Brighton & Hove Albion

Fabian Hurzeler discussed preparing for Tottenham, different goalscorers throughout his team and the run of form ahead of Saturday's game in north London in his press conference on Friday.

Tomorrow’s game comes with a lot more attention and build-up because of the Roberto De Zerbi connection. He's still very popular with the Brighton fan base. Do you ignore it or do you still prepare as usual?

First of all, he deserves the praise because he had a huge impact on this club. He had great achievements with the players, he helped the club reach Europe for the first time so he deserves this praise. On the other side, when the whistle starts, it's a game between Brighton and Tottenham. Our approach is the same. We are there to achieve something, we are there to win this game. We are there to keep showing the right habits so that's our main focus.

Looking at the last six matches in the Premier League form table, it's top against bottom. How does that momentum and confidence that you've got help against the side that is lacking it at the moment?

We shouldn't get too distracted by the table. It's very important to not underestimate any team. They have quality, they just have a little bit of a lack of confidence. We have the same approach to any other game – we have to reach our high standards. We have to play with the highest intensity we have in our bodies. We need to have the right approach in our mind and that means being focused from the first second and doing the small margins right on the pitch. Then we definitely have a big chance to go there and win this game. But it's very important to get an understanding that form doesn't win you a game. It's about habits. It's about showing the right habits every day and especially at the weekend. And that's our responsibility tomorrow.

What do you put your run of five wins out of your last six games down to?

Before we had this run, our performances weren't better or worse. The only difference was we weren't able to get the results. So when we look back, how many last minute goals we conceded, how many small individual errors we did and then conceded a goal when we had the momentum, therefore it's not a surprise for us. Of course, it seems to be a surprise for the media. But in the end we always stick to our principles. In the end we always stick to our process. I think the biggest difference now is we are able to manage the tempo. Another thing that is crucial for our success is our supporters. How we are connected, how we support each other, the energy we create, no matter if it's a home game or an away game, it's just something special. We have built a really good connection and relationship with our fans, and these things create a really good togetherness. That’s important for us as a club because we might not be individually better than the top teams, but we can compete if we have this togetherness every day. This has to be our approach until the end of the season.

Is James Milner still out?

Yes, he is still out, but he's getting close and besides that everyone is fine.

I watched back an interview when you were appointed. You talked about the impact that Roberto De Zerbi had on football generally and the adaptations that you would make to your side. How close are you to the Brighton team being an embodiment of what you want them to look like?

I think it's an ongoing process and development. You can never say ‘I'm done now’, or ‘I am there’ because then you will stagnate. The process and development of the team and the individual players will stagnate. So it's very important that you keep emphasising the messages that I stand for as a coach, to keep working on the principles I want to see and we are heading in the right direction, definitely. But I still see a lot of room for improvement and I'm still not a hundred per cent satisfied. I also know that the players aren’t a hundred per cent satisfied – there's still room for improvement. There's still room to improve our principles. There are things that we can control – we have controlled the games better recently. So overall we are heading in the right direction, but we are definitely not done with our development. It's an ongoing process.

You also said ‘there are similarities, but we are not similar’ to De Zerbi. Is there anything that you had to unpick that was so ingrained in the squad? Because he has a very specific way of playing that maybe didn't fit with what you wanted your team to do?

There are definitely a lot of similarities. He made a big impact. I came into an environment, I came into a group that had a really good understanding of football from being coached by him. But I have also my principles, my way of playing. But these were just small adjustments, small adaptations. I didn't want to come here and change everything because like we all mentioned, we all know he had really positive success with the club and with his style of play. It was more about adjusting small things and now we are playing some players who didn't play under him. So we needed to educate them in our style. We needed to make sure that the new players and the players who were already here all come on the same page and we are moving in the right direction. On the other side we should never forget, football continues. There are always new trends. Two, three years ago it was a completely different game than it is now. There are different demands in the Premier League. There are much more physical games. The teams, individual players have gotten more physical ... statistics are much more important. So you see a new trend in football. You can't say that the football that was successful two, three, four years ago will be successful today. It's an ongoing process where as coaches you have to think about your ideas without losing your foundation, without losing your key principles. That's an ongoing process for the team, but also for us as coaches.

Are you going to watch the game between St. Pauli and Bayern Munich? Any players in particular that you’ll keep an eye on?

I watch this game because I support my ex-club and that's the only focus of this game.

You've referenced recently about being able to manage key moments in the matches, whereas previously that might not have been the case. Did you seek out any kind of additional advice from external people to help you with that?

Our approach doesn't change from the first game of the season until now. That’s also true regarding my approach. I always emphasise it's very important to reflect on your own decisions, your own approach, how you prepare for the games, how you manage a game. It's an ongoing process and I reflect on my own decisions as well. I didn't have one time or one moment in the season where I said, ‘now I need external help’. It's an ongoing process since I started my career. During the season we had no change regarding this. It comes back to the process of learning. It comes back to the process of players growing, learning from their mistakes. Players stick together and show the right characters when they are under pressure. It comes more back to the personality of each individual players, that they're sticking together, that they're taking care of each other, that they hold each other accountable and that they support each other. I would say that's one of the main reasons why they're able to grow and learn from these moments.

Tottenham finished 17th last season. There's a very realistic chance now that they could be playing in the Championship next season. Are you surprised at what they're going through?

I think everyone is a little bit surprised, but on the other side it's very important to understand how ruthless the Premier League can be, how tight the Premier League is. You need to be on your highest level every weekend and we experienced a bad run in the season. If you're not doing the right behaviours on a daily base then you have no chance at the weekend. To answer your question, it's maybe a little surprise for everyone. But it also shows how intense and ruthless the Premier League can be.

Vicario might return in goal for Spurs this weekend, or Kinsky might stay. He's played under four different managers in his last five matches for Tottenham. In contrast, you've got such consistency with Bart Verbruggen. What's been the change for Bart this season that's seen that improvement in form?

First of all, it’s his approach. He was professional before, but he's even more professional now. He changed some things regarding his private life, regarding taking care of his body. Then, second of all, he's pain free. Last season, he always had some issues with his knee and now he's able to train and if young players are able to train and stay on the pitch regularly, then they're able to progress and develop. I think these have been key moments for him and key factors to his development. And on the other side, we made a change regarding our goalkeeper coaches and we brought in someone he knew and already had already a trusting relationship with. These kind of relationships always help as a player to develop, to build a really good connection with the goalkeeper coach. My goalkeeper coach also had a big impact together with his assistant on the development of Bart.

Yankuba Minteh has been starting the last few games. Do you see Kaoru Mitoma coming back in there from the start for this game, or do you think Yankuba will again be there?

It's definitely an option. Having Kaoru fully fit is always great. So definitely, he’s a big option for us and we know that Kaoru can change a game and that is crucial for us to perform well. On the other side of that we have Yankuba Minteh showing some really good performances on the left side, showing a good connection with Ferdi Kadioglu. It’s positive for me to have these two players available and that I can make a decision regarding this.

Brighton recently have shown that they're able to take the lead and keep it. Tottenham for a number of games fall behind and that's them done in that match. From your analysis that you've done of Tottenham in the last few games, what do you think their issues are?

I think it's very important that we focus on our approach because there are still a lot of improvements. We want to go there and play our style of play. That means pressing intensely, pressing high and trying to control the game in possession. That's what we focus on.

Mats Wieffer scoring last weekend made it 17 different goal scorers for your team in the Premier League this year. Last year you had 18 – it's exceptionally high. Do you think those numbers are reflective of the way that your team plays or are you conscious of what you want to get out of players higher up the pitch?

We want to have a very attacking style and therefore we want to have players who are able to attack the opponents’ box and also have the freedom. We want attacking full-backs. We want them to have the freedom to attack because that's one of their strengths. We want to bring them into positions where they can fulfil their whole potential. They can fulfil their whole potential if they're allowed to attack and if they have the freedom to attack, sticking to our principles. So therefore it's not a surprise. It's positive to have these flexibilities in your team. It's positive that we have this unpredictability because every player can score. It's also very important as a team to know that you're not relying on one player. You can rely on every player because every player is able to create danger for the opponent.

When it comes to this game, we talked about Roberto De Zerbi, a fair few of your players played under him. Do you need to say anything to them? Have you had any discussions about what it means to them or how they may react? Or is it a case of just let them go and do their business?

They are experienced enough to do their business.

We are in the final part of the season. There's no time for distractions. There's no time for noise, they have to do their job. They have to make our supporters proud and they have to create the right headlines. Creating the right headlines will come from showing the right effort from the first second, showing desire to defend, showing desire to score and that's the responsibility of the players. I won't mention it, I won't make it a topic. So they know what they have to do. They know that they have responsibility they have to fulfil at the weekend, and that's the only focus we have.

It is his first home game. They're going to be sticking flags on every single seat in the stadium so they're clearly trying to make an event of it as well. But does that show how much maybe pressure is on them.

Striker reflected on our narrow defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.