When Fabian Hurzeler became Brighton's head coach, he set out a goal to "challenge the establishment". "Last season we did it, maybe not through the whole season, but definitely we had a lot of great achievements," he told Sky Sports, with Brighton set to compete in Europe for only the second time in their history. Beating Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, criticising Arsenal and Mikel Arteta's style, clashing with Pep Guardiola and collecting a string of touchline bans - there has been little doubt about Hurzeler's impact over his two seasons in the Premier League.
His passion in the dugout has become a defining feature of his proactive style, which has delivered consecutive eighth-placed finishes. It has landed him in trouble, too, but that is nothing new. At St Pauli, he once collected seven yellow cards before February.
"It definitely won't change," he said. "I want to be a winner, I want to win things for Brighton, I want to achieve together with the fans something special." The Conference League, which begins next month, gives Brighton another opportunity to turn their recent progress into silverware. They watched rivals Crystal Palace lift the trophy in May, but for Hurzeler, the challenge is less about matching them and more about proving Albion can compete on multiple fronts.
"We have high expectations of ourselves. We want to play a season the fans will always remember, but we have to see as a club that we are capable of playing a lot of games in a very successful way," he said. "We always [talk] of making the next step, growing as a club, and therefore we have to show now that we are capable of being successful and achieving things without losing our style and intensity." Hurzeler now has the fourth-youngest squad in the Premier League after a busy summer in which 11 players arrived, alongside the departures of established figures including Carlos Baleba, Jan Paul van Hecke, Danny Welbeck and James Milner.
It is a changed squad, but Hurzeler believes his age gives him an advantage in getting the best out of it. "I want to be myself, I don't want to play a role, and my age definitely helps regarding understanding the players," he said. "I always say I speak their language and I understand their thoughts, because it wasn't that long ago when I played.
I didn't play on their level, but I understand their feelings, their thoughts, maybe their doubts, their fears, what every player has." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player That understanding will be important as Brighton integrate another batch of talented young signings, centre-back Luka Vuskovic already proving a smart buy at £50m from Tottenham. Hurzeler trusts the club's recruitment model to deliver again - and his staff to get the best out of them. He has overseen a victory, a draw and a defeat in their first three Premier League games of this season, having had more big chances (15) and a higher xG (7.4) than any other side while only Arsenal (24) and Man City (26) have faced fewer shots (33).
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