Reaction from Brighton’s 2-1 win against Liverpool at the Amex Stadium
Brighton were rewarded for the hard yards they put in during their 2-1 triumph against Liverpool.
The Seagulls secured maximum points against the Premier League champions as a brace from Danny Welbeck topped Milos Kerkez's first half strike.
Brighton’s second half play impressed but so to did their work rate. Running statistics don't always tell the whole story but they can provide an indicator and Brighton were on top in most of the key areas against the Reds.
Albion ran a combined 115.87kms compared to Liverpool's 107.94kms. They also jogged more and sprinted more and in total covered 6.84 per cent more distance than Slot's team.
They also had 16 shots compared to Liverpool's 12 and had an xG of 2.3, compared to 1.03.
All in all a good afternoon’s work from Brighton and the distance covered is even more impressive as Pascal Gross, 34 and James Milner, 40, were the hub of the midfield, while Lewis Dunk, 34, and Danny Welbeck, 35, were also on the pitch.
Hurzeler said: "That I think it's no coincidence that they have these kind of careers, because they are top professionals.
“They are there for the team, they try to prepare every day the best they can do.
”They are role models on and off the pitch for the young players, so that's why they are so important for me.
“Because these experienced players, they set the standards, they set the basic things you want to achieve in every training session. The basic things you want to achieve in the game, and they do the simple things right.
“They don't do complicated things, they speak on the pitch, they communicate, they support each other, they play simple passes.
“They show great effort and defensive work therefore I can use these players as role models and I'm really happy to work with them.”
Senior players have rescued Brighton
The senior players have been key in helping Brighton turn their season around. The quartet have featured in all of Albion’s four wins in their last five matches.
Hurzeler added: “I’m also really happy that they still have these kind of standards and these kind of levels in their body to perform and help us win games.
“I feel it was not the plan to test them [Liverpool]. The plan was to be more intense than Liverpool.
“To press them, to keep sticking to our principles, and that's what we tried to do from the first second.
“No matter where we go, no matter to which stadium we go, we want to play our style of play, we want to stick to our principles.
“And I think there was another example today. We always want to play with intensity because that's our identity, we want to play intense football, we want to play football with courage, and therefore it was not about testing, it was about doing the things we are convinced of, and one of the things we are convinced of is intensity.”
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