Brighton and Hove Albion are among many teams challenging for a place at the top table in the Women’s Super League.
The club made a promising leap towards that goal under manager Dario Vidošić, finishing fifth in his first season, then seventh and reaching a cup final in his second term. The Seagulls earned a reputation for being a high-pressing side, placing fifth in high turnovers (257) and scoring the fourth-most goals from them last season.
Brighton followed that up with some shrewd signings in the summer, but then suffered Vidošić’s shock departure in late August.
The Seagulls replaced Vidošić with Arturo Ruiz, a 29-year-old sports psychology graduate from Madrid who has quickly made a name for himself as a coach who can exceed expectations with unfancied squads. He guided Atlético Madrid and then Real Sociedad to Europe, and Brighton were hoping he could repeat that trick for a third time.
So far, Ruiz is struggling to make it work. Brighton are 12th in the WSL table with one win and three losses from six games. They are one of four WSL teams that have failed to keep a clean sheet this season, and half of their league goals were scored against minnows Charlton Athletic, who sit rock bottom.
Last weekend’s 3-2 loss to defending champions Manchester City came against a side they beat by the same scoreline last season. Brighton made four changes to their starting line-up and, despite conceding three early goals, competed well against a team that are unbeaten in all competitions.
Results aren’t going their way, but are Brighton’s performances good enough to turn things around?
What’s working? What’s different?
Brighton have carried several core principles over from their previous manager. Both Vidošić and Ruiz primarily use a back four in their starting formation, but there are important differences in how they choose to build up, how they press out of possession and which areas they try to progress the ball through.
Ruiz has used a 4-3-3 or a 4-1-4-1, while also switching to a back three in some games to utilise their pool of centre-backs and hybrid full-backs in defence. Real Sociedad and Granada both used a 4-4-2 formation for their starting line-ups under Ruiz, with a dash of back-five formations when facing specific opponents. Adaptability was key to Ruiz’s success.
His basic principles are focused on controlled possession and a build-up phase with a particular focus on using the flanks to progress the ball, with wide players responsible for creating and finishing chances. The team likes to build out with long, methodical possession sequences that often involve touches from several players in order to progress through the thirds.
This is reflected in the numbers this season. Brighton under Ruiz have the second-highest average ball-in-play time behind leaders City and are far more patient with the ball. On average, Brighton enjoy 15 long spells of open-play possession per match (10 or more passes), double last season’s figure.
