In defence of Neal Maupay and why Potter-ball fails to get the best from Brighton's instinctive striker

Confession time – I love France. Whether it be a bottle of Bordeaux, brie and a warm baguette for lunch, a night out in Paris or going on strike at the prospect of working more than 35 hours week, our Gallic friends get so much right in life.

This liking extends to Neal Maupay, which is why you are about to read 971 words in defence of the Albion’s leading striker. It seems like it is especially needed after what we saw when Brighton were held to a 0-0 draw at the Amex by a woeful Norwich City outfit.

Maupay was the central character in two of the afternoon’s biggest talking points. The first was that penalty. Midway through the first half and Brighton were handed a golden opportunity to score a goal in front of their own fans for the first time since January 18th.

Canaries defender Sam Byram momentarily forgot he was playing football rather than basketball, stuck his hand miles above his head and punched away a Pascal Gross cross into the box. It was the clearest cut penalty you will ever see.

When Maupay put the ball down on the spot, there were more than a few raised eyebrows amongst the regulars in the West Upper. His taking record is questionable at best, let alone against a renowned penalty saving expert like Tim Krul.

With Krul getting in Maupay’s head during the unnecessarily long delay between the penalty being awarded and the referee blowing his whistle for it to be taken, the ball was sent miles over the bar with grim predictability.

Whilst it is pretty inexcusable for a handsomely paid Premier League footballer to fail to hit the target with an unchallenged shot from 12 yards, the question that really needed asking was why had Graham Potter given the responsibility to Maupay in the first place?

It was not like Potter had a dearth of options. Leandro Trossard and Alexis Mac Allister were both on the pitch. Both were brimming with confidence off the back of good performances for their respective nations during the international break and both had scored their most recent spot kicks for the Albion.

As bad as Maupay’s penalty was, Potter must shoulder a large part of the blame for putting the Frenchman in the position to miss in the first place.

The second talking point surrounded what happened when Maupay was substituted off with 11 minutes left to play. Potter sought to find a desperately needed goal against the Premier League’s bottom club by removing his top scorer in favour of a midfielder, Enock Mwepu.

It must be said that the Amex crowd’s reaction to Maupay being hauled was superb. As he wandered past the East, North and then West Stands, the masses sung his name in a show of support. Brighton fans have come in for a fair amount of criticism this season, but this was them at the finest.

Some supporters have subsequently taken issue with the fact that Maupay did not clap the crowd in response. Apparently, this is a crime on a par with wearing socks with sandals or admitting you like James Blunt.

Maupay though was clearly devastated at his penalty miss. He was not ignoring or snubbing Albion fans – he looked broken. Give me a player who cares so much to be that deeply impacted over one who laps up the adulation during an awful run of form when Brighton cannot beat the worst side that have visited the Amex in current time as a top flight club.

Bigger problems may lie ahead for Brighton than Maupay not clapping the fans. He is a confidence player and Potter electing him to take (and miss) that penalty might have completely shattered his belief.

Which is bad news as Maupay remains the most likely man to end the Albion’s wretched run in front goal. Since his arrival from Brentford, he has contributed over one third of Brighton’s Premier League goals.

That is a strikingly similar percentage to Glenn Murray in the club’s first two seasons in the Premier League. Seagulls fans used to say that Brighton were too reliant on Murray to score; well, now we are too reliant on Maupay.

Take away his nine top flight goals this season and Brighton would have seven less points and sit 16th in the table. He has also been responsible for some of the best moments of the campaign via those late, late equalisers at West Ham and Southampton.

Both those goals highlighted Maupay at his best. They were instinctive finishes with little time to think. Give him half an opportunity in the blink of an eye and he stands a far better chance of converting than when the ball is meticulously set up on a plate for him.

And perhaps that is the real problem? Brighton under Potter are often too slow and ponderous, stroking the ball from side to side to boost their possession stats rather than taking risks. The sort of chances they create are not suited to their leading striker.

Maupay’s work rate and his hold up play are important in the way the Albion play – but might he score more often in a side set up to play to his strengths, who get balls into the box much earlier to feed a striker who can score a first time snapshot but struggles when being told to take an extra touch and think?

You cannot fault Maupay’s commitment. You cannot fault his passion and will to win. You cannot really fault his scoring record either, seeing as only Michael Robinson has more top flight goals in Brighton history than Maupay does.

You can fault Potter for putting him on penalties. And you can make a case that the current version of Potterball is not geared towards helping him fulfil his scoring potential – yet he still has nine for the season.

And with that, the defence rests. We retire to North London, hopinh that Maupay lets his football do the talking at Arsenal, rediscovering his confidence in double quick time and silencing those Gunners fans in the way that only he can.