It is no coincidence that four of the nine summer signings made by Brighton & Hove Albion for a total of nearly £200million ($262m) are wingers, with record buy Georginio Rutter also effective in wide areas.
They are a key aspect of the attacking philosophy of head coach Fabian Hurzeler and they were instrumental in turning a 2-0 deficit at half-time against Tottenham at the Amex Stadium into an improbable 3-2 victory.
Sunday’s comeback was launched by a left-wing cross from Kaoru Mitoma, hooked in at the far post by Yankuba Minteh. The ball should have been cut out by Tottenham left-back Destiny Udogie before the £30million June purchase from Newcastle buried his first goal for his new club, but it was another indication of the importance to Hurzeler of game-changing wingers.
That has been evident from the outset of Hurzeler’s reign after his summer switch from St Pauli. Mitoma started and ended the move which led to the Japanese flyer scoring at the far post from Minteh’s cross in the 3-0 win at Everton on the opening day of the season in August. It was an instant taste of the influence of the wide players.
The potent pairing of Mitoma and Minteh has been embellished by Rutter. The £40million Frenchman, signed from Leeds United, has the versatility and ability to hurt opponents playing as the No 10 or wide on the right.
Rutter equalised against Tottenham with a clinical finish from Mitoma’s pass from a central run. Rutter has scored two goals in as many games after his early header in the 4-2 defeat at Chelsea — having failed to score in any of his first 15 outings in the Premier League for Leeds and Brighton.
Rutter, aided by timid Tottenham defending, also set up the winner with his determination to deliver a cross from the right which Danny Welbeck headed in for his fourth league goal in seven outings. The former Manchester United, Arsenal and England centre-forward is benefiting from the service he is receiving.
The front quartet were indicative of the transformation in the performance of Hurzeler’s team after Tottenham cruised into a 2-0 lead in 37 minutes through Brennan Johnson and James Maddison.
Hurzeler said after the match: “All four offensive players had a great performance. I am not judging them by scoring goals or making assists, I am judging them by how they work against the ball and how hard they work when they lose the ball. In the first half, it wasn’t good enough from all of them. In the second half, they showed, like the whole team, a good reaction.”
Mitoma, Minteh and Rutter between them have contributed four goals and three assists. That excludes Minteh’s part in the equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Arsenal in August — Joao Pedro converting the rebound after the 20-year-old’s shot was saved by David Raya did not count as an assist.
Minteh was the only new signing that started the first four league games. His performance levels have been inconsistent, but Hurzeler’s willingness to throw him straight into the team showed how highly he is rated. Restoring Minteh to the starting line-up against Tottenham after successive substitute appearances paid off.
Minteh, at 20 years and 76 days, is the youngest African player to score in the Premier League since team-mate and Ghana international Tariq Lamptey (20 years and 32 days) also scored for Brighton against Tottenham in a 2-1 defeat away from home in November 2020.
Any reservations about the impact on Mitoma’s ability to damage opposing defenders of a back injury which ruled him out from February onwards last season have been eased by the way he has begun the campaign under Hurzeler.
In the first three league fixtures, Mitoma attempted 19 dribbles, a throwback to his thesis on the art of dribbling when he was at university in Japan. Only Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku (20) attempted more dribbles, while across the first three rounds of matches, Mitoma had the most one-v-ones (seven) in the box — where an attacking player with the ball is isolated against a single defender.
The significance of penetrating width was evident at Hurzeler’s St Pauli in their 2.Bundesliga title success last season. Oladapo Afolayan on the right had nine goals and three assists in 31 league appearances. Left-sided Elias Saad scored seven times and provided two assists in 30 league matches.
Hurzeler has switched from a back three at St Pauli to a back four at Brighton, but operating without wing-backs does not diminish his desire for an attacking threat in wide areas. The full-backs push on in a high defensive line.
As well as Mitoma and Minteh, Hurzeler has the injured Simon Adingra and Solly March in the squad he inherited from former head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
March played the first 25 minutes of a 10-0 win for the under-21s on Saturday at home to Crystal Palace. It was pre-determined game time on his return from a year out with knee damage.
Even with this strength in depth on the flanks, wingers were stockpiled in the first transfer window of Hurzeler’s reign. Brajan Gruda, Ibrahim Osman and Amario Cozier-Duberry are versatile and have all spent chunks of their promising careers playing as wingers.
Osman has been loaned to Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie for the season, Cozier-Duberry to Blackburn Rovers in the Championship. Gruda, signed from Mainz, made his debut on the right against Tottenham as a late substitute after a calf injury.
Gruda adds to the array of choices Hurzeler has in wide positions. For now, though, Mitoma and Minteh are the main combination.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
