Brighton & Hove Albion manager, Fabian Hurzeler is proud of the “great character” his squad showed in their 3-0 win over Chelsea.
Ferdi Kadioglu opened the Seagulls’ scoring in the third minute before second-half goals from Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck sealed victory over Chelsea and their ex Premier League promotion-winning player, Liam Rosenoir.
The result meant that Brighton leapfrogged Rosenoir’s Blues into sixth in the Premier League and Hurzeler was pleased with the consistency in his team’s performance as he spoke to brighton&hovealbion.com post match.
“Today, it was a very consistent performance from the start until the end. We played with our identity, we played very intense football, we pressed high, we controlled the game with good structure, we played simple football, we attacked the box well and we created a lot of chances.
“I’m very delighted and I’m very proud of the boys and how they stuck together and they showed real personality by sticking to our identity.”
Brighton have lost just one of their last eight league matches since they sat eight points above the relegation zone in 14th position in mid-February, having picked up 19 points across their current run to surge up the table and now sit in the Europa League qualification spot.
Hurzeler however has put the turnaround in form down to the squad’s personality and accountability without his own interventions, alongside an improvement in their game management of key moments and bond with the supporters.
“The players have great character, they have a great work ethic, they hold each other accountable and they really have built a connection. What I mean by that is that I’m not doing any artificial event to bring them together, they organise it themselves.
“Second of all, we were able to manage the key moments better. I wouldn’t say that we played better or worse football than when we had this bad run, but we are managing the key moments of the game quite well.”
“And third, I would say it’s the connection with the fans. We can really build a relationship with them. [There was] another electric atmosphere tonight and it’s created by them. We know we have to go all-in for them on the pitch; we need to play intense football, football full of energy, football where we want to build something and then this energy transforms or transports to the crowd. That’s what we tried to do in the recent games and they replied in an incredible way. I’m very grateful for them and also happy for them that we can keep building this connection.”
Hurzeler however refused to consider the display as their best overall performance under his reign as he critiqued their possession control.
“It was definitely one of the best. We weren’t good only in the possession, but also out of possession we defended quite well.
“In the second half there were some tight moments, there were some good patterns from Chelsea as well but overall we were very alive, We did small blocks well, we defended set pieces well – the small things we were really good at today.
“It was one of the most complete performances of the season and that sets the benchmark quite high. That’s where I also will judge the players: keep doing the small things right, keep doing the small margins right because you have to do these things well if you want to win a Premier League game.”
Brighton now sit sixth in the Premier League table but Hurzeler isn’t focused on the table as he instead felt that the performance is his bigger priority.
“I’m really not focusing on the table. I’m proud of the performance; I’m proud of how they stick together three days after a tough game in Tottenham, they went again on the pitch and played intense football.
“They always want to improve and I could really feel an energy today on the pitch that they give everything for each other.
“They ran for each other, sprinted for each other, they fought for each other and that’s what makes me proud because I can really identify with this. Now we have to keep focusing on performances, keep trying to improve and then we see what happens.”
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