Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has revealed that winning the “small battles” formed a crucial part of his plan to beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Amex Stadium.
The Seagulls inflicted Arsenal’s first defeat of the season on Saturday as Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres scored to bring the champions’ perfect Premier League start to an emphatic end.
Rather than beginning with an elaborate tactical plan designed specifically to neutralise Arsenal, Hurzeler instructed his players to establish themselves by competing for every individual moment.
“We want to win the small battles first,” Hurzeler explained on talkSPORT.
The Brighton boss defined those battles as winning the first header, tackle, throw-in and corner, believing early successes would give his players confidence against Arsenal.
“It sounds a little bit old school,” he admitted, before explaining that those moments allowed Brighton to grow into the contest.
That approach was evident throughout an uncomfortable afternoon for Arsenal, who struggled to match Brighton’s intensity despite arriving on the south coast having won their opening seven matches in all competitions.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta acknowledged afterwards that Brighton deserved their victory and highlighted his side’s failure in individual duels as one of the biggest differences between the teams.
Hurzeler similarly identified Brighton’s collective defensive commitment and aggression as fundamental to their success.
“Everyone has this mindset today: ‘I need to defend first and we defend as a team,'” he said after the game.
The German also explained that Brighton’s wider philosophy is based on playing with intensity while finding the correct balance between defensive stability and controlling possession.
That included pressing aggressively whenever Arsenal had the ball, with Brighton looking to regain possession quickly rather than allowing Arteta’s side to establish their normal rhythm.
Hurzeler felt the willingness of his players to commit fully to that press was another decisive element of the performance.
Brighton’s approach produced one of the most convincing results of the Premier League season so far, with the hosts creating enough opportunities for the final margin to have been even greater.
The victory also took Brighton to 16 goals from their opening five league matches, making them the division’s leading scorers heading into the international break.
For Arsenal, however, Hurzeler’s explanation provides a straightforward assessment of where Saturday’s game was lost.
The champions were not simply undone by Brighton’s attacking quality, but by a side determined to compete more aggressively from the opening exchanges.
Arteta described the defeat as a lesson for his players, and Hurzeler’s comments underline precisely what Arsenal will need to correct when their title defence resumes.