Spiky Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has taken a veiled dig at Matt O’Riley over his fitness levels after pulling him off after just 45 minutes against Arsenal.
The 31-year-old raised eyebrows among the Seagulls supports when he hauled off the £25million summer signing after an impressive first half display against the Gunners – with Georginio Rutter coming on for the former Celtic man at the break. One punter branded the call ‘incomprehensible’ while another stated that it was a “baffling call” by the German boss – but in the end he would be vindicated.
Brighton would take a vital Premier League point off of Mikel Arteta’s side back when Joao Pedro scored from the spot after winning the penalty in the second half to avoid defeat and deal a major blow to Arsenal‘s changes of catching Liverpool at the top of the English top flight. And post-match Hurzeler was in bullish form.
Asked about the changes at half-time in his post-match interview – with Brajan Grude also hooked after 45 minutes – he fired back at sceptics and took a veiled swipe over fitness levels of the duo: “It is a big challenge for us to play consistently with this intensity. We are [currently] only able to play [like this] in phases of the game.
“We have to improve and get fitter. We have to be mentally ready to play intensely for 90 minutes. If we are not able to do it, it will be difficult to win games.”
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