Brighton boss Hurzeler calls for consistency and improved fitness levels after Arsenal stalemate

Fabian Hurzeler has called for greater consistency from his Brighton players and admitted their fitness levels need improvement despite a spirited second-half performance in the 1-1 home draw against title-chasing Arsenal.

Ironically, the Seagulls have been largely consistent with their recent results, having drawn six of their last eight Premier League games.

But such a run has not yielded a league victory since the end of November. And it proved to be a familiar outcome after Joao Pedro’s penalty just after the hour mark cancelled out Ethan Nwaneri’s opener at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.

Despite a strong start to the season, Brighton now find themselves slipping down the table. They currently sit in tenth spot.

FT: Another well-deserved point against Arsenal. 🤝

[1-1] 📲 #BHAARS // #BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Hvip9KAe8l

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) January 4, 2025

And Hurzeler, they youngest ever permanent Premier League manager at age 31, admits he is left frustrated after addressing the same issues each week.

“Yeah, I think it should be more,” Hurzeler told Sky Sports after being asked whether his side should have got more than a point against the Gunners.

“I’m standing here after games and I feel like I have to repeat myself all the time and that’s, of course, a disappointing feeling.

“The big word for us is being more consistent. Trying to play to the identity you want to play for the full 90 minutes and then, hopefully, we get the results we expect.

“We had to invest a lot to come back [in the game]. We came back but then we were not clean enough in the final third.

“We had big chances and I think against Arsenal you have to use the momentum to win the game and today we weren’t able to do it.”

Room for improvement

One area of improvement that the Brighton manager feels may help address the consistency problem is the fitness levels of his squad.

But he recognises improving the physicality of the players is not a quick fix and that it will take time to see any real progress.

Hurzeler said: “[Fitness levels] may be one of the reasons we are not able to play consistently for 90 minutes. The game we want to play is intense, the game needs to be intense if you want to press high.

“You have to run a lot and at high speed. We are not where we should be but it is a process. We needed for this game a lot of physicality and in some moments we were struggling and we were not able to hold this physical level for 90 minutes.

“Therefore, we are still working on it and use the training time to improve on it.”

Brighton are next in action when they travel to Championship side Norwich City in the Third Round of the FA Cup on 11 January.