Hurzeler moving Brighton from possession obsession bears fruit

Brighton head north on the long journey to Newcastle United for their FA Cup fifth round tie sitting in eighth place in the Premier League. Heights that a month or so ago looked to be eluding us.

As Albion fans draw on their oxygen supply in that away section several hundred feet above St James’s Park, they will again be thinking of what giddy heights the remainder of the season could bring. FA Cup glory at last? Europe again (ole ole)?

Despite the 7-0 humbling at Nottingham Forest, three Premier League wins on the bounce have confirmed Albion’s form in the second half of the season.

In a table based on results since the midway point of the campaign, the Albion are fourth. Above Manchester City and Newcastle. The only teams higher in the standings are Liverpool, Arsenal and worryingly, Crystal Palace.

Wins against teams wanting to qualify for the Champions League (Chelsea), immediate rivals for a Europa League spot (Bournemouth) and finally over a club in the bottom five (Southampton) have shown Brighton can beat anyone in any position in the table.

Those who were writing off Fabian Hurzeler and the 2024-25 season not-so-long-ago find themselves backpedalling furiously.

But for a goal of sheer quality from Cherries forward Justin Kluivert, we would also be looking at three consecutive clean sheets. Goal difference has fully recovered from the hammering it took at the City Ground.

Come the final whistle against Bournemouth, just five points separated Forest in third and Villa in 10th. The race for Europe is incredibly tight.

We were in very much a similar situation at this stage last season, only to end up slipping out of the top 10 following a late surge by Palace. The Eagles are on a similarly successful run this time around and catching the pack.

Despite Forest trouncing the Albion, the Tricky Trees current form is solidly mid table. As is Brentford’s. Only long-term leaders Liverpool have delivered consistent results over the campaign so far.

That will make them deserved champions when the inevitable happens and their title win is mathematically confirmed.

At the other end, the Saints are resigned to a swift Championship return. A shame as St Mary’s is a really easy away day.

As much as people were bemoaning Hurzeler for what they saw as tactical naivety in going to Forest and playing with only one central midfielder, the head coach has in fact changed the Albion’s playing style to bear significant fruit.

It used to be Brighton would dominate possession and often have little to show for it. But the six games this season with the lowest possession have produced four wins and two draws. Chelsea, City, Spurs and Newcastle have all been beaten. Arsenal and Villa drawn against.

Even the 4-0 win at Southampton came with a relatively low share of possession. That bodes well for the upcoming games against Fulham at the Amex and City at the Etihad.

Confidence amongst the squad must now be high, particularly in the attacking department. Joao Pedro, Danny Welbeck, Georginio Rutter, Yankubu Minteh and Kaoru Mitoma have all been in the goals recently.

The addition of Diego Gomez to a midfield that already boasts Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari is also welcome. Gomez had a seriously impressive full debut against Bournemouth.

Continuing injury troubles amongst our defensive line-up are a worry though. Joel Veltman and Lewis Dunk have now joined Igor Julio in the treatment room. Eiran Cashin has yet to be tested.

I suspect we will see more close, tense games like the one against Bournemouth in the majority of our 11 remaining fixtures. And few as one-sided as either the defeat to Forest or the rout of sorry Southampton.

On current form, one of the toughest looks to be the trip to Selhurst Park in April. The easiest being when Leicester City visit the Amex a week later

There is still the home tie against Liverpool to get through. Though by that penultimate game of the season, it seems probable they will have secured the title and either have their heads on a beach somewhere or one eye on a potential Champions League final.

It is possible the games against five other opponents who can reasonably be considered rivals for those remaining European places – City, Villa, Brentford, Newcastle and Fulham – could matter most.

So all of this amounts to pretty much every cliché in the football lexicon. We are still in the mix, it is all to play for and it is not over until the final whistle.

What is for sure is that the gloom that descended after the Everton home defeat and the mauling away at Forest is has lifted, and there is a spring in the step of every Albion fan.

Hurzeler deserves a lot of credit for that. Can his new way of playing with less possession obsession lead the Albion back into Europe?

Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC