The Art of Organised Chaos: Brighton vs Manchester United

"We make passing mistakes in building up. that is nothing to do with either you play with a false nine or are you playing with a typical number nine" Ten Hag said when he was asked about Eriksen as a False 9.

That wasn’t a surprise for Ten Hag that Potter would try to press because that’s the most vulnerable moment to create chances. However what was challenging for Erik, Potter’s tactical changes which gave Brighton the upper hand.

Brighton's proactive play has undoubtedly helped them to apply a lot of ideas.

Making Chaos

For the early minutes of the game, Brighton directed United to Maguire(5) due to their asymmetric press, Welback(18) is responsible for Martinez(6), Lallana(14) with the pivot, and he stepped up to press Maguire(5) with covering shadow the pivot.

That scheme gave Maguire(5) enough time to scan the field and choose the appropriate pass to play, also that scheme left Fred(17) the pivot free in the midfield because he was moving in behind Lallana(14) while pressing Maguire(5).

Also, Eriksen's(23) free-roaming caused some conflicts in Brighton’s shape.

Maguire can find Shaw(23). Fred(17) can be involved. which led to chance.

Then it was Potter’s first solution, he asked Gross(13) who was the free player in the midfield to join Lallana and Welbeck pressing on the CBs and the pivot.

That left Man United with two options:

• Play the long ball quickly which was exactly what Brighton want because of their great headers in the back and the midfield support for the second ball.
• De Gea became more involved in the build-up, and we all know that’s not his best trait at all.

All of that with Potter’s chaos gun which was his wingers’ initial position. They started from a deeper position ready to press the fullbacks. that deeper position made them closer to the goal and ready to carry and contribute to the attacking transitions.

The new scheme forced Man United to go back to de Gea. They made a mistake that led to a big chance for Trossard(11).

One more example, Brighton's wingers’ position was ideal.

Here Dalot sent a long ball which was easy for Brighton’s defense.

After Brighton’s first goal, they returned to the first scheme to earn that free player in the back, with new instructions for Gross(13) to mark Bruno(8), leaving Eriksen(23) to the zonal markers of the defensive line. And that was effective for Brighton.

Here Gross is looking for Bruno to ensure that there is no way to progress the ball centrally.

In the second half, Ten Hag asked Dalot(20) to push higher in the right half-space; the famous movement Mazroui used to do in Ajax.

That change has led to a chance for United, Dalot(20) dragged Trossard(11) with him opening a passing lane directly to the winger and he ran in behind Brighton’s defense.

Potter can see that, there is a problem. So he asked March(7) to go back to forming a Back-4 and providing enough width to deal with that problem and asked Trossard(11) to press on the CB. Again Potter is making it harder for Ten Hag Debut.

That reaction made Ten Hag helpless to the end of the game.

Controlling the chaos

“Brighton is a team who normally wants to play from the back, they didn’t today, they played long ball, so it’s not about pressing, it’s about winning the second ball” Ten Hag said.

Brighton without playing out from the back plan was a surprise for Ten Hag, as it was unexpectable and the long ball approach that Potter did was impressive.

Sanchez sent a direct ball to Welbeck who stands with Martinez(6), with March picked the left pack, and a diamond in the rebound zone, that diamond had the numerical and positional superiority to collect the 2nd balls from Welbeck.

Regarding Welbeck, he was a monster in that game, he collected the balls from the air and knocked them down to his teammates. Welbeck himself was a mismatch with Martinez who played a very good game but Welbeck was outstanding.

Brighton are ready for the reaction.

Trossard crucial role in the long balls plan.

During the first half, Brighton tried to play the long balls from playing out from the back situations. Which created more spaces. and they had the same principles. Long ball to Welback with great support to the second balls.

Later in the match, after converting march to the left-back. Brighton can still do it without the player who picks the left back.

In an advanced stage of the chaos were the attacking transitions. which contained a set of principles that ruined Manchester's defense. progress the ball through midfield diamond, diagonal runs from Welbeck, and wingers exploit the spaces.

We can see that clearly in the two goals that Brighton scored.

The midfield superiority helped them progress the ball smoothly.

With two unmarked players ready to finish.

In the transitions that came from low areas of the pitch, Brighton relied on Welbeck's presence in the wide areas, so they can receive the direct ball and hold up for the support. Which was a good rest offense structure with only one player.

Or they even can put him in a better situation. (latter in the match)

The way of Graham Potter that he wants to play, and the way he made his players enjoy the game, gave him the flexibility to outplay Manchester United, getting a historic win in Old Trafford.