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Fabian Hurzeler has now reached 50 competitive matches in charge of Brighton and Hove Albion, yet opinion among supporters remains divided. The German coach, appointed as the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history, has overseen some of the club’s most notable victories alongside frustrating results against teams expected to be beaten.
On the positive side, Hurzeler has guided Brighton to landmark wins. Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea have all been beaten at the Amex, with City defeated twice in successive campaigns. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United were both beaten home and away, while Newcastle United were dispatched in both the Premier League and FA Cup. A six-game winning streak across February and March 2025 marked Brighton’s longest ever run of victories in the top flight. Yet this was offset by damaging slip-ups, including failure to overcome Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Wolves, Southampton, Crystal Palace and Everton. The heavy defeat suffered against Nottingham Forest was the club’s worst league loss in 67 years.
The absence, in fans’ view, of a clear tactical identity has added to the uncertainty around Hurzeler’s reign. His brief experiment with an aggressive high defensive line was abandoned after it was exposed by Chelsea and Tottenham early in his tenure. Since then, Brighton have generally lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but without the distinctive philosophy that marked Roberto De Zerbi’s high-risk possession football or the 3-4-3 system Hurzeler used to great effect at St Pauli in Bundesliga 2. Fans and analysts alike remain unsure of the long-term style he is trying to impose at The AMEX.
Recruitment has also played a major part in shaping Brighton’s results. Despite over £200 million being spent in 2024/25, the squad looks unbalanced. Danny Welbeck, at 34, is the only natural centre forward currently available, while Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh are the only senior wingers. High-profile departures such as Pervis Estupinan, Facundo Buonanotte and Julio Enciso have added to concerns that Hurzeler lacks creative mavericks in his squad.
Brighton’s eighth-place finish last season represented the club’s second-highest in the Premier League, yet failure to secure European qualification left a sense of missed opportunity. With chairman Tony Bloom and chief executive Paul Barber setting a clear target of Europe for 2025/26, Hurzeler’s next 50 games are expected to provide a definitive judgement on whether he can be the head coach to take Albion back onto the continental stage.
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