How Brighton’s pressing, pushing, running makes them nightmare opponent | OneFootball

Here’s an inexhaustive list of players Brighton have lost over the last two summers: Carlos Baleba, Jan Paul van Hecke, Danny Welbeck, Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra.

Infamously, Brighton find and develop extraordinary players, sell them on and nonchalantly find their replacements.

At this point it feels like they enjoy the challenge of outdoing themselves every year while selling key players. No matter who they lose, they manage to spawn new footballers like nobody else can.

In 2026 they have emerged holding aloft teenage striker Charalampos Kostoulas, who has already scored four this season, and the recalled Malick Yalcouye, fresh from two ‘internship’ loan seasons at Sturm Graz and Swansea (something Brighton do frequently to get players ready for the first team).

But this iteration of Tony Bloom’s data-led club managed by Fabian Hurzeler may be the most explosive, as Arsenal found out this weekend.

Instead of shaking my head and analysing the latest Big Six team that are getting it wrong this weekend (and I could not watch Manchester United again), I had a lot of fun looking at the league’s offensive juggernauts and found out why they are the side no one wants to play:

Brighton and their relentless pressing

When teams have the ball in deep build-up, it’s astonishing to see how many players Brighton press intensely with.

Brighton pressing Man Utd

As the schedule is very rigorous, with a lot of teams in the league playing in Europe, we rarely get to see this Jurgen Klopp-esque high pressing anymore.

Hurzeler has designed his press so that the midfield three and front three join to push a team as far back as possible to stop them successfully building up from the back.

It often leads to teams reluctantly going further and further across their own backline, riskily looking for an out ball.

Brighton pressing Arsenal

With the midfield joining in to press the attack, it means they can cover the pass into the midfielders but also push on and pressure the defence.

When the ball comes wide to a full-back (Noussair Mazraoui or Riccardo Calafiori), they don’t have much space or many passing options.

The priorities with the pressing triggers are not just to cover the middle of the pitch but also to track players out wide; it leads to the ball often being turned over.

Because the press was so intense with seven players closing down Man Utd’s defence in the Carabao Cup, full-back Diogo Dalot hoofed the ball up aimlessly up front, which led to the goal.

When Arsenal had trouble with this press, Kai Havertz dropped into midfield, but he was swiftly followed by a Brighton centre-back even if Havertz was near the byline.

It’s a fully committed press all across the pitch that doesn’t prioritise defending ‘zones’; it’s in place to suffocate attackers.

Off-the-ball movement and rotations

Pascal Gross’s ‘free role’ means he pops up out wide, in behind the defence or next to the centre-backs close to his own goal in build-up.

It makes the German hard to track as he keeps moves ticking from everywhere on the pitch, but he’s not the only one encouraged to move freely.

At other times Ferdi Kadioglou often pops up in the last line of the attack, or Kostoulas drops into his own half to receive the ball from the defence.

These rotations make the movement of Brighton’s runs dangerous.

Pascal Gross movement v Arsenal

For the opening goal against Arsenal, Mikel Arteta’s men found it so tough to track their runners off the ball as they kept moving even if they weren’t playing the pass or receiving.

Gabriel has to track Diego Gomez, with Calafiori needing to go out to Yasin Ayari, but someone also needs to keep an eye on Gross making a run into Arsenal’s defence.

The reason Gross found space for his goal was because Kostoulas pulled Ezri Konsa out of the back four and Ayari’s run fooled Calafiori. As runners off the ball take men away, it opens up space for Brighton’s on-ball player.

Attacking in numbers

Brighton options v Coventry

They are fully committed in attack too. As the Seagulls are able to press more ball-dominant teams like Manchester United and Arsenal, the tactic Hurzeler has utilised for teams that sit deep is to instruct his full-backs to join the attack.

It creates a front five that pins the defensive line back and stretches Brighton’s attack across the pitch, giving them numbers wide and centrally.

Whilst a lot of teams will have a cluster of players in the middle of the pitch when attacking, Brighton push theirs as high as possible. It means a Brighton attacker can drop for the ball and take a man with him.

From there, lots of players can be played in behind, but also many can flood the box if they look to get it wide.

It’s also encouraging for a Brighton fan as they have a game plan for teams that will look to stifle their attack in a low block.

In conclusion, why are Brighton so good?

Most of Premier League matches involve a lot of physical duels. It often feels like you’re watching a 90-minute scrap with two teams cancelling each other out.

Brighton, however? Pressing, pushing men forward, runners, fun.

That’s why a lot of teams haven’t been able to cope with them thus far; they haven’t been prepared for the threat they pose.

They’re a nuisance to play against because of their incessant movement with and without the ball, and it’s not what teams usually face in the Premier League.

It remains to be seen whether this style will eventually tire the players out, but for now, their unique style is a much-needed breath of fresh air.