Fabian Hürzeler Praises Pascal Gross’s Impact at Brighton
Fabian Hürzeler used his latest press conference to single out Pascal Gross, calling the German midfielder a “great leader” within the Brighton & Hove Albion squad.
The head coach’s praise came only days after Albion’s 3-2 victory at Old Trafford against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, a result built on the same relentless running and game intelligence Hürzeler wanted to highlight.
Gross has started the Premier League season as one of the most durable performers in the division.
Hürzeler was clear that this is no accident. He pointed to Gross’s understanding of the game, his physical output, and the influence he has on Brighton’s younger players as reasons he now leans so heavily on the 33-year-old.
The head coach’s comments also carried a wider message about how Brighton want to play.
Gross, in Hürzeler’s eyes, is not just a reliable performer. He is a template for the intensity the manager expects from every player who wears the shirt.
Fabian Hürzeler Transcript: Leadership, Distance Covered and Fine Wine
Asked what makes Gross so effective, Hürzeler pointed first to his football brain rather than his legs.
What he has is a good understanding of the game.
The head coach then reached for an unusual comparison to explain why Gross, now in his ninth year at the club, continues to perform at such a high level.
“I compare him a little bit with a good wine. The older the wine gets, the better the wine gets.”
Hürzeler backed that assessment with hard numbers. Gross has covered 47.1km across Brighton’s first four Premier League matches of the season, nearly 7km more than squad colleague Olivier Boscagli over the same period.
That figure puts him in the top three for distance covered anywhere in the Premier League this term.
You have to give a lot of praise to Pascal because one thing we should not under-estimate is he runs every game. And he runs every game around 12km.
Hürzeler linked that engine directly to Gross’s football intelligence, rather than treating the two as separate qualities.
I think that’s one of his strengths to, of course, run a lot and to understand the game well.
The manager went further, describing a competitive edge that runs alongside the running data.
It’s a trait Gross has carried since he first arrived on the south coast, and one Brighton have referenced before in their restful pre-season period coverage, when his fitness planning was already a talking point.
And besides that he has this winning mentality. He wants to win.
Hürzeler believes that mentality does not stay contained within Gross himself. It filters through the dressing room, particularly to the squad’s youngest members, echoing the message to the squad’s younger players he has delivered before.
And I think this winning mentality, the young boys benefit from this.
Summing up his midfielder’s value to the group, Hürzeler did not hold back.
“He’s a great leader for me and is really a pleasure to work with me.”
Fabian Hürzeler Transcript: Pressing Philosophy and Game Plan Discipline
Hürzeler was equally direct when asked how players like Gross allow Brighton to play the way they do.
His answer tied individual endurance to a collective demand for intensity across all 90 minutes.
“If you have these kinds of players, you can play intense.”
That philosophy extends into the closing stages of matches, a period when many teams choose to protect a lead by dropping deeper. Hürzeler rejects that approach outright.
“We still try to get pressure on the ball.”
He was explicit that Brighton have no intention of becoming a side that retreats when a game is there to be won.
“Also, in the last minutes, we don’t want to be a team that sits back.”
Instead, Hürzeler wants his players to keep asking questions of the opposition right up to the final whistle, whatever the scoreline reads. The head coach argued this consistency is backed by evidence from across the game, not simply his own preference.
“We want to have the ball. We still want to score goals. We want to play intense football.”
“It’s proven that, especially when you’re up, that you shouldn’t change your game.”
“You should try to stick to the gameplan because if you try to change something in the last five to ten minutes, then you’re not really connected on the pitch and that’s something we try to avoid.”
For Brighton supporters, the message from this press conference was consistent from start to finish.
Hürzeler wants intensity maintained rather than managed down, he wants senior players setting that tone for the squad’s younger members, and he sees Gross as the clearest evidence that the approach works.
The Argus report on Hürzeler’s comments captured a manager fully convinced that his midfielder’s habits, on and off the ball, are exactly what he wants replicated across the rest of the squad.
