Brighton defender Pervis Estupinan claims teams will copy West Ham United style of play
Brighton and Hove Albion defender Pervis Estupinan has claimed teams will copy the way West Ham set up in their 3-1 victory at the Amex as David Moyes’ side set the blueprint for beating Brighton.
The Hammers ran away with all three points when the sides met on 26 August, with their tight defensive and counter-attacking style allowing them to keep Brighton at bay and hit on the break with devastating quick moves.
Estupinan has called for his side to learn from the mistakes they made in the game, as he believes teams will look to do a similar job on them, but did concede that Moyes’ team were “very good”.
Speaking to Brighton’s official website on 14 September, Estupinan claimed: “Every team studies us more. West Ham did their homework, they planned the game very well and it was very hard for us to play through them as they sat back and closed spaces.
“I think we still played a good match. We didn’t lose our essence of playing our football and looking to attack. We still have chances to score goals. Their keeper made some good saves.
“What cost us was counter-attacks. They took their chances, they were very good and it won them the game. We will try to work more on those situations.
“A lot of teams will have seen how West Ham play and will plan in this way when they play us. We need to find a way to solve these problems.”
Not an easy style to replicate
The amount of work it takes to get the side as organised both in defence and on the counter as West Ham have been so far this season won’t be something that teams can just turn up and replicate. The structure and positioning of the defence has to be spot on for 90 minutes and proved to be so at the Amex.
A similar style was deployed against Chelsea, this time at the London Stadium in another 3-1 victory, where the main threat came on the counter despite conceding the vast majority of possession to their opponents, with fast breaks the key.
On top of the organisation and the style, not many teams have such effective tools as the Hammers to do play this way. Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen have thrived so far this season with their respective styles of play lending them perfectly to Moyes’ system.
For Estupinan to come out with public praise of their performance, and the suggestion that it could be a blueprint for winning against an impressive Brighton side, is a huge compliment to Moyes and his team.
In other West Ham news, one Hammers-linked ace could be available on a free transfer soon.