Throughout Brighton’s crucial last-gasp 1-0 victory over Marseille on Thursday evening, sat up above the typically noisy travelling supporters in a television studio was Michael Owen, a pundit on TNT Sports for the evening.
A couple of weeks ago, Owen appeared on the Up Front podcast and suggested that, essentially, footballers were less technical and more physical than ever.
“Back in the day there were loads of great players that were absolute ballers, properly talented footballers,” he said. “Now, if you can just run a bit further than everyone else and pass the ball from A to B, then you can have a decent career in the Premier League. You don’t even have to be that good any more. You used to have to have real skill and attributes to be a top player — you had to be a footballer. Now you have to be an athlete.”
The game has evolved in recent years and pressing has become more prominent, but for anyone who thinks technical quality has gone out of the game, that you “don’t even have to be that good any more”, Brighton’s performance was a fine counter-argument.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side, particularly his starting XI for this game, must be among the most purely technical ever seen in English football. It starts from the goalkeeper, Jason Steele, who is incredibly proficient with the ball at his feet, often standing with his studs on the ball to tempt opponents to pressure him so confident is he about his ability to play past the press and into the forwards.
The centre-backs do something similar. Lewis Dunk, on paper, is perhaps the most old-school player in this side, but he continually threaded balls into the feet of the strikers and is Brighton’s first-choice direct free-kick taker because of the dip he can impart on the ball, even if his one effort here struck the wall. His centre-back colleague, Jan Paul van Hecke, is as confident in possession as you’d expect from a Dutch defender, while the left-sided defender, Brazilian summer signing Igor, went on two good dribbles downfield and also showed remarkable calmness to chest the ball back to Steele when Marseille sent in a dangerous cross.
To the right, Jack Hinshelwood was, in theory, a full-back but played as a central midfielder in possession and often charged forward into goalscoring positions, too. That’s become a relatively standard role these days — Trent Alexander-Arnold, Rico Lewis — but it’s still fantastic to see an 18-year-old academy product playing like this in European football. It’s difficult to imagine any full-backs from Owen’s day doing similar.
Owen said that top players once had to be footballers, now they have to be athletes (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
The midfield duo of Pascal Gross and Billy Gilmour, similarly, is comprised of two players who are almost purely passers. Gross is inventive regardless of whether he’s playing as a No 10, as a full-back or, like here, in the engine. There were two classic examples of the turn that he could have trademarked by now if Johan Cruyff hadn’t got there first.
Gilmour, meanwhile, is a perfect advertisement for the concept of scanning, always checking over his shoulder and assessing his passing options before the ball comes his way. Both get stuck in, but neither is defined by their physicality or ball-winning skills, which is quite a contrast to the man who was stood in Marseille’s technical area, former Milan water carrier Gennaro Gattuso, whose playing career roughly coincided with Owen’s.
In the front four, Brighton had two mazy dribblers out wide. Kaoru Mitoma can go outside and cross or come inside and shoot and his ability to go either way makes his dribbling even more dangerous. On the right, this wasn’t quite Simon Adingra’s night in terms of end product, but he’s an eternally dangerous option with the ball at his feet.
Inside, Facundo Buonanotte is an 18-year-old diminutive Argentine left-footer creator, while centre-forward Joao Pedro spent the game coming short to link play.
Brighton’s substitutes, too, were highly technical. Evan Ferguson is a target man in terms of build, but his first touch, close control and ability to dig finishes out of nowhere make him a hugely promising talent. He was Brighton’s Plan B, but they never deviated from playing through the opposition rather than over them. Adam Lallana rose to the Premier League relatively late in his career precisely because he was, and still is, about quality with both feet and intelligence rather than the explosive, dynamic player that attracts attention as a youngster.
Arguably the only exception, of the 14 players who played a major for Brighton here, was James Milner. His footballing skills shouldn’t be underestimated, but if there’s a single Brighton player who fits the description of “can run a bit further than everyone else and pass the ball from A to B”, then it’s probably Milner. Notably, he’s the only hangover in this side from Owen’s era — they played together at Newcastle.
And of every footballer on the pitch, the closest to Owen’s style was Marseille’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a fine finisher but someone who has found himself unwanted at Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea because he wasn’t good enough at linking play. He, like Owen, depends on his speed. He offers little else and now he’s lost a yard of pace, feels antiquated at the highest level. Predictably, he touched the ball fewer times — 26 — than any other player who completed the 90 minutes.
Joao Pedro fires in the winning goal at the end of a good technical move (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Brighton, in fairness, are extreme examples of technical skill. Maybe they’re outliers — at a time when even Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta are loading up on physical defenders, De Zerbi is going all-in on “ballers”.
Owen acknowledged this, describing Brighton as a “really good passing team”. He also said they’re “everybody’s favourite second team — they play the game the right way”.
And being everyone’s second-favourite side might be more literal than you might expect. The fact that an extra Champions League place for next season will be handed to the two nations that record the highest number of coefficient points this season means supporters of (maybe) Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea might find themselves compelled to cheer on English clubs still in Europe. If those clubs are Arsenal, Manchester City and West Ham United, they might find that difficult.
But few — Crystal Palace fans aside — would begrudge Brighton a good run. This is a high-tempo, attacking side that focuses on dragging the opposition around before playing through them. Even in the final minutes of a must-win game.
Their late winner, when it eventually came, was typical — Dunk playing the ball sideways to Van Hecke, then onto Gilmour, then through the lines to Lallana, who touched it on for Gross, who fed Joao Pedro, who turned onto his right foot and smashed it into the top corner.
UNBELIEVABLE SCENES AT THE AMEX! 🔊💥
Joao Pedro and the Europa League, name a better duo 🤝#UEL pic.twitter.com/Z6TBFTB9wF
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 14, 2023
It was a brilliant piece of neat, intricate football and a reminder that, for all its physical progression in recent years, this remains a sport where technical quality shines through.
(Top photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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