Glenn Murray hails Brighton’s exercise in faith under Chris Hughton and questions Fulham’s £100m spending spree

Murray thanked his manager for playing him in the Premier League and believes there are plenty more English players in the Championship capable – if they are given the chance

After the toil of a long season in the Championship, each club arriving in the Premier League faces a dilemma: should they keep faith with the players who won promotion, who travelled to Rotherham and Barnsley so they might get their chance at Old Trafford and the Etihad? Or do they roll the dice, spend their new-found wealth and build a new team for the top flight?

History tells us the sweet spot is probably somewhere in between. In the book The Numbers Game football is described as a weak-link sport – a team is only as good as its vulnerabilities, and a couple of shrewd acquisitions in those areas can bring a much greater collective strength.

Brighton are a good example: the club were cautious not to splurge after promotion 15 months ago and Chris Hughton was adamant he wanted the players with whom he had built trust to have opportunities. But in signing Pascal Gross for £3m they added another layer of creativity and threat, and his contribution of seven goals and eight assists proved essential to their survival.

Glenn Murray, meanwhile, is one of the old guard who has benefitted from Brighton’s exercise in faith. Having scored 23 goals on route to promotion, the 34-year-old has maintained his role leading the line and has built a productive relationship with Gross behind him. It is a faith Murray repays with moments like the one on Sunday, when he lost his marker to score the opener against Manchester United, and so it’s not surprising that he does not advocate Fulham’s strategy this summer of bringing in 12 new faces in a £100m spree.

“I have to thank him for giving me the opportunity to play at this level,” Murray says of his manager, Hughton. “You see with some of the promoted teams this year that they have got rid of some players and have brought some big names in. Thankfully our manager didn’t do that. He gave everyone that helped the club to the Premier League an opportunity in the Premier League and I think most of us have taken that opportunity.

“I think there is a lot of hype around the Premier League. There are players in the Championship that can play at this level comfortably, but sometimes never get the opportunity. Sometimes they get overlooked for maybe cheaper, foreign players. We know the English market is quite high and I think that sometimes puts clubs off.”

Glenn Murray scored a well-taken opener against Manchester United (Getty)

Even so, Brighton have spent plenty of money themselves this time around as they attempt to consolidate their position in the league, with a £60m outlay on new recruits including Leon Balogun and Martin Montoya who both impressed on debut against United. Both looked utterly unfazed; not only are Brighton a year wiser, but they are now able to attract players with experience playing in Europe’s top leagues.

“I think we have a lot more strength in depth,” says Murray. “We have probably got more belief. We went into last year not knowing what was on the horizon – a lot of the players had not played in the Premier League. I am sure there were a lot questioning themselves and questioning how good a level they were stepping into, and I think it took us four, five or six games to start believing we belonged at this level. This year we can get going from the start.”

Balogun was thrown into the heat of battle on Sunday when Lewis Dunk came off injured in the first half, and the Nigerian international, who made 75 appearances in the Bundesliga for four different clubs, quickly settled alongside Shane Duffy to help see out the win. But he was also very honest about his own failings in the build-up to United’s first-half goal and says it will take time to adapt.

“On the goal we conceded to Lukaku, I was on him, then I wasn’t on him so he scored,” admitted Balogun. “So it was my fault. I have to be honest. Maybe I’m used to a different kind of defending – this was man-to-man but maybe I was expecting somebody to support because I was not anticipating that different situation. I was anticipating something different. But anyway, I had to be with him. Simple. No excuses.

“It’s a different style of defending a little bit, when to go out of position and when to stay in shape. Those are the things I have to deal with very quickly. But the guys made it quite easy for me. [Gaetan] Bongy on the left and Duffy on my right, even Maty [Ryan] in goal. They did a lot of talking so that helped me settle in quite quickly. But it’s still normal that sometimes there is a lack of understanding so that’s what I have to improve.”

Next for Brighton is a trip to Anfield on Saturday. Balogun made a revealing remark about how his team-mates find facing Liverpool and Manchester United such contrasting experiences, after he was asked how the premier League’s pace of play compares to the Bundesliga.

Leon Balogun wins the ball from Marcus Rashford (Getty Images)

“Some of the lads have just asked me that too and I said I had expected [the Premier League] to be quicker, but they told me this is always the kind of game you play against Man Utd – they like to slow it down a little bit. Liverpool is going to be completely different. I know how Klopp likes to play. It’s going to be a lot quicker and a lot more intense. But this match was very, very exciting in a crazy summer for me.”

Balogun may be required from the start against Liverpool and the sight of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah charging towards him will present a whole new challenge. But you suspect he will adjust; so far Hughton has found just the right balance between new and old, and Brighton are reaping the rewards.