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Were Fabian Hürzeler in any doubt about the importance of the FA Cup to Brighton fans, he received a gentle reminder when back in his home town of Munich. Hürzeler’s short international break, among family and friends, received a polite but pointed interruption. “Walking through the city, one of the Brighton supporters called my name and said he’s really looking forward to the game,” said the club’s head coach. “He said that we have to give everything in this game, and of course you feel it, but for me it’s important that we don’t make it artificial excitement.”
Hürzeler, born a decade after Albion lost the 1983 final to Manchester United in a replay, can be excused for not knowing the lore of Steve Foster’s headband, Tony Grealish’s hirsute captaincy and the striker Gordon Smith’s “must score” miss. There are always the owner, Tony Bloom, and the club’s time-served staffers to run through the details. In any case, Brighton relived that Wembley day two seasons ago, another hard-luck loss to United in the semi-finals, this time on penalties.
The German prefers being forward-facing. At 32, he can only be learning on the job and the signs are he learns quickly from reverses. On Saturday, Brighton face Nottingham Forest, who beat them 7-0 on 1 February. Since then, Hürzeler’s team are unbeaten and in midweek return to Premier League action in seventh place, a point off fifth and probable Champions League qualifying. An open draw, only Manchester City remaining of the usual suspects, has made the FA Cup an achievable goal, Brighton one of four quarter-finalists to have never won a major trophy.
“It’s very important not to overreact and to understand what makes us strong as a team,” Hürzeler said. “That was exactly the case when we lost against Nottingham. Especially the players, they took a lot of ownership. They took a lot of responsibility, and they said: ‘OK, we have to go back to the roots.’
“We need to have this togetherness, we need to stick together, not only in good phases but also in negative phases, and we proved it this season so far, especially after the loss against Nottingham. We showed the spirit of togetherness, and the last thing, especially in this phase of the season, you need to have the belief, and I have the biggest belief in this group.”
Forest will be without the injured Chris Wood, who took a wrecking ball to Brighton’s defence at the City Ground in February, scoring a hat-trick. Hürzeler offers full respect to his opposite number, Nuno Espírito Santo: “He built a winning machine. They have players who have quality and a style that fits completely to the profiles of the player. That’s something special. That shows his quality.”
Hürzeler, as frontman for Brighton’s acclaimed executive structure, is very different from his predecessor Roberto De Zerbi, who in turn could hardly have been more different from Graham Potter. The Italian was the counterattacking tactical revolutionary who briefly became the hottest name in football. Potter established himself as the steadiest of hands. Hürzeler offers something else, though perhaps also something in between. When appointed last July, he talked of “challenging the establishment” and yet has developed Brighton in an often methodical, commonsense fashion. Time spent in his company reveals a passionate belief in the power of psychology and mentality.
Hürzeler has drawn inspiration from the unlikely – for a German – world of rugby union: “The loss against Nottingham was a big loss but it was also a loss that helped us in our development. Now it’s important to find a good balance. There is a book about the All Blacks, and they talk about the red head and the blue head, the cool head.
“And if you are always in the red head and acting with too much emotion, saying: ‘We have to make a revenge, we are angry that they beat us seven-zero,’ I think then you are too much in the emotional part of your mind and that’s why it’s so important to stay in the blue phase, in the cool head, make decisions without emotions, stay rational.”
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Where many clubs choose to prioritise, perhaps even third-placed Forest, with their golden chance of playing Champions League football next season, Hürzeler says he is under no pressure from Bloom or the chief executive, Paul Barber, to plump for one competition over the other, even if the Champions League has come within touching distance.
“We try to go into every competition to achieve the maximum, we try to go into every game and win it, so that’s our approach, our thinking, and therefore we don’t have these kinds of discussions. It’s about building the rhythm, keeping the connection, building this consistency and therefore I am not a big fan of making too many rotations, too many changes in the starting XI.”
If the FA Cup has lost lustre because managers rotate their squads to concentrate on league matters, including those from lower down the Football League, the former St Pauli coach presents a different mode of thinking. Should Brighton reach European football next season, fatigue may become of greater concern. For this season at least, Hürzeler appears convinced much of it remains in the mind.
“I think when the players feel in a good shape, are in a good mood, they have a lot of belief in themselves. They are confident and want to be on the pitch. That’s my feeling; the mind can decide the feeling on the pitch so therefore the players don’t feel this tiredness, and therefore I am not a fan of making too many changes.”
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