The next chapter of the rivalry is ready to be written as the Eagles head to the South Coast looking to banish the memory of the disaster that took place there last time.
Ahead of the game, we had a chat with Scott at the excellent We Are Brighton fan site to find out about the season so far for the Seagulls, thoughts on the fixture and much more.
TEB: Are you happy with the summer transfer business by Brighton? Were there any areas not strengthened that should have been?
WEB: There certainly couldn’t be any complaints about the amount of money spent. Whilst the rest of the Premier League was sweating on PSR like Prince Andrew in a Pizza Express, Tony Bloom’s genius and saving all that lovely cash Brighton had received over the past three years for the one window everyone else was too scared to spend in has turned into a stroke of genius.
It enabled the Albion to sign players like Ferdi Kadioglu, Brajan Gruda, Georginio Rutter and Yankubu Minteh who Brighton would have been outbid for in a ‘normal’ window by the likes of West Ham, Newcastle and Villa. No other club has an owner with that sort of long-term vision or planning, which is why Bloom is the best around.
Only complaint would be the lack of new defensive signing. Lewis Dunk isn’t getting any younger (and Palace fans will probably be delighted to hear his powers appear to be waning slightly), Adam Webster spends half the season out injured and Igor is six good games followed by a catastrophic mistake.
TEB: It has been a strong start to the season for Brighton. What are your thoughts on results so far as we reach mid December?
WEB: Typical Brighton, really. The Albion have shown they can go toe-to-toe with the best, beating United, City, Newcastle and Spurs. But then dropped points against Ipswich, Wolves, Southampton, Leicester and Fulham.
If Fabian Hurzeler can find a way to translate results and performances against the European Super League Elite Six into games against clubs struggling at the opposite end of the table, the sky is the limit.
TEB: This is probably a silly question but, are you happy with Fabian Hurzeler in charge and is he the man to take the club forward?
WEB: This will sound strange… But it has been a mix of good and bad so far. To highlight the bad as I know that is what you Palace will want to hear, a suicidal high line saw Brighton ship a lot of goals early on. Game management has been questionable too at times; letting 2-0 leads slip with five minutes remaining against Wolves and Leicester is pretty unforgivable.
But the best thing is Hurzeler actually learns. The high line for example was ditched after losing 4-2 at Chelsea.
When you have an older, more experienced manager set in their ways, they are far less likely to change approach. Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi had this attitude and it was infuriating at times.
Hurzeler though is very open minded. That is good for Brighton. And you also have to remember he is only 31. When I was 31, I was being denied entry to Goodison Park for being two drunk after two bottles of prosecco on the train up and six pints in Liverpool before kick off. In 10 years time, Hurzeler could be world class.
TEB: Your opinions of the much debated VAR?
WEB: It is here to stay so we might as well get used to it. I am not a fan of how long it can take reaching decisions as then you enter the whole grey area of clear and obvious.
It will be interesting to see what difference this whole automated offside thing makes. Goal line technology has worked without so much of a murmur, partly I think because no humans are involved to cock it up. The same might be true of offsides. In which case, is there an argument for getting rid of human officials and just having robots or AI do it?
TEB: Expectations for this season?
WEB: Good question. Any club who spends £193 million in a single summer should probably be aiming for European qualification. Whether that is feasible for Hurzeler in his first season and with a young and relatively new set of players I don’t know.
I think minimum expectation has to be an improvement on 2023-24, however, to justify getting rid of De Zerbi and that investment. So anything above 11th.
TEB: What can we expect from Brighton in terms of style of play? Is it much different to Roberto De Zerbi’s?
WEB: Yes. There is much less draw-the-press thing and the risky passes five yards out from goal don’t happen so much.
Hurzeler has been fluid in his approach and seems to adjust tactics depending on the opposition. At Newcastle for example, he went 4-4-2 with the specific aim of shutting down their wingers.
Brighton subsequently ground out a 1-0 win, which was the polar opposite the previous match when it was all-out-attack to come from behind and beat Spurs. It is hard to know what to expect, really.
TEB: If you could sign one current player from Palace, who would it be?
WEB: Normally I just copy and paste my answer from every other time you have asked me this of Eberechi Eze! Given the Albion’s defensive frailties and having spent the summer in Germany marvelling at him, I’d take Marc Guehi.
TEB: Favourite away day in the Premier League?
WEB: Forest. Good city and good pubs. Although nothing in the Premier League is a patch on the likes of Carlisle or Hartlepool from our League One days.
TEB: Predictions for the game including final score?
WEB: 1-1. It’s almost always 1-1, isn’t it?!
