Brighton & Hove Albion continue to hold their own under Fabian Hürzeler. After the 4-0 win over Crawley Town in the League Cup, however, the German coach had mixed feelings
Fabian Hürzeler has got off to a dream start in the Premier League. Two wins from two games were followed by an unchallenged 4-0 victory in the League Cup against overstretched Crawley Town on Tuesday evening.
Hürzeler was already delighted before kick-off: The Seagulls had made the long-planned transfer of Turkish international Ferdi Kadioglu official. The new signing from Fenerbahce, who is estimated to be worth almost 30 million euros and has signed a contract until 2028, is set to make Brighton even stronger.
In a club statement, Hürzeler raved about an “excellent player and great character”. The new coach particularly appreciates Kadioglu’s flexibility: “He is primarily a full-back who can play on both the right and left side. But he can also be deployed in central midfield.”
And that is precisely where he may be needed in the next few games. On Tuesday evening, Hürzeler had to watch as Matt O’Riley’s debut ended after just nine minutes. The midfielder, who was brought to the Premier League from Celtic Glasgow for a Scottish record fee, suffered a nasty left ankle injury early on in the game
Hürzeler sees “a clear red card ”
Hürzeler only hoped that the injury was not as serious “as it looks”. O’Riley had “not been able to put any weight” on his ankle. “After that foul, the players could go in however they wanted, there was no yellow card. For me, the tackle was a clear red card,” explained the furious Brighton coach: ”You can go hard into a tackle, you can act recklessly, but you can’t take the risk of injuring your opponent.”
Hürzeler’s run at Arsenal FC will be put to the test on Saturday – then certainly without O’Riley
