Injury crisis leaves Brighton running out of defenders
Roberto De Zerbi’s press conference before the trip to Nottingham Forest was about as much fun as having a root canal. He ran though a list of Brighton defenders suffering from injury which was longer than the number of names signed up to the Official Taylor Swift Fan Club.
Where do we even begin? How about with the only logical conclusion it is possible to draw amongst all these Brighton defenders out with injury – the left back position has been cursed by witches.
Pervis Estupinan was injured, came back against Ajax away, got injured again after 12 minutes. The severity of this latest issue was shrouded in mystery until earlier in the week, when Estupinan posted an Instagram story of him watching Ecuador against Chile on television with his leg in a brace.
De Zerbi has subsequently confirmed that Estupinan faces “a significant absence.” The summer fears Albion fans had over what would happen if Estupinan was injured with no left back cover signed during the transfer window are being realised.
Brighton of course might have got away without signing a new left back had every other Tom, Dick or Solly capable of playing in that position not also been injured.
Solly March took over at left back from Estupinan following the Ecuadorian’s first injury. March then found himself ruled out with the worst injury of the lot, the second ACL of his career which means he will not be seen again this season – and possibly longer.
Tariq Lamptey played left back in Marseille on his most recent appearance at the start of October. In true Lamptey style, he followed up a man-of-the-match performance at Stade Velodrome by being ruled out injured. Neither hide nor hair has been seen him of since in a matchday squad.
James Milner started at left back against Ajax in Amsterdam when a muscular problem brought his evening to an end after only eight minutes. Milner is back in light training, but De Zerbi said the veteran will not be considered for action at the City Ground.
All of these Brighton defenders with injury were known before De Zerbi spoke pre-Forest. What made the press conference particularly depressing was the revelation that Igor Julio is now also a doubt.
No prizes for guessing in which position Igor made his most recent appearance for Brighton. Left back in the 1-1 draw against Sheffield United.
Igor was not the only Albion defender who has entered the treatment room this week. De Zerbi also revealed that Adam Webster would definitely miss the Forest game with a problem picked up in training.
Predictably, some Brighton fans greeted this news with fanfare. Webster appears to be the boo boys favourite for this season, alongside Jason Steele.
And even though a vocal section of the Albion support seem to think Webster is now the second coming of Colin Hawkins, Brighton could still do with him going to the City Ground.
Where then does all this leave the Seagulls defensively ahead of the Forest game? The one piece of positive news De Zerbi delivered was that Lewis Dunk has recovered from the groin issue which forced him off against Ajax and led to his withdrawal from the England squad.
In an ideal world, Dunk would not be rushed back. Hell, you might even rest him for Forest to keep him fresh for Thursday night in Athens, when Brighton could take a huge step towards securing qualification for the knockout stages of the Europa League.
But circumstances now dictate Dunk has to start against Forest. Jan Paul van Hecke is the only option to partner him and Joel Veltman the only right back fit and available.
As for left back, Christ knows. Play Pascal Gross there and risk an inexperienced midfield pairing of Billy Gilmour and Carlos Baleba?
Or bring in someone from the development squad? Jack Hinshelwood impressed at left back during the pre-season Summer Series in the United States and Imari Samuels is highly rated.
Forest away always looked like a tricky fixture given their formidable record at the City Ground. This defensive crisis makes it doubly so.
How can these injury problems be remedied? Or to be more precise, how can the left back curse be lifted? Perhaps it is time to turn to Barry Fry for inspiration.
Birmingham City’s home ground of St Andrews was said to have been cursed for 100 years in 1905 by Romany people angry at being moved from their site to make way for a new football ground.
When the Blues went 15 games without a win nearly 90 years later, Fry asked the travelling community for advice on how to lift the curse.
The answer was to urinate in all four corners of the pitch. Fry therefore spent an afternoon pissing on the corner flags at St Andrews, after which Birmingham won seven, drew two and lost one of their next 10 matches.
Maybe Mister De Zerbi needs to drink lots and lots of water and then take a walk around the Amex…
