Brighton & Hove Albion have turned to an unusual source to bolster their set-piece defending: mixed martial arts. Manager Fabian Hurzeler revealed that the club brought in MMA fighter Christian Eckerlin, a friend of his, to train players in techniques for winning one-on-one duels, particularly during set-pieces.
Adapting to Premier League Trends
Speaking ahead of Brighton's Saturday match against Newcastle United, Hurzeler explained the rationale behind the unconventional move. “It was a couple of months ago. We brought him in because we spoke a lot about set-pieces, blocking, new trends in the Premier League. Therefore we tried to adapt to it as well,” he said.
Building Resilience
The manager emphasized the need for his team to shed their nice-guy image in certain situations. “I don’t always want to be known as a club that is nice. In certain moments you need to be quite resilient in personal duels. There are different ways of being resilient, of using a block, different techniques to win one-v-one duels - especially at set-pieces,” Hurzeler added.
Cross-Sport Inspiration
Hurzeler highlighted the benefits of looking beyond football for tactical inspiration. “An MMA fighter always has one-against-one duels. They always need to find a way to beat an opponent. We try to get ideas from other sports and this was an idea we used. If it stays in a player’s mind then that’s always a positive thing. As a club we’re not known as being so dominant in set-pieces.”
He concluded by acknowledging the challenge posed by Newcastle’s physicality. “That’s what we face against Newcastle. We might not be that physical but there are always ways you can defend and attack in one-on-one duels at set-pieces and that’s why we try to use techniques from MMA as well.”
