Football Daily | Brighton’s organised chaos viciously pecks Arsenal into submission

ARRIVED LIKE A PECKING BALL … For a top head coach who isn’t used to seeing his team lose, taking a rare defeat the weekend before an international break is especially hard to accept. Since most of his players will be leaving to join national teams and travelling long distances, there’s no quick chance to put things right. Because this will be the longest break of the season so far, there is more room than ever for him to think too much, doubt himself and go over what went wrong. Luckily, Mikel Arteta has never seemed to Football Daily like the kind of intense, serious and detail-focused perfectionist who would spend the next 19 days blaming himself for the heavy defeat his team suffered against Brighton on Saturday. Whether he spends his time sadly moving pieces around a tactics board or walking his dog Win around Arsenal’s mostly empty training ground until she is worn out, we are sure that over the next three weeks, the Arsenal manager’s thoughts will not be focused at all on how badly Brighton beat his team of champions, or on how to make sure such an embarrassing result never happens again.

Of course, while Arteta is sitting on a swing, gazing into the middle distance like a sad Pablo Escobar, Fabian Hürzeler can afford to cut loose and enjoy his early-season hiatus by indulging in his passion for padel, a sport which our older reader may not know is a new-fangled version of tennis for people too lazy to run. Slovenliness when it comes to busting a gut is certainly not an accusation that can be levelled at the German’s players, who tore into Arsenal like a swarm of angry bees and buzzed around them with such scrupulously-organised chaos that after 90 minutes their 3-0 margin of victory seriously flattered the beaten holders. “Extremely disappointed,” parped a shocked and awed Arteta after seeing his players subjected to a rare humiliation. “But first I think we have to congratulate Brighton for the victory. I think they deserve it, I think they were the better team.”

Brighton wore smart vintage blue shirts against Arsenal to mark their 125th anniversary. It is hard to imagine the club has ever played better since it was founded in 1901. In the early years, shown in old Pathé News clips, the first team included club legends like Peter Ward, Johnny Crumplin, and Steve Foster, who wore a headband. The current team feels much more international. Players like Charalampos Kostoulas, Luka Vuskovic, and Diego Gómez could become future Brighton favorites, and may later join Chelsea for high transfer fees, as other players have done before. “I want to say congratulations to this special club for the history, for everyone who has contributed in the past, for everyone who’s contributing in the present,” said Hürzeler after a special day on the south coast. “I think the history of this club is very impressive and hopefully everyone can enjoy who has been a part of our journey so far.” Hürzeler added that he saw Saturday’s performance as more important than the result. In the coming weeks at London Colney, his counterpart at Arsenal will likely value both the performance and the result equally.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “We can skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here. Those were two clear red cards. Given the difficulties we faced playing 11 against 10, we can only imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against nine would have been like. So I’ll just have to limit myself to hugging my players, who gave it their all and played a first half, showed great class and character, setting us up perfectly to win the second half. They’ve put a referee, aged 41, with no international experience – it’s certainly not because he’s a great referee. Then the poor chap has come ‌here and hasn’t been able to cope with the pressure – and it really is intense pressure. I call it ’80s-style pressure’ here in this stadium, which you hardly ever see these days” Based on what José Mourinho said, and the sheet of paper he read from, can you tell if Real Madrid lost the derby against Atlético? Sid Lowe gives his full verdict on the match below.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS Oxford United’s decision to market an American college-themed ‘United 93’ kit shortly after the 9/11 anniversary, only then to have to recall it (Friday’s Football Daily, full email edition), is a tad unfortunate. But until 1960 they were known as Headington United, from their heady days in the Southern League. So I am eagerly awaiting the ‘1960 Ron Atkinson’ range celebrating both their history and leading appearance maker (still)” – Jon Harris.

After Andros Townsend’s freak accident on the pitch, which luckily was not serious, will future matches between Prachuap and Pattani be called the Roller Derby?" – Phil Taverner.

OK. I made a mistake. On 30 August, I said that Emilio Martínez’s transfer to Chelsea for £7.5m might be the bargain of the season. Now, five games in and with 12 goals conceded, I want to take back what I said. I will try to do better and avoid making hasty predictions." – Nigel Sanders.

Apart from football knowledge, I am proud that I know a lot about The Simpsons, especially the early years – I haven’t watched it in about ten years. It was Wiggum, not Homer, who said to dig up, not down (Friday’s Football Daily letters).” – Mark Shrewsbury

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day prize goes to … Phil Taverner, who wins a copy of Behind the Curtain by Big Website’s Jonathan Wilson. It’s out now and available in The Guardian Bookshop alongside loads of other great football titles. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

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