Matt O’Riley has been looking back on his first season as a Brighton player with brutal honesty.
Celtic sold O’Riley to the Premier League outfit for a record £26m last summer, as he became the Hoops’ most expensive export of all time.
O’Riley’s campaign started in the worst possible fashion as he picked up a severe ankle injury on his debut for the Seagulls in an FA Cup tie.
That kept him out for a few months, before he returned and delivered some good moments, most prominently scoring the winning goal in a victory over Manchester City.
After another injury, O’Riley managed to play 23 games in all competitions, scoring two goals and providing three assists.
But he has now pinpointed to Danish media why he hasn’t been completely happy at Brighton since joining last year.
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
O’Riley not happy with Brighton playing positions
In an honest interview quoted in Danish outlet BT, O’Riley has been most frustrated by playing out of his usual No.8 position.
He excelled there for Celtic, but says he has been playing more as a winger or false nine under Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler.
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Linked with AS Roma of late, O’Riley said: “I am not completely happy (about playing out of position), and I am just giving my opinion.
“It makes it difficult to show off when you play a position you are not completely happy with. I can play better for the team if I play the number 8 position, but I can play well in other positions.
“You can say it in a way that is not aggressive. If you are honest with another person, you don’t lose anything. The coach can always say he doesn’t agree.
“I have become better at defending myself, being more aggressive and intense in duels. My coach said I should work on my defensive attitude so that I could defend better and help the team in that way. I think that will also help on the national team.
“I am best at the number eight position, where I can go box to box. I have only played two games there, otherwise, I have been used as a winger, false number 9, or somewhere else.”
Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Fabian Hurzeler does rate Brighton’s O’Riley
Of course, O’Riley has struggled to gain 100 percent fitness due to two separate injury issues sustained across the campaign.
It’s why Hurzeler has decided to bench O’Riley more often than not, but the midfielder did then gain a run of starts at the end of the season.
Hurzeler kept his word from April just before that stretch of matches when he said that O’Riley’s “special profile” can help Brighton push for a European place, which they just missed out on.
Hurzeler said: “He deserved to play. He started, he had a good game and now it is about continuing to improve, getting his physical shape back and we will help him.
“He has a special profile, a profile that helps especially in the 10 space, an area where you create chances, you score goals.
“That is a special skill for us and I am sure that he can help us.”