Latest news with #FabianHurzeler
New York Times
6 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Brighton's summer training camp: 34 players, two wins and a quiz night
Brighton & Hove Albion ended a 10-day training camp on Spain's Costa del Sol with a 2-0 win last night against Las Palmas. Victory against the side relegated from La Liga last season followed a 3-1 win against Championship outfit Stoke City last week. Ice baths and swimming pool recovery sessions at the Marbella Football Center resort provided welcome respite for the players from daily training sessions in temperatures that often climbed above 30C (more than 86F). Advertisement But it wasn't all serious business in preparation for Fabian Hurzeler's second season as head coach. The Athletic's Brighton & Hove Albion correspondent Andy Naylor spent time at the camp, and shares a few observations, including who was there, who wasn't, and why kit man Alex Burrows had players scratching their heads… Hurzeler used different XIs in each half against Las Palmas. Matt O'Riley, frustrated by injuries and irregular game time last season after a £25million ($34m) move from Celtic, was heavily involved in both goals. The Denmark international midfielder contributed to a sweet move by setting up Yasin Ayari for a tap-in after 16 minutes. O'Riley doubled the lead a minute later, intercepting a pass to stroke in a shot from a central position 25 yards out. Facundo Buonanotte faces a scan after rolling an ankle early in the second half. The Argentine attacker tried to continue but had to be replaced by Ayari. Buonanotte, loaned to Premier League rivals Leicester City last season, will qualify as homegrown if he stays in the UK until January, either with Brighton or if he has another domestic loan. Hurzeler told The Athletic after the match: 'The injury doesn't seem to be that bad, but there was no opponent near him. Hopefully, he is fine. He has performed well in training and in games, so let's see how the situation develops.' Although Hurzeler called time on his playing career with Bayern Munich in his early twenties, he still likes to keep himself in shape. After the game, he went on a solo run outside the secluded venue, which is surrounded by a high wall and fencing. The five signings made in this summer transfer window are being eased into action. Italian central defender Diego Coppola scored with a header four minutes into his first outing as a second-half substitute against Stoke on Wednesday. French central defender Olivier Boscagli had a run-out in the opening 45 minutes of a 6-1 victory against League One side Wycombe Wanderers, which was played behind closed doors at the training headquarters in Lancing the day before the camp started in Spain. Advertisement Belgian left-back Maxim De Cuyper made his first appearance in the opening 45 minutes against Las Palmas. Greek forward Charalampos Kostoulas and former Sunderland winger Tommy Watson have yet to play a part in any of the warm-up games. The same applies to Kostoulas' Greece Under-21 team-mate Stefanos Tzimas. The striker, signed at the end of the January transfer window, is recovering from a hamstring injury picked up on loan to Nurnberg in last season. As his Brighton team-mates rested after a morning training session in sweltering heat, Evan Ferguson arrived in Italy on Sunday to a raucous welcome from Roma fans. The club that knocked Brighton out of the last 16 of the Europa League in 2023-24 have an option to buy the 20-year-old Republic of Ireland No 9 as part of the loan deal. Squad trimming is ongoing to reduce a bloated group — 34 players made the trip to Marbella. They included Pervis Estupinan, who was pulled out of the game against Las Palmas as Milan push to sign the Ecuador left-back. In that position, Brighton already have De Cuyper, who signed this month from Club Brugge, and Ferdi Kadioglu, the Turkey international who was a non-playing member of the squad in Spain as he nears a return from a toe injury that has kept him out since November. Youngsters Malick Yalcouye and Caylan Vickers — who both impressed against Stoke — are going out on loan. Midfielder Yalcouye, 19, spent last season at Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga, while Vickers, 20, has joined League One side Barnsley for the season. The start of the Spain trip coincided with Joao Pedro scoring in Chelsea's 3-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final. The Brazilian forward's £60million move from Brighton puts a lot of responsibility on Danny Welbeck and Georginio Rutter to lead the line. Advertisement The pair have hit the ground running this summer. Welbeck, still in prime physical condition at 34 and as hungry as ever, scored four goals in the first half against Wycombe. Rutter was on the scoresheet against Stoke in the Frenchman's first appearance since an ankle injury sidelined him in March. Hurzeler estimates that first-choice goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen is two weeks away from returning to action after a knee injury, which hampered the Netherlands No 1 last season. 'He had an ongoing issue and he suffered a lot,' Hurzeler revealed to The Athletic in Marbella. 'Now it is about us making him pain-free, then I am sure he can bring himself to another level.' The knock-on effect of Verbruggen continuing his recovery in Spain is that Carl Rushworth, third choice behind Verbruggen and Jason Steele, has registered the most pre-season minutes of any Brighton player. The club are keen for Rushworth to sign a new contract before sending him out on loan to a fifth club in as many seasons. Championship side Coventry City and Scottish side Rangers are interested in borrowing the 24-year-old. Togetherness is a key feature of Hurzeler's management style. Squad bonding outside the environment of daily training sessions and two matches was evident in Marbella. After the Stoke game, players and coaches spent the rest of the evening at a sports bar for a bite to eat and to play games on Formula One, golf and multi-sports simulators. The following day was designated as a day off. On many such club trips, players split into small groups, often sticking with team-mates from the same country or region. The Brighton players enjoyed each other's company on and off the pitch. Around 20 played golf together, with another large group on the padel courts and others on a bike ride. Advertisement On Saturday evening, kit man Alex Burrows hosted a quiz that was well attended by players, testing their knowledge of football and other categories, including music and general knowledge, with questions such as, 'Which country has the most pyramids?' (You'll just have to read to the end of the piece for the answer.) To Hurzeler, unity counts for a lot in coping with the inevitable ups and downs of a Premier League season. Fans get their first opportunity to see the team during the pre-season programme when they visit Southampton on August 2. Relegated from the Premier League last season, Southampton have a new head coach. Will Still is only 32, the same age as Hurzeler. The Belgian-born Englishman helped Reims achieve finishes of 11th and ninth in Ligue 1 before steering Lens to eighth last season. The annual curtain-raiser at the Amex Stadium is against German Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg on Saturday, August 9 (5pm). Other games are in the pipeline behind closed doors before the club's ninth season in succession in the Premier League is launched at home to Fulham on Saturday, August 16 (3pm). (As for that question about the country with the most pyramids: it's not Peru, Mexico or Egypt. It's Sudan.)
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Premier League manager shows off outrageous skills in training session as his club prepare for pre-season friendlies
A Premier League manager pulled off an impressive piece of skill during his club's training session ahead of their first pre-season fixture. The coach in question was seen showing off his kick-ups and tricks in a video posted to TikTok by the club he is in charge of. A player can then be heard speaking to the videographer in the background, saying: 'Admin, this is some quality content'. The video has since garnered huge traction on the platform, with over 100,views and 12,000 likes since it was uploaded on Sunday afternoon. It showed none other than Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler flexing his twinkled-toed ability with a football. Hurzeler, took over at the Amex Stadium last summer, making him the youngest-ever Premier League manager in history when he was appointed at the age of 31. Reacting to the video in the comments section, many users were quick to point out his age in comparison to some of his players. One user wrote: 'Virgil [van Dijk] and [Harry] Maguire are both older'. A second added: 'Remember he's younger than some of our players'. Another remarked: 'The other mangers aren't younger than James Milner'. A further comment read: 'Fabian Hurzeler is bringing some serious skills to the table!' Hurzeler was part of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich's academy as a youngster - spending eight years there and making 36 league appearances for their second team. However, he effectively ended his own professional playing career aged 22 as he only played for amateur sides in Germany afterwards. His career in management began in 2016 as a player-coach with FC Pipinsried, who he managed to promote in his first season. After being named assistant coach of St. Pauli in 2020, he was named their head coach in December 2022. Having won promotion to the Bundesliga with the club two seasons ago, he was named as Roberto De Zerbi successor on the South Coast. Following an eight-placed finish in his first campaign in charge, Brighton begin their pre-season for 2025-26 on Monday evening, as they face Spanish side Las Palmas.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Settled team selection' - fans on Brighton's guaranteed starters
We asked for your views on who Brighton's nailed-on starters should be next season after boss Fabian Hurzeler explained "we have to make decisions about selling and loaning players".You can read his comments below this post but here are some of your views on who will be a sure starter for the Seagulls:Kynan: Nailed-on starters are Bart Verbruggen, Jan Paul van Hecke, Carlos Baleba, Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter. Everyone else is a rotation option with multiple players in each Verbruggen, Van Hecke, Baleba, Mitoma, Minteh and Danny Welbeck. They will all start the first game. Every other place is up for You have to start some of the new signings. Pointless paying money and not playing them. Verbruggen definitely. Not sure you can leave Van Hecke out - and then start Diego Coppola alongside him. Mitoma, Rutter, Yasin Ayari, Welbeck, Brajan Gruda and Baleba have to start. Players are not going to be happy not playing - especially Matt O'Riley, Mats Wieffer and Tom Watson, who will think it would have been better staying with Sunderland, where he would play regularly. I don't envy Hurzeler trying to select his team. One thing we need this season is a settled team A 3-4-3 formation with Verbruggen in goal. This would suit the current players and manager. We should play with a back three of Van Hecke, Lewis Dunk and Olivier Boscagli; a midfield of Diego Gomez, Baleba, Ayari and Solly March; and three-pronged attack of Mitoma, Welbeck and Rutter.
New York Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Brighton & Hove Albion's Julio Enciso out until 2026 with knee injury that requires surgery
Plans for Julio Enciso to leave Brighton & Hove Albion during the summer transfer window have been put on hold by a knee injury which needs surgery. The Paraguay international is not part of head coach Fabian Hurzeler's plans for the coming season. He was lined up to leave on loan or permanently before the window shuts on September 1, but left knee damage has ruled out a departure for Enciso until next year. Advertisement The 21-year-old remained in South America at the weekend as the squad flew out to Marbella in Spain for a ten-day training camp. He is set to miss his country's remaining two World Cup qualifiers in September at home to Ecuador and away to Peru. Paraguay need a point to clinch a place in next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Hurzeler left Enciso out of the squad for two matches in December because of his attitude in training. He went on loan to Premier League rivals Ipswich Town in January for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. Ipswich went on to be relegated, despite two goals and two assists from Enciso in his last eight appearances. Evan Ferguson is also not part of the squad's preparations in Spain for the coming season. The Athletic reported on July 9 that AS Roma are working on a deal to sign the 20-year-old Republic of Ireland striker on loan after Ferguson spent the second half of last season on loan in the Premier League to West Ham United. Kaoru Mitoma, Diego Coppola, and Georginio Rutter scored in a 3-1 win against Championship side Stoke City in Marbella on Wednesday. Brighton's trip to Spain ends with a second friendly against Las Palmas on Monday.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Dunk? Van Hecke? Baleba? Tell us who Brighton's nailed-on starters are
With so many incomings at Brighton already this summer, along with a number of players returning from loan spells, BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast team believes Fabian Hurzeler could have quite the "headache" when it comes to picking his starting XI for the new are still question marks over a few of the players' futures too, which adds to the difficulties in deciding who will be guaranteed a place come fact, after Wednesday's friendly win over Stoke in Spain, Hurzeler said: "The squad is quite big at the moment but I think they understand their roles. We are one step further than we were, and now we have to make decisions about selling and loaning players."On this week's podcast, BBC Radio Sussex Brighton reporter Johnny Cantor named who he believes is mostly like to make the starting XI at the beginning of the season."I would probably say Bart Verbruggen. I would say initially Lewis Dunk because I think he will start. I won't necessarily say Pervis Estupinan as I'm not sure he will be there or not. I would say Carlos Baleba, Georginio Rutter, Yankuba Minteh, Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck."If they are all fit, and bearing in mind Stefanos Tzimas and Charalampos Kostoulas are coming to a new club and environment, that's how I think the attacking end will look."I didn't say Jan Paul van Hecke - because that would mean neither of the two new defensive signings would play - and you have got Adam Webster and Igor Julio sitting on the bench or not involved at all as well. They won't have four centre-backs."Former Albion forward Warren Aspinall added: "I will go with three or four - Mitoma, Verbruggen and Van Hecke. I'm not even putting Carlos Baleba in there."So who do you think are Brighton's guaranteed choices? Do you agree with Johnny and Warren's, or are there other players who should be included?Get in touch with your views hereGet news alerts on your Premier League team
