Tribal Football

Brighton defender Veltman: Hurzeler honest with me in preseason

Paul Vegas
Brighton defender Veltman: Hurzeler honest with me in preseason
Brighton defender Veltman: Hurzeler honest with me in preseasonTribalfootball
Brighton defender Joel Veltman is happy playing for manager Fabian Hurzeler.

At 31, Hurzeler has surprised doubters with the way he has led Brighton in the opening two months of the season.

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Veltman told the club's website: "When you have a new coach, you never know what might happen, but I knew what I was capable of and I had a really good preseason where I played almost every game. It’s in those matches where you get a feeling if you're in the starting XI or not, and the feeling was good. I had good chats with Fabian as well, some really good conversations with him.

"(For example) the first proper conversation was after a strength and conditioning session in Japan and he was telling me that he really liked me, that I see the game properly and what the game asks from me as a player.

"He also said I could still talk a lot more to the players around me, given my experience. He wanted me to be more active on the pitch, communication-wise. He was straight to the point and I really liked that.

"When you have a coach with that kind of honesty, you know where you are, where you stand. I prefer people to be open and to put all their cards on the table."