Every word from Fabian Hurzeler before Burnley away

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Head coach spoke ahead of this weekend's game at Turf Moor.

2026-04-10T12:00+01:00

Fabian Hurzeler's team have won four of their last five Premier League matches. 📸 by James Boardman.

Fabian Hurzeler discussed maintaining his side's terrific form, meeting the co-host of The Rest is Politics podcast Alastair Campbell and finishing the season strongly in his press conference on Friday.

It feels like a long time since the Liverpool win, for a head coach it must feel even longer?

You can use the time for reflection, for switching off a little bit and then starting to prepare for the final part of the season. So the time goes quickly.

How have you used that time to prepare this last push for Europe, now that it's full steam ahead through to the end of the season?

I think after a very successful period before the international break and also during the international break, when all the players were quite successful, it's a very positive thing. So they kept the positivity, they kept the confidence and belief in their body. Now it's about when they return from their national teams, when they come together as a group, reemphasising what made us strong and what we need to do to get back to the standards we reached before the international break. It's a reminder that we need to reach our limits if we want to be successful in the final part of the season.

Suspensions – no Lewis Dunk for the next few games, you’re not on the touchline for the next few games. How will the team cope without you both?

I think we have a lot of other leaders who can solve problems. On and off the pitch, regarding me, we already had a situation against Brentford where my staff did an incredible job and won that game. Regarding Lewis, of course he has played unbelievably well in the last weeks. But also we showed that we have a lot of options to replace him. We showed that we have really good options to replace him. I'm quite confident that the team is strong enough to handle these things, so that I can give them a lot of responsibility on the pitch. And they have proved that in the season so far that they can handle it.

When Olivier Boscagli has come in he's performed pretty well considering he's had limited opportunities...

Olivier Boscagli is in contention to start against Burnley. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

That's what I have said through the whole season. The players will get their chance. They just have to make sure they're ready. Lewis will be suspended for two games and that means there are opportunities for us. That's what football is about - working hard and being ready in the right moment. You need to be there and need to use your chance.

Are there any injuries or doubts for tomorrow's game? Is Jack Hinshelwood okay?

Everyone will be fine for tomorrow.

Since the last game, Albion have reached the semi-finals of the Women's FA Cup. It's rare in the men's and women's game that head coaches work so closely together, but I think you've had Dario in working with the men's team?

Dario Vidosic alongside Fabian Hurzeler during a training session this week. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

He was with us in the last few days. I really want to say congrats for his achievement with the women's team. I think it's an incredible achievement. It shows again that hard work will pay off. It shows again that this great togetherness can be the individual quality that the club stands for.

Then of course we always want to have a good connection. We always want to live like a family. And family means we are open-minded. We give a chance to get into our environment. Dario was with us for the last few days. He felt already a part of us because he was so helpful. He was sharing his opinion. He was on the pitch and beside the pitch with us in the meeting. That's what Brighton is about, it's about sticking together. It's about having good connections on and off the pitch and supporting each other. That's what we try to do day by day. I think that's a great example.

You had a meeting with Alistair Campbell at a Football Beyond Borders charity evening. You said you listened to his podcast, right?

Yesterday was another impressive podcast. If you didn't hear it, it's a good one with Volodymyr Zelensky and I think it's always impressive to listen to them. I said it to Brian Owen [at open training last week], for me it's very important to not only look at what is in the football business, but to be very open-minded. I'm sometimes really interested in politics, especially now when things are going on and seeing what are the solutions, what are the consequences for the world, because I think everyone gets impacted by some wars at the moment. Alastair and I had a good conversation, we have a good relationship and I hope we can continue this.

He's known as the ultimate spin doctor, so shutting down stories in the media and twisting them another way. Did he give you any tips for dealing with inane transfer rumours from us [the media] and the inevitable questions about Roberto De Zerbi next week, for example?

It's very interesting thing you asked because I think his rhetoric, how he answers the questions, how he uses different methods, is impressive. We can learn a lot as head coaches as to how to deal with the media from politicians because they have to deal with it every day. They have to handle big criticism, big challenges, big questions, big topics every day. Therefore he's a role model. That's definitely something we can learn from. It's not only about this, it's also about just being interested in these kind of topics. But if you are in touch with him and you have conversations you automatically see some habits that are impressive and you might be able to use them for yourself.

You've been linked with Bayer Leverkusen. But you're talking about this long term project and being quite emphatic about that so it feels like it might take a lot to tempt you away. Do you feel like you're only just getting started?

I feel that there's a connection, especially a connection to the fans now. A connection that we started building through highs and lows. And now we want to have a strong finish to the season. But like you said, it will take a lot to get me away from this space because I feel that this is a long-term project here, a project where we can be very successful with Tony [Bloom], with Paul [Barber], with the team and staff. Therefore we need to do the basic things right. We need to keep working hard, but the main thing for me is how is the relationship with the players? How's the relationship with the team, with the staff, with the owners, and with the supporters?

I feel really settled. I feel that the foundation is really strong and that we can build something. And of course we want to compete, the club is ambitious and wants to win something long term, but we need to earn this right to compete with the other clubs on the highest level and therefore we need to do basic things right. Over the last two years we built something really strong and now it's about improving with small steps, getting the consistency into our habits and getting consistency into our results, to keep improving the connection to the fans.

I never experienced such an atmosphere like we had against Arsenal and like we had against Liverpool at home. That's something that was created over the last few months. That was created because we went through lows together. That was created because everyone could share their opinion. I didn't get too frustrated by the criticism from the fans. I was open to that. I shared my emotion and then it created a bond. And now I really have the feeling that's also what the Brighton fans are about, to create something so that no one wants to play against us, to make the Amex like a castle where we are so difficult to beat. From there we can build something. We can be a team that can compete long-term for big things and that's our ambition. We have just started, but for that we need good behaviours and good results on the pitch and then we can keep improving.

Alastair Campbell is a big Burnley fan. Did you get into football?

Honestly, football wasn't the topic that evening. First of all about the charity. Football Beyond Borders is impressive because I can really identify myself with this charity. It's about giving young personalities a mentor and adults who believe in them. There are thousands of young personalities outside going through a tough period. We need to give them trust and belief that they can achieve something. That was the same in my youth. On my path I always had mentors. I always had people who had trust in me and then things are possible, so I could really identify myself with the charity. That was the main topic. Then of course you had really nice people you can speak to and I met Alastair Campbell that evening. We didn't speak too much about football. It's more about what are similarities in politics and in football, what is going on in the world. It was nice to not talk about Burnley or Brighton or the football world because that's a topic I talk about every day. Sometimes it’s nice to talk about different things as well.

Let's get back to the football then, it’ll be Jan Paul van Hecke’s 100th Premier League appearance tomorrow if he plays for you. Just how important has he become for you and do you see him as a future captain of this side?

Jan Paul van Hecke could make his 100th Premier League appearance this weekend. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Yes, definitely. I think his improvement is impressive. He already played on a high level last season, but this season he made another step. He improved his consistency. He has improved, especially out of possession, in how he's committed to defending forward, how he uses body in a very effective way to defend against very athletic players. He's very good in keeping a structure in a defensive shape. On top of that he's a great leader. He's leading by performance, he's a role model for that because every training session and every game he’s one hundred per cent. He has all the characteristics to be a future leader for this club.

The seven matches to go in the league. Have the targets you set at the start of the season changed or are they still on course?

Nothing has changed and therefore, in the final part of the season, it's very important to stay humble. It's very important to understand where we came from. It's very important to understand what made us strong in the last weeks and now we go to Burnley who are fighting against relegation, but who proved in the last weeks that they can win against every team in the league, that they have quality and they show a really good togetherness, especially in the last games when they have had really good performances. You can't underestimate any team in this league. It's a game where we have to reach our limits, reach our standards and reach our highest levels.

They haven't won a home game in the league since mid-October. Are you surprised by that and the fact that Scott Parker is still leading the way there?

No, I think when you see how unlucky they have been when they have lost games, they have performed well, they show a lot of great stuff, have had a lot of good comebacks. They definitely deserve more in the last games. I'm not surprised that Scott Parker is still in charge because when you really look at how they play it's very good, it will be a challenge for us.

If Danny Welbeck scores another Premier League goal this season, he'll match the existing record of Glenn Murray's 13 Premier League goals in the 2018-19 season. How has he been in these last three weeks? Obviously the England chat didn't go away but has he benefited from no football in the last three weeks?

Danny Welbeck has scored 50 goals in all competitions for Albion. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

He seems to be in a very good place, very relaxed, very focused, very sharp. He knows that he can only control certain things. What he can control is his performance on the pitch and how he behaves beside the pitch and therefore he keeps focusing on these controlables. Then we see what happens in the next weeks.

Brighton aren't really in the driving seat for a European finish this season. Tomorrow and the remaining games have been called finals for you. Do you agree with that sentiment?

I think we need to have the attitude that every game is a final first. Now we have to go game by game. So don't think about the game in two or three weeks, we play this game tomorrow like it's the last game of the season. Play this game like we’re a family. This has to be our attitude. This has to be our approach regarding these games. And like I just mentioned, it’s very important to go to Burnley and be very humble. It's not about going there and playing nice football. It's about working hard and then we can be successful.

You spoke about your vision with Paul and Tony. I just wonder how you have found working with Jason Ayto since he came in and how that's been?

Really good. Similar to David Weir. It's a very transparent and open relationship. Also Mike Cave is involved a lot, so therefore I'm in touch with them every day. We speak about things daily, but of course also about long term things. So therefore we made a really good start and I'm really looking forward for the things that are coming in the future.

Just on the long-term injury front, how's Adam Webster doing?

Adam Webster sustained a serious knee injury in pre-season. 📸 by James Boardman.

Really well. He's doing rehab together with Stefanos [Tzimas]. We try to keep them around the team. We try to keep them involved because I think it's very important that they are around the team, that they don't feel lonely because when you are a player who has a long rehab behind and ahead of you, then there are certain moments where you just feel lonely, where you can feel depressed. We always try to have people around them to give them the feeling they're not alone, to give them also for their mind a good environment where they can get out quickly because I'm a big believer that when you are clear in your mind, when you have a positive mind, then the rehab goes much quicker and recovery goes better.

And would he be somebody if you can get back playing that you'd like to keep in the future? I know he said that he'd like to stay at the club as well.

I think it's very important that he is a great leader and there's a lot of positivity in his character. He helped us a lot last season, especially when we had some injuries. His injury in the summer was very unlucky for us and him. We know what we have in Adam Webster, the club knows it and in the end, when we come to summer, we will make a decision together that is best for him and what is best for the club.

In those last two away wins, what's been different about the performances?

We didn't play better football than before but we were able to manage the key moments better. We were much more focused and concentrated in defending set pieces and defending when the opponent had the ball. That was the main difference.