Albion 1 Bologna 0: Hinshelwood Shines in New Flank Strategy

Albion went into their final pre-season test without two of their headline wide men. They walked away with another win – and a new way of hurting teams down the flanks.

Jack Hinshelwood’s close-range finish on 59 minutes settled a 1-0 victory over Bologna at the Amex, capping a spell when the Seagulls suddenly found space and purpose in wide areas that had been missing before the break.

Flat first half, restless crowd

For 45 minutes, this felt like a friendly in every sense. Albion kept the ball, probed, shifted it side to side – and rarely looked like breaking through.

Maxim De Cuyper, operating high on the left in tandem with Ferdi Kadioglu, produced the first real sights of goal. Twice he tested Lukasz Skorupski, twice the Bologna keeper was equal to the efforts. The Belgian also slipped Kadioglu into a dangerous pocket with a neat pass, while Hinshelwood saw a volley saved after smart service from Olivier Boscagli.

There was structure, there was possession. What there wasn’t was a cutting edge.

Rutter roams, Albion wake up

The tone changed after the interval. Both sides pushed higher, challenges sharpened, and Albion finally began to stretch Bologna’s back line.

Georginio Rutter drove that shift. Nominally a No.9, sometimes a false nine, he spent much of his time grafting on the left touchline, dragging defenders out, protecting the ball, then darting inside. One such move unlocked the game.

Rutter battled to keep possession near the left flank, then surged infield and was fouled. The loose ball ran, he stayed alive, and a low ball was whipped across the face of goal. Diego Gomez stepped over it, defenders hesitated, and it rolled on to the edge of the box.

Mats Wieffer arrived at full tilt. His response was not a blast but a measured, skimming effort – almost a pass – aimed through bodies. Hinshelwood, alive to the moment and glancing at the line for offside, turned it in from close range. The Amex finally had something to roar.

That single move captured the difference between a static first half and a far more incisive second: runners from deep, width with purpose, and midfielders timing their arrival.

Wide threat without star wingers

With Yakuba Minteh joining Kaoru Mitoma on the injury list, Albion’s ability to create from the flanks was under scrutiny. The response was inventive rather than explosive.

They repeatedly got in behind the Bologna full-backs, with Kadioglu and Gomez the main tormentors. Wieffer slid a clever pass into Gomez down the right, the cut-back found Hinshelwood, and this time the midfielder lashed over from a promising position. Gomez then supplied Kadioglu, whose effort crashed against the post as the pressure built.

The pattern was clear: full-backs and hybrid wide players stepping into areas usually occupied by out-and-out wingers, supported by midfielders breaking the line. It was different, but it carried threat.

As the changes rolled in, Ibrahim Osman and Zadok Yohanna offered a more orthodox wide option. Both looked bright, eager to run at their markers and add another layer to Albion’s attacking mix.

Solid base, new role emerging

At the other end, Bart Verbruggen did what he needed to. One sharp stop in each half from Nicolo Carbiaghi preserved another clean sheet and underlined a calm authority behind a defence that again featured Luka Vuskovic and Boscagli as the central pairing. The duo looked assured, reading danger early and keeping Bologna largely at arm’s length.

In front of them, Wieffer knitted things together, and De Cuyper’s role on the left hinted at a tactical tweak that could carry into competitive action. Rather than simply overlapping, he often stepped into more advanced, creative positions, tasked with offering a different kind of threat in the absence of natural wingers.

This was only a friendly, only 1-0, and only a glimpse. But as Albion head towards Tromso and the real stuff to come, the question is no longer whether they can cope without their star wide men.

It’s how far this reworked, flexible flank play can take them when the season starts to bite.