Busy weekend spent at the Amex Stadium covering #BHAFC menās and womenās pre-season friendlies.
Four pieces live and available to read now on @TheBrightonBase, with another to follow with quotes from Dario VidoÅ”iÄ.
I wanted to [re]assess Kostoulasā ability to play as a striker, so I watched some more of him.
Kostoulasā change of pace is good. Whilst his acceleration isnāt great (he looks sorta heavy at times), his pace over long distances is quite alright given his long legs.
As such, heās sort of a minimum-touch player in tight spaces, by way of opting for a heavy touch to create separation, after which he gets ahead of his man (legs first) before running onto the ball again.
His touch becomes a tad inconsistent when dribbling (though his legs bail him out), and he tries to compensate for the lack of acceleration in one of three ways:
1. Frequent step-overs
2. Knocking it past his man
3. Receiving well on the half-turn ā turning faster than his marker can and blowing past them
The last point is actually a well-developed part of Kostoulasā game and enables him to dribble out of pressure on a regular basis.
Heās able to get his head up, turn around and find a back pass, from where his side can reset and go again. Of course, you can question the frequency with which he dribbles into pressure anyway, but if he does well enough to work around it, it does bode well for becoming press-resistant.
That said, I would like to see Kostoulas dribble towards goal more frequently. He runs the channels really, really well, therefore opening up space either for him to cut inside or for a midfielder to run into, but his runs could benefit from becoming a tad more direct.
In addition to running the channels well, Kostoulasā box movement is quite alright, but is especially good when running onto headers, which is useful considering the variety within his aerial game.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Kostoulasā overall game is how strong he is on the ball. He uses his arm really, really well to push his marker away (and never really lets it drop, meaning heās able to constantly exert said force), and heās able to use his core very well to stabilise himself against pushes from the back.
All of this has led to Kostoulasā hold-up play being superb.
While he isnāt the best at heading the ball away when used as an outlet, heāll more or less ensure his side keeps possession when receiving the ball below chest height. Of course, his agility in tight spaces also helps him go from receiving ā carrying, so he can move the game forwards on his own too.
Kostoulasā passing around the box is also quite good. His weight of pass when playing balls across the area is honestly fantastic, and his crossing from deeper areas isnāt shabby either. On the whole, Iām impressed by his weight of pass in the final third.
Kostoulas often takes a fair bit of time to get into a position from where heās comfortable taking a shot.
Once he does, heās able to shoot with minimal backlift, but still, I think his deceleration becomes a tad hesitant when he has space and no immediate pressure on the ball (what I mean here is if the defender is running towards him, but not currently in front of him).
Anyhow, heās able to generate a good amount of power in his shots, and his driven ones, in particular, are good. He makes clean contact with the ball and can send it straight and hard into the top corner.
All in all, I do believe Kostoulas is best as a second striker for now. He somewhat struggles to impose himself on the game, and he generally likes to receive deep before running the [left] channels.
Of course, he is fairly inexperienced, but I do think playing a tad deeper and with more freedom to roam behind an actual striker will help his current development. In this sense, I think itās quite counterintuitive to play him next to someone like Georginio Rutter, given they both want to play through the same areas.
That said, I think his skillset should translate very well into that of a 9 in the future. Youād do well to pair him next to a 10 who loves to push up, but Kostoulasā physicality, shot power, aerial ability, final ball and channel running should make him a really valuable CF.
He is still very raw, so Iāll say heās 2ā3 years away from dominating in such a role and is currently a player who needs big spaces to thrive, but yes, once he begins to impose himself on games, heād make for a good striker.
Brighton have confirmed the signing of 29-year-old Gabby George from Manchester United.
The defender brings both experience and versatility to the south coast following her three-year spell with the Red Devilsšš»
@TheBrightonBase#BHAFC
https://t.co/eBwgm2b5Zc
šØ The Brighton Base is now available on the CounterPress app!
You can access all of our latest content directly from your mobile device, ensuring you never miss a story.
Available via the Google Play Store or Apple App Store - just search āCounterPressā to get started.
#BHAFC
šØ As revealed to @TheBrightonBase members on Wednesday, and now confirmed by @FabrizioRomano, Brighton are set to sign young striker Valentin Joseph from Blackburn Rovers. #BHAFC
šØ| Brighton close in on deal for highly-rated teenage striker after remarkable 21-goal breakthrough season
#BHAFC
āš» @LouisSelling
https://t.co/Xta4H4PoVz
šØ| Coventry City agreed a deal to sign Brighton goalkeeper Carl Rushworth.
Coventry will pay £22.5m, with extra instalments taking the deal towards £30m. Brighton have inserted a chunky sell-on clause and agreed a buy-back option. #BHAFC
[via @JPercyTelegraph]
EXCL: English football agrees trial to eradicate the goalkeeper injury tactical timeout.
Coach has 10 seconds to select an outfield player to leave the field for one minute.
Applied this season across:
Premier League
EFL
National League
WSL
š
https://t.co/MVSkL8G86e
@SeagullSimon@LouisSelling Squad size is going to play a big part in the season ahead. Whilst also not having to spend more money on players that may not be first choice in the PL is preferable. So ACD seems to fit that model perfectly.