Topic: Brighton & Hove Albion.

[Fromola]

That's very surprising they're second favourites, but also not from a footballing perspective.

What I can't tell is if this is just a purple patch where everything just clicks (remember Sheffield United and Wilder a few seasons back) or if there is something much deeper than this.

They're obviously a better run club overall than Sheffield United were, and everything seems to be going right for them. Do they make dud signings at all?

I'm no expert in them at all but I'm looking at the stats since he's been in charge there and they top or are second in a lot of interesting metrics.

They're more like Southampton of a decade ago. Losing your best players and manager regularly catches up with you but they're currently very well run. So were Leicester until they weren't.

[RedG13]

Their European group is Marseille, Ajax and AEK Athens and you could actually see them winning it if they take it seriously and why wouldn't they in their first ever European campaign. Marseille are unpredictable but typically let themselves down, see getting knocked out of the Champions League qualifier by Panathinaikos who themselves ended up going out to Braga. Ajax haven't looked good for a few years now, they'd be lucky to finish midtable in England, and they should be able to manage a couple of wins against AEK. Qualification in general will be the aim but they can win that group and nobody would really fancy facing them from there on.

I could see Brighton finishing 3rd in that group also. It just different playing in Europe comp wise, environment travel, reffing, quality. it very new, New team in Europe generally struggle, having that extra midweek game when not having it is difficult. Totally could see Brighton winning the group too.

[kop306]

will be interesting to see how brighton play this weekend

do they have a squad strong enough for 2 games a week ?

[groove]

So I've been wondering for a bit how far analytics-based recruitment can take you if you still have a tiny outlay. Can it really push you into the top 4 on a zero, or even positive, net spend?

Didn't even realise Bissouma for Spurs was another Brighton find as well. They've lost Mac Allister, Bissouma and Caicedo from their midfield and still look like a top 4 challenger. I think there's going to be a big shift in how players are evaluated across the board over the next few years.

[newterp]

They do everything right - the only question is depth of the squad. Lost midweek - but came right back in the league today.

[markedasred]

So I've been wondering for a bit how far analytics-based recruitment can take you if you still have a tiny outlay. Can it really push you into the top 4 on a zero, or even positive, net spend?

Didn't even realise Bissouma for Spurs was another Brighton find as well. They've lost Mac Allister, Bissouma and Caicedo from their midfield and still look like a top 4 challenger. I think there's going to be a big shift in how players are evaluated across the board over the next few years.

As things stand, they appear to have the most ideal model of ownership possible.

[rafathegaffa83]

Ipswich's McKenna is their top target if De Zerbi quits
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/may/01/brighton-ipswich-kieran-mckenna-roberto-de-zerbi