Brighton manager, Fabian Hürzeler has warned fans that the team won’t be “perfect” in pre-season, following their 4-2 win over Tokyo Verdy.
Jan Paul van Hecke, Yankuba Minteh, Simon Adingra and Jeremy Sarmiento found the net as Brighton ended their tour of Japan with a second win, despite dealing with “worse” levels of humidity than in their victory over Kashima Antlers.
Hürzeler felt that the humidity played a part in the performance as he explained: “I think we weren’t that aggressive, we weren’t fresh like the last game. But still, we tried to stay compact, tried to control the game.”
The German though was impressed by how Tokyo Verdy challenged his team as he added: “Tokyo Verdy had good transition moments with the ball. They have great players, we saw it when we watched their last two games.
“They have a really good structure with the ball and also against the ball, so they are a very disciplined team.
“It wasn’t easy today, but we still scored four goals. We are happy about the result. We know that everything can’t be perfect at this moment of pre-season.”
Hürzeler’s Seagulls even “adapted” to the challenges with a change of formation at half-time, which led to a better structure but he felt that his team “…. didn’t work quite good enough in the rest defence, we conceded the first goal after our attack, we made bad decisions.
“The rest defence is where we have to improve. We have to make a clear decision if we don’t have pressure, we have to drop.”
With friendlies against QPR and Villarreal to come before their Premier League season-opener away to Everton on 17 August, Hürzeler explained exactly where his players must improve in their last two friendlies.
“We can learn that if we defend together, if we stay compact, then we will win a lot of balls and have a lot of transition moments.
“In the cases where we try to defend on our own, if we try to attack on our own, then we are not good. This we have to learn really quick.
“With the ball, I think it’s most important that we play together, that we stay connected, that we play easy, that we don’t try to do the special things. These are the two learnings on the pitch.”
Hürzeler also felt that the team have developed “a good relationship” as a squad and with him and his coaching staff across the tour.
These friendlies also marked a return to action for winger, Kaoru Mitoma who had missed much of the second half of last season, due to a serious back injury.
Hürzeler however has urged fans to not expect Mitoma back to his sharp best too quickly, as he explained that the 27 year-old isn’t at peak fitness until the season is underway.
“Kaoru Mitoma is not 100 per cent, but he has now played two very good games and he was training every session.
“He is trying to improve his physical condition. On the pitch we saw today that he has unbelievable skills. We still have three weeks to go, so I think it will be improved day-by-day.
“I’m convinced and I’m sure that Kaoru will be 100 per cent when the season starts.”
Hürzeler nevertheless is confident that Mitoma will play a huge role in his team this season, as he concluded: “He’s a very good fighter, and I think he’s proven his potential.
“Not just in terms of his attacks, but also on the reaction when the ball is around his feet, or when he has lost the ball, I think he has all of those qualities. “He is also very good at listening to other people’s advice.”
Leave a Reply