Hurzeler on Forest red card, Pedro injury and Chelsea

Posted by Admin September 26, 2024 Football

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking to the media before Saturday’s Premier League game against Chelsea (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

Hurzeler said he will be on the touchline at Stamford Bridge, despite his red card in Sunday’s draw against Nottingham Forest. On his FA charge: “I know what the fine will be and I also know I will be on the sideline against Chelsea. That’s the most positive thing, that I can help my team. I have to learn from the situation, but the fine, we will accept.”
He said his dismissal was because he stepped onto the pitch: “If you give a red card for this, I think you have to ban a lot of coaches during games because it happens. In an emotional phase of the game, it will happen that you make a step on the pitch. Of course we are role models and we have to act like that, but you also should bring out your emotions. In this case, it was just to protect my player because for me it was a hard tackle on him.”
Hurzeler spoke with referees’ chief Howard Webb in the aftermath: “He is very open, he listened to me and gave me a clear explanation of how the officials saw the scene. It’s important to have a good discussion. Sometimes I don’t agree with the referee for what they give a foul for or not, but also they don’t agree with all of what I’m doing on the sideline. It’s important to have a respectful relationship and the exchange with Howard was very respectful.”
Striker Joao Pedro is unlikely to be involved against Chelsea. “Joao still has some problems. We have to go week to week with him, but I don’t think he will be an option for the weekend. I am not sure how long he will be out. I’m convinced he will be back soon but you can’t take any risks.”
On Saturday’s opponents: “On one side, you have to analyse them by what they do tactically and they have good solutions [with] a great goalkeeper who starts trying to build the game from the back with his feet. Besides the technical things, they have great individual players, so you have to focus on not creating a mismatch and try to bring in players into personal duels that you think will be a good match.”
He added: “It’s important to find a good solution with the ball. You can’t go there to only defend – you have to have a lot of courage with the ball.”