Fabian Herzeler hoping Brighton and Hove Albion can heap further pressure on Guardiola's depleted Manchester City side
07/11/2024
Amex training ground, Lancing, UK
07/11/2024
Amex training ground, Lancing, UK
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00:00A few names, players who are potentially close to returning, I've got Pedro, O'Reilly,
00:06Minta, March, Dunk, any likely to return this weekend?
00:11Yeah, some of them for sure will return, so I think especially Joao Pedro, Marta O'Reilly,
00:20they have a big chance with Mbappé and Luiz Dunk, we have to see it the next days and
00:26for Soli it's too early.
00:29Yassine Ayari, did he pick up a knock as well?
00:34Yeah, he will train today, so I think he might be an option for the weekend.
00:40Looking back on Liverpool, do you feel an opportunity missed there still in reflection?
00:47Yeah, for sure it was a big opportunity and I think it's very important that we know what
00:55it's about and football in the end it's about results and you don't get any points for good
01:00performances.
01:01So of course I'm sure long term when you focus on the process, when you play good you get
01:08the results you deserve because I always think when you play with courage, when you defend
01:14good, long term you will get paid for that.
01:18The second thing and that's finding the balance in the end, football is a game of results
01:24so you need results.
01:25I think it's important that we also understand it's not only about playing good football
01:30and having good performances, it's about winning games.
01:34We have ambitions and our club has ambitions and we should be very disappointed if we also
01:40travel to Liverpool and don't manage to win the game after this performance.
01:44So it should be also an overthinking or a change of our mindset in cases of what we want to
01:52achieve and how we feedback the players after games like this.
01:57Is that something you're looking to improve going forward, closing out those closed games?
02:02Yeah, for sure.
02:04I think it has something to do with game management, it has something to do with being ruthless.
02:10I think when you don't make the second goal or the third goal then you have to be more
02:16ruthless in defending your own box when you don't kill the opponent in the opponent's box.
02:22So there are always options to win this game.
02:25It's also very important in an atmosphere, in a wild environment to stay calm, to still
02:31continue playing your style of play and don't change your style of play only because the
02:38crowd is there or the intensity from the opponent is higher.
02:41It's still about finding solutions, it's still about continuing to play your style of play
02:46and I think there we can improve.
02:48After ten games into the season, your first season, you're eighth.
02:52You may feel perhaps you could be higher but when you look at the fixtures coming up and
02:56the teams you've already played, do you feel positive about the position you're in going forward?
03:01Yeah, that's what I try to say.
03:05It's like on the one side I think we can be happy about the performances, how we play,
03:11the style of play, how we develop.
03:13On the other side I think when we look at the results of course we could have more points
03:20and there we have to find a good balance between playing a good style of play and getting the
03:26results for the style of play.
03:28So on the one side happy, yes.
03:30On the other side there are still things we can improve, especially about game management,
03:36how to win the games maybe in an ugly way, how to win the games in an efficient way.
03:42There we are still in the process and that's why, like I said from the beginning, there
03:50are positive and negative things and we try to build an environment here, an atmosphere
03:55where the players can improve not only individually but also as a group.
04:01These things we talk a lot about nowadays, about tactical things, but in the end it's
04:05also about managing a game the right way.
04:07Manchester City are obviously a formidable opponent but they are a rare runner of defeats
04:13for them. Do you sense an opportunity here?
04:17I think against every team there are opportunities in the league.
04:24I think especially this season the league is so equal, it's very, very competitive.
04:29Everyone can beat everyone and we see it weekend for weekend.
04:33That's why we always see an opportunity, we always see a chance.
04:37Of course we have a lot of respect because City are for me still the best team in the
04:42world, they have the best manager in the world.
04:45But in the end it's a game and we play at home and we want to continue our process and
04:50we see this as the next opportunity to challenge the establishment.
04:54Is the fact that you've gone close with the top teams so far this season, does that help
04:59the players in terms of confidence, maybe reduce the aura that City would have coming
05:04here?
05:05It should change because like I said we have ambitions and I don't want to be recognised
05:13or want to be seen as the small, bright club.
05:17It's more that we have a big potential in our squad, we have a great leadership in the
05:23club, we have great staff members, we have a good atmosphere, a good environment.
05:29In football it's about achieving things and that's why we shouldn't hide, we shouldn't
05:36be afraid of anyone, we should play with self-confidence and we should also put pressure
05:42on ourselves because in the end we want to achieve something and if we don't achieve
05:48the victories in the games we fail and that's the truth.
05:53That's why we have to be hard on ourselves and demand the best from ourselves and these
05:57games like City and Liverpool are the best challenges for us.
06:03How big are you encouraging your players to think then, to dream?
06:08You're obviously not putting a ceiling on it but what are you encouraging them to dream of?
06:13It's not about dreaming, it's about having clear goals and orientation points that promise
06:22yourself never to give up and that promise yourself to be every day the best version
06:26of yourself.
06:27I think it's so important to have a clear vision, it's so important to have individual
06:32goals, team goals because these give you orientations where you want to go and that's
06:39why it's not about dreaming, the process is always going step by step and in the process
06:46you will fail, in the process you will have success.
06:49It's always an up and down but in general the line should go always up but it won't
06:54be always linear, it's always like in waves.
06:58Like I said, they're a bad experience, they're a good experience but in the end we should
07:04make the next step and we should grow as a team and individuals but I don't want to talk
07:10about having dreams, it's more like having clear goals and visions where to go.
07:15As far as team goals, the main focus is always just one game at a time but do you also set
07:22the season into blocks?
07:23Do you do between international breaks?
07:25How do you set those goals?
07:28It's more for myself, of course we in the coaching staff we reflect ourselves and especially
07:39in the blocks from international break to international break you have time to reanalyse
07:43the last weeks, to reflect the decisions you made, reflect also development from the individual
07:49players so it's more for us as a coaching team and like you said for the team and for
07:56the players it's really like being focused on the process and being focused on the process
08:01means going game for game and of course the vision is always there but it's the daily
08:08business you have to win and that's what we try to really focus on every day and to be
08:15in the present and not in the future or the past.
08:18You did look to the future in your first press conference up there where you said you were
08:23most looking forward to meeting Pep Guardiola. I imagine you were purely thinking about playing
08:30up against him in a game but have you until now had a chance to chat with him at a managers
08:36meeting, anything like that? Have you had that first meeting?
08:39No, so it will be the first time I will meet him on Saturday and of course I'm looking
08:46forward to meet him because like I said I think he's one of the best managers in the
08:53world, his achievements in the past are impressive but like I said it's not a game between me
08:59and him, in the end it's a football game for Brighton or Wembley and we want to win this
09:03football game so it's nice to meet him but it would be much nicer to meet him and to
09:10beat him.
09:12I know it's not about you but on a personal level, as much as you want to treat every
09:18game the same and you know you can beat every opponent, has it felt any different to you
09:24that the guy that you rate as the best in the world, you're going to be up against him
09:29at the weekend, has it felt any different to you?
09:31Not yet, so of course I followed him because he was also coach of the club I played for
09:44a long time, so for Bayern Munich and I saw him coaching, I saw his achievements in Germany
09:50already so of course maybe you follow him more than other coaches and like I said he
09:57has a big impact or he had already a big impact in Germany when he integrated the inverted
10:03full-back so I think it was his idea what he implanted in Germany the first time and
10:09that's why he's a role model for sure but in the end you always have to go your own
10:15way and you always have to keep pushing your own style of play and keep trying to develop
10:22your own things, your own elements but in the end I would be stubborn if I wouldn't
10:27look at his games and his achievements in the past because I think every young coach
10:33can learn from the good coaches, from the old coaches, not old coaches but coaches
10:39who were already long, long in the business and who achieved great things and it's not
10:44only Pep Guardiola, it's also like I said the German coaches like Klopp, Tuchel I followed
10:52coaches like Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger who had great achievements here so it's about
10:58being open for new ideas, it's about recognising what made them so successful and then it's
11:05about overthinking yourself if these elements from them are helpful for my style of play
11:12but in the end you can't be artificial, you always have to be authentic and that's the
11:16most important point.
11:18One more on you if I may, when Pep was at Bayern and you were there as well had you
11:24started thinking about coaching, were you looking at what he was doing in terms of things
11:29that you could take already?
11:33I also tried to remember back to these days when I answered the question before but I
11:41think yes he had an impact for sure and generally he had a big impact in Germany in these times
11:47some of them in Germany said it was a bad impact because everyone tried to copy him
11:54some of them said it was a great impact because everyone tried to play his style but in the
12:01end yes he had an impact for sure but like I said you always need to try to push your
12:09own style of play and you can't copy anyone else because in the end if you want to copy
12:16someone you always want to step behind and that's a thing that's very important for me
12:21I don't want to be stepped behind I always try to push myself, try to improve the players
12:26try to have own ideas but again it's repetition, it's important for young coaches like me to
12:34see different elements from other clubs and especially them who were so successful.
12:45Fabian, in your midfield at the weekend you had Yasin Ayari, Jack Hinshawood and you've
12:50got Carlos Bolivar as well, how impressed have you been by the way that the youngsters
12:54you know they're relatively young in their careers have stepped up to play at the elite level?
13:00Yeah for me and also for the club that's exactly the way we want to work here in this club
13:11and for me it's not about the age it's about being good or not being good and I think the
13:17players on the pitch they deserve to play and they also want to play and now it's about
13:22treating them also like not like young players because in the end we also need to win games
13:28so especially when we talk about the game management in the midfield they can change
13:33the dynamic of the game, they can change the rhythm of the game and they can break also
13:39dynamic from the opponent so when we look back for the game against Liverpool they played
13:45an amazing first half and then in the second half I think they also get a little bit attracted
13:51by the intensity and the atmosphere and especially in these moments I demand from these players
13:57even when they are young to ask for the ball, to demand for the ball, to still continue
14:02playing with courage and that's the way we want to help them and that's the way they
14:08also improve especially in these moments when it's tough, when it's a wild environment to
14:13show personality, to still ask for the ball and don't be afraid of making mistakes because
14:18in the end football is a game of mistakes, if you don't do any mistake there won't happen
14:23any goals and that's why I want that these players play with courage, that these players
14:30play with freedom in their mind and it's so important that they are allowed to do mistakes
14:36but exactly that's what we want here in the club, trying to develop young players, trying
14:41to give young players the chance but they need to deserve it every day in training.
14:47Later today they're going to announce a new England squad, Jack Hinshaw has been involved
14:51with England's under-21s, do you think he has the game to go on and become a senior
14:56international?
14:58Yes, I think in understanding the game, in recognising the spaces, in finding the right
15:08angle to the team-mate, having the first touch, having good passing, I think he's already
15:13one of the best and now it's about consistency, showing these actions, 90 minutes and not
15:20only phases of the game and we try to help him but what he's doing so far is impressive
15:26and he will be for sure a big part of the future of this club and hopefully also for
15:35the English national team, so I will call Thomas and give him advice about this player.
15:44Another player, Simon Odinga, came on at Liverpool, seemed to have an impact late on, was it a
15:48reminder of what he's capable of and what role he can play for you this season?
15:53I think it's a reminder because I see him every day in training and I just said to him
16:00that I'm really happy how he works every day on the pitch and I'm really happy about his
16:06performances, of course there's a big competition with Carew, with Mente, with Kruda, with Soli
16:15when he comes back but exactly this competition is what he needs to improve and we try to
16:21help him but like I said he's doing well so far and I'm sure he will get a lot of game
16:28time this season.
16:30It's a difficult period for Manchester City but in Erling Haaland they have an excellent
16:35striker who hasn't scored for a while, is that a little bit ominous? How do you go about
16:40contending with someone like him?
16:44It's difficult to defend him in a one-against-one situation so it's always a togetherness of
16:53defending against him, don't let him go one-against-one, don't let him be one-against-one especially
17:00in box defending so he's an unbelievable striker, he's a goal machine and I think every striker
17:09has bad periods and bad phases and every striker gets judged by the goals and I think he's
17:17still one of the best strikers in the league and in the world so I think we shouldn't be
17:23blended by the bad period from him and should focus to defend him together.