Hurzeler: How to beat Man Utd and coping with 'long balls'

Brighton face Manchester United on Saturday with six wins from the last seven Premier League meetings between the sides. Two of them were masterminded by Fabian Hurzeler last season. The youngest head coach in the country is going for a third.

The trip to Old Trafford, scene of a 3-1 victory in January, is another chance for the 32-year-old to show his potential to be one of the game's next elite coaches and comes with Brighton unbeaten in five games following last weekend's win over Newcastle.

"It's always a privilege to play in that stadium against one of the biggest clubs in the world," Hurzeler tells Sky Sports. "I think the challenge will be to bring consistency in our behaviours, and to make the behaviours we showed against Newcastle a habit.

"Don't prove it only once, we have to prove it twice, maybe a third time, that we are able to compete with the best teams in the league.

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"And this will be the challenge against Manchester United as well because they are one of the best teams in the league. They have unbelievable individual quality. Of course, they had a big win against Liverpool, so we expect them with a lot of confidence, with a lot of belief. But we will go there to compete at the highest level.

"We will go there to win this game."

They will aim to do it by applying the lessons of their last visit.

"First of all, it's always a big challenge to go there because it's just a special atmosphere," says Hurzeler. "The second thing is that you have to go there and play with a lot of belief and a lot of courage, especially in possession. You can't go there and only defend.

"What I learned from last season is that you have to be at the highest level in all the small match-ups. That's the main thing against United, especially with the individual quality they have. They can decide a game with one action, in one moment."

Brighton's win there in January, secured by goals from Yankuba Minteh, Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter, prompted Ruben Amorim to describe his side as "maybe the worst in Manchester United's history". Are they a different proposition now?

The two teams are only a point apart in the Premier League table but Manchester United spent nearly four times as much as Brighton in the summer transfer window.

"Every time teams bring more individual quality into their team, it gets more and more difficult to beat them," says Hurzeler. "They play a similar formation to last season but they seem to be more stable. They seem to get more and more into their rhythm.

"For sure, the more the teams spend, the better they will be and the higher the challenge is, but we never hide, we are never afraid. We have a lot of respect for every team and every player but we go there with the biggest self-belief that we can beat every team."

Why Hurzeler puts players over system

Hurzeler knows what to expect tactically. Manchester United have started every game under Amorim with a back three. The Brighton boss is something of an expert on the system having used it at his former club St Pauli, even if he terms it differently.

"I played a lot with a back five at my previous club, so I know that you can defend the whole width of the pitch. It's easier to do that so I think that's one advantage.

"You need to be very good between the lines. You need to have centre-backs who defend forward, otherwise it's easy for the opponent to turn in front of the defence.

"One of the challenges when you play against a back five is that you always face a very compact team, with very short distances between each player. When you face a four, you have a little bit more distance between the opposition players.

"The challenge is to find the gaps, to be patient, to not force it, because if you force it with the first action, then for sure they are going to transition.

"So, you have to be patient, you have to switch the play, you have to create overloads on the wings to make them move, then find the gap where you can play through or run through."

There are parallels between Hurzeler and Amorim as up-and-coming coaches who earned their moves to the Premier League having built their reputations on the continent. But they have approached their respective tasks very differently.

While Amorim has rigidly stuck to his favoured system at Manchester United, Hurzeler has embraced change at Brighton, using a back four in all but one of his Premier League games in charge despite having used a three consistently at St Pauli.

"I think the most important thing is to understand the profiles of the players," he says. "So, what is the natural system for the club? What is the natural system for the players? In which position and on which base can the players show the highest potential?"

Hurzeler points out that his system is fluid and interchangeable.

"I always stick to my principles, but principles don't mean you always have to play a back four or always a back five," he explains. "In the game you have thousands of different situations and patterns, so you always have to be able to react.

"We really try to train decision-making from the players, and in my experience this decision-making is better when you stick to your principles. You need to adapt or adjust without losing your style of play and that's what we try to do consistently."

Adapting to Man Utd's 'long balls'

One of Hurzeler's principles is to press opponents aggressively.

Brighton have forced more high turnovers than any other Premier League side this season. Opta's advanced metrics show they hold one of the highest defensive lines in the Premier League.

How might he adapt, then, to Manchester United going direct? Their goalkeeper, Senne Lammens, has sent 83 out of 90 passes long in their last two Premier League games. Arne Slot highlighted the issues they caused by bypassing Liverpool's press.

"United played a lot of long balls in the last two or three games, they were quite efficient on that," says Hurzeler. "They are really keen on winning the second ball. It's a very effective way of being successful. They proved it can be very powerful.

"The main thing you need to understand is that it starts with the press, how you attack the goalkeeper, which centre-back you want to attack. And then make sure that you're ready for the long ball.

"When the long ball is played, there are two things that are very important: that you try to win the second ball, and that, if you don't win the second ball, you have good positioning for the third ball.

"Make sure that, with your last line, you always cover the inner line, so when they try to flick the ball, especially with [Benjamin] Sesko, you can defend against the deep runs from [Matheus] Cunha, from [Bryan] Mbuemo, from [Mason] Mount.

"They are very good at these things, so it's a job for the whole team, not only of the defensive players. The main thing is to keep the compactness, make sure you have close distances, that you close the gaps, and that you're really intense for the second ball."

Why Baleba needs tough love

One player who should help is Carlos Baleba.

The 21-year-old made an indifferent start to the season following strong interest from Manchester United in the summer but he looked back to his best in the win over Newcastle after Hurzeler urged him to "take responsibility" for his situation.

"I saw a Carlos Baleba who stepped up," says Hurzeler. "These were good actions and good behaviours he showed, but he has to make habits out of those good behaviours. That's the next step in his development, to bring consistency to his performance."

Hurzeler wants him to "overcome the noise" around his future at Old Trafford on Saturday. He has been firm with Baleba and continues to push the midfielder - even if it risks upsetting him.

"For me, it's always important that I'm very transparent with the players," he says. "I have a very good relationship with Carlos. We speak regularly, we are in touch. I always share my thoughts about his development and my thoughts about his performance.

"It's important to be very clear about what you expect from players on the pitch, off the pitch. And it's important to build relationships where you can criticise or give personal feedback they might not be happy about, but they understand the intention behind it.

"Carlos won't get better if he only gets compliments and claps from outside. I think he will get better if he has a safe environment, but also honest feedback where he knows what he needs to improve. That's where we try to support him and make him better."

Baleba is of course just one of many young players to have excelled at Brighton, a club with an exciting trajectory and a head coach whose appetite for improvement is abundantly clear.

"I always say that learning has no finish line, so you will never be finished with progressing," Hurzeler says. "That is what we try to live as a club, and what I try to live as an individual.

"We see the progress, but the main thing is to keep going, to keep trying to improve things, because the other teams, they won't rest. You always have to be ready to adapt and develop."

It is a mantra that is serving Hurzeler and Brighton well.

Watch Man Utd vs Brighton live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 5pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm