[Albion] Fabian Hürzeler **SINGED 15/06/2024**

[Machiavelli]

Yes, that was me. You will spot it, when he is on the sideline, mostly addressing his Wingers and some of the central midfielders to move to the far side and run through, as to creating that space that was also described in the video linked above.

View attachment 185227
I also posted an analysis of the heatmaps from Hartel and Irvine to show exactly what was shown in the video.

Hartel - Opts for left
View attachment 185228

Irvine - Opts for right
View attachment 185230

And ironically, both show up on the scoreboards frequently enough.
Hartel - 21 goals 15 assists (in 37 games)
Irvine - 6 goals and 9 assists (in 30 games)

Bottom line:
if you can bring central midfielders on the scoreboard and more frequently into the danger zones of the box, and they have some finishing qualities, it adds up to your regular wingers and central forwards skills and elevates the scoreboard stats for the entire team.

And I would lean forward to claim, that your players are more skillful than our 2nd division players

Agree with the words from @Zeberdi. All I'll say on your last point is that the oppo defences tend to be rather good in the PL too.
What we struggled with under RDZ and Potter was breaking through the low/deep block. From what I can gather FH gets round this by having players piling in crosses and from shooting outside the box, but would be interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Albion podcast is worth a listen

 

[stewart_weir]

A bit interesting!

The Premier League's Youngest Ever Manager Has WEIRD Tactics

 

[Hiheidi]

Which player will be the first to emulate that hair cut?

 

[dazzer6666]

Albion podcast is worth a listen

Could be 5 minutes shorter without the bloody adverts for soap and stuff, but Fab came across incredibly well.

 

[dazzer6666]

Why would Dahoud and Leonard being there be ‘very interesting’…..? They’re currently under contract to us

 

[jackanada]

As far as I can tell almost all young men have terrible barnets.
That I believe Fab has had some fancy treatment and then gets that done to his rejuvenated hair is baffling.
But I'm middle-aged and in no position to judge even if I still have all my hair plus some spare sprouting out my ears.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

As far as I can tell almost all young men have terrible barnets.
That I believe Fab has had some fancy treatment and then gets that done to his rejuvenated hair is baffling.
But I'm middle-aged and in no position to judge even if I still have all my hair plus some spare sprouting out my ears.

And nose, don't forget nose

 

[Hugo Rune]

Very interesting analysis of FH's tactics by James Lawrence Allcott. He extols the creativity, flexibility based on how the opposition team members are positioned on the pitch and super smart use of space and reckons Albion are going to give their opponents a lot to think about this season. Above all, he reckons FH brings a great sense of fun and excitement to the game.

This is a really good analysis.

But it’s made me look at the squad and worry about who our two ‘false 10’ central midfielders will be. There is a huge amount of heavy-lifting for these two players in terms of getting our goals and assists in the Hürzeler St Pauli system.

Players like Gilmour, Moder and Milner could struggle to get the numbers? Together they have amounted 7 assists for the Albion and zero goals in the Premier League.

Could the likes of Enciso, Sarmiento, Buonanotte and Pedro find themselves in these roles?

Or could Fabian work his magic on Hinshelwood and Dahoud with the pair replicating the stats of Irvine and Hartel?

Maybe other young players such as Ayari or Kozlowski could provide the answer?

Or do we desperately need to sign a couple of players like the Rutter of Leeds?

 

[kelvinnewman]

Headed here after watching the video to discuss those two midfield roles.

The box crashing aspect def feels like could work for Julio and Facundo, though prob only of those two at a time,

Tempted to reinstall football managers latest version and have a play

 

[kelvinnewman]

No need for me to fire up FM24 this guy did

 

[Hotchilidog]

This is a really good analysis.

But it’s made me look at the squad and worry about who our two ‘false 10’ central midfielders will be. There is a huge amount of heavy-lifting for these two players in terms of getting our goals and assists in the Hürzeler St Pauli system.

Players like Gilmour, Moder and Milner could struggle to get the numbers? Together they have amounted 7 assists for the Albion and zero goals in the Premier League.

Could the likes of Enciso, Sarmiento, Buonanotte and Pedro find themselves in these roles?

Or could Fabian work his magic on Hinshelwood and Dahoud with the pair replicating the stats of Irvine and Hartel?

Maybe other young players such as Ayari or Kozlowski could provide the answer?

Or do we desperately need to sign a couple of players like the Rutter of Leeds?

My suspicion is that Fab will look at the squad and select the players he believes have the right skill set to fulfil those roles. I'm not sure you can judge the players by their previous contributions as they were being asked to do different things by De Zerbi.

One of the most encouraging things I have heard about Hürzeler is his ability to use the players he has and develop them rather than just buying in the finished article. The raw material he has in this squad is pretty damn good. A set of players who are used to playing and training with intensity but who are also receptive to coaching without being prima donnas insisting they can only play one way.

This is why my Albion mojo is so high at the moment, the possibilities for this team are incredibly exciting.

 

[jackanada]

Headed here after watching the video to discuss those two midfield roles.

The box crashing aspect def feels like could work for Julio and Facundo, though prob only of those two at a time,

Tempted to reinstall football managers latest version and have a play

Entirely agree. Julio regularly getting the ball in space on the edge of the area definitely feels like goals.

 

[scwiffy]

This is a really good analysis.

But it’s made me look at the squad and worry about who our two ‘false 10’ central midfielders will be. There is a huge amount of heavy-lifting for these two players in terms of getting our goals and assists in the Hürzeler St Pauli system.

Players like Gilmour, Moder and Milner could struggle to get the numbers? Together they have amounted 7 assists for the Albion and zero goals in the Premier League.

Could the likes of Enciso, Sarmiento, Buonanotte and Pedro find themselves in these roles?

Or could Fabian work his magic on Hinshelwood and Dahoud with the pair replicating the stats of Irvine and Hartel?

Yes I think Gilmour will be the biggest victim of Hurzelers tactics. He is our best passer of the ball he made everything tick in RDZs tactics but sadly he's neither defensively strong or offensively strong enough to fit this system. Its actually been an issue of his for a long time and why he's struggled elsewhere. My only hope is that Hurzeler boosts that offensive part to his game.

Also agree that Enciso and Bounanotte are are closest mold to that role (barring the obvious soon to depart Gross). Almost certainly a step too far for Sarmiento. I think people are rulling outModer too soon too, hes dymanic enough for that role, defensively, physically and positionally strong with a nice shot on him. He also has ariel ability that Hurzeler seems to rate so highly.

 

[Hugo Rune]

I think people are rulling out Moder too soon too, hes dymanic enough for that role, defensively, physically and positionally strong with a nice shot on him. He also has ariel ability that Hurzeler seems to rate so highly.

Good points but I think the rumoured PX deal to Leicester involving KDH has put a doubt over Moder in many people’s minds.

 

[GT49er]

Good points but I think the rumoured PX deal to Leicester involving KDH has put a doubt over Moder in many people’s minds.

Leicester's loss could be our gain. It wouldn't be the first time we've had someone practically with their bags packed and house on the market who has then stayed - Dunk and Stephens spring to mind. That turned out quite well.
The power of serendipity, eh?

 

[Zeckenpack]

My suspicion is that Fab will look at the squad and select the players he believes have the right skill set to fulfil those roles. I'm not sure you can judge the players by their previous contributions as they were being asked to do different things by De Zerbi.

One of the most encouraging things I have heard about Hürzeler is his ability to use the players he has and develop them rather than just buying in the finished article. The raw material he has in this squad is pretty damn good. A set of players who are used to playing and training with intensity but who are also receptive to coaching without being prima donnas insisting they can only play one way.

This is why my Albion mojo is so high at the moment, the possibilities for this team are incredibly exciting.

Spot on. We never had the chance to sign well known and developed players. We scouted in sub divisions, League One, Sweden and other regions like Greece. Players we signed usually fit specific requirements and could be developed into their current roles. Examples: Saliakas, Treu, Smith, Saad, Afolayan ...

This I guess is also, why Hürzeler was fond of going to Brighton, which is your data driven approach of scouting and signing players. He is really keen on data and I would assume you'll be surprised by line ups and new players or youth players being introduced.

It surely will be fun.

 

[ac gull]

Jackson Irvine was always capable of goals from midfield

He more or less single handed kept Burton in Championship the year they stayed up

 

[Papak]

Apologies if fixtures, but these 2 clowns

 

[Zeckenpack]

Jackson Irvine was always capable of goals from midfield

He more or less single handed kept Burton in Championship the year they stayed up

He also missed a few to be fair. But he mostly contributes to the game by intercepting balls and being good in the air. He is smart. But I believe there are better physical players for the role Hürzeler created. So it will be interesting to see, if there is a second Hartel next to whomever is playing the two pivot roles at Brighton.

But maybe he will surprise us all with different genius tactics.