease and it was worrying. Some of it came down to a stroke of luck that the right option or direction/power on the shot was off rather than snuffing out the threat entirely. You could say AWB played the percentages pretty well to make the final action difficult.

It was certainly a great match up. Was fascinating to see as Brighton seemed to go to his side more often than not. I think Mitoma did better yesterday compared to the cup semi final, but again, I think AWB defo played the percentages and trusted that Mitoma wanted to cut in more often than not, so took the chance that him going in was more dangerous than going out. It worked for us on the whole. I think it would be AWBs toughest one on one game, likewise it would be Mitomas toughest game.

 

[Strats]

Did well. Felt like Mitoma had his respect towards him.

Was a moment when he was a few yards ahead of AWB approaching our penalty box but despite that he shat himself and did some weird shot/cross with the outside of his foot.

Don’t think he’d handle that situation in the same way if he was facing Dalot.

 

[MagooDad]

Only player that played on his usual level. Hope he didn't get a concussion.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Looks a bit passive in his 1-vs-1 defensive duels compared to his usual dominant best but when you look at the whole game, he was the only one that had a consistent and 'decent' game.

 

[Judge Red]

It was hard to find a single positive from today’s game but he was about as close as it gets. Not sure how he was able to stay on either. That was a serious blow to the head.

 

[Sylar]

His yellow card was good I guess, took that for the team

 

[Telsim]

One of the few bright spots today. He continuously gets into good positions in the final third, but rarely does anything useful with the ball after that. Still better than last season. But I just don't think he fits an attacking team.

 

[Long Time Red]

One of the few bright spots today. He continuously gets into good positions in the final third, but rarely does anything useful with the ball after that. Still better than last season. But I just don't think he fits an attacking team.

He's putting in a lot of good crosses but no one seems really willing to attack the ball.

Some of his link up play has been very good as well.

 

[NickJ]

He’s done well since he came back in the team but the last few games the way he is standing off players is going to cost us at some point. It’s like he is too worried about his 1v1 record. Letting an early cross come in or giving away a corner every time is not good defending.

 

[The Purley King]

Was excellent tonight amongst the sea of shit (maybe shaw aside)
Was good going forward and took a good yellow for the team when needed.
Didn’t lose the ball too much either. Please keep it up!!

 

[ForeverRed1]

the most improved player under ETH for me.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

He's putting in a lot of good crosses but no one seems really willing to attack the ball.

Some of his link up play has been very good as well.

His weight of pass and playing the ball under pressure keeps getting better. It's quite hard to believe, at times under Ole he looked allergic to the ball, his technique and composure has improved a great deal.

 

[jem]

Looked more dangerous than Antony in the attacking third.

 

[Born2Lose]

Think he's been playing very well recently, unfortunately it's hard to recognise when the rest of the team are playing so poorly.

 

[Ted Lasso]

One of the few bright spots of late.

 

[Top]

I really don’t like his passive defending the last two games.
He gives the wingers way too much space and time to get into the penalty area.
Either resulting in a dangerous situation or corner.

 

[golden_blunder]

I really don’t like his passive defending the last two games.
He gives the wingers way too much space and time to get into the penalty area.
Either resulting in a dangerous situation or corner.

Me either. Must have been told to do it though as it’s just gone out of nowhere

 

[King7Eric]

Me either. Must have been told to do it though as it’s just gone out of nowhere

I suppose it's a tactical decision to encourage the opposing winger to try and take him on rather than him getting too tight and them attempting to play around him. Even if he lets the opponent drive into the box he mostly blocks the cross because by that time they only really have that option. If he tries to engage too soon, given his knack for winning the ball, the winger could may well attempt to play 1-2s around him and defending those is a weak point for AWB.

So could may well be a tactical decision to encourage the opponent to drive at him, so it becomes a one on one, because ETH/AWB would trust his ability to make the block or get the ball in that situation.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I really don’t like his passive defending the last two games.
He gives the wingers way too much space and time to get into the penalty area.
Either resulting in a dangerous situation or corner.

Yeah, agree. It's a bit bizarre because that's not AWB's style and even if he is a bit lacksidical at times positionally, he never really gives that much space. It might be tactical but I personally think it's down to fatigue. Most of his good periods of form have coincided with a sharp downturn later down the line. His athletic style of play is physically draining and for years he had to play with someone like Lindelof on his side and that basically means he's got to be the first passing option deep in his own half, run the wing by himself AND then also drop in deep to the penalty box because he doesn't get much help from the Swede territorially speaking.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Looks so much more comfortable with possession. There's a good link between him and Antony.

 

[Bebestation]

He has 1 dodgy performance like every 9/10 games. Has become more consistent.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

He's gone from looking allergic to the ball, to doing futsal tricks out on the wing.

His overall play has improved too.

 

[CloneMC16]

One of our best players today. I'm glad the talk of him leaving seems to have stopped. He should be going nowhere.

 

[Abraxas]

It's quite miraculous how confident he is at playing himself out of tricky situations now. Which you get quite a lot with DeGea in goal. He generally finds an unexpected piece of skill or first time pass and it's working the vast majority of the time. Still looks awkward visually but whatever training they had him on during the World Cup has worked wonders for that side of his game.

It might be that there's less dilly dallying going on. He seems to be doing everything a lot quicker. He's always been a bit better at reacting quickly to things than having to think, even in his defending.