Every word from Fabian Hurzeler's pre-Forest press conference

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2025-11-27T14:00+00:00

Fabian Hurzeler's team sit sixth in the Premier League heading into this weekend. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

Fabian Hurzeler discussed team news and the threats posed by Nottingham Forest before out trip to the City Ground on Sunday.

Can we start with the team news?

We have good team news – all the players who were available last weekend are still available, so that's a positive. Tommy [Watson] came back into training this week. James [Milner] is getting close. Kaoru [Mitoma] is getting close.

Do you expect to see Kaoru playing this side of Christmas?

Kaoru Mitoma should be back in action before Christmas, according to Fabian Hurzeler. 📷 by James Boardman.

Definitely, yes.

And similar with James?

I am quite positive that we will see both James and Kaoru playing before Christmas.

It's two months today since Kaoru last played for Brighton, do you think you are missing him or are you getting to a point now where you have people that can play instead?

We always have players who can replace injured players. We have big potential in our squad, but for sure every team has players who are game changers, who are match winners. Kaoru proved last season that he's one of these players who really helps us, and I hope that he comes back quickly. On the other side, we know that we are strong without him, it's just a different profile [of player] that we replace him in the team with. I have a big trust in the squad that is available now.

How do you sum up your season so far?

There are pros, cons, positive things, negative things. It's an ongoing development. It's a tough season, a very competitive season, it's a close season. It's about small margins and that's really our focus in this phase – to do the small margins right, to be good in set pieces, in possession be patient and have a good structure, and to be intense out of possession. These are the key things, to focus on the small margins, to keep focusing on the individual development. Some players are still not where they can be. There's still a lot of potential in the players and we must get this potential out of them and try to continue building connections. Let's see how this phase over Christmas goes.

When you played Nottingham Forest last season, it was maybe your lowest point here as Brighton head coach. When you look back on that, what positives have you taken?

Every game you can take something away. Of course, it was a terrible defeat. Not only for me, but I also think in general for the club, for the team, for the supporters. After that you re-analyse, you reflect, you try to create the right solutions. This game helped regarding our development. After the game, we burned something [our pre-match work on Forest], everyone knows it. When you create a fire, there's still dirty things in the air, it's about cleaning up the air.

How did you clean up the air?

Doing the basic things right, doing the things that makes us strong. It's about hard work. It's about being ruthless. It's about making adjustments in the small margins. Forest’s style of play is quite effective. You must be switched on for 90 minutes; you must bring an intensity on the pitch for 90 minutes. You must be good in set pieces for 90 minutes, good in rest defence, all these small things. But it's not about which tactic you choose. It's about having the right attitude, the right mindset to step into the game and to accept that it's not a normal football game. It's a fight. It's a big battle there. This must be our approach.

What do you make of the job that Sean Dyche is doing? Because he's got them out the relegation zone.

Sean Dyche previously managed the likes of Everton and Burnley. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

Impressive. They know how to win games. They have a very effective style of play. They have very experienced players on the pitch. The players we faced last season are still there, so they have big individual quality. Their individual players are improving. They have key players for sure, especially Elliot Anderson who is doing well. [Morgan] Gibbs-White is a key player. They have big potential. Also, in their frontline they have a lot of individual quality, with good players who can attack the defence. They have different profiles, are very flexible and that’s what makes them so difficult to play against.

Late goals are becoming a bit of a theme for your side. Have you been doing extra work with them, say from the 70th minute?

No, it's all about mindset. Of course, you do sometimes have a scenario game in training where you play like you are 1-0 down, or we are 1-0 up and now we must defend the goal. So, these are sometimes scenarios you try to represent in training, by putting pressure onto the players and helping them to find solutions. But overall, it's always about the belief in our own quality, the belief that we can turn the game around through physicality. And that starts in the mind.

Carlos Baleba was taken off again at half-time against Brentford. Are you doing extra work away from match days to get him back to the player that we saw last season?

It's a constant thing that we try to do extra work with him. Every player we try to develop, no matter if they’re playing or not. Every player we try to get back to his full potential, and we do this step by step without putting players under pressure with things that they can't influence. So, we don't put Carlos Baleba under pressure by saying ‘you must play well’, because of course he wants to play well. It's about the small steps. It's about how he asks for the ball, the position he has when he receives the ball, how often is he switched on and trying to react well when we lose the ball? These are all the kind of things he can influence and we try to work with him on. But it's not only him, it's in general a thing that we try to do and it's also the Brighton way that we try to develop the young players. Sometimes you need to be patient, sometimes you need to be more demanding and more ruthless with players. But overall, you always need to create the right environment and the right support around him, to give them the right help.

There was lots of speculation around him during the summer. Do you think that does still linger in his mindset a bit?

Carlos Baleba has made 12 Premier League appearances so far this campaign. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

I think it's gone now. We are now four months into the season. We can't speak about these rumours anymore. It's about being a Brighton player. It's about performing here. It's about getting him back to his best level. To avoid the noise, avoid all the rumours and focus on things you can influence and the things you can do best. And that's football.

Last weekend it was Jack Hinshelwood getting the headlines. One person who maybe goes under the radar is Yasin Ayari. Just tell us a bit about why he's such a regular starter for you and what he brings to the team.

Firstly, we talk about the resilience. He has the physicality; he has the mental resilience to always be available. That's a key point, especially in the Premier League, to have this resilience against injuries. That's one big thing. The second big thing is he has the right mindset – he always wants to improve. He always wants to make the next step. He's a good listener. He works quite closely with my assistant coaches by doing individual things. He lives football. You can really feel when you see him here at the training ground that he wants to get better. That's the key. That's how you develop as a young player, by having the right work ethic, having the right professional behaviour on and beside the pitch to get better. That's why he's a very important player for us and, on top of that, he has individual quality. He's improving day by day and that's something that is key for us.

I know you don't judge players by goals and assists, but he takes some of your set pieces. He has scored a couple of goals for Sweden as well as for Brighton. Is there something more to come do you think, from him in terms of an attacking goal threat?

Yasin Ayari has scored one Premier League goal so far this campaign. 📷 by James Boardman.

Yes, he can improve by being more of a threat in the opponent's box, by having more impact on our game, by creating chances, but also having more impact by defending our goal, by trying to stop good moments from the opponent, trying to defend the box with everything that you have by being switched on all the time. That's what I want. He has a lot of potential. There are still some improvements, but he has the right mindset and right approach that for sure he will get better.

Do the circumstances around Sunday's game at Forest feel different to last time when your team were beaten 7-0?

It's a different game; it's a different situation. We face a different coach; we are in a different place. There are a lot of circumstances that are different. But overall, these kinds of games you will never forget. So even in ten years, if I still do this job I will remember this game. I hope in a more positive way than in a negative way because always from big failures, from bad experience you learn the most. Maybe in ten years I can laugh about this, but now it's still too recent to be a funny thing. It's our responsibility to do better than last season, to make our fans proud. It's a long way for them to go to support us. They spend a lot of their time over the weekend travelling to support us, so it's a big responsibility. We must give them something at the weekend, and that's what we will try to do.

You mentioned Elliot Anderson. How important is he to this current Nottingham Forest side?

It’s impressive how he's doing and how he's playing. He has a big impact. He's always asking for the ball. He has great stats, so he's not always playing left or right, he's always trying to find vertical solutions. He is a player who always has a good understanding of the game. So overall, it's a joy to watch him. It's one player we must defend against, otherwise we could have problems.

Forest are playing Malmo. Will you be watching this evening?

I will watch and try to analyse them for sure, but it's not only because we face them. Yesterday or the day before, every time when there are international games, it’s a great time to watch the games. To learn and see new trends, new approaches. Yesterday there were great games, crazy results. The day before was quite interesting. So there, there are no better nights than today to be a person who loves football because there are lot of plenty games you can watch.

Do you have one of those multi-screens where you can get all the games on?

I have one big screen. But now it's Black Friday, maybe I get another one as well! I have also an iPad and a laptop, so there's still a lot of screens. You can have too many things. There might be distractions, so there's a German phrase, ‘you can’t dance at two weddings’. You must focus on one and therefore maybe I just switch in between the games.