Brighton exposed the Premier League’s big-money pretenders
Arteta got it wrong and Brighton punished him
Mikel Arteta got this wrong. His side were being pulled apart from the start and he waited too long to fix it.
The gap between the defence and the retreating midfield was there all game. Brighton kept finding that pocket, turning and attacking the goal. Two goals came from exactly that. Arteta had to see it.
Martín Zubimendi should have started ahead of Bruno Guimarães. Guimarães is at his best higher up the pitch, but this was a match spent in his own half against relentless man-on-man pressure. Zubimendi was better suited to getting through it.
I also could not understand the refusal to go long. The first time they did, they broke every line and Bukayo Saka nearly got through. With Kai Havertz up front, that option was there. It would have turned Brighton around and given everyone a breather.
Arteta admitted he considered making a change at half-time but gave the same players another chance. That was the mistake. Brighton were rampant, and waiting until the hour mark was far too late.
Brighton and Brentford make the rich clubs look foolish
Brighton and Brentford are embarrassing clubs with far more money. They lose leading players, managers and figureheads, replace them properly and keep moving. That is not luck.
Their recruitment is simply better. They identify players before the transfer fee and wages become ridiculous, then put them into a system they believe in. The rich clubs too often pay a fortune for the finished product and wonder why the pieces do not fit.
Brighton do not even need every big name available. Kaoru Mitoma was out, yet the next player stepped in and the whole thing still worked. Fabian Hürzeler is only 33, but his players know exactly what he wants and play with real belief.
That production line is the difference. Brighton and Brentford have a plan bigger than any one player or coach. The wealthy clubs should stop looking down at them and start copying them.
Spurs are a mess money cannot hide
Tottenham are a shambles, and the 3-2 scoreline against Aston Villa flattered them badly.
Villa were excellent and the contest was finished once Emiliano Buendía scored the third goal. The emptying stands told the truth, while children were in tears and another home match ended with boos, lowered heads and players mis-hitting 10-metre passes.
This isn’t a six-month problem. Tottenham’s home form has been rotting for years, with too many matches following the same miserable pattern: they look organised, might even deserve to score, then one setback arrives and the whole thing collapses like a house of cards.
Roberto De Zerbi saved them from relegation by one point last year and has been given £400 million to spend, with another £120 million being discussed. The results aren’t there, but another sacking would only restart the same failed cycle. The pressure inside that stadium is swallowing the players, and I think it is too much for most of them. Money has bought Tottenham very little except a more expensive crisis.
Fernandes is carrying Manchester United
Blaming Bruno Fernandes for Manchester United’s problems is ridiculous. He has been their player of the year for two consecutive years, creates chances that Matheus Cunha and others fail to finish, and carries far too much weight on his shoulders.
United’s display at Fulham lacked urgency against a vulnerable side entrenched in the bottom three. After the Carabao Cup disappointment, they didn’t need a masterpiece; they needed a strong response and three points. Instead, an 89th-minute deflection saved them.
They were unlucky with Erling Haaland’s controversial derby goal, which should never have stood, but a club cannot keep hiding behind bad luck after five consecutive League Cup defeats.
Is Michael Carrick the right manager? I don’t know yet, although Roy Keane clearly doesn’t think so. What I do know is that United supporters expect a Premier League challenge, not a side merely scrambling towards the Europa places. The standards cannot keep sliding.
Liverpool must change for Wirtz
Liverpool must change the way they play to get the best out of Florian Wirtz. It is that simple. Right now, he is a square peg in a round hole.
At Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz played in a system with a back three and wing-backs. That gave him room to find the ball, turn and hurt teams. Liverpool push high, dominate possession and crowd the areas where he wants to operate. He keeps getting the ball with bodies around him and nowhere to go.
His output has dropped badly. Seven goals and 11 assists in 55 games is nowhere near enough for a £100 million-plus player. He was bought to decide matches, not just make clever runs that drag a defender away.
I do not think he is a waste of money. Not yet. Liverpool knew the player they were buying, so now it is on them to build a side that suits him. You cannot spend that sort of money and then ask him to squeeze into a system made for somebody else.
They already had balance with Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai. Adding Wirtz has changed Szoboszlai’s role and unsettled that midfield. Liverpool wanted a number 10, went out and bought one of the best, but buying the shiny new player does not guarantee the pieces will fit.
The international break should help Wirtz. I know what getting away with your national team can do. It is a different dressing room, a different mood and a chance to clear your head.
But when he comes back, Liverpool need an answer. Give him space, give him a clear role and let him play where he can damage teams. Otherwise they will keep wasting his talent and their money.
My Socceroos goal was unforgettable for all the wrong reasons
If you are only going to score once for Australia, make it memorable. Mine certainly was, because it was so bad.
In my era, Frank Garrick and Eddie Thompson didn’t usually fly the European-based players home for the early qualifiers, which were invariably against island nations. Terry Venables changed that and wanted everyone together, including for a long Parramatta camp that I think lasted about four weeks.
Against what I recall was the Solomon Islands, the ball trickled back through a crowded penalty area and the goalkeeper’s clearance cannoned off my backside, looped over him and went in. That became my first and only Australia goal, alongside plenty of assists and 44 caps against other nations.
That period was a different world. On one tour Stan Lazaredi took me to a racecourse medical centre after I became badly disoriented following a huge night. An ambulance took me to hospital, where the diagnosis was a terrible hangover and the treatment was a drip. Meanwhile, my best mate spread the rumour around the racecourse that I had died. Some people believed him. Football tours weren’t always professional, but they were never dull.
