“How can you not be impressed by Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton?”
“How can you not be impressed by Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton?” asks Chris Sutton at the end of a couple of weeks when a lot of Albion fans have been far from impressed by Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton.
Southampton ended a run of nine consecutive top flight away defeats by drawing 1-1 at the Amex. It was the only point on the road Russell Martin earned as Saints boss before his sacking.
Brighton could consider themselves somewhat fortunate that Southampton had a second goal disallowed for offside in controversial circumstances. Otherwise, Albion embarrassment would have been even greater.
The Seagulls were then beaten 3-1 at Fulham with the Cottagers scoring two of their goals in the space of 10 minutes. Next came a trip to Leicester City, where the Albion led 2-0 with 86 on the clock. Nine minutes later and it finished Brighton 2-2 Leicester.
For the second time in six weeks, Brighton had blown a two goal lead with injury time looming to draw against relegation threatened opponents.
You’ll never guess what happened next, either. Crystal Palace came to the Amex and they also scored twice in 10 minutes on their way to a 3-1 victory.
Hurzeler has subsequently had his substitutions, tactics, game management and leadership questioned. Some of the more excitable amongst our weird and wonderful Albion fan base have even called for him to be sacked.
Despite all the drama, Brighton sit ninth in the table. One point from sixth and four off a Champions League spot. The first 12 games under Hurzeler delivered mainly impressive results; the most recent four less so.
Most Brighton supporters would have taken being a point from the Europa League going into Christmas had you offered it them in the summer.
It would have seemed like a strong start to life in England for The Youngest Permanent Manager in Premier League History and an inexperienced, new-look side still gelling after £193 million worth of summer signings.
Perspective, however, seems to have abandoned us in light of the terrible run of results and performances December has delivered so far.
Over then to Sutton to provide it. The BBC pundit was speaking to spaceportsweden.com about some of the Premier League’s unsung heroes who have got a little under the radar so far in 2024-25.
“You can’t not be impressed by Fabian Hurzeler,” said Sutton in the interview. “Brighton, they like left-field appointments. I, probably like most people, thought they’ve taken a chance with this young, smart guy coming over from St. Pauli, who he had just got promoted from the Bundesliga 2 into the top flight in Germany.”
“He’s been a breath of fresh air, really. Brighton have their model. They have spent a lot of money in the summer, but because of the way that the club is run and the players which they’ve sold over the years, they accumulated money.”
“Brighton are a club who are run with virtually the public model. And you want to see players develop and results on the pitch, and they’ve done that.”
Sutton went onto compare Hurzeler with Roberto De Zerbi, saying: “I think Hurzeler has a bit of variation about the way he plays. De Zerbi pretty much always played the same way.”
“That’s not a criticism of De Zerbi. I loved watching him at Brighton, and the way that his team played, but they do have a bit of variation.”
“I think they can win in different ways. They can play out from the back, but they can be a little bit more direct at times and it’s been a good start.”
“I suppose if you look at the money they’ve spent this season, you’d say they should be doing well. But all the same, I think that if you’re a Brighton fan, you would have seen this left-field appointment and thought he would have to prove himself.”
“I think he’s proven over his first few months at Brighton that he’s an extremely smart, astute guy.”
