Sam Morton talks through Brighton's 4-1 victory against Luton Town in their Premier league opener at the American Express Stadium
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00:00 We're joined by Sussex World reporter Sam Morton, who's just back from the Amex Stadium.
00:07 A brilliant start to the new Premier League season for Brighton, Sam. 4-1 victory against
00:13 newly promoted Luton Town and three points. Couldn't have gone any better, really, could
00:18 it?
00:19 No, it was the perfect day for Brighton, really. It had the elements of a game that could go
00:27 Brighton's way pretty quickly, really, at the start. They had plenty of chances. They
00:31 were a bit fearful when Pedro missed an absolute sitter towards the beginning of the game.
00:37 You kind of feared that there might be old habits creeping back in and not being able
00:41 to take the chances when they come about. But I think it really was a matter of time
00:45 before they'd eventually get that goal. It was Solih March with a header from Otome's
00:49 cross that opened the scoring. You just felt at that point that a second goal would kill
00:55 the game. I think Luton played really well, to be fair, and they defended really well
00:59 and really dug in and just looked to hit Brighton on the counter-attack and frustrate them as
01:03 much as possible. And that game plan really was working for much of the first half, really,
01:08 and that continued into the second half. It looked like, even though Brighton had all
01:11 the ball and most of the chances, Luton were worse in the game. And there were a few moments
01:17 where they could get themselves into attacking positions. But it was Pedro that won a penalty
01:23 in the second half that he put away himself. You felt that was the end of the game then.
01:28 But obviously, Luton went up and got a penalty of their own. That was very controversial,
01:33 to be honest. I think seeing replays, I'm not sure why.
01:35 - It was a lot of penalties.
01:36 - Yeah, even Brighton's one. I think there were claims that Pedro went down a bit too
01:40 easily. But even more so with the Luton penalty, it did seem crazy that VAR didn't turn that
01:47 one over. When you see that it dunks back first and you can't get your hands out of
01:52 the way. I'm not really sure what the handball rule is anymore, really. There was definitely
01:57 some confusion amongst the fans at the time as well, just wondering how that was given.
02:03 So yeah, definitely a good win either way. And obviously, after the penalty, Brighton
02:08 did really pick it up and brought some players off from the bench. And that just took the
02:12 game away from Luton, really, as they're tired. And you have players like Evan Ferguson and
02:16 Simon Odinga coming on. It's a boat to whale for the future, that strength and depth, really.
02:21 - It's a great option, isn't it, for De Serby to have? He's got so many attacking players
02:26 now that he can call upon. And just as Luton were probably starting to tire a bit, they
02:31 see these bright young players coming on from the bench. And it's a real weapon now, isn't
02:37 it, for Brighton and something they didn't have last season, perhaps?
02:40 - Yeah, 100%. 100%. Last year was a bit of an issue, especially towards the end of the
02:45 season where the games were coming thick and fast. Brighton were playing the same starting
02:50 XI from weekend or day in, day out, really. And there were very few options that De Serby
02:56 had at his disposal to change things up. And with Europe coming in to play this season,
03:02 it's so important they have those extra options and they can rest players when they need a
03:06 break. And it makes such a big difference. So having Woerlbeck and Pedro, Evan Ferguson
03:12 all vying for those forwards, or striking areas. Then you have Matoma and Odinga both
03:16 playing on the left-hand side. Can't really go wrong in that sense. You've got two players
03:21 with that quality in that position. And then obviously, yeah, Solih March as well. And
03:26 yeah, it bodes really well for the future that you have those kinds of options, I think.
03:31 And just to bring on someone like Evan Ferguson towards the end of the game. He obviously
03:34 scored one, but he could have had two. And he curled an amazing shot on the turn off
03:39 the inside of the post. He thought that would be...
03:41 - Yeah.
03:42 - A striking strike. And just never fails to amaze me, really, Evan Ferguson. The age
03:48 he is and the ability he has, he's scary good, to be honest. So yeah, just having players
03:54 like that to come off the bench and rotate in that manner. And obviously, we've mentioned
03:58 Pedro and he did really well today. He'll be disappointed not to score that first chance.
04:02 But he made amends from the penalty spot. And I definitely think there's more to come
04:07 from him.
04:08 - Yeah, he looks good. He looks good, doesn't he? I like the way he links up with Woerlbeck
04:10 as well. I think the pair of them together is a good combination. But one player who
04:16 wasn't in the line-up today, obviously, Moises Caicedo. Plenty of talk about him. He's either
04:23 going to go to Liverpool or Chelsea, by the looks of it. Probably Chelsea. How did Albion
04:28 line up without him? De Hoog started ahead of Billy Gilmore, didn't he?
04:32 - Yeah, it was a surprise to see Billy Gilmore on the bench.
04:35 - Yeah, it was.
04:36 - Yeah, it was a surprise to see that. But he played De Hoog in a midfield two formation
04:45 alongside fellow German Pascal Grosz. And it was James Milner who slotted in it right
04:49 back. And Pascal Grosz was excellent. He was one of my players of the match, really. He
04:57 was at his best. De Hoog impressed me as well. He had some really nice passes. It was his
05:02 pass that created that first goal, really. Because it split the defence open. And he
05:08 had Matoma then end up crossing for March. But for De Hoog, there were a few misplaced
05:13 passes. And maybe it's going to take time to fully integrate him into the system. But
05:17 I thought it was a really good start for Brighton. And a promising signing, I think. And yeah,
05:24 obviously, big boots to Phil if he is to be Caicedo's replacement. Because obviously, as
05:28 we know, Caicedo is phenomenal. And that's proved by the interest in him and the amount
05:33 of money that's being talked about. But it's been a crazy few days, really. Not knowing
05:38 where he's going to end up. He probably doesn't know himself where he's going to end up, I
05:42 think, with the way things are. But yeah, it's interesting times, really. And I think
05:47 from what De Servi has spoken about in the past, it seems like there will be someone
05:50 else coming the door if Caicedo does move on.
05:52 - Yeah, I think they'll have to, won't they?
05:56 - Yeah, absolutely. And obviously, Billy Gilmore didn't play the full 90 minutes. But he came
06:00 on and looked assured. And he'll be looking to build on last season when he really did
06:06 start to improve and make a name for himself towards the end of the season.
06:10 - Yeah, yeah. I think with the games against Luton, it was a good one to introduce the
06:14 Hood into, wasn't it? And Pascal Gros. But it's going to be those games against, no disrespect
06:20 to Luton, but it's going to be those games against Man United, Liverpool, the Arsenal,
06:24 the Chelsea. You know, those big games where Caicedo and McAllister are going to be missed,
06:28 isn't it? Today against Luton, probably you can get away with it, can't you?
06:32 - Yeah, absolutely. That is true. And you're up against a side that is obviously unfamiliar
06:38 with that kind of quality of Brighton and really trying to get to grips with that. And
06:44 I think, as I say, Luton did do a decent job of frustrating Brighton. And that's probably
06:48 going to be the game plan for much of the season for them. But yeah, it's difficult
06:54 to say how much of an impact the Hood would have in those kind of big games, as you say.
07:02 It's a good start. It's a good start up against a team with obviously a low block that try
07:05 and frustrate you. And there's going to be plenty of those games as the season goes forward.
07:09 Obviously, Brighton do like to dominate possession against whoever they play. So you feel like
07:14 it's a good learning curve in that sense, trying to maybe play those passes to unlock
07:18 defences that are quite tight. But yeah, as you say, the big games will be really where
07:23 you can see how they cope without Caicedo and that kind of stuff.
07:26 - Yeah. What was James Milner like? He played it right back, didn't he?
07:30 - He did. Excellent. Yeah. It's hard to believe that he's played, I think it's the 22nd season
07:36 that he's going into. It's incredible, really. He's incredible. Yeah, the longevity of it
07:41 and the desire as well, the desire to keep going and to go to a new club that's really
07:47 kind of got high ambitions and he hasn't really got that. Obviously, you've seen his ex-Liverpool
07:51 teammates go to Saudi Arabia and obviously other big names going there towards the end
07:56 of their career. And you'd maybe forgive him if he wanted to do something similar, really,
08:00 and have a bit of a relaxing end to his career. But the fact that he's taken that move to
08:05 Brighton, going to be playing in Europe this season as well, I think it just shows his
08:10 ambition and his desire to keep going. And he really showed that today, just excellent
08:15 in his individual role and barely put a foot wrong.
08:18 - Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's going to be really useful, isn't he? He can slot in at so many
08:24 different positions.
08:25 - Yeah, he was so positive as well.
08:28 - Yeah, yeah. Especially into Europe as well. You were in the press conference afterwards.
08:35 How was Dezerby afterwards? Was he satisfied with the game or what was his sort of view
08:40 on it?
08:41 - Yeah, unfortunately, I missed the press conference itself whilst I was speaking to
08:45 some of the players when Dezerby came out. But I played back some of the quotes and he
08:50 seemed happy with the performance, but he said it's not quite up to the standards that
08:54 he wants to see. So it's going to take some time to get back to the level they were playing
08:56 at last season. So yeah, he seemed pleased. Obviously, the result was the most important
09:02 thing today. He can't be too dissatisfied with four goals. And even the goal obviously
09:07 losing scored was controversial. So they did keep a clean sheet obviously from open play.
09:13 So I think he'll be pleased with that as well. And yeah, just definitely something to build
09:17 on and try and get back to the levels they were playing at last season. It can only go
09:22 up really.
09:23 - Yeah, yeah. Which players did you catch up with after the game?
09:26 - So I spoke to Louis Dunk, who was really pleased with the performance. And yeah, just
09:34 happy with the way things are going, the way the signing, how well the signings played.
09:38 And he was full of praise for James Milne's performance as well. He's delighted to have
09:43 him alongside him in that defence as well. Yeah, so he was hugely pleased. And Simon
09:48 Odinger also came out to speak to the press for the first time. And you can see he couldn't
09:52 stop smiling when we were speaking about his game. He spoke a little bit about how his
09:58 time over in Belgium helped his development. And he's such a promising player as well.
10:03 We saw in his loan spell and pre-season as well. He's kind of got that natural eye for
10:08 goal. You can definitely see that. And you can really see how he's going to help growth
10:13 as well.
10:14 - Yeah, six million, wasn't it? Again, they paid for him, I think, a couple of years ago.
10:18 Had a little loan in, like you say, Union SG. And his stats at Union were really good
10:24 as well, weren't they? Similar to Matoma. Similar type, you know, that attacking threat
10:28 to Matoma. And he looks as though he could be a real find, doesn't he, this season?
10:34 - Yeah, absolutely. And Bryson has definitely got a habit of that, finding these players
10:38 that have just come out of nowhere almost. But yeah, he's another one that can really,
10:42 really make a difference, I think. And coming off either flank, whilst he refers to the
10:47 left-hand side and fighting with Matoma for that position. So Matoma's probably not, since
10:53 Trossard has left, Matoma's probably not had that level of competition. So it might make
10:58 him up his game even more, knowing that there's someone knocking on the door behind him.
11:02 - Yeah, yeah. And it's still the little way of the transfer window to go as well. Do you
11:07 think Brighton, they're going to look at that Corsedo position, are they? Do you think they
11:11 still need to add to their squad as well as sort of a Corsedo replacement?
11:16 - Yeah, I think the more players, the better, really. If you can get as many players as
11:21 you can get in, obviously, if Corsedo does leave, that's a massive amount of money that's
11:25 suddenly going to come into the club on top of what they already have. So you feel like
11:29 they definitely will be keeping their eyes open for a big name. Obviously, there's been
11:33 talk of Lavier from Southampton and saying that he could potentially be a good replacement.
11:39 But yeah, it'll be interesting to see who can come in to fill those boots, really. Obviously,
11:45 we've mentioned De Hoed and Gilmour. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see if they want to
11:49 bring in someone else as well. Obviously, Mahmoud Kouda from Ajax has been heavily linked
11:54 and it seems to have gone a bit quiet on that front. Yeah, gone a bit quiet. I don't know
11:59 if there's a problem with the personal terms. It sounds like I think a fee was agreed and
12:02 then the deadline ran out before the personal terms could be agreed. So yeah, not too sure
12:07 what's going on there. But that's one that'd be great to get over the line and add even
12:11 further talent to those attacking areas, really.
12:15 Yeah, well, an encouraging start. And just a quick word on Luton. Do you think they probably
12:20 need to add a couple more, don't they, before the end of the window? They look a bit...
12:23 Yeah.
12:24 Like you said, they did well, but then they just looked a little bit short, maybe, in
12:30 a few areas.
12:31 Yeah, just a little bit short. Yeah, I think their forward line looked decent. I think
12:37 they caused some problems. Obviously, had some height in those attacking areas and they
12:40 definitely caused Duncan Van Hecke some issues. There's definitely room for improvement across
12:46 the squad, really. They're going to make a claim to stay in the league. I think Ross
12:51 Barkley's obviously just signed and he wasn't ready to play today. But he's the inexperienced
12:55 player that can help. But I think they definitely need more to stand a chance. And I think,
13:00 yeah, the way they performed today, it's probably the way they're going to have to play in most
13:06 of the games, to be honest, trying to soak up the pressure and hit teams on the break.
13:09 And it's probably not a sustainable kind of game plan that would work all the time. But
13:14 this is probably a game they wasn't expecting to get anything out of anyway. Weighted writing,
13:18 obviously very strong. So, yeah, it'd be interesting to see if they do bring some more players
13:21 in.
13:22 It's going to be their home form, isn't it? I think with Luton.
13:26 Yeah, even at their ground, it might be. Sorry, it might be difficult for teams to go to their
13:31 ground, obviously, that kind of lower league feel almost. So, it might be somewhere they
13:36 can pick up a few points.
13:38 Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, great start for Brighton. We've got the player ratings and
13:46 all of the reaction will be on the Sussex World website. So, thanks again for everything,
13:52 Sam. And yeah, we'll look forward to a good season ahead.
13:56 Great. Thank you, Darren.
13:58 Cheers, Sam.