Brighton boss Dario Vidosic praised his side’s performance after a controlled 1-0 victory over Leicester, especially following an international break.
The Australian said: “After two days [of full training] and 10 days of training with six players, it was really positive that we could put on a performance like that against a team we knew we had to be a little bit more patient with because of the threat that they have in transition.”
Embed from Getty ImagesSome silky passing sequences helped Brighton secure the victory, even if many felt it should have been more than 1-0, including Vidosic.
He said: “We’ll learn from that, it probably could have been a bit more comfortable… overall, very positive especially after an international break. We tried a few different things tonight that worked really well.
“We planned for one thing, they tried to throw us off in the warm-up showing a [back] four, and then lined up as a five… we did a few little tweaks and I think it caused them a lot of issues, especially in the first half.”
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was the first time Leicester had lined up with a back five this season. Vidosic considered this testament to his side’s quality.
“It’s sort of that respect I think that we’re earning that teams are now trying to catch us off-guard but we’re ready for whatever’s thrown at us.”
Embed from Getty ImagesLeicester manager Amandine Miquel recognised Brighton’s quality and had aimed to frustrate their opponents.
She said: “The intention was to stay 0-0 and try at the end to get them frustrated and tired, and score then. But we conceded a goal quite early.”
“The rest was well defended and it took a big effort for the team to defend against a team that had scored 10 goals and was quite dangerously offensively.”
After the result, Leicester are on five points from six games. Although points “seems to be the focus of everyone,” they aren’t yet for Miquel.
“I’m more the type of person that counts the points after 22 games, not at the sixth or seventh game… we’re having a slower start but I think it’s a consistency over 22 games that you have to make sure that you’re building.
“I think the game is positive overall because we managed to defend well for a long time, running a lot and still had the energy to make offensive actions at the end.”
Embed from Getty ImagesBrighton defender Poppy Pattinson is enjoying life under Vidosic after Brighton’s best ever start in the WSL.
She said: “You can see it with the performances and the results. We’re happy, when you’re happy you perform well, and we’ve got confidence now.
“Each game is going to be tough, especially the next one at the Emirates, but we are in good spirits right now. We know our style and we’re just gonna take it to every team that comes.
“You can see our clear identity and what we’re doing and happy to be second in the table right now [before Chelsea play].”
