Brighton and Hove Albion boss Fabian Hurzeler on their impressive 1-1 draw with Arsenal, a few injury concerns and their positive start to the season
The Emirates Stadium, London, UK
The Emirates Stadium, London, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00role in both goals, the defending for Arsenal's goal and the pass for Jorgen?
00:07Of course he knows that it was not the best defending, but for me a leader is how he reacts.
00:16So every player on the pitch does a mistake. And then react like this, still being present
00:23on the pitch, still asking for the ball, still playing like the assist to the jaw from us.
00:30It's amazing how he reacted on this mistake. So I will never judge him by doing these mistakes,
00:36I would judge him by having a bad reaction on these mistakes. So I'm very happy how
00:41we reacted. He's a great leader, he's a great captain and very important for us.
00:46It looks like his international career is over now, having been let out of the squad.
00:53Do you think in a strange sort of way that might help?
01:00So in the end, all the decisions he will do, we will support him. Me as a head coach,
01:07the whole club and the whole staff and also the team will support him. He knows his buddy the
01:12best. We are not in his body. He makes a decision on his own. So let's see how his future will be.
01:18I hope that he will be continuing his career a long time for Brighton because he's a great player,
01:26a great character and I hope he will be for a long time still a player for Brighton.
01:33We have to do a scan and we have to
01:35control it then, the pictures, what it will be. But I think it's not so bad.
01:46A little bit of hamstrings.
01:55It's also small issues. I think it's always difficult for a player who
02:01wants to change and it's long negotiations between clubs. It means also a lot of stress
02:08mentally for the player because he's still there for his former club but he wants to
02:13change to a new club because it's a great opportunity. So we should take care also of
02:18this side. Not only see the player, also see the person behind the player. That's why he had a
02:24small issue also with his hamstring but I hope it's not that big. So we try to use the international
02:31break to get him back in the squad as quick as possible.
02:34Is that a recurrence of the thigh or is it a different thing that kept him out?
02:41No, it's the same.
02:44In light of the injury problems, what about the decision to end up selling Billy Gilman?
02:54Of course now it looks a little bit unhappy or unlucky. But again, Billy was a deserved
03:02player for Brighton. He made great performances and he had a big chance to go to a great club in
03:08Italy. Pascal Gross is the same. He had a big opportunity to go to his club in Germany,
03:13to Dortmund. So in the end of course we also have to accept the wishes and the needs from
03:19the players. It's always a decision what we do together. Now at the moment it seems that
03:25we don't have enough players on the six with the loss of Mats, with the injury from Mats and
03:33James. But let's see the positive things. Let's see how Yassin came in the game,
03:38let's see how Balema performed. These are two young players, two high-potential players and
03:43you see it in every training and I'm very happy for them. So that's the way from Brighton.
03:49Of course we need also great, experienced leaders but that's also the way from Brighton,
03:53to play with very, very young players. These two players are quite young and
03:57they made a great impact today.
03:58Do you think Matt Reilly will be a regular starter for Brighton?
04:20So I have a lot of trust to him, like to every player.
04:24We have a big squad, we have a lot of competition in the squad. So nobody can rest and he has to
04:30be there every training, he has to improve every training. And then of course it's also our way,
04:35like I said before, to give chances to young players, to improve them. And I think young
04:40players only can improve by playing on the pitch, by making experiences on the pitch.
04:45And I think for Carlos it was a great experience today and he made a good game.
04:54Amazing. And Brighton have done pretty well,
04:57you could say, in their first opening Premier League games. Some good performances,
05:02but what can the side do a little bit better just to get going even more?
05:07Everything. So we have to be consistent in all phases of the game. There are all
05:14too many momentums. We are not controlling the game like we want to control, especially
05:19the first 50 minutes. We didn't want to stand like this low. We wanted to be more
05:25courageous with the ball. So I think the courage was missing.
05:29After that, after the first 50 minutes, then we had a good phase. Then also in the second
05:34half we had a very good phase with scoring and having two or three chances. But we also
05:39had a bad phase with conceding big chances against us. So I think consistency is very important.
05:45For me a set-piece is so important, especially today. Defensive set-pieces,
05:49we defended it amazing, but offensive set-pieces were not good enough. So we had a lot of
05:53set-pieces but we didn't create one chance out of it. So what I want to say is they are all
06:00phases in the game, out of possession, in possession, also set-pieces where we can
06:04improve. And that's the way I always want to work. So focus on the process, not get
06:11too much focus on the results. Because I'm sure if you work hard,
06:14if you try to improve every day, the results will come in the end.
06:20What did you see of Iyari in the summer?
06:32Blair was always there. I think he didn't miss one training the whole pre-season so far.
06:39Also during the season, he was always there. He's a top-motivated player. He plays
06:45fine intensity against the ball. He's his quality in possession, especially with his deep runs. So
06:52he made a great impact when he came here. He used his chance and now it's up to him to continue
06:58this level, to keep going in his development and we try to help him.
07:02Was he always going to stay with you in the Premier League?
07:04Let's see what happens, but at the moment I'm happy to have him here.
07:13Like I said, he's a player who was always there and I love players who give everything for the
07:19club, who give their last percentage of what they have to the performance of the team and
07:26who are also team players. He's one team player and you need team players to be successful. You
07:30can't only have creative players and you also can't have only leaders,
07:35so he's a team player and very helpful for the balance.