Brighton Head Coach, Fabian Hürzeler has urged his players “to stay humble” after 3-0 win at Everton.
Goals from Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck and Simon Adingra saw Brighton thrash Everton away at Goodison Park, in a game which saw Hürzeler become the youngest manager to take charge of a Premier League fixture at 31 years-old.
Speaking to the press post-match, Hürzeler was pleased with the “good result” in what he considered to be “… a tough game, especially the first minutes.”
The German though was pleased with how his team handled the intensity and kept a clean sheet, but has urged them to stay composed despite going top of the Premier League table.
“It was really intense and in some moments we suffered, but we suffered together and we defended quite well. And then after a period of time we controlled the game and had ball possession.
“A clean sheet is so important to win games in the Premier League. Everyone was responsible to defend our own box and that showed the attitude and the character of the players.
“So I’m very happy for them. It was a good start, nothing more, and now we try to keep working. It’s very important to stay humble after a win like this.”
Hürzeler however declined to take much credit as he instead applauded his players for the performance and result, following their efforts in pre-season.
“It’s a very good feeling but I don’t want to talk about myself so much. I think the players deserve this win.
“I think the club and the staff deserved this win because they worked hard in preseason. I’m very proud of them and very happy for them.”
Hürzeler currently has a strong selection of players available despite having “to make hard decisions” about his matchday squad selection, but he is pleased to have that conundrum.
“You always have to make hard decisions. Who starts? Who’s in the squad? But I’m very happy that we have this competition because they demand from each other to be the best in training and in the end who trains well will play.
“If they work against the ball like they did today, then I’m happier because I always know that we have the quality to score, it’s very positive.”
Yankuba Minteh had to be substituted early in the second half due to a head injury on his competitive debut, but Hürzeler is “quite confident” that the summer signing will be ready for the home match against Manchester United next week.
Despite Minteh’s substitution, Hürzeler was pleased by the 20 year-old’s “good impact” following a positive pre-season and in training.
“I saw it in preseason and every day in training. If you work hard and try to improve every day it will pay off.
“I wasn’t surprised that he had this performance because I saw him in preseason and that’s just a confirmation of his performance.”
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