For the second match in a row, Alireza Jahanbakhsh did not make the 18 man squad for Brighton & Hove Albion match against West Ham. Jahanbakhsh was left out of the team for the first match of the new Premier League season away to Watford which Brighton won 3-0, and then he was again omitted from the squad for the home game against West Ham which ended in a draw 1-1.
It seems that the Seagulls’ coach Graham Potter has little belief in the ability of the Team Melli winger to produce the goods in the Premier League. After a difficult season last year marred by injury and absence from Brighton team for the AFC Asian Cup, Jahanbakhash failed to sparkle despite his record signing from Alkmaar. The top scorer of the Dutch League failed to score a single goal for Brighton.
Despite his failure to score, the former Brighton coach had a lot of confidence in Jahanbakhsh as’s abilities and skill as he was on the top of Houghton’s pecking order upfront. However, Houghton was using Jahanbakhash in the role of a wingback rather than a forward. The Iranian had to be available to defend when the team was under attack. That was one of the reasons, but certainly not THE reason, for his lack of scoring. Statistics of last season shows that Jahanbakhsh was not getting much goal scoring opportunity but was used more as a provider on the flanks.
Whatever the case was for last season disappointing performance, Jahanbakhsh’s chances to be part of the Brighton lineup seems to be quite slim and him lasting in the club, to be in doubt. The Transfer window in Europe is still open until 2nd September. One way out of this situation is for Brighton to seek a buyer for Jahanbakhsh. Rumours of the Iranian returning back to the Eredivisie with his former club started a couple of weeks back but it seems to have died down quite quickly.
Jahanbakhsh himself remains hopeful to return back to form to gain the confidence of Graham Potter. With the fine performance of the current squad, the competition for places in the team is quite tough. Jahanbakhsh really needs to work extra hard to convince the boss of his value else his future in Brighton and the premier league is in jeopardy