Danny Welbeck hails Albion’s record-breaking season

The Class of 2022 will go down in Brighton history for rewriting the Albion’s record books and now Danny Welbeck has had his say on a campaign in which the Seagulls soared higher than ever.

Speaking exclusively to leading online betting company Betway, Dat Guy said the season was as successful as Brighton could have hoped for – and that there would be more to come next year.

Brighton secured their highest ever finish in English football of ninth. They secured more points, won more matches and scored more goals in any other season in which the Albion have competed in the top flight.

Graham Potter’s side also recorded the fewest defeats, fewest goals and kept the most clean sheets that they have as a Premier League club.

Of all those achievements, it is 51 points of which Welbeck is proudest. “As a team, we reached the record points total for Brighton with three games to go. It is probably as successful a season we could have hoped.”

“We had an expectation where, first and foremost, we wanted to stay in the Premier League. Beyond that, we wanted to see if we could push into that top 10.”

Brighton certainly did achieve that – but might 2021-22 have yielded even more? The Albion went through two barren spells over the course of the campaign, an 11 match winless run between September and December and six defeats in a row through February and March.

Had Brighton picked up five more points across those 17 matches, then they would have finished level with Europa Conference qualifiers West Ham United.

Welbeck expects the Albion to be better for the experience of those barren runs as a young squad learns and grows at Premier League level.

“We have learned a lot. There have been ups and downs and there is plenty to look back and reflect on to see how we could have been better in certain periods.”

Part of that will come from a change in mindset. Welbeck says that Potter and his coaching team are working on putting Brighton in a position whereby they can compete with every club in the league – even the likes of champions Manchester City and FA Cup and Camila Cabello Cup winners Liverpool.

“Going into games, you want to get the three points. That is the main reason for coming. That is the sort of mentality that we’re now creating. We want to build on that, to the point we have a possibility of winning every single game.”

Welbeck has spent much of his career playing in sides where winning every game was not only a possibility, but the bare minimum. Being at Brighton and Watford has provided Dat Guy with a new challenge as heads into his 30s.

“When I was growing up, I was at teams where we were expected to win every single game. If we drew one, then it would be liked we had failed and we weren’t successful. At Brighton, it is completely different.”

With 273 Premier League appearances under his belt and 42 England caps including appearances at European Championships and World Cups, Welbeck is one of the most experienced players in Potter’s Brighton squad.

The likes of Lewis Dunk and Adam Lallana are viewed by outsiders as leaders in the changing room, but Welbeck also plays a role – especially when it comes to young teammates new to England.

“I’ve been through a lot with my experiences in football and the Premier League, so I’m always open to everyone. I just want to give as much advice and help out as much as possible with young players coming through or players that have just joined.”

“It is difficult if you come from abroad, if you’re on your own or you don’t have your family with you. I’m just trying to be as warm and welcoming as possible, but also let them know that the Premier League is no joke, is it?”

The likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger would certainly not have let Welbeck think the Premier League was a joke.

Having played under two of the best managers in English football history, Welbeck is well positioned to comment on Potter and the strengths of the current Brighton boss.

“With the coaches and manager here, everything’s pretty clear and set out. When you go into a match, you know all the details of how we want to play against our opponents, how we’re going to exploit their weaknesses and how they are going to respond. You go into a match knowing exactly what the manager wants.”

“There are teams we face that we know beforehand that they will have more of the ball and then there are details we need to emphasise.”

“Maybe we have to be a bit more compact defensively, spring the ball on the counter-attack or maybe move the ball from side to side. But we are very well prepared going into each game.”

“It is the Premier League and every single game is tough, it is not going to be straightforward, so we do have that bit of freedom.”

“There are clear outlines, there’s a structure for you to work on as a team. In training, he’ll say that this is the guideline and then it is up to us to go from there and express ourselves.”

And what of the future? Although no formal announcement has yet been made by the Albion, it seems as though Welbeck has all-but signed a contract to remain a Brighton player for 2022-23.

Beyond that, the idea of playing abroad holds some appeal for Welbeck. He is yet to decide whether management is for him however, unlike Lallana who was brought to the Amex with as much of a view in mind as to what he could offer once retired as in the three years of his playing contract.

“At the moment, I’m just focusing on the playing side of things and I am not looking that far ahead. If I go into coaching, I want to go into it with 100 percent, so it’s not a decision I would like to be making now. I know I’ve still got plenty of time left before that.”

“Playing abroad is something that I’ll never rule out if it was the right opportunity for me. You can never say never in football.”

“I am a Manchester boy at heart and obviously I’ve moved to London and then to Brighton. Football takes you to different places and you get to experience a lot of things.”

If Welbeck can stay fit in 2022-23 and in the sort of form which saw him end last season with three goals from six appearances, then that experience might extend to firing Brighton into Europe for the first time in Albion history.

Welbz is Dat Guy.

The full Danny Welbeck interview with Betway is available to read here.