The narrative of Fabian Hurzeler being the youngest Premier League supervisor in historical past is getting boring. As an alternative the query must be: Why is he the youngest top-flight coach in historical past?
The 31-year-old’s begin to life in English soccer with Brighton has been spectacular. Six video games, zero defeats, undefeated in opposition to Arsenal and Manchester United and clear sheets in half their matches up to now.
Hurzeler sits down with Sky Sports activities and query one is about what score he would give his facet out of 10 up to now. He jokes that, with data-driven proprietor Tony Bloom on the helm, he already has these numbers handy.
“Maybe we’re at seven, maybe six?,” he says. “The top of the middle, I would say.
“I would not say that we’re already a high crew. In fact it must be our ambition and our objective, however we’ve to work laborious for this.
“Of course, there are still lots of improvements we can do and we will try to work on it. But, on the other side, we should be positive and say ‘things already work’.”
So what’s working for Hurzeler? What’s presently on present that justifies Brighton going for a younger second division supervisor from Germany.
This journalist ran via the tactical parts of Hurzeler’s Brighton with the supervisor himself – and the perception is fascinating.
‘I do not like formations’ – so are midfielders taking part in up entrance?
Hurzeler arrived at Brighton with subsequent to no status on the highest stage of the sport – however those that watched the German at St Pauli referred to him and his techniques as ‘quirky’.
The younger coach’s set-up was so weird that many believed he was taking part in a 3-0-7 formation – utterly emptying the midfield and his midfielders up entrance.
“You occupy opponents more if you have more players in the last line,” says Hurzeler about this tactic. “Then you create more dynamism with deep runs and how many players can create deep runs.
“What I at all times attempt to do is growing the proportion of scoring and also you do this by attacking the field, by creating dynamics with deep runs.”
At Brighton this season, the Seagulls’ build-up play resembles a lot of what St Pauli did under Hurzeler last season.
James Milner and Joao Pedro – on paper playing in attacking midfield roles – have been seen appearing in the forward line in those abnormal positions. Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari have also played those roles.
Some believe these attacking midfielders are ‘false 10s’. Hurzeler does not really care what they are called.
Hurzeler performs his central midfielders in excessive and huge areas – main many to name them ‘false tens’
“You can call them No 8s, false 10s, it’s up to everyone to call them what they want. For me, a false 10 is fine,” he says.
“It’s not about the names of the position, it’s about the players interpreting their positioning, how they show their skills in each space.”
Whether or not it’s 4-3-3 or 3-0-7, Hurzeler nonetheless cares little. The altering nature of every sport, particularly in among the finest leagues on this planet, means there isn’t a time for formations.
“I’m not biggest fan of formations. Because the game is so fluent that the opponent, how the opponents press is not always the same,” he provides.
“I want to have principles, they are moments in the game or situations in the game where my players know what to do. Which principles are key to finding the solution in this moment? You have to find the solution by using the principles.”
Eleven managers on the pitch
Hurzeler desires his Brighton gamers to work out their issues themselves
It comes on properly to the subsequent key a part of Hurzeler’s philosophy – creating an atmosphere the place his gamers work out these tactical tweaks by themselves, with out the assistance of the supervisor.
“I want us to be fluid in our positioning. It’s about seeing what the opponent gives us, seeing where we can find the space,” he says.
“It’s very important for me that we have the ability to change during a game. I don’t want to be a coach who goes ‘that’s the positioning, you have to do this and that’, because the game is so situational.
“What I would like from my gamers is that they perceive the scenario. What number of strikers do the opponents assault with? What number of midfielders have they got?
“Are they very man-to-man orientated in where the midfielders are? Is there a plus one in the last line? I want them to understand the situation of the game because I need to have decision-makers on the pitch.
“We may also help from the surface – I attempt to assist and my workers attempt to assist, however an important factor is the participant understands the ‘why’ and so they perceive the urgent patterns of the opponents to allow them to discover the answer on their very own.”
De Zerbi gratitude for playing-out-the-back tactics
Trying to beat that press is reliant on a solid build-up from the back. It starts with the goalkeepers who always go short at goal-kicks, but how they progress up the field is dependent on centre-backs Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke.
Both are among the top Premier League players for touches and progressing the ball through the lines. Dunk is known for his passing reliability, while Van Hecke also does that – but is also one of the best players in the league at carrying the ball through the lines. Van Hecke’s start to the season earned him a first Netherlands call-up in September.
Hurzeler speaks usually about needing to have “courage” on the ball – and the success of his centre-backs and goalkeeper is simply as a lot thoughts as it’s matter.
“On the one side you need to have the quality that they can play out the back, but then on the other side you need to have the mindset and the courage to go ‘I want to play out from the back’. That’s very important for me,” he says.
“They have to be convinced to do it, if a player is not convinced on the pitch then he won’t trust in his own skills and he won’t trust the idea.
“That is one thing in life too. When you face a problem, a giant problem, it’s a must to be utterly satisfied on managing this problem. The gamers have it and it helps me to move my thought much more to the pitch.”
Hurzeler also paid tribute to his predecessor Roberto De Zerbi for setting the foundations for the young German to carry on. This passing out from the back was commonplace in the seasons before Hurzeler arrived – allowing the current Seagulls manager to have a quick transition into the team.
“I also have to say that it helps that the coach I had here before was De Zerbi because he integrated this style of play,” says Hurzeler.
“He brought this current energy to the players. So I don’t have to make a complete turnaround of the players because they were familiar with this.”
Intense counter-pressing
In addition to brave, Hurzeler desires his crew to be “intense” off the ball. The numbers again that up.
Brighton lead the Premier League for not solely distance lined however they’ve made extra counter-presses – fast ball regains after shedding it – than some other Premier League crew this season.
Earlier than Hurzeler arrived, compatriot Jurgen Klopp was deemed the Premier League’s grasp counter-pressing supervisor – and Arne Slot’s give attention to this particular tactic is arguably why he was employed to exchange the German at Liverpool.
Former Liverpool midfielder Milner informed Sky Sports activities initially of the season that Hurzeler’s model is similar to that of Klopp – and the counter-pressing numbers show why.
“Of course, you might have a bad day or technical mistakes during the game,” says Hurzeler. “But it’s always about the reaction: how do you react after a mistake?
“Errors can occur in a sport. Solely not usually although, it should not occur a number of occasions. However they occur, it is a part of the sport. For me, it is vital the way you react. So counter-pressing is vital.
“And on top of that, I’m convinced that if you run more than the opponent, you do more sprints, you do more high-speed metres, you increase the percentage of winning. These are things we can influence every minute, every game, every second.”
Offsides galore – the spectacular excessive line
Urgent and counter-pressing so usually means Brighton’s gamers are sucked in the direction of the highest finish of the pitch. That filters all the way in which again to the defensive position, which has been identified for his excellent offside entice this season.
Brighton additionally paved the way within the Premier League with probably the most offsides gained in opposition to the opponent within the opening 4 matches with 19. Throw of their two Carabao Cup ties and so they have 31 offsides gained in six video games.
Brighton even have the third-highest backline out of any Premier League facet – solely ‘massive six’ sides Manchester Metropolis and Tottenham have a better line.
“For me, the high line is something that fits with the compactness of the team. If you want to defend well as a team, you have to be compact, you always have to move as a block,” says Hurzeler.
“The last line has to work hard, recognise the body language of the opponents. When do they start the deep run? When are they able to play the long ball? It’s again very important to understand the game, not just in possession and out of possession.
“The high line is a lot of work: it’s about understanding and connection – and it helps to defend very compact. If you defend very compact, the percentage of winning the ball and gaining it as high as possible is high.”
Areas to enhance: Focus in ‘relaxation defence’
After practically 20 minutes of discussing the strengths of his Brighton crew, there isn’t a hesitation from the German about the place his facet want to enhance. “A lot!” he cries.
The principle space Hurzeler mentions is focus, particularly the intervals of ‘relaxation defence’ – i.e. the place the defenders take up when their team-mates are attacking, masking the areas so the crew doesn’t get counter-attacked.
It is a vital matter going into Sunday’s sport with Nottingham Forest, dwell on Sky Sports activities. Brighton are one of many Premier League groups most weak to counter-attacks. Forest, however, are the crew most harmful from quick breaks and exploding from a low block.
“It starts in possession,” says Hurzeler. “How good is your positioning with the ball? How close are your pass distances to each other when you lose the ball? Do you have a close net to each other so you can avoid counter-pressing and transition moments from the opponents?
“The transition moments from the opponents are so tough to defend. It’s important to be very, superb in relaxation defence. It is about positioning and the gap between one another – but it surely’s additionally about scanning the sector.
“It’s natural that you follow always the ball – but, for me, it’s also important what happens far away from the ball. What do you perceive when you are far away from the ball? How accurate are you far away from the ball?
“There’s a terrific motto and concept that I learn in the future: the typical time you spend on the ball is 2 minutes. So 88 minutes you do not have the ball. What do you do in these 88 minutes? That makes a distinction.
Sunday twenty second September 1:00pm
Kick off 2:00pm
“How active are you when you don’t have the ball? My players need to find the positioning or a space in the game where they are active. So we all need to have a job, especially during these 88 minutes. That’s something that we have to improve on.
“We’ve got to be extra constant in all phases within the sport: in set-pieces, possession, out of possession, counter urgent – although we’re good there – however we might be higher in relaxation defence. It is about doing issues constantly good in all phases.
“That’s where we have to improve. Sometimes we do it in 20 minutes or 25, but not in 90 minutes. That’s something I want to achieve.”
Watch Brighton vs Nottingham Forest dwell on Sky Sports activities this Tremendous Sunday from 1pm; kick-off 2pm. Stream the sport with a NOW TV move.
