Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler outlined his respect for Manchester United counterpart Michael Carrick, describing him as a “great human being”.
Hurzeler is reportedly on United’s shortlist should they decide to sack Carrick with United currently enduring their worst league start in 40 years.
The 4-1 hammering at Como in midweek was another major setback for United with captain Bruno Fernandes not helping Carrick’s cause by criticising his tactics after the game in Italy.
Despite the speculation around a potential move to Old Trafford, Hurzeler insisted his mind was firmly on matters at the Amex.
“I’m really focused on my job here,” he said ahead of Sunday’s game at Liverpool. “I have no time to think about these rumours because we play every three days and, beside that, I have a lot of respect for Michael Carrick and what he has done with Manchester United the last season.
“He’s a great human being, a great personality. There’s nothing more to say about that.”
I won’t throw Brighton job away – Hurzeler
Hurzeler joined Brighton from St Pauli in 2024 and in May signed a contract extension that ties him to the club until 2029.
“I’m really privileged to be here,” Hurzeler said. “I’m part of a journey and I still have this feeling when I go to bed that we are not finished with our journey.
“I always emphasise that I’m not 100 per cent satisfied and happy with where we are, there are still improvements to make and potential to get out of the players.
“Therefore I really I want to work on that, together with my staff. I have a great group of players, players who support me and give everything for the club.
“We have built this [together] over the years. We’ve had good periods, we’ve had bad periods. To build these connections you need time. You don’t take these things for granted.
“It’s a people business. Making a people business out of this pressure business is something I don’t take for granted and something I won’t throw away that fast.”
Hurzeler dismisses Brighton title challenge
Brighton head to Anfield in third place in the Premier League and on a run of four league wins without conceding, the latest of which saw them hammer M23 rivals Crystal Palace 5-0 last Sunday.
The Seagulls are two points behind second-placed Arsenal and five adrift of leaders Manchester City but Hurzeler dismissed talk of Brighton mounting a title challenge.
“No! We go game by game, we try to focus on performance,” he added.
“Just yesterday I had a conversation with the players and I love the way they are thinking. They said ‘we don’t want to focus on results, we want to focus on performances and how we get better, how we can improve because then the results will come’.
“Then we can speak at the end of the season about where we are, where we should have been. But now it is solution-focused, process-orientated and trying to get the best out of the players.”
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