Brighton vs Crystal Palace match thread

[doombear]

Mingueza played for Barcelona and Spain, yet Khalaili is above him. What's happened there?

Mingueza is nowhere near the Spain team these days and looked even more inept than Khalaili in his two most recent outings. Khalaili is more of a winger than a wing back IMO. He has done OK going forward but neither he nor Mingueza are up to it defensively. Also, Khalaili cost us a significant fee, Mingueza just a signing on fee.

 

[eritheagle]

Mingueza is nowhere near the Spain team these days and looked even more inept than Khalaili in his two most recent outings. Khalaili is more of a winger than a wing back IMO. He has done OK going forward but neither he nor Mingueza are up to it defensively. Also, Khalaili cost us a significant fee, Mingueza just a signing on fee.

Mingueza was in the team of the competition for europa lge last year at celta viga so has been performing well to get that accolade.

In my opinion khalalili has been poor defensivily and ok going forward. He has confused me as he said when he joined that he likes to dribble past players but hasn't attempted it once in the 6 or 7 games i've seen him play.

 

[doombear]

Mingueza was in the team of the competition for europa lge last year at celta viga so has been performing well to get that accolade.

In my opinion khalalili has been poor defensivily and ok going forward. He has confused me as he said when he joined that he likes to dribble past players but hasn't attempted it once in the 6 or 7 games i've seen him play.

Yes, I was aware of that and was genuinely pleased that he came to us on a free. BUT, having seen him close up more than once he's been very disappointing in his defensive duties and defence was supposedly the stronger side to his game.

 

[Willo]

Yes, I was aware of that and was genuinely pleased that he came to us on a free. BUT, having seen him close up more than once he's been very disappointing in his defensive duties and defence was supposedly the stronger side to his game.

I was sent this link just prior to his signing for us :

Óscar Mingueza Scout Report At Celta Vigo 2025/2026: Why Newcastle, West Ham & Aston Villa Want Him – Player Analysis | TFA

Since joining Celta Vigo, Óscar Mingueza has arguably played his most well-rounded football in the opening stint of the 2025/2026 La Liga campaign. So much s…

totalfootballanalysis.com

 

[JHB]

Mingueza was in the team of the competition for europa lge last year at celta viga so has been performing well to get that accolade.

In my opinion khalalili has been poor defensivily and ok going forward. He has confused me as he said when he joined that he likes to dribble past players but hasn't attempted it once in the 6 or 7 games i've seen him play.

Let’s face it Khalali is just out of his depth at this level as it stands. Nothing he does is good enough for this level of football. His positioning is genuinely like kids football. It’s like he has never played the position before. He panics, he can’t pass, he’s lightweight, he’s not especially quick. He looks like a player who knows he isn’t good enough.

Maybe he will come good in time. After all he’s only had 7 Legaue games. He clearly isn’t helped by the system which has degraded Mitchell as well. If we had a half decent replacement then the right thing for player and team is to take him out of the firing line.

 

[MarkA333]

My great concern here is that our best players like Wharton and Mitchell look like shadows of their former selves. The team is shot to pieces in terms of confidence. This is why I think Sage has to go now before further longer term damage is done.

 

[JHB]

My great concern here is that our best players like Wharton and Mitchell look like shadows of their former selves. The team is shot to pieces in terms of confidence. This is why I think Sage has to go now before further longer term damage is done.

Something is very clearly wrong behind the scenes. Maybe it’s just the impact of losing but it looks deeper than that. It doesn’t look like the players really know what the manager wants them to do. It also looks like the things he is asking them to do they don’t really believe in.

The fact there were rumours as soon as September that Parish was considering sacking him tells you this is more than just results. We don’t know but if the players don’t have confidence in him combined with the shambles on the pitch then his number is up

 

[silvertop]

Something is very clearly wrong behind the scenes. Maybe it’s just the impact of losing but it looks deeper than that. It doesn’t look like the players really know what the manager wants them to do. It also looks like the things he is asking them to do they don’t really believe in.

The fact there were rumours as soon as September that Parish was considering sacking him tells you this is more than just results. We don’t know but if the players don’t have confidence in him combined with the shambles on the pitch then his number is up

There is a direct relationship between performance and sack rumours. The one causes the other without there being any real risk to the manager's job.

However, in our case I suspect we will have a new manager by week end and Mac will have to manage the team as caretaker for the Midweek trip to Turkey.

 

[BromleyMonkey]

His comments have led supporters to conclude that Sage believes his 'Hat is on a shaky peg'.

His beret you mean

 

[JHB]

There is a direct relationship between performance and sack rumours. The one causes the other without there being any real risk to the manager's job.

However, in our case I suspect we will have a new manager by week end and Mac will have to manage the team as caretaker for the Midweek trip to Turkey.

Indeed. It’s a results business at the end of the day. Results being good will cover a multitude of sins behind the scenes. The opposite is true.

Something just hasn’t sat right since Sage came in though. He clearly doesn’t have the arrogance of FdB (who does?) but that was the last time it really felt like this. Even when Glasner had is Sunderland hissy fit to try and get sacked it didn’t feel as chaotic as it does now

 

[Den1923]

Same question on Franca. Why loaned him out. I think he should do a better job than either Larsen or Nketia upfront.

He did not do a very good job when he was on loan back in Brazil, according to his Coach there. Frankly, he has done very little here, we knew that, when we parted with a report 20mil to get him and whose fault is that, certainly not Sage.

 

[BuzzBeats]

I think the problem is the players are caught between two systems in the same formation. The Glasnerball system was so well drilled the players seem to be reverting to this at times during the game.

Although the system, is the same, Sageball relies on an extremely high press. We are caught between a counter attacking defensive style and a high press ultra attacking style. The result is the players are spread out across the whole pitch leaving insane amounts of space all over the pitch to. exploit. This is confounded by JSL inability to hold the ball up which would at least offer some sort of respite.

Brighton just ruthlessly exploited this and the only reason we didnt lose by more was because they actually took a backstep at 3-0.

 

[ASCPFC]

He did not do a very good job when he was on loan back in Brazil, according to his Coach there. Frankly, he has done very little here, we knew that, when we parted with a report 20mil to get him and whose fault is that, certainly not Sage.

Textor money laundering.

 

[JHB]

I think the problem is the players are caught between two systems in the same formation. The Glasnerball system was so well drilled the players seem to be reverting to this at times during the game.

Although the system, is the same, Sageball relies on an extremely high press. We are caught between a counter attacking defensive style and a high press ultra attacking style. The result is the players are spread out across the whole pitch leaving insane amounts of space all over the pitch to. exploit. This is confounded by JSL inability to hold the ball up which would at least offer some sort of respite.

Brighton just ruthlessly exploited this and the only reason we didnt lose by more was because they actually took a backstep at 3-0.

A tactic that has hardly ever worked in the Premier League. I can only think of Klopp that did it successfully and that took him several seasons to get right. He also had at the time arguably the best forward line in England in Salah, Mane and Firminio as well as arguably the best centre back in the world at the time in Van Dijk. Even then as soon as the balance was slightly off the following season the high press stopped working.

Why would a manager taking on a limited squad try and play a system that has hardly ever worked in the Premier League?

 

[CPFCSaturn]

A tactic that has hardly ever worked in the Premier League. I can only think of Klopp that did it successfully and that took him several seasons to get right. He also had at the time arguably the best forward line in England in Salah, Mane and Firminio as well as arguably the best centre back in the world at the time in Van Dijk. Even then as soon as the balance was slightly off the following season the high press stopped working.

Why would a manager taking on a limited squad try and play a system that has hardly ever worked in the Premier League?

I've seen this mentioned a few times recently and I don't think it's accurate - this Brighton side, for example, press incredibly high, as they did under De Zerbi. Bournemouth did it fantastically well under Iraola. Arsenal are incredibly aggressive in counter-pressing under Arteta, and Pochettino's Spurs also had a lot of success with it. That's without even mentioning Klopp and Guardiola who completely dominated the league for a decade.

I also think Sage has already eased off his pressing expectations massively - we didn't try to squeeze Brighton at all yesterday and were quite happy sitting in shape (for all the good it did!)

 

[ASCPFC]

Notice how every one of their goals was lucky, whilst everything we did was unlucky. Luck was not on our side. Was even their worldie a reflection? It looked like it came off of Wharton.

 

[park the bus]

Notice how every one of their goals was lucky, whilst everything we did was unlucky. Luck was not on our side. Was even their worldie a reflection? It looked like it came off of Wharton.

Forest were unlucky. Or maybe we were just lucky.

 

[doombear]

Notice how every one of their goals was lucky, whilst everything we did was unlucky. Luck was not on our side. Was even their worldie a reflection? It looked like it came off of Wharton.

I know what you mean. It did seem like that and whenever the ball bounced of a player during a challenge it always seemed to fall to one of their players. Having said that we were still woeful and had Brighton not been 3-0 up after 9 minutes and not taken their foot of the ball a bit, we would in all probability still been tonked.

 

[Palacesince64]

I was sent this link just prior to his signing for us :

Óscar Mingueza Scout Report At Celta Vigo 2025/2026: Why Newcastle, West Ham & Aston Villa Want Him – Player Analysis | TFA

Since joining Celta Vigo, Óscar Mingueza has arguably played his most well-rounded football in the opening stint of the 2025/2026 La Liga campaign. So much s…

totalfootballanalysis.com

Either he’s the best right back since Lee Dixon or that piece was written by his mate. Either way, after Khalaili’s performance he deserves a run in the team.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

It used to be frustrating when we conceded in the 44th minute but on balance it was preferable to letting in three in the first 10 minutes. That's a tactic Sage really needs to reconsider.