Brighton & Hove Albion’s pride in having the most cosmopolitan squad in the Premier League turns into a handicap when preparing for the match after an international break.
At the start of the season, Brighton had 21 nationalities in their squad. That is two more than Bournemouth, three more than Wolves, and four more than Liverpool and Brentford.
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That rose to 22 with the signing of Turkish international left-back Ferdi Kadioglu from Fenerbahce at the end of August. This reflects the type of shrewd player recruitment for which the club has become renowned — low-price gems rich in potential unearthed from all corners of the globe.
There is an occasional downside. The policy means the squad is packed with players travelling long distances to represent their countries in South America, Africa and Asia — a disadvantage during the international breaks that interrupt the domestic season in September, October, November and March.
A squad full of international players is an occupational hazard for elite clubs. It becomes more complicated when the bulk of those players are representing nations beyond short distance travelling within Europe.
Brighton have in their current Premier League squad Pervis Estupinan (Ecuador), Julio Enciso (Paraguay), Tariq Lamptey (Ghana), Carlos Baleba (Cameroon), Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast), Yankuba Minteh (Gambia) and Kaoru Mitoma (Japan).
The broader picture includes another four players out on loan: Valentin Barco (Argentina) at Sevilla in Spain, Malick Yalcouye (Mali) with Sturm Graz in Austria, Ibrahim Osman (Ghana) at Feyenoord in the Netherlands and Abdallah Sima (Senegal) with Brest in France.
Ecuadorian Estupinan is one of 22 separate internationals in Hurzeler’s squad (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
The number of long-distance internationals will increase further in the January transfer window when Enciso’s Paraguay team-mate Diego Gomez completes a move from MLS side Inter Miami.
Head coach Fabian Hurzeler had his first taste of the hazards of preparing for a game without players on duty for their countries — many of them travelling long distances in different time zones — in September for the 0-0 draw against Ipswich at the Amex Stadium.
Take, for example, wingers Mitoma and Minteh. During the international break, between the 1-1 draw at Arsenal on August 31 and Ipswich’s visit on September 14, Mitoma was involved in two World Cup qualifiers for Japan. He played for 63 minutes in a 7-0 home win against China in Saitama and 73 minutes in a 5-0 victory in Bahrain. The latter match took place just four days before the Ipswich fixture.
Minteh twice played 90 minutes for Gambia in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, a 1-1 draw away at Comoros and a 2-1 defeat in Tunisia. Switching from Africa to South America, Estupinan was heavily involved in two World Cup qualifiers for Ecuador. He played for 85 minutes in a 1-0 defeat in Brazil and for 87 minutes in a 1-0 home win against Peru.
Fabian Hurzeler after Brighton’s 0-0 draw with Ipswich last month (Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
Taking into account time difference, the game against Peru took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the UK, three days before the visit of Ipswich, for which Estupinan was an unused substitute. Mitoma and Minteh, who both started the match, produced jaded performances. For added context, Estupinan (ankle) and Mitoma (back) are both still in the early stages of returns to action after suffering long-term injuries last season.
Hurzeler, speaking after the game against Ipswich, told The Athletic: “I learn every day. Of course, this situation was a new situation for me, for my team. At St Pauli, my former club, I think there were only six players that went away, so you could train normally.
“Here at Brighton, they came back two days before the match. On the one side, you have to look at individual players. So, are they fully recovered? Can they be fully recovered after long travel, after playing two times 90 minutes?
“Or, let’s say for example, the case of Pervis. He went to Ecuador and played twice for a lot of minutes. Therefore, it is very important for us to recognise if he is tired or not, to recognise if he can play from the beginning or not. We have to do that for every player.
“Then, the second challenge is how you prepare the game. So, it’s more in the way of theory, instead of doing it in a practical way on the pitch, more video analysis and trusting the players, that they understand what we’ll get from them.
“In my opinion, we played well against Ipswich, followed the match plan for 70 minutes. But then we lost our structure, got a bit panicked, didn’t trust our own quality. That was the learning I had from that game. We lost a little bit of belief in our quality, because I am sure if you stay in the structure, you can create after 80, 85 or minutes, the chance for that one goal.”
How much that performance tailing off was connected to the exertions of players during the international break is hard to gauge, but Hurzeler faces an even bigger challenge preparing for the game at Newcastle on Saturday. The clash between sixth versus seventh in the table (Brighton are above their hosts on goal difference) is also the longest journey of the season for Hurzeler’s team — a round-trip of nearly 700 miles.
International federations liaise with administration and player welfare staff at clubs on travel arrangements, such as transport to and from airports and flight times. Federations have different levels of finance and staffing, which can complicate matters.
Although under FIFA regulations players are supposed to be back with their clubs in good time, uncontrollable factors sometimes come into play, such as cancelled flights or missed connections. The further the distance of travel, the greater the risk. In a period when Brighton and Liverpool had several internationals playing for the same countries, the clubs shared the costs of private jets to get the players back quicker.
The complexities are not confined to the clubs. International federations have to accept players arriving late into camp if, for example, they are involved in a Premier League game late on Sunday afternoon.
It is up to clubs to weigh up the benefits against the risks of having lots of long-distance internationals in their squad. Brighton, with one defeat in their first nine matches under Hurzeler across all competitions, are happy to be top of the cosmopolitan table.
(Header photo: Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)
