Premier League 2018/19 review: Time for Brighton to aim higher up the table

Brighton fended off the threat of relegation for the second successive season, though it was closer than the club would have wanted. The Seagulls were 10 points clear of safety on New Year’s Day but finished the campaign only one place and two points above the bottom three.

A second successive relegation fight and a regression of four points from last season was not deemed a step in the right direction by Brighton’s ambitious owner, however. Brighton announced Chris Hughton’s departure less than 24 hours after the final day of the season.

Tony Bloom has now started the search for Hughton’s successor, as he looks to appoint a manager who can start guiding the club up the table and away from the bottom three. Brighton spent in excess of £70m over the course of the campaign, including a club record purchase of Alireza Jahanbakhsh, and the return was not good enough this season.

Top rated player – Shane Duffy (7.11)

Shane Duffy was the only Brighton player to finish the Premier League campaign with a WhoScored rating above 7.00. The 27-year-old enjoyed another impressive season and would surely have been bought by a Premier League club if Brighton were relegated.

The Ireland international has formed a solid partnership with Lewis Dunk and their commitment to defending has shades of Atletico Madrid, though obviously nowhere near as effective. Of the 16 WhoScored Man of the Match awards won by Brighton players this season, six of those were handed to Duffy.

Duffy made more clearances than any other player in the Premier League this season (243), while only Burnley duo James Tarkowski (56) and Ben Mee (50) blocked more shots than the Brighton defender (47). Duffy also scored five goals himself at the other end of the pitch to finish the campaign as Brighton’s second top scorer.

Biggest Disappointment – Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Brighton’s signing of Alireza Jahanbakhsh last summer was met with huge excitement and intrigue following the 25-year-old’s breathtaking season with Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

Jahanbakhsh’s last season for AZ saw him garner a hugely impressive WhoScored rating of 8.20 after playing a direct hand in 33 goals in 33 league games (21 goals, 12 assists), as well as winning the WhoScored Man of the Match award 14 times.

There is always a level of uncertainty when signing players straight from the Eredivisie and, unfortunately for Brighton, their club record signing fell well short of the hype this season. He made just 19 league appearances, with only 12 of those as starts, failing to play a direct hand in a single goal and garnering a poor WhoScored rating of 6.33.

Surprise Package – Solly March

Given Brighton signed Alireza Jahanbakhsh in the summer to provide competition with Anthony Knockaert, Jurgen Locadia, Jose Izquierdo and Solly March in wide areas, it’s perhaps even more surprising the latter established himself as a first-team regular for the Seagulls this season.

March only started 18 league games in Brighton’s first Premier League campaign and made as many appearances from the bench, but started 30 times this time around with just five cameos as a substitute.

Brighton were unable to call on main creator Pascal Gross in 13 league games this season and Chris Hughton’s side needed others to step up and fill the void left by the 27-year-old. March did that to a large degree, registering five assists over the season, two more than Gross managed.

Where to Improve – Goals

Brighton finished the season one place above the bottom three and with the worst offensive record excluding the relegated teams (35 goals scored).

The Seagulls were too over-reliant on 35-year-old Glenn Murray and that will need to change next season if they want to beat the drop. Brighton signed Florin Andone 12 months ago to ease the burden on Murray but the 26-year-old failed to make any real impact.

Andone only started eight games and made a further 15 appearances as a substitute, returning three goals in that time and a WhoScored rating of 6.22. Even when factoring in starts alone, his WhoScored rating was just 6.23. Brighton’s new manager has to make signing a new striker a priority this summer.

League Position: 17th

Grade: E