Why Brighton appointed Fabian Hurzeler as the Premier League’s youngest manager

Brighton & Hove Albion have further enhanced their reputation for bold thinking by identifying 31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler from German Bundesliga newcomers St Pauli as the replacement for former head coach Roberto De Zerbi.

Hurzeler becomes the youngest permanent manager of the Premier League era following the departure of  De Zerbi at the end of the season by mutual consent.

The appointment of Hurzeler — who was born in Houston, Texas, as his parents worked temporarily in the United States — is intriguing. Why have Brighton sunk their teeth into the son of a Swiss dentist with a German mother who has shone at the leftfield club in the country he has called home since he was a boy?

As always, the answer is the algorithm of owner-chairman Tony Bloom — the basis for Brighton’s data-led recruitment of coaches and players.

It is constantly updated and it confirmed Hurzeler as a good fit via his exploits at St Pauli. Graham Potter, the head coach from May 2019 until leaving for Chelsea in September 2022, was also considered with Malmo’s Henrik Rydstrom — former Nottingham Forest manager Steve Copper was not on the list — but Hurzeler stood out.

Named as assistant to Timo Schultz at St Pauli in 2020 with responsibility for opponent and video analysis, he stepped up to interim and then permanent head coach after the long-serving Schultz was sacked in December 2022.

Over the past 18 months, Hurzeler has steered St Pauli from just outside the 2. Bundesliga relegation zone on goal difference to promotion back to the top flight — as champions — for the first time in 14 years.

Brighton want to continue the philosophy of playing out from the back, which was started by Potter when he succeeded Chris Hughton and accentuated by De Zerbi over the Italian’s 20 months in charge.

De Zerbi took it to a new level by using the goalkeeper as an extra outfield player and beginning the team’s build-up inside or close to the box. Choosing Hurzeler has maintained the policy of playing through the pitch. As a snapshot of whether Hurzeler fits that profile, the fact St Pauli had the shortest average goal-kick length in 2. Bundesliga last season is a decent clue.

The three central defenders in his preferred 3-4-3 formation are key in the initial phase. A high percentage of possession, patience to start with in the build-up, baiting a press from the opposition and then attacking with pace and mobility are features common to both Hurzeler’s methods and the success De Zerbi had in guiding Brighton to sixth place and Europa League qualification in his first season in Sussex.

Brighton were at their attacking best under De Zerbi when Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March were fit and operating together. Inverted wingers have also been influential to St Pauli’s success under Hurzeler. On the right, former Bolton Wanderers winger Oladapo Afolayan contributed nine goals and three assists in 31 league appearances last season, while on the left, Elias Saad scored seven goals and provided two assists in 30 league outings.

Hurzeler has improved Afolayan and Saad in the same way De Zerbi improved Mitoma and March. The German sees himself primarily as a coach who wants to be out on the grass, making players better.

Afolayan, born in Harrow and formerly with Chelsea’s academy, had never played higher than League One with Bolton before joining St Pauli in the January 2023 transfer window.

Saad, who had never played higher than the fourth tier when joining from Eintracht Norderstedt in the same January 2023 transfer window, has become a Tunisian international under Hurzeler, making his international debut in March this year.

(Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Hurzeler watched De Zerbi’s Brighton side in a trip to England during the winter break in the Bundesliga, also taking in matches involving Manchester City and Arsenal.

He said: “It’s no secret that I simply see principles that suit us and that we try to implement. New ideas and new possibilities have also been added. Of course, they are still different types of players. So it makes no sense to copy another team. But you can extract elements.”

There are other similarities between Hurzeler and De Zerbi. They have both been more successful as coaches than as players. Hurzeler was a central midfielder in Bayern Munich’s youth system, with Emre Can and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as team-mates. Erik ten Hag was his coach in the fourth tier as a 20-year-old, but he never progressed beyond the reserves.

He went on to play for four clubs in the fourth and fifth tiers, guiding Pipinsried to promotion to the fourth level in 2016-17 as player-manager. He retired at the age of 29 in 2022 to concentrate on coaching, having also worked as assistant to Germany’s under-18s and under-20s.

Hurzeler’s pathway echoes De Zerbi’s in some ways. A maverick No 10, De Zerbi was a youth player at AC Milan, spending most of his playing career with lower league clubs in Italy before beginning his switch to coaching with Darfo Boario in the fourth tier at the age of 34.

The pair are also bonded by charisma and animated behaviour in the technical area. Hurzeler had accumulated seven cards by February in St Pauli’s march to promotion, eclipsing De Zerbi’s five yellow cards in 2023-24.

Away from the heat of battle, they are similar again in their intensity about football, obsessed by watching matches and by tactics and systems.

But there are differences as well. The biggest change Hurzeler made at St Pauli was defensively. A solid 5-2-3 formation without the ball gave them a top-three defensive record across each of his two full seasons. Brighton were joint 10th by comparison across both full seasons under De Zerbi.

They are likely to be less prone to heavy defeats, too — De Zerbi’s team were beaten by four goals or more five times during his adventurous 89-game reign. Brighton regard Hurzeler as such a good fit because he is a bit tighter defensively but still has the desire to attack.

Despite his tender years, he came across during talks as measured, calm and articulate — more like Potter in that sense than De Zerbi.

The biggest and most significant difference is that there is unlikely to be a repeat of the rift over the profile of players targeted by the club that prompted De Zerbi’s departure.

De Zerbi wanted more established (and expensive) players in their mid to late twenties, but Brighton concentrate on developing youngsters with a a sprinkling of old heads to guide them. Across Hurzeler’s two full seasons in charge, six of the 14 players recruited by St Pauli were no older than 23, while three others were at least 30.

Once targets have been discussed, he is happy to leave it in the hands of the club. He gets on with coaching the players. He is not interested in being involved in transfer dealings and negotiations. That fits the Brighton model.

Hurzeler will be comfortable with Brighton’s recruitment strategy. In return, the club should be getting a younger version of the bright tactical mind of De Zerbi, but without the aggravation.

(Top photo: Selim Sudheimer/Getty Images)