'I see' - Hurzeler identifies what Brighton must 'take care' of to beat Saints
BRIGHTON & Hove Albion boss Fabian Hurzeler has pinpointed the tactics his side must "take care" of to secure victory over Saints.
The Seagulls visit St Mary's on Saturday looking to inflict a third consecutive home defeat in as many weeks on their south coast neighbours.
Saints manager Ivan Juric is clinging onto the club's Premier League status with a 10-point gap now separating it from 17th-placed Wolves and safety.
Hurzeler identified Southampton's pivot to a man-to-man system under Juric, which looks very different to the 1-1 draw under Russell Martin in November.
"There was a change. In general, they play very man-orientated," said the German, who had a falling out with now sacked Martin at Amex Stadium.
“They try to build up by using more and more the target player, Paul Onuachu. They still have individual quality with (Mateus) Fernandes, (Tyler) Dibling, (Kamaldeen) Sulemana.
“They have players in the front line who have the skill to score after every action. On top of that, I see they play a little more direct.
“They try to press more man-orientated, try to press very high, try to be very aggressive. I think there was a style change, yes."
Flynn Downes scored the equaliser in November after Karou Mitoma had opened - while Saints also had a goal controversially ruled out.
Saints felt unlucky not to come away with all three points as Brighton went second. Hurzeler's side now sit 10th in the Premier League.
Asked about learning from that Saints match, he said: "The players are still the same. They have a lot of right-footed players, for example.
"In their build-up, that is a thing where we have to take care. They play a lot of give-and-go with their centre-backs. These things, they didn't change.
“Of course you can look back at the game we had at the Amex. You can reflect on it. You can take some lessons from this game.
"Hopefully you can do some small details better than we did in the last game. Depending more on how we work individually, how we win the personal duels.
"That was the main thing where, especially in the second half, they were better than us in the first game."
