Liverpool are preparing to face Brighton for the second time this week and one well-known Seagulls supporter hasn’t held back in his opinion of FSG.
Arne Slot‘s side won 3-2 in the Carabao Cup fourth round at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday, with both sides much-changed.
Another clash with Brighton arrives in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, in another important match in Liverpool’s title quest.
Ahead of the game, we spoke to Brighton fan and football finance expert Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) to discuss life under Fabian Hurzeler, issues around FSG and much more.
How would you assess Brighton’s season so far?
Encouraging.
It’s taken time for the new players to acclimatise to the demands of the Premier League, but the results have been good – better than performances – and it has helped to have three opposition players sent off so far this season.
The club owner, Tony Bloom, has authorised an enhanced budget this season, off the success of previous years in terms of selling players for good fees.
The aim is to try to sneak into a European place, although clearly not via the Carabao Cup now!
How is Fabian Hurzeler faring as manager?
Initially it was high-press, high-risk football, with catching the opposition offside a lot.
It didn’t take other teams too long to set up for this, though, and we were well beaten by Chelsea, for whom Cole Palmer scored four and could have had seven.
We were also run ragged by Tottenham for 45 minutes at the Amex, but they fortunately decided to go full ‘Spursy’ in the second half and snatch defeat from what should have been an easy victory.
The pleasing thing about Hurzeler is that he does seem keen to learn from errors and adapt, whereas with Roberto De Zerbi, it was very much ‘my way or the highway’.
Still, too many unforced errors are on show, as we saw against Liverpool on Wednesday, and if we can remove them, we feel that we can give most teams a decent game.
Have there been any standout performers? Anyone struggled?
Danny Welbeck is showing that, when fit, he is both a canny and reliable finisher.
I was amazed by his England goalscoring record of 16 in 42 matches, yet he has never managed double figures in a single season in the Premier League.
He is also one of the genuine good guys in the game, so I am delighted that he has made a good start to the campaign.
Carlos Baleba is having an excellent season, too.
Losing Yves Bissouma, Alexis Mac Allister, Pascal Gross and Billy Gilmour in the past couple of seasons meant there was a potentially big hole in the centre of midfield, but he is strong, confident, a good tackler, can score goals and runs non-stop.
In typical Brighton style, he was recruited for £20 million at the age of 18 but is now worth three or four times that amount in the current market.
Georginio Rutter looks very promising, and despite the record signing tag at £40 million, he is both young enough and good enough to progress at Premier League level.
Jan Paul van Hecke at centre-back has made the position his own and would probably even edge out captain Lewis Dunk if there was a straight fight for one position.
The strugglers this season have been new signing Mats Wieffer, signed from Feyenoord, who managed to turn a four-against-one breakaway against Wolves last Saturday in the last minute into an effective assist for the opposition!
The Albion have a patchy record in terms of Dutch signings, with Ali Jahanbakhs and Jurgen Locadia both arriving from the Eredivisie, only to flounder in the Premier League and leave quietly after a couple of underwhelming seasons.
Julio Enciso has not pushed on from his breakout season when he scored some spectacular goals, and seems a bit lost in terms of where he is supposed to play.
What do you think of Arne Slot?
Jurgen Klopp is almost impossible to top in terms of charisma, humour, culture and emotional intelligence.
But Slot has proved to be the safe pair of hands that Liverpool probably needed in replacing such an iconic manager.
I suspect he will go under the radar, as he just wants to get on with his job, whereas some other clubs in the North West seem to enjoy being a soap opera first and a football club second.
How do you rate the matchday experience at Anfield?
It’s okay.
There’s always a warm welcome in the pub before a game and the core Liverpool fanbase are both extremely knowledgeable about the game and have an excellent set of values, in terms of the importance of club and city regarding history, heritage and identity.
What I find depressing is the decision of FSG to chase the tourist pound.
It makes sense financially, and with Project Big Picture and Super League it is easy to see where their loyalties lie, with profit more important than football.
There are too many selfie sticks and half-and-half scarves to create the truly intimidating atmosphere that Anfield used to create back when I first started going there as an away fan.
The expansion of the stadium with a focus on non-season ticket holders is a logical way to maximise revenues, but in doing so, something has been lost.
As a tourist experience, it is very effective at separating fans from their wallets, but the uniqueness of Anfield as a testimony to the greatness of the city has been diluted due to FSG’s priorities.
What’s your opinion on Liverpool’s start to the campaign?
I think Liverpool have been very impressive – extremely good both in and out of possession.
The squad looks to have depth, too, and the forward line is scary. I have the Reds as favourites to win the Premier League this season.
Rodri being out for the season, along with Kevin De Bruyne being brilliant but often injured, puts huge pressure on Erling Haaland to continue his amazing goalscoring record.
Man City are not beating opponents by four or five goals regularly as they have done in recent years.
Arsenal have already dropped a lot of points and cannot be relied on to finish a game with 11 men on the pitch, while Chelsea have improved but their defence is an issue, especially with Brighton’s former third-choice goalkeeper between the sticks.
Meanwhile, Spurs are Spurs!
What’s your favourite and worst memory from Liverpool vs. Brighton games?
The best was the 2-1 win in the FA Cup in 1983.
It was a great game with a great winning goal, and great grace in defeat from Liverpool fans in respect of Jimmy Case and Jimmy Melia, who were part of our victory.
The worst was probably the 4-0 defeat in the League Cup back in 1985, when Paul Walsh scored a hat-trick.
I don’t think we got the ball over the halfway line apart from kicking off after each goal was scored.
Where will the key battles take place on Saturday at Anfield?
Out wide, we are very vulnerable to crossfield balls and counter-attacks, so if Liverpool’s wide men are on form, it will be a torrid experience.
I expect to see Welback, Baleba and Rutter back, but suspect it will not be enough.
Finally, what’s your prediction?
I will go for Liverpool 3-1 Brighton.
