Mats Wieffer took a significant step on the road to redemption in Brighton & Hove Albion’s exit from the Carabao Cup against Liverpool.
A 3-2 defeat in the last-16 tie at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday night was not the result that Fabian Hurzeler wanted, but the head coach took comfort from the performance of the player regarded as a key signing in the summer.
Wieffer completed his first 90 minutes since the 3-0 win at Everton on the opening day of the season. The Dutch international midfielder was not perfect by any means, but his display hinted at better things to come after his catastrophic error against Wolves on Saturday.
Passing the ball to Tommy Doyle when the Wolves midfielder was outnumbered four to one in injury time turned what should have been a 3-1 lead into a 2-2 home draw, as Doyle released Matheus Cunha for an improbable equaliser. It was the type of mistake that can define a player’s time at a club, one that fans never forget unless the balance is redressed.
The process of Wieffer showing supporters his true capabilities got under way against Liverpool. Hurzeler told The Athletic after the game: “He showed a great reaction to his mistake on Saturday. That’s not easy, to come back like this, show this character, this personality, after a mistake, not being the best player against Wolverhampton.
“He was asking for the ball, he wasn’t hiding. He made mistakes for sure, but afterwards he was still asking for the ball. That shows he is a great character and he keeps on going. I am sure he will help us this season.”
Wieffer’s intention to make amends was evident from the opening minutes, when he snapped into two tackles on Curtis Jones. In the second half, with Hurzeler’s side trailing to the first of two goals for Wieffer’s international team-mate Cody Gakpo, he set up a chance for Evan Ferguson which the Republic of Ireland striker fired over the bar. As The Athletic’s player dashboard shows below, Wieffer led the game in defensive actions and involvements in attacking sequences.
Of the nine signings Brighton made in the summer transfer window, for a total cost of nearly £200million, Wieffer was widely regarded as one of the shrewdest and most important investments. Technical director David Weir said when the 24-year-old arrived from Feyenoord for £25million on a five-year deal that the club had landed “one of the best deep-lying midfielders in Europe”.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot also had a high opinion of his fellow countryman when he was in charge of Feyenoord before succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield in the summer. In two seasons under Slot in his homeland, Wieffer contributed nine goals and 11 assists in 79 games in his preferred role as the No 6 — where he made the majority of his appearances — or as a box-to-box midfielder.
Slot said during Wieffer’s final season at Feyenoord: “Mats has made a mega leap in terms of development. So big that, if he does it again, he will become the best player in the world. That is, of course, unrealistic for any footballer, but Mats can get even better.”
Wieffer has not lived up to the lofty billing so far at Brighton. He struggled to adapt to the pace and intensity of the Premier League on his debut at Everton. His form has been patchy and he has not been helped by a recurrence of thigh trouble, which ruled him out of the summer European Championship for his country in Germany.
Part one of the double-header against Liverpool — Brighton visit Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday — was just his third start in the opening 12 games of Hurzeler’s reign, which have also included five substitute appearances.
Hurzeler, speaking before Liverpool’s visit to the Amex, said: “He works hard but every player needs to adapt and some do that quicker than others. For example, Georginio Rutter played in England before (with Leeds), he is used to the intensity of the game.
“You have to be prepared for that and Mats is getting close. Of course, everyone is talking about that mistake (against Wolves), but I focus on his performances and I think against Newcastle he had a good impact on the game (as a 71st-minute substitute in a 1-0 win).
“He will be an important player for us. We need to give him the time he needs and it’s important he gets the game time to get back the trust and belief in himself.”
Wieffer still has work to do to establish himself as a first-choice option in the 4-2-3-1 formation Hurzeler has used most of the time since moving from St Pauli in the summer. Cameroon prospect Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari were the preferred partnership to start against Wolves. They were among seven players rested for the Liverpool tie with a view to Saturday’s rematch.
In their absence, there was a flicker of the influential figure Wieffer could still become.
(Header photo: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
