MINTAH Writes: Win or Lose tonight, Brighton is what Chelsea wishes to be

The face of Chelsea’s ownership group-Todd Boehly-won’t say it but inject a dose of truth serum into his system and he will confess he’d wish his Chelsea side played and won games like Brighton and Hove Albion.

Every once in a while, there comes a team that comes with something different that captures the imagination of the football world, no matter how big or small the team is.

The Seagulls’ guile, zest and fluid build-ups that lead to the creation of more chances over the duration of a game many a team would struggle to match even with extra minutes added, is such a sight.

It is for this reason, one-time Kumasi Asante Kotoko Sporting Club CEO, Nana Yaw Amponsah, raved about West African Football Academy (WAFA) and stated he wanted the Porcupine Warriors to be like WAFA.

The start of his tumultuous stint with Kotokobeganright off the bat from this statement’s fallout and that stint ended in very acrimonious fashion.

Beyond this, Roberto De Zerbi’s side seems to have an injury-proof template that doesn’t wobble in the face of first-team regular absentees as witnessed in Brighton’s 3-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

In that win, Brighton played without regular starters Solly March, Pervis Estupinian and Julio Enciso but looked just as effective.

On a night that could be easily mistaken for a full-on Premier League midweek schedule, there is one standout game, and no, it’s not Manchester City’s tie against Newcastle United.

Despite the amazing prospect of having two teams that finished last season in the top four spots face off in the third round of the Carabao Cup, Man City’s matchup against The Magpies has far less intrigue than Chelsea’s game against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Aside looking out for Kalvin Phillips’ performance in a rare starter’s role in place of the suspended Rodri, there isn’t much to get excited about Man City v Newcastle. It is the complete opposite for Chelsea’s game against easily the most entertaining side in English football though.

Stuck in a terrible run of performances that predates Mauricio Pochettino, The Blues are in desperate need for goals and wins, and grabbing both against high-flying Brighton would certainly go a long way to get Chelsea back on track for a return to European football.

Despite spending approximately a billion American dollars to heavily pivot from the remnants of Roman Abramovich’s Russian oil-fueled side, Chelsea is struggling mightily. Why this is happening is down to a myriad of reasons that is summed into one phrase; there is just way too much going on at Stamford Bridge.

A fleet of players departed the team while a fleet of players were brought into the team with a new manager. Pochettino’s hire as head coach marks the third time Chelsea has had a new name in that role since Thomas Tuchel was sacked, under two football seasons ago.

The sledgehammer effects of injuries on the Blues cannot be underestimated too, with as many as 11 players being inactive having a heavy toll on what the coach can do to create some semblance of a settled unit.

Despite the enormous gap that exists between a two-time Champions League winner and a relative newbie European participant, Chelsea and Brighton share deep connections. Former Chelsea boss Graham Potter starred on the sidelines at Brighton before moving to Stamford Bridge.

Blues players Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez followed the same route to Chelsea as Potter.

On the other hand, former Chelsea players Billy Gilmour and Tariq Lamptey are in line to start for Brighton tonight. In unsurprising fashion (these days), the Seagulls are favourites to win the Carabao Cup match based off their remarkable run of form that endures despite switching from Potter to De Zerbi.

After several technical head switches over a short period and Pochettino having a proven portfolio, there are signs that Chelsea’s owners will keep the Argentine coach around for some time.

As highlighted earlier in this piece, Brighton’s system seemingly has an inbuilt resistance to injury-related absenteeism, versatile players who slot and play effectively across multiple positions and just oozes sheer brilliance in attack.

However, what is most impressive about how Brighton has gone about its business is that the team has done so with players with low profiles just as Chelsea is attempting to do. On paper, Chelsea doesn’t have the squad that screams a billion dollars due to the presence of such players who are young and building their way into Balon D’Or conversations or grand off the pitch magnetic marketing pull.

Buying a raft of promising youngsters will do that a team.

Even Chelsea players with a lot of “hype” around them like Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez still have some ways to go before building themselves into any of the football awards or ace marketing conversations.

After heavy investments in subsequent transfer windows since the takeover was complete, Chelsea’s youth revolution falls far short in spectacle compared to big clubs going through similar phases like Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Real boasts of guys like Aurelien Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Juniour, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde while Barca has the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo.

From a tactical stand point, Chelsea sets up in a 4-2-3-1 system like Brighton and does everything well playing out from the back to the front but Brighton has a potent attack that differs sharply from Chelsea’s.

In six games this season, Brighton has scored 18 goals while Chelsea has just five to its name. It was the same last season as Chelsea ended the campaign with 38 goals while Brighton scored almost twice Chelsea’s goal tally by bagging 72 goals.

Putting Chelsea’s goal scoring problems into proper context, The Blues have 43 goals as a team dating back to last season at the time of writing but Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has 44 goals by himself scoring 36 goals last season and adding eight goals in six games this season.

Chelsea’s youth are going through several phases of growing pains but Brighton’s bevy of youngsters are delivering now and even if the oddity in football that makes the sport so unpredictable strikes again to give Chelsea a win over Brighton tonight, Brighton is everything Chelsea wants to be.