Rangers 0-0 Brighton: What we learnt from a £7.49 friendly stream
Rangers 0-0 Brighton. Not exactly a classic and anyone who forked out £7.49 for the live stream provided by the Scottish champions would have been left feeling more ripped off than someone who bought a ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ t-shirt on February 10th 1990, only for Madiba to be released the following day.
This lack of entertainment should not have come as a surprise. Pre-season friendlies are notoriously dull affairs, especially the first one when players are still feeling their way back to fitness and sides can have a disjointed look about them.
With Graham Potter electing to field two completely different XIs in either half, the Albion’s afternoon in the Glasgow sun essentially became one big training session.
Despite the dullness, there were still some interesting aspects from a Seagulls point of view. Here is what we learnt from Rangers 0-0 Brighton.
Leo Ostigard can replace Ben White
Much of the chatter amongst Brighton fans afterwards focussed on the performance of Leo Ostigard. The defender played in the middle of a back three in the second half and looked seriously impressive as he attempts to convince Potter he is worth a place in the senior squad this season.
Based on this evidence, Brighton would be very silly to farm Ostigard out on loan again. He had a fine afternoon on an individual level but what shone out most was the way he led a defence which had a very unfamiliar look to it to a reasonably comfortable clean sheet.
Alongside Ostigard in that back three were 18-year-old Belgian defender Antef Tsoungui and Steve Alzate, who as far as we can tell has never played as a centre back in his life. Alzate now only needs to start up front and in goal to complete the feat of playing in every single position on the pitch for the Albion.
Ostigard is only 21 yet he guided that backline through, playing like a bloke with 10 years experience under his belt. He was so in control that he resembled a bouncer at Molly Malone’s telling you to come back in 30 minutes once you have had some water as you are too drunk to come in. Nothing was getting past him.
There is of course a world of difference between looking good against an SPL side and keeping out the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea. Ostigard will face much sterner tests if he plays a part in the 2021-22 season.
His showing at Ibrox though should make Brighton think twice about spending money to replace Ben White. Liverpool defender Nat Phillips has been linked with a £15 million move to the Albion once White completes his £50 million transfer to Arsenal, set to be rubber stamped next week.
If we were Potter, we would be forgetting about splashing the cash on Phillips or any other new centre back. Brighton already possess a man who should be given a go at filling White’s boots. Potter should unleash Ostigard on the Premier League.
Enock Mwepu looks quite a player
Brighton have made two signings to date in the summer transfer window, the biggest being £22 million midfielder Enock Mwepu from Red Bull Salzburg.
We got our first look at the Zambian international in the first half of Rangers 0-0 Brighton. He was probably the second most impressive of the 22 players on show after Ostigard.
Starting on the right of midfield in a 4-3-3, Mwepu looked to get the Albion on the front foot as much as possible. He enjoyed a couple of promising runs and showed glimpses of the passing range that has led to him being known as The Computer.
Fingers crossed that positivity can lead to goals for Mwepu in the coming season. Whilst most of the talk about Brighton’s wastefulness focusses on the centre forwards, the Albion do not score anywhere near enough from midfield with the honourable exception of Pascal Gross.
Take Gross out of the equation and Brighton’s top scoring central midfielder in 2020-21 was Yves Bissouma with two. If Mwepu can improve the number of goals coming from midfield, then that eases the burden slightly on an under pressure frontline.
Yves Bissouma wearing the captain’s armband
Speaking of Bissouma, he was bestowed the captain’s armband for the first time in his Brighton career during the second half. Gross captained the side in the opening 45 minutes, as he had during Lewis Dunk’s suspension following a red card in Wolves 2-1 Brighton towards the end of last season.
Was this a sign that Bissouma is set to remain at the Amex despite rumoured interest from the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, Arsenal and Liverpool?
Probably not. Being made captain for a pre-season friendly will have little bearing on Bissouma’s decision making if one of the big boys come calling.
Brighton have tried the trick of bribery via captaincy before. Liam Briductt was given the armband in the absence of Gordon Greer and Inigo Calderon in the 2013-14 season by Oscar Garcia. Bridcutt still forced through a move to Sunderland in that January transfer window.
For what it is worth, it is hard to see Brighton selling Bissouma in the same summer that White leaves. To flog one first team player for a huge amount of money is good business; to sell two and rip out part of the spine of your team becomes risky business.
Bissouma will probably stay for 2021-22 thanks to White going. And if Bissouma does remain at the Amex, then chances are we will see him wearing that armband more in the future should injury – or more likely suspension – strike down Dunk.
Reda Khadra can offer something different
The absence of 11 senior players through a combination of returning late to training because of Euro 2020, playing in the Olympics, injury and illness meant that Potter gave six youngsters an opportunity in Rangers 0-0 Brighton.
Tsoungui has already received a mention. 19-year-old Marc Leonard had a solid first half given he is a midfielder who was being played out-of-position at right back.
Leonard was replaced by a genuine right back at the break, Ayo Tanimowo, and James Furlong took over from Andi Zeqiri at left back. Yes, you have read that correctly: Zeqiri, left back.
Taylor Richards got a run out in the second half following his impressive 2020-21 season at Doncaster Rovers. The best of the Under 23 players on show though was Reda Khadra, playing on the right side of a front three alongside Neal Maupay and Aaron Connolly during the opening 45 minutes.
When Brighton were harmlessly stroking the ball from side-to-side in the final third last season with no method of breaking through, it seemed fairly obvious that the Albion were crying out for someone who could run at a defence.
Khadra offers exactly that threat. When he got the ball at Ibrox, he was frequently looking to be direct. He has a promising combination of pace, power and skill which makes him a different threat to any other forward option available to Potter.For that reason, he deserves an opportunity in the Premier League in 2021-22.
The temptation might be to send him out on loan to the Championship. That is a move that should be reserved for Connolly, who desperately needs to score goals to rebuild his confidence at the same time as growing up and sorting out his attitude. Connolly has had numerous opportunities not taken; Potter should give Khadra those sort of chances this season.
Shane Duffy is disliked on both sides of Glasgow
Out of all the places that Shane Duffy could have made his first Brighton appearance in a year, it had to be Ibrox. Duffy enjoyed a torrid time of it last season when his dream move to Celtic quickly turned into a nightmare as the Bhoys expectations of a record-breaking 10th SPL title in a row were crushed by Rangers running away with the championship.
Understandably, the home fans at Ibrox were keen to remind Duffy of this during Rangers 0-0 Brighton. Duffy waving back at their taunts during the pre-game warm up seems to have got right under the skin of some Celtic supporters, who took to Twitter to have a right old pop at Our Shane.
Duffy seems to have achieved the impossible of being disliked on both sides of Glasgow. From Rangers fans, that is understandable. From Celtic fans, directing their anger at Duffy seems to be a way of distracting from the circus that their club has become since Brendan Rodgers realised the Leicester City manager’s job was bigger.
Celtic lost 6-2 to West Ham on Saturday, which probably did little to improve the mood of their supporters ahead of Duffy’s barracking.
We still love you, Shane. And it was great to see one trademark Duffy clearance off the line when Cedric Itten had an empty goal to aim at after Kjell Scherpen got in a bit of a mess with the ball at his feet.
One quick word on Scherpen, who looks like he is going to delight and entertain in equal measures. He appeared to have been smoking too much of that Dutch wacky backy when being dispossessed by Itten but went onto make a solid save from Leon Balogun. It will not be dull whenever Scherpen takes to the field, that is for sure.
The new away kit looks mint
Somehow, we have managed to get over 1500 words out of Rangers 0-0 Brighton despite it being a complete snooze fest. There is only one place that we can end – and that is with the new away kit.
How good did it look at Ibrox? It is mint both in colour and a fashion sense, easily the best away shirt that Nike have come up with in their eight seasons working with the Albion.
Not sure it is worth £52 (what football shirt is?), but it is a damn sight better value than £7.49 for a live stream of a pre-season friendly.
