Brighton picked up three valuable points in the Premier League this past weekend with a 1-0 shutout of one of the top teams in the division, Aston Villa.
The Lions are fourth in the English top flight and on the cusp of securing Champions League football under top manager Unai Emery, which is a position Brighton figured they would be in at this time in 2023/24, given they qualified for the Europa League under their own top breakout manager, Roberto De Zerbi.
Injuries, however, have had other plans for the Seagulls in the current Premier League campaign, as Brighton sit a mere 11th in the table, making them potentially one of the most disappointing teams in the league.
Yet they were strong on Sunday against Aston Villa, and perhaps nobody impressed in the excellent defensive effort more than veteran center back Adam Webster.
The oft-overlooked 29-year-old looked like an England international on Sunday, recording three interceptions while never being dribbled past in a commanding display.
A steely veteran, Webster, on his day, looks like one of the best center backs in the entire Premier League. Unfortunately, he’ a bit too streaky to have the consistency necessary to be an elite player, but a performance like that against a star-studded Aston Villa attack is a reminder that the Brighton center back is still a huge asset to his team.
It’s easy to forget that just a few years ago, Webster was comfortably one of the better center backs in England, recording at least 1.5 interceptions per game in both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 Premier League seasons.
Webster will want to keep the momentum going after his fine work on Sunday vs. Aston Villa, and Brighton supporters hope the best version of Webster shows up to close the season.
Surely, a more consistent run of games for the veteran will help matters, too, as the defender has earned just nine starts at center back and one more at right back in the 2023/24 league campaign.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.