GOODBYE ALIREZA
Three hit and miss seasons of football. And now he’s heading back to Holland, most likely on the same private plane that took him here in the first place. There’s been some good moments, no question. But some low moments too.
I’ll remember him fondly but I’m sure some Albionistas will be pleased he’s gone, and some delighted. By all accounts the quality of play in the Eredivisie ranges from Scottish League 2 standard all the way up to Champions League level. So I guess whatever your view on Alireza’s abilities, he’ll most likely find his groove playing for Feyenoord next season. Am I swimming against the tide by placing him at the upper end of that scale? Yep, but then again whilst I wouldn’t drive him to Stenhousemuir (mainly because I have no idea where it is) I’m sure lots of Albion fans would be happy to oblige… which seems a little unfair, all things considered.
When he first appeared on the pitch in an Albion shirt (back in August 2018) I think I was in love a little bit. He was so elegant, gliding across the surface, this beautiful man who had arrived to do beautiful things in a Brighton shirt (although looking back this might be more of a comment on some of his teammates from that era, yes I’m looking at you Dale Stephens). Immaculate grooming regime. Fabulous name. Exciting goal-scoring record. This was going to be fun.
As the club attempted to transition, so the plan seemed to go, from a top-end Championship outfit who’d squeezed every drop of effort and ability to survive their debut Premier League season, to something resembling mid-table Premier League (erm, still waiting on that one). Something pacier, with greater attacking intent, something better. Alireza was all set to be the guy. The conduit. The man who enabled the team to start playing much higher up the pitch, with some pace, to complement Izquierdo on the other wing. Seventeen million big ones. Hell yeah.
Alireza ended that first season with zero goals. And zero assists. But you know, I’m not sure those metrics, or lack of them, really tell the full story. He was mainly a substitute for the (relatively successful) first third of the season, was then injured for two months, and by the time he was a regular starter the death spiral had already started swirling.
Even so, sitting on that private plane back to Holland he might ponder some Sliding Doors moments from season 2018/19. The 30-yard screamer that almost snapped the crossbar against Huddersfield. Kyle Walker’s bottled red card in the cup semi-final. Some decent cameos off the bench. Being asked to operate as a kind of full-back sweeper, covering for the actual full-back by playing a bit behind him, or when chasing the game, alongside him. For goodness sake man he cost seventeen million pounds, play him in his proper position. Sadly for Alireza, none of his positions were operational during Chris Hughton’s Premier League tenure.
But then GPott walked through the door and now, now things would be different. Pills thrills & PotterBall. The round peg in Hughton’s square holes only formation (fucks knows why he bought him) would now be the smoothest of circular fittings in GPott’s round holes approach. Three up top. One left, one right, and one through the middle. Or one up top but three running in behind including somebody wide right. Here we go. Here we fucking go.
As an aside, it was perhaps Alireza’s lack of versatility that worked against him, now we know Potter likes players who offer a number of pegs, just as long as they’re nice round ones.
And two years on from that moment GPott walked through the doors, Alireza’s time with us has come to an end. Is it fair to write off his Albion career as a failure? £17m is a fuck tonne of money.
But in the overall scheme of things - and bearing in mind that Premier League football involves throwing insane amounts of money at players and agents in the hope of achieving some minor incremental gains - I think Alireza can point to evidence of contribution. Something positive, in return for the money invested in him.
Season 2019/20, his first under Potter, we have the goal and all-round excellence against Bournemouth (a really crucial victory at the time), and of course the overhead kick moment. I mean, come on, that alone was worth a chunk of his transfer fee. He was involved in ten league games that season, but started just three (a win, a draw, and a defeat). Two goals in three starts is a pretty decent return, no?
Season 2020/21, well, that wasn’t so positive (although in time I think it’ll be a season we collectively remove from our memories). But there’s some bad luck in the mix here too. The Sheffield United home game (with some fans back), it was Alireza’s excellent cross that Connolly somehow managed to miss whilst standing within the frame of the goal, and Alireza’s header that smashed against the crossbar in the dying seconds. The unspeakably painful home defeat to Man United - it was Alireza’s peach of a cross that Solly headed home in the last minute for what should have been the equalizer. Those outrageous goals in the league cup which hinted at something properly good. The ever-immaculate male grooming regime. I’m fairly sure I’ve seen signed and framed Jahanbakhsh posters in at least four barber shops across the city. Brighton’s barbershop community’s loss is Rotterdam’s gain.
In a world where you need to claim just a handful of wins plus a helpful clutch of draws to achieve your primary target, Alireza can most definitely hold his lovely head up high. You don’t really get that much for £17m, but then again, you really don’t need to pick up many points to avoid relegation.
Even right up until near the end of last season I still believed he’d come good. Despite the evidence - or because of it in my case - I thought I could see a decent player in there. One who just needed a proper run of games, in his proper position, in a team playing well and playing with confidence, to flourish.
Alireza started all four of the final games of last season in that favoured position, high up on the right wing. And quite frankly, he was bobbins in all of four of them. His last performance at the Amex was the Man City game and his only contribution of note was a bottled red card (I guess sometimes what goes around comes around). He’d had that run in the side, playing in his favoured position.
Sadly, he’s not good enough for us. And certainly not for that better version of us, that mid-table Premier League outfit, that we’re still striving to become.
But I’ll miss him. I loved him. I still do a little. And you know what, despite all evidence to the contrary, when he’s banging them in for Feyenoord next season (probably against Fortuna Sittart, PEC Zwolle, or somebody else with a Scottish League 2 level defence), a part of me will still be thinking… if only he’d been given a longer run of games, in his proper position, in a team playing well and playing with confidence, well then we’d have really seen him flourish in an Albion shirt.