'Loving life' - Brighton fans making the most of Amsterdam ahead of Ajax clash - video Dailymotion

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Sussex World reporters Sam Morton and Jacob Panons in Amsterdam ahead of Brighton and Hove Albion's Europa League Group B clash against Ajax at the  Johan Cruyff Arena.

Transcript

00:00 We are joined today by Sam Morton and Jacob Pannens. They are with Amsterdam following

00:05 the fortunes of Brighton and Hooghveld, who have got a Europa League match against Ajax

00:11 tomorrow night at the Johan Cruyff Arena. You made the journey over yesterday, Sam and

00:19 Jacob. How was the journey across and did you see many Brighton fans on the way?

00:26 We didn't see any coming in actually. It was quite quiet to be fair. I think four trains

00:31 were leaving St Pancras station this morning. I think two to Paris and two to Amsterdam.

00:36 We were expecting to see more Brighton fans than we did really. I think quite a lot of

00:40 people were flying in. So we didn't actually see any coming in. It was a simple journey

00:46 really. We got here in good time. We got here in good time this morning. We arrived about

00:49 11 o'clock and we've just been walking around the city really. We've bumped into a big group

00:54 of Brighton fans already. One was dressed in a seagull's outfit and he was loving life.

01:00 I think there were a few who had a bit too much to drink already. You could tell how

01:04 excited they were though and how massive the occasion is for Brighton. It's really great

01:08 to see. I think it'll be nice to see more Brighton fans over the next few hours. I'm

01:13 sure more will arrive this evening and tomorrow.

01:17 It's the best time, isn't it, to be a Brighton fan at the moment. Just a few years back to

01:22 think that they'd be playing in games like these in Amsterdam and against teams like

01:27 Ajax. It's no wonder the fans are, like you say, loving life over there.

01:32 Yes, it's pretty surreal. The guy who was dressed up like a seagull, he's been a season's

01:37 league holder since 2011. I'm sure it must be pretty surreal from that first game of

01:41 the Amex against Doncaster, now playing at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam against

01:46 one of the biggest clubs in world football. It's unbelievable really when you look at

01:51 Brighton, especially even prior to 2011 as well.

01:54 Yes, it's great. They had their first taste of the away Europa League experience in Marseille.

02:02 Can you give us a flavour of what Amsterdam is like? Whereabouts are you at the moment?

02:07 So in the city centre at the moment. It's buzzing with people, it's really, really busy.

02:11 It's raining at the moment, not too hard, so it's not too bad. I've been here once before

02:16 and it's one of my favourite cities I've ever visited really. It's just so calm and so chilled

02:21 out really. It's just such a lovely feel to the place. It's just a fantastic city, so

02:28 much culture and history. It's amazing really that Brighton will be playing in such a massive

02:34 part of the country, in such a massive football club tomorrow night. It's so exciting for

02:41 the club and for the fans. I bet they can't wait for it all really.

02:44 Yes, it's been really good so far and just can't wait for tomorrow.

02:49 Great stuff. As you say, a really good occasion for the fans, but the team themselves, they've

02:54 got a serious job to do, haven't they? A win would really set them up in the group. What

03:01 do you make of Ajax at the moment, Jacob? What do you think of Brighton's chances of

03:04 getting a result?

03:05 Yes, I mean, Ajax haven't been having the best season. They've been bottom of the table,

03:12 they've gone through a couple of managers and things just aren't working well for them

03:15 at any stretch of the imagination. So they're going to be desperate to gain some sort of

03:20 winning mentality from the game. But at the same time, Brighton have got to look at that

03:23 game and see that's one to win. Obviously, they probably didn't pick up as many points

03:26 in the first three games as they would have liked. So this is going to be seen as a must

03:30 win game because you need to be picking up points away from home if you want to progress

03:33 through the group. Athens is going to be really tricky, Marseille proved to be a test. So

03:37 yes, I think Brighton can see it as a winnable fixture, but I think Ajax are going to be

03:41 looking to get that winning spirit back as well.

03:44 You went to the home game, didn't you, Sam, when Brighton beat Ajax 2-0. Do you think

03:49 they're going to be a much better outfit on their home soil? They were a bit disappointing,

03:54 weren't they, at the Amex, right?

03:56 Yes, it was a really disappointing performance from Ajax at the Amex. It was kind of expected

04:01 really. I think they were on a terrible run of form and I think they were bottom of the

04:04 league going into the game. It was just a real lack of confidence and you could really

04:08 see that in the team at the time. Brighton took full advantage really and looked by far

04:13 the better team on the day. I'm expecting a far different kind of game. I think Ajax

04:18 are obviously the home team, they've got to assert their authority, they're going to have

04:22 the majority of the crowd and the support behind them. It'll be interesting to see how

04:27 Brighton cope with that. Obviously, they've had the experience at Marseille of a bit of

04:30 a hostile atmosphere. It'll be another big challenge really, in such a huge stadium with

04:37 such a passionate set of fans. It'll be interesting to see how they cope again with that. Obviously,

04:42 they did really well to come back from the season down at Marseille, so definitely prove

04:46 they can handle it. I'm definitely expecting a better performance from Ajax. They've obviously

04:50 come into the game on a couple of wins now as well. They've scored a few goals. Bergwijn's

04:55 in good scoring form and Chieper-Akpom has got a couple as well. I think Ajax are definitely

05:00 going to be better than they were at the Amex and expecting a tougher game for sure.

05:06 And a big night as well for Joel Veltman, isn't it? A former Ajax player, now plays

05:11 for Brighton. And also Jan-Paul Van Gecke as well, isn't he? A very talented young Dutch

05:15 defender. A big occasion for those two, Jacob?

05:19 Yeah, massive. Obviously, Veltman returning. He spent 19 years at Ajax. I'm sure he'll

05:24 be happy to return, but I bet he's hoping to bring three points back to Brighton rather

05:30 than leaving it with his fellow countrymen. I think this is going to be a huge game for

05:35 Van Gecke. Obviously, the only defender to have started all three games in the Europa

05:38 League under De Servi so far. He's a man who's going to be looking at the Dutch national

05:43 team and thinking that there's maybe a slot in there for him. He's never got called up

05:47 before, never featured for the national team before. I think he's going to be seeing this

05:51 as a massive chance to make himself a household name in his own country.

05:57 Just looking at another player who has been called up to the Brazil national team this

06:02 week, Jal Pedro. He's the joint leading scorer in the Europa League with four goals so far.

06:10 How key is he going to be, Sam?

06:12 Very key. He's really found his scoring form in the Europa League so far and hopefully

06:17 it continues tomorrow. He just looks so good, even in the league. He just links up really

06:22 well with the attackers around him and he's forming some good partnerships there, especially

06:27 with Matoma. That's really great to see. He's adjusted really well to De Servi's ideas and

06:33 the way that he likes to play. I think he's only going to get better. He's still so young.

06:38 He's got that Brazilian flair to him as well. It's a really exciting start that he's made

06:42 and it'll be really important tomorrow. Brighton need to make a fast start, get an early goal

06:47 to make the Ajax fans uncomfortable and don't let Ajax get control of the game. I think

06:54 Jal Pedro is going to play a really important part. It's really great to see the impact

06:59 that he's made already.

07:01 Great stuff. When you bumped into the Brighton fans, did they give a prediction? Were they

07:06 in a confident mood that they were going to win the game or did they not even care about

07:09 the game itself?

07:10 I did ask them to be fair. They did say that it was going to be a tougher game, as I said

07:15 before, than it was at the Amex. I think they predicted a draw from this one. I got the

07:21 sense that they wouldn't really mind either way. They're just so excited to be here.

07:25 So happy to be in Amsterdam.

07:26 I don't think they'll remember the result this time. It doesn't really matter.

07:32 Do you think a draw would be a good result, Jacob?

07:37 In a way, yes. If you told Brighton fans at the start of the season that they could go

07:42 to Amsterdam and leave with a point, they probably would have taken it. But looking

07:46 at the draw away in Marseille, the loss at home against Athens, they need to start picking

07:52 up points fast. I think they would just about take a draw, but that means they need to win

07:57 away in Athens, obviously, depending on how the results go. I think they would just about

08:02 take a draw, but I think they should really be pushing for a win today.

08:05 Stan, do you think a win is on the cards? How do you see it going?

08:11 Yes, I see a win is definitely possible. I think a draw will be a good result. After

08:16 beating them at home, to back that up with a point, I think it will be a decent return.

08:21 Four points from two games against Ajax, it will leave them in a strong position. But

08:26 as Jacob said, it would leave them in a position where they'd probably have to go and beat

08:28 Athens and maybe Marseille as well. So a win would be amazing and it would really put them

08:34 into an amazing position going into the knockout rounds. I think they would be in the strongest

08:39 position out of the other teams in the group if they were to get a win tomorrow.

08:44 So it will be interesting. We're off to the press conference soon to have a chat with

08:47 the Serbian and Van Gekker. It will be interesting to see how they see it. Obviously, they'll

08:53 be looking for a win, but how vital they see that. We're also being given the opportunity

08:57 to go to the training session for 15 minutes as well. So that will be really cool. It will

09:02 be cool to see how they're setting up for the game and any ideas that they're showing

09:07 in the build-up to the match.

09:09 So the Brighton team will be training at the Johan Cruyff Arena tonight. Will they be ahead

09:14 of the match just to get a feel for the pitch and the stadium?

09:17 Yes, that's right. Really looking forward to seeing that. First time that I would have

09:21 been behind the scenes at a training session myself. Can't wait for that.

09:26 Great stuff. Well, thanks again to you both for joining us. Enjoy the atmosphere of Amsterdam

09:32 and the training session. We'll follow all your reports from all the build-up from the

09:37 press conferences and the training and then the match report itself on Sussex World. Enjoy

09:44 the match, guys.

09:45 Thanks, Darren.

'Loving life' - Brighton fans making the most of Amsterdam ahead of Ajax clash

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