For St. Pauli’s promotion coach Fabian Hürzeler, the intensity and quality in the English first division is higher than in the Bundesliga. “It’s the best league in the world, you play against the best players, the best teams, so the opponent can score a goal at any second. It’s remarkable what individual quality you’re faced with,” said the new Brighton & Hove Albion coach in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” about the Premier League.
The higher intensity is also due to the more generous refereeing of the game, says the 31-year-old coach: “Because the referees let things run more freely, the game becomes more intense, wilder, you have a lot of transition moments.” After three match days, Hürzeler and his new team are in third place in the table behind champions Manchester City and Liverpool FC.
Little interest in Bundesliga
In England, hardly anyone pays attention to what is going on in the German top flight. “They are relatively uninterested in the Bundesliga. When I put on Union Berlin vs. St. Pauli on a Friday night, the hall empties relatively quickly,” said Hürzeler, who left FC St. Pauli for England after winning the championship in the last second division season.
Values like St. Pauli
Hürzeler said he found the values of the local club reflected in the coastal town in the south of England, drawing a parallel between his former club and his current one: “They are open, accept all cultures, every type of person is welcome, every gender, all preferences are welcome.”
“This is reflected in the club, I notice it every day when I am out and about in the city. The talk of the town is not so much about the club, it is much more about the ambitions, the values of the city, and these radiate onto the team.”
Similar to St. Pauli, however, they also want to “be successful in sporting terms and underline our ambitions.” Most recently, Brighton achieved a respectable 1:1 draw with title contender Arsenal in London.
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