Head coach Fabian Hurzeler says Brighton & Hove Albion need the cool heads of New Zealand’s famous rugby union team to make amends in the FA Cup for a recent league drubbing by rivals Nottingham Forest.
Brighton face today’s quarter-final opponents at the Amex Stadium eight weeks after losing 7-0 when the teams met at the City Ground in the Premier League in February.
They have won six matches and drawn the other, away to Manchester City, since that defeat but Hurzeler believes there are lessons to be learned from a book he has read, ‘What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life’ for the revenge mission against Forest.
“They talk about the red head and the blue head, the cool head,” Hurzeler said during his press conference on Friday for Forest’s visit. “And if you are always in the red head and acting with too much emotion, saying ‘We have to make a revenge, we are angry that they beat us seven-zero,’ I think then you are too much in the emotional part of your mind and that’s why it’s so important to stay in the blue phase, in the cool head.
“Make decisions without emotions, stay rational, try to understand the rhythm of the game, try to make decisions with the right timing. So, it’s important not to go with too much emotion to it, but of course there should be some emotion.
“Some reminders of the game we had after the big loss, where we have to replace them those memories, especially for our fans.”
New Zealand team perform Haka before the Autumn Nations Series 2024 match between Italy and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium in November 2024 (Alessandro Levati/Getty Images)
Hurzeler, 32, has revealed previously that he plays padel, has taken up boxing and watches darts. “I love to learn from different kinds of sports,” he said. “Especially rugby here is much bigger than in Germany so I follow it even more.
“I think rugby teams show a lot of togetherness, they are quite good with their mindset and how they take responsibility, especially the individual players. Therefore, I think we can learn a lot in football from them. That is why I am really interested in it and because of that I read the book.
“Especially this phrase between finding the red and the blue and the cool head was impressive for me and I can use it for my approach. That is also how I see my style.”
(Top photo of Lewis Dunk: Michael Regan/Getty Images)