Fabian Hürzeler was furious, saying “only one team was trying to play football” in Brighton’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, accusing the Gunners of “making their own rules” and slamming what he saw as a waste of time.
Hürzeler’s Brighton lost 1-0 to the Premier League leaders thanks to Bukayo Saka’s early effort, which was Arsenal’s only shot on target of the game in 87 minutes.
At the Amex Stadium, the home fans booed the officials and the away team for wasting time, and Hürzeler felt Arsenal had gone too far.
In the post-match press conference, Hürzeler complained:
Only one team tried to play football Arsenal tried to make their own rules during the match He never instructed his team to play like that Arsenal keeper David Raya went down ‘injured’ three times without any punishment The league needs to find a way to punish it Nobody enjoyed the game except the Arsenal fans The supporters deserve more recognition
In response to Hürzeler’s strong criticism, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “What a surprise!
“If you go back to previous games, you’ll always find a lot of comments like this.
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has responded to Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler’s comments about his team being a “waste of time”.
“I love the players. That’s the highlight. I love the players, we love the players, we love the way we compete.
“I think they (critics) love our players. I mean, every time they talk about our players, I think they’re the most beloved players in this country.”
Asked if he cares what other managers think, Arteta said: “Do I care? Yes, it depends. It depends on the comments. And the purpose of it.”
See what Fabian Hürzeler had to say in an explosive press conference about Arsenal’s style of play and the future of Premier League football below.
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Premier League highlights between Brighton and Arsenal
His thoughts on the game…
Hürzeler: “I think the statistics never lie. We conceded one shot on goal and created a lot of chances, but we weren’t very effective. Also, in the final third we could have been calmer, calmer and made better decisions.”
Brighton 0-1 Arsenal match statistics
“We could have created more chances, but overall, as you said, we lost in the end, so we’re all disappointed for the performance.
“I loved my boys’ efforts and I loved the way they played soccer. I think there was only one team that tried to play soccer today, so I’m proud of the way they played.”
“We have to keep working on the details, we have to keep improving the small margins in the final third to create more chances, but that is our job and our responsibility and we will keep trying.”
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Pierrot Hincapie was clearly irritated by the Brighton manager’s tactic of delaying Arsenal’s game and made a silent gesture towards Fabian Hürzeler after instructing an Arsenal defender to hurry up during a throw-in.
About David Raya being knocked down three times during the match
Hürzeler: “I have one question: Did you see the goalkeeper go down three times in a Premier League game? No? So I don’t think we should waste too many words about that tonight. We should focus on ourselves, on our performance. We can’t control things like this.”
“So I think the Premier League has to find the rules and it’s not my job. I make my case before the game and I stick to it. At the end of the day, we’re football coaches so other football coaches can’t manage the match and help the team win. So that’s the focus.”
How difficult is it to create a rhythm against Arsenal?
Bukayo Saka celebrates in a quiet manner after giving Arsenal an early lead against Brighton
Hürzeler: “Very difficult, very difficult. But we tried hard. We tried to keep moving the ball, we tried to keep creating chances. And in the end I think you can only punish this kind of opponent by winning.”
“So there’s no argument on my side today. If I was up 2-1 and deserved to win 2-1, I might say it differently. So we need to find a way to punish that, we need to find a way to find solutions against this kind of team and we have to keep working on it because that’s our responsibility.”
“The focus is on us because complaining isn’t going to solve it.”
“I’ll never be a coach who plays like that.”
Hürzeler: “If they win the Premier League, no one will ask how they win the Premier League because there are different ways to win. I think they can feel that they are doing everything they can right now to win this game, but in the end it’s about the rules.”
“If the Premier League, if the referees allow everything, which is difficult, then they are making their own rules. At the moment, it feels like no matter how Arsenal are playing, they are making their own rules. So I think it’s difficult to judge.
“Overall, as I said, I will never be a manager who tries to win in that way, I want to do well, I want the players to continue to develop and continue to play football on the pitch, and of course at the end of the day I manage any team. It would be a waste of time, but I think there needs to be limits. Limits have to be set by the Premier League, limits have to be set by the referees. At the moment they can only do what they want.”
“Did anyone enjoy that?” Not a chance. ”
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Watch Murillo’s 90+9-foot title-clinching block against Man City. Wild Arsenal fans will then celebrate at full time at the Amex.
Hürzeler: “Did you really enjoy this football game, everyone here? I’m sure some people will raise their skills because they’re big Arsenal fans, but there’s no other chance.
“So, again, we waste too much time talking about Arsenal and their games.
“Really focused on us, focused on the positives, focused on the effort the team gave today and they should have deserved more, but again, we didn’t get the result we deserved. So we have to keep trying harder to punish them next time.”
Would it be bad if Arsenal continued to win the league?
Hürzeler: “Then they’re the champions. But I think it’s always the way we talked, how they win, how they choose to win. And if they win, I said, no one will ask how they won, then they deserve to win.
“But ultimately we have to create the limits, or the Premier League has to create the limits. Where does this go in the future? That’s my question, where does this go?”
“At some point, if you play 60 minutes in a game and you play 50 minutes against Arsenal, the difference is 10 minutes. Is this the price the supporters are paying? You know what I mean?”
Is it the referee’s fault?
Hürzeler: “It’s difficult, I told him (referee Chris Kavanagh): I won’t complain to the referee because it’s difficult for him. Do you want to send the goalkeeper off with two yellow cards for wasting time? That will never happen. So what should he do?”
“That’s the problem. That’s why I think there need to be rules and restrictions, because that’s what he also admitted to me at half-time. We didn’t even talk about the penalties we might get before half-time. We just talked about how we can reduce wasted time. And he says it’s difficult even for him.”
“So what I said was to make clear rules and I think that’s the responsibility of the Premier League so they can protect referees.”
“Ultimately, you can’t referee for that reason. They’re just trying to do their job the best they can. But they’ve got to stick to some things and I think the Premier League definitely needs to support them more.”
Analysis: Were Hürzeler’s complaints legitimate or a diversionary tactic?
Sky Sports’ Nick Wright said this from the Amex Stadium.
Fabian Hürzeler’s comments will likely determine the impact on the match. He made a point of addressing the issue of time wasting in his pregame press conference, so it was no surprise to hear him get back to business after a tough night that ended in his team’s loss.
His complaints were justified, at least to some extent. Having taken an early lead, Arsenal were clearly keen to break up the flow of the match, angering not only the home fans but also the manager, who spent the entire night reprimanding the fourth official.
This was an ugly encounter. Its stop-start nature certainly suited the visitors better than Brighton. But with Arsenal clearly in poor form, Hürzeler may also focus on his team’s shortcomings. They had more than enough possession to hurt Arsenal but were unable to do so.
According to Opta, their 11 shots equated to just 0.8 expected goals, and despite their dominance of the ball and territory, Raya had no room to save when Mats Wiefer headed straight into goal in the 63rd minute.
Haseler was able to use the game as an opportunity to shape the story. But his complaints will be of little concern to Arsenal fans, who chanted “we’re going to win the league” at the away team after the final whistle. This ugly victory was a sweet one for them.
