LIVERPOOL: Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler insisted he would stay “humble” after the Premier League’s youngest manager marked his debut with a 3-0 victory at Everton on Saturday.
Aged 31 years and 173 days, Hurzeler is the youngest permanent boss in Premier League history following his arrival from St. Pauli to replace Roberto De Zerbi in the close-season.
The German is the first manager to be born after the Premier League started in 1992 and is seven years younger than Brighton midfielder James Milner.
Despite his tender years in comparison to his Premier League peers, Hurzeler made a flying start as 10-man Everton were brushed aside at Goodison Park.
Goals from Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck and Simon Adingra fired Brighton, while Everton were hampered by Ashley Young’s red card.
“I’m very happy, it’s a good start but nothing more and it’s important to stay humble after this,” Hurzeler said.
“It’s a very good feeling but I don’t want to talk about myself, the players deserved this. They worked hard in pre-season and I’m very proud of them.”
Hurzeler became the youngest head coach in the German second tier when he was hired by St. Pauli aged 29 in December 2022.
He hauled the club away from the relegation zone and led them to promotion to the Bundesliga last season, catching the eye of Brighton owner Tony Bloom in the process.
Texas-born Hurzeler holds German, Swiss and American citizenship, but he already appears at home with the club from England’s south-coast.
“It was a good result, very intense. In some moments we suffered but after a time we tried to control the game, had good chances, then went 1-0 up,” Hurzeler said.
“In the end the clean sheet was important and we showed attitude and character.”
Hurzeler’s biggest issue was handling the disappointment of new signing Yankuba Minteh, who was causing Everton problems before a head injury forced him off in the first half against his wishes.
“He was disappointed but in the end we are disappointed for the player and can’t take any risks, the health of the player is more important and we were responsible for that,” the Seagulls boss said.
“We have to keep looking at him and how he reacts. I am confident he will be back next week. He had a great impact but I judge my offensive players on how they work off the ball.”
Brighton’s ‘humble’ Hurzeler makes instant impact as Premier League’s youngest boss
https://arab.news/23jp5
Brighton’s ‘humble’ Hurzeler makes instant impact as Premier League’s youngest boss
- Aged 31 years and 173 days, Hurzeler is the youngest permanent boss in Premier League history following his arrival from St. Pauli
- The German is the first manager to be born after the Premier League started in 1992 and is seven years younger than Brighton midfielder James Milner
Qatar’s Al-Attiyah wins Stage 6 for Dacia, retakes Dakar lead
- Al-Attiyah, 55, has now completed 19 successive Dakars with at least one stage win every time
RIYADH: Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah will lead the Dakar Rally into its second and final week after winning the sixth stage in the Saudi desert on Friday to take over at the top from South African rival Henk Lategan.
Al-Attiyah, a five-time Dakar winner now competing for the Dacia Sandriders, had been second overnight but turned a deficit of more than three minutes into a 6 minutes and 10 second advantage over the 326km timed stage between Hail and Riyadh.
Saturday is a rest day before the rally resumes in Riyadh on Sunday with seven more stages to the finish in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on Jan. 17.
Al-Attiyah won Friday’s stage by two minutes and 58 seconds from teammate and nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, Dacia’s first Dakar one-two, with Toyota’s American Seth Quintero third.
Overall, three different manufacturers filled podium positions with Toyota’s Lategan second and Ford’s Nani Roma third — his first time on the virtual podium since 2019.
Al-Attiyah, 55, has now completed 19 successive Dakars with at least one stage win every time.
Friday was his career 49th stage win in the car category — one off the record held jointly by Ari Vatanen and “Mr Dakar” Stephane Peterhansel.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz, father of the Formula One driver and a four-time Dakar winner still racing hard at the age of 63, was in fourth place for Ford with teammate Mattias Ekstrom fifth and Loeb sixth.
American Mitch Guthrie, stage winner on Thursday for Ford, dropped to seventh from sixth.
In the motorcycle category there was no change at the top, although leader and defending champion Daniel Sanders was handed a 6-minute penalty for riding at 98kph in a zone limited to 50kph.
KTM rider Sanders now leads Honda’s American Ricky Brabec, the stage winner after the Australian’s penalty, by 45 seconds with Argentine rider Luciano Benavides more than 10 minutes behind in third.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster all day. Unfortunately, I got a speeding penalty, so that will set me back a bit,” said Sanders.
“I just pushed as much as I could today but it’s hard to do good in the sand, especially opening. I did the best I could and I’ve got to stop making silly mistakes. I haven’t pieced this first week together so well.”
