Who is the American-born coach leading Brighton into 2024/25?

Brighton made history in June when they decided to hire 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler as the club’s new manager. The former St. Pauli coach is now the youngest manager in Premier League history.

Hürzeler’s age has been among the biggest talking points in his first summer as a Premier League boss. It even seems to have gotten under his skin a bit. Hürzeler has repeatedly said “I’m a young man, but not a young coach,” since joining Brighton in June. He’s right about that.

Fabian Hürzeler is much more than just his age, and people have probably focused too much on it. To make things right, let’s take a closer look at the rest of Brighton’s new manager’s story, starting with his American roots.

Fabian Hürzeler background before taking over Brighton and Hove Albion

When his Brighton side kicks off against Everton on Matchday 1, Hürzeler will become just the fourth American-born coach to manage in the Premier League–after Bob Bradley, David Wagner, and Jesse Marsch.

Hürzeler was born to a Swiss father and a German mother in Houston, TX. His family left the US when he was just two years old, but he says the country still has a big place in his heart.

“I think I will always be connected to the United States because, in the end, it’s the land I was born,” Hürzeler said during St. Pauli’s promotion push last season.

“I would say I have some typical attitudes of Americans. My character is just open-minded. I’ll always be open-minded to everything, to everybody and I try to work hard to reach your dream. I think that’s one point that will always be connected to the United States,” he explained.

In case there’s any doubt about Hürzeler, he also briefly played for the USA U-20 team before retiring as a player.

Rise from the fifth tier to the Bundesliga

Despite being just 31 years old, Hürzeler has almost a decade of coaching experience under his belt. He gave up his full-time playing career when he was just 23 years old to join fifth-tier side FC Pipinsried.

Hürzeler took Pipinsried to the fourth division. From there, he worked his way up the German youth ranks before joining St. Pauli as an assistant. He became the club’s first team manager when he was just 29 years old.

As St. Pauli manager, Hürzeler took the Kiezkicker from 15th in the 2. Bundesliga to league champions in just a season and a half.

Managing the expectations for Brighton

Whether it was in the fifth tier of German soccer or at one of the country’s most historic clubs with St. Pauli, Hürzeler has been successful everywhere he’s been. Brighton will be his biggest challenge yet though.

The Seagulls are coming into the 2024/25 Premier League season off the back of a disappointing 2023/24 campaign where they finished 11th in the league. The goal for Fabian Hürzeler and Brighton this season is to qualify for European soccer again like they did in 2022/23.

Brighton has enough talent to achieve this goal. The club has spent over $100 million on players this summer and looks to be adding even more players. Whether the Seagulls qualify for Europe will come down to Hürzeler and if he can make his system work in the Premier League.

Like Roberto De Zerbi, Hürzeler’s tactics are extremely aggressive. At St. Pauli, he played with three center-backs. In possession, the middle center-back would step up and join the attack as a midfielder, leaving just two defenders back with everyone else piled up in the final third.

We’ve only seen four matches from Hürzeler’s Brighton so far, but the signs are there that his Seagulls side will be just as attacking as his St. Pauli teams were.

Brighton used two distinct formations in the preseason. The first was Hürzeler’s typical 3-4-3. In this formation, the German opted to use two traditional wingers as his wingbacks. At times, two of the three center-backs were defensive midfielders. This meant there was just one true defender on the pitch.

In the last two preseason matches, Hürzeler’s has gone with a fluid 4-2-3-1 with more traditional defenders, but the quirks were still there. Young defensive midfielder Carlos Baleba can work as an inverted left-back. Meanwhile, forward Joao Pedro has played as a versatile second striker.

It’s too early to say whether Hürzeler’s tactics will work in the long run, but they are sure to be entertaining.

PHOTOS: IMAGO