Stockpiling wingers hints at Brighton style under Hurzeler

A post on Twitter caught the eye of Mr WAB the other day. It inadvertently hinted at the style of play we can expect from Brighton under Fabian Hurzeler.

The post contained a graphic highlighting the positions of the Albion’s summer recruits so far. Yankubu Minteh – winger. Ibrahim Osman – winger. Amario Cozier-Duberry – winger. Brajan Gruda – winger.

It also included those coming back from loan and long-term injury. Jeremy Sarmiento – winger. Abdallah Sima – winger. Adrian Mazilu – winger. Solly March – winger.

And players in the current squad capable of playing out wide. Kaoru Mitoma – winger. Simon Adingra – winger. Facundo Buonanotte – number 10, can play as a winger. Valentin Barco – left back but has done a job as a winger.

Add those up and you have 12 wingers in the current Brighton squad. Osman and Buonanotte have gone out on loan and Mazilu is likely to follow, if he hasn’t already. But the number of wide players still seems mad.

Accompanying the graphic on Twitter, the post said if Chelsea signed four new wingers in addition to the eight already on their books, the football world would have a field day mocking them.

Which is true. But whereas Todd Boehly’s approach to recruitment is a mixture of throwing a dart and see who it lands on alongside targeting whoever Brighton are interested in, every signing the Albion make is done for a reason.

Brighton focussing on wide players reflects their importance to the tactics and style of Fabian Hurzeler. Something Albion supporters have already seen through pre-season. And a subject St Pauli fans can tell you all about.

Just as Aviator game players need to assess risks and opportunities, Hurzeler’s tactical approach at Brighton is about maximizing wide play and making bold, calculated decisions to keep the opposition guessing.

St Pauli swept to the Bundesliga 2 title last season playing a 3-4-3 formation. Width was crucial. Hurzeler used two attacking wing backs in the midfield four and two wide forwards supporting a central target man.

It effectively meant St Pauli had four wingers on the pitch at a time. Conventional wisdom suggests a strong squad contains two players to fill each position.

On that basis, a Hurzeler squad requires eight wingers at least. Brighton stockpiling such individuals suddenly makes sense.

It also represents a dramatic swing from the days of Graham Potter. Glow Up appeared at times to have a phobia of wingers. Hence his conversion of centre backs Dan Burn and Joel Veltman into wing backs.

Potter would try and name as many central players as possible in his starting XI, culminating in that wonderful day when Brighton played five defenders – Adam Webster, Lewis Dunk, Ben White, Dan Burn and Veltman – in the same game.

The Potter Era very much went against the grain when it comes to the history of the Albion. Every successful Brighton team has tended to rely on flying wingers, delighting the Seagulls support and giving opposition full backs nightmares.

Mitoma and March helped Roberto De Zerbi lead Brighton into Europe for the first time. Anthony Knockaert was the best player in the Championship during the 2016-17 promotion season.

Elliott Bennett and then Craig None provided the ammunition for Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named’s League One title winners.

Gary Hart and Nathan Jones were there for the season the Albion won the Division Two playoffs under Mark McGhee. That due were further complemented by Paul Brooker when Brighton went from Division Three to Division One via back-to-back promotions.

Stuart Storer and Paul McDonald were central to the Seagulls escaping relegation from the Football League in 1997. Go back even further and you have the likes of Tony Towner and Peter O’Sullivan.

Despite the Albion’s long and proud association with flying wingers, no manager has ever put four in their starting line up at once. Until now.

Given four wins out of four were recorded through pre-season, Hurzeler seems unlikely to change tact at this stage and abandon his reliance on wingers after a successful month of football.

A quick analysis of the goals Brighton have scored in their friendlies under Hurzeler is telling of the threat posed out wide.

14 were plundered, of which eight came from wingers. Sarmiento, Minteh and two from Cozier-Duberry provided four of the Albion’s five against Kashima Antlers.

Adingra, Minteh and Sarmiento notched three of four in the win over Tokyo Verdy. Minteh again scored against Villarreal.

The rest of the football world looks on, bemused as Brighton embark on a one-club mission to snap up every half-decent winger available this summer.

There is though method behind madness. Fans of wingers prepare to be dazzled by Brighton and their style of play under Fabian Hurzeler in 2024-25.