It's only hindsight, caused by stupidity, that says it was a bad selection. The reality is Mason has played less than a handful of games and is no where near premier league standard yet.
He also played left back away at Palace that season against a team and manager famed for their use of wingers. Played well and didn't get a red card in that one either from what I remember.
Lets stop making excuses for him, Silva got it wrong twice this week If he learns from it... great. We can move on
He was given limited service & he run his nuts off for the whole time he was on the pitch (like Keith Mercer on speed) & didn't allow Brighton any time to play out from the back. Actually they all worked bloody hard & they stopped Britos's moment of madness costing us all 3 point.
Watched it on a feed from Switzerland holiday, thoughts: 1. Could have easily lost that 2. Don't blame Silva for the Britos selection at LB as no one could have predicted he would do that tackle, even with his track record. 3. Okaka must be gutted and if I were him I'd want to leave 4. Shame about Gray but way too early to crucify him, really hope he comes good 5. I'm not an Amrabat fan but he was doing well and I would have subbed Cleverley and kept 2 wingers in a 4-4-1 6. I naively hoped going down to 10 would enable us to play incisive and deadly counter attacking football, I was wrong 7. The boys stood firm and Doucoure was again awesome 8. Gutted as a win could have taken us 2nd or 3rd, but grateful for the point in the end 9. It's a funny old game
He didn't get it wrong though did he? He tried to make the best of a bad situation and was let down by Britos' stupidity. Britos didn't get sent off because he kept being caught out by Knockaert's pace and gave away fouls; he got sent off for a straight red offence because he made a violent, mistimed lunge, which without the benefit of hindsight couldn't have been predicted.
I think his absence even from the bench suggests he's already asked for a transfer (unless he's picked up a knock)
I think occasionally you start a match with high expectations of one outcome, then sometimes you have to just adapt and adjust as circumstances push you towards another. In the end, I think today was a decent result thanks to our self-inflicted madness. If we couldn't win the match today, at least we battled very hard not to lose it. Every point counts in this tough league, and we remain unbeaten and that's consecutive clean sheets. Logic suggested a win today against lowly opponents, but I think a lot of us would have grabbed that point at 3.30pm! I expressed my fears about Britos before he'd signed back in 2015. I worried his rashness would cost us dear in the heat of PL battles. He's now had more red cards than any other player in the top flight since August 2016. Our recruitment has been decent this summer and I believe it's been generally well thought through. The final piece in the jigsaw should be defensive reinforcements before the window shuts, and hopefully we never have to endure another afternoon again like today with the back four constantly changing mid match. Finally on a personal note, can I say thank you once again for the lovely kindness and support shown to me by forum members over the past few days. It's meant a lot to me that people who only know me as a username, an avatar and for my ramblings on here could take time out to send such lovely personal messages and/or write a few words about my recent loss in their matchday posts. It really means a lot to me. Thank you.
Britos should not play again after that. 9 of the other 10 were immens - kab, Cleverley, Doucoure, Chalobah - WOW Gray was extremely poor. First touch is atrocious. Amrabat put it on a plate for him
The error in selection for me was in mid week when Mason should have played and Holobas rested. Still bewildered by that decision.
I thought Gray did **** all, given the fact we were down to 10. Get in front of your defender, hold the ball up, buy a foul, defend from the front. He went off looking like he'd run a marathon, but he probably ran less distance than any of our outfield players. Jury decidedly out.
Havent been back long, given the circumstances thought a point was a good result. With 11 players for the full match think we would have won that. Awful tackle from Britos and cant have any complaints about the sending off. And it came as such a bad time for us as we were just getting back on top after a period of Brighton pressure. We actually started the game pretty well, Chalobah had an effort cleared off the line and both wingers were lively. Brighton for their part moved the ball fairly well and looked to overload down the flanks. Having said that they are a limited side and signing a striker alone wont solve their goal scoring woes. There is a real lack of creativity in their side, after they hit the post acouple of times and Knockhart had thrown himself to the floor acouple of times they ran out of ideas pretty quickly. Doucoure, Prodl, Kabasele, Richarlison and Feminia the pick of our players. Richarlison especially gave their right back all sorts of problems, so much so they subbed him for another right back at half time. Gray had a poor game though in fairness to him the quality of service was abysmal. He worked hard but it wasnt his sort of game. Amrabat started quite brightly and was one of our better players for the first 15 minutes though he faded after the sending off. Chalobah worked hard though was guilty of conceading possesion from some sloppy cross field balls. Before the season we would all have taken 5 points and 2 clean sheets from the first 3 league games yet after the high of Bournemouth this week has been something of a disappointment really, especially the stupid needless petulant sending offs and today was a missed opportunity in so many ways. Left back is a must.
Fair dos. I remembered it as IRB: Playing Britos at LB is an accident waiting to happen and he will definitely get sent off. Maybe you aren't the prophet I'm seeking
Britos tackle was more dangerous than the hurricane going on around me this weekend. Doucoure and Chalobah are sensational. Richarlison is raw, but quality. Once he matures a little, he's going to be some player by the looks of things. Gray was rubbish but isolated. Most pleasing thing is that we actually look like a football team, with a progressive plan.
Not sure you can blame him for that (as others have too), seemed to me the defender got really tight. The bit I just don't get is why a player who favours his left foot attempted that ridiculous 'tackle' with his right? Why not slide in along the ground with his left, get there too late and take a booking? Inexplicable. Also gave Hughton the luxury of subbing Bruno, who would otherwise have been sent off by the hour mark, at half time. I actually thought Brighton were quite a bit better than others are giving them credit for, albeit desperately in need of a finisher, and were competitive before the sending off and pretty dominant after it. Surprised they let their foot off the gas in the last ten and wonder if, and why, Hughton encouraged that a bit. Great efforts from most of ours, though and real signs of the 'die for the cause' spirit so sadly lacking for the large majority of last season. Thought the ref was fine, too, although both sides helped him for the most part. Knockaert is actually a pretty decent player. There, I've said it...
What gets me is it looked like he was actually going to reach the ball before The Diving Cheat & could simply has slid in & put the ball out for a throw. Instead he decided to try to take his legs off. No matter how tempting this might be, he should have resisted.
So if a defender hauls down an attacker at a corner, that shouldn't be a pen ? Or if he punches him, off the ball ? That shouldn't be a pen ? Think you need to think this through a bit more
with 11 players on the pitch do you honestly think there is any scenario where we lose 3-0? Careful with the answer, Brighton couldn't score even a single goal with a man advantage
Ref was bang average. Brighton players were consistently bringing down Richarlison in the second half without a yellow card to show for it.
I would like to give some props to Cleverley...as I said last week, on of those players we'd notice if he wasn't playing and a true team player. Also to Fermenia, so comfortable on the ball and two great feet, I really like him and can't believe we got him on a free.
Just some little notes for me personally today: Amrabat was fantastic for the first 10 minutes and then reverted to type of the last 8 months. Given his past as a RWB I'm slightly surprised Marco didn't give him a few minutes as RB to have a slightly longer think. We weren't as good or in charge as some people seem to think before the sending off, Brighton were in the ascendancy for a good 5-10 minutes prior after a promising start from us. Britos. Enoughs been said already. The boo boys are out already in the LGT for Gray. I wasn't sure if they'd be up to the task of two boo boys instead of focusing purely on Bats, but they're beginning to adapt. Gray seemed to be looking at winning the second ball coming down from the CB when they headed it away, looking for a mistake. Disappointed with today from him but we've had slow starters before. Cleverly was for me MoM today. Absolutely everything we needed him to be and more. Think we could've done more before the last 15 minutes to get behind the team. Often before these have been unifying moments to battle on and get a draw/win such as Huddersfield two years ago. We didn't get going really until the 72nd minute, compared to Brightons day out brigade. Brighton are doomed if they can't win games like today, or score opportunities that came up like today. Thought generally Ref did very well today, although wouldn't have minded if he had sent Bruno off in the first half. With Gibbs coming in, we need a clear out at CB/RB, with Gino helping Marco with what he needs there. Little longer than I expected. Enjoy your evening
Amrabat was roasting their full back and should have had an assist if Gray hadn't missed his sitter. Sky said he was "the best player on the pitch" before the sending off. Considering Amrabat was on the pitch for only 4 minutes after Britos was sent off his fading in the stands was understandable and your comment is a bit harsh to say the least. I felt sorry for him today.
Gray shouldve been brought off earlier we were crying out for deeney to hold the ball up. Gray just could not enforce himself on the Brighton cbs, agreed its not his game but it's what we needed with ten men
Sorry but did you actually watch the game? Amrabats best game for a while. Cleverley disappointing? Femenia played very well and Richarlison was our main outlet and was excellent. What did Silva do wrong exactly?
Even before he was sent off Britos looked a liability and would have been in for a torrid afternoon against Knockeart. The tackle was unforgivably stupid. As the PozzMan says though, Brighton were already on top by that point. After a nervy start they actually looked okay- I'm surprised people are being so critical of them. They were the better team, carved out some decent chances and barely gave us a sniff at goal all afternoon. Perhaps we would have punished by a more clinical side today but I was fairly impressed with them. Gray had a miserable afternoon and doesn't look like a lone striker. I don't think Deeney is the answer either though. I think we need Pereyra/Zarate to provide a more dynamic link between defence and midfield. The three central players all played well but we created almost nothing all game. Overall it wasn't a vintage game and we were probably fortunate to come away with a point.
