Fabian Hurzeler is not one to shy away from bold moves, and his recent critique of Arsenal’s tactics certainly aligns with his fiery reputation. The German coach has a well-documented history of making dramatic gestures.

On February 3 of last year, following a crushing 7-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest, Hurzeler made a dramatic statement by setting his tactical plans ablaze right in front of his team, using nothing more than a cigarette lighter. It’s clear that Hurzeler isn’t afraid to go to extremes.

His passionate outcry against Mikel Arteta’s methods during Wednesday’s match might have struck some as arrogant and immature. He was heard shouting, “Just play football!” at Piero Hincapie, clearly frustrated by the situation.

This isn’t the first time Hurzeler has engaged in confrontations, and somewhat ironically, he has his own experience with controversial tactics that he might prefer to overlook.

Known for his dedication to aesthetic football, Hurzeler was also a fiery presence on the field. During his 91 appearances for Pipinsried in the lower tiers of Germany’s league, he amassed an impressive 46 yellow cards and six red cards—an aggressive record that would make even Cristian Romero take notice.

Fabian Hurzeler is more familiar with the dark arts than he’d like to admit, no matter what he says about Arsenal  

Reflecting on his playing days, Hurzeler once confessed to the Guardian, “Honestly, when you talk to some guys who I played against, they would say: ‘What a jerk.'”

That has leaked into his touchline behaviour. He was among the most booked managers last season and got sent off in the other fixture against Forest. He and Nuno Espirito Santo were scolded by officials for their ‘unacceptable technical area behaviour’.

Weeks later, after a 1-1 draw with Southampton in November 2024, he was at loggerheads with Russell Martin, one of his tippy-tappy brethren. 

‘For me, it’s just important to have respect for each other,’ Hurzeler said, vaguely. ‘How you talk to each other on the sideline, that’s the most important. That’s how I got educated.’

Martin certainly hadn’t felt respected. ‘Respect is reciprocal,’ he hit back. ‘The amount of times a man in the opposition dugout was asking for a booking for one of our players, I’ve never known it at that level.’ 

In fairness, most managers are going to fight their team’s corner and push for every advantage. Sir Alex Ferguson and Jurgen Klopp constantly berated referees and fourth officials. Neil Warnock has made it his part-time job. Hurzeler will do the same where he feels it’s needed.

‘Discipline is something I need to work on,’ he has previously conceded. ‘On the other hand, I want to remain authentic. 

‘I can’t completely change who I am and I don’t want to create anything artificial. But I do need to keep calm in certain situations. I’m working on it.’ 

Hurzeler was furious with Arsenal’s time-wasting and claimed his team was the only one that tried to play football 

Hurzeler channels so much intensity into his management because he cares about the sport at a molecular level. Every detail matters. Every detail can be the one that trumps the opposition. He cares about what foot you receive the ball with and the speed of the passes you play. 

He also cares deeply about his players’ backgrounds. As he told the Guardian: ‘The most important is to understand the person behind the player. What are his needs? What are his values? How is he educated? How was his past? Where does he get education? 

‘How was the culture or how is the culture, for example, in Gambia with [Yankuba] Minteh or Simon Adingra in Cote d’Ivoire? In comparison, for example, with James Milner, it’s completely different. So you have to understand the person behind the player.’

He grew up in a competitive home environment with four siblings and was reared on board games such as Uno and Catan. If he lost, the night was over for him as far as he was concerned. 

The Houston-born kid joined Bayern Munich aged 10, and it was there that possession football was drilled into him. He lasted all the way through their youth system but never played for the first team. 

‘My time at Bayern left the biggest mark on me,’ he explained. ‘Because at Bayern, you’re expected to win the game with the ball and do so in an attractive manner. I want my teams to have the ball and find solutions. That’s in my DNA.’

It’s therefore easy to see why he huffed about Arsenal not playing the way he liked. Hurzeler believes football should be played a certain way. But he isn’t as saintlike as his lofty criticism of Arsenal might suggest. In fact, he’s done the same as Arteta in the past.

When he got St. Pauli promoted from the German second tier in 2023-24, his team were one of the most effective from set-pieces. They scored 14 that season, the fourth-most of any team, and only three from the penalty spot. The season before, they were the joint-second-most dependent on set-pieces for goals. 

He was raised on a diet of passing football at Bayern Munich and also starred for Germany’s youth teams (pictured, right) 

When Hurzeler was gunning for promotion, he did exactly what Arteta did: allow whatever means necessary to win.

‘Of course at the moment it looks like I am a defensive coach and like to play defensively, but it’s not like that,’ Hurzeler admitted in 2023.

‘We want to act on the pitch, we don’t want to react and we want to have the ball, but I learned a lot in the last three years, also when I was head coach, that you also have to be very compact in the second division and be very good from set-pieces. 

‘We also train throw-ins, corners, free-kicks, kick-offs. These are things where we also have a main focus on it, because we saw it against Heidenheim, it was a throw-in where we made the goal. It was a game-changer or a match-winner. 

‘Of course, deep inside of me, I like having the ball, but I know that it’s not possible to have the ball all the time, especially in the second division where all the games are 50/50. Therefore, we also work a lot and I also put into my philosophy the work against the ball and from set-pieces.’

In the Hamburg derby of May 2024, Hurzeler did whatever he could to get inside the opposition’s head. That included having his players encroach into Hamburg’s half during the warm-up – the exact same behaviour that Liam Rosenior was livid with against Arsenal in February. 

St. Pauli kept extending their sprints into Hamburg’s half, so the story goes, and disrupting their passing drills. Tempers blew up. Their behaviour sparked a mass brawl involving around 30 players and staff. 

Hamburg’s manager Steffen Baumgart fumed: ‘That’s intentional. It’s not the first time this has happened. My boys were prepared for it.

He resorted to defensive football and set-pieces to help earn promotion out of the German second division with St. Pauli 

‘I showed them the footage from the first leg. I told them if someone else runs into our half who has no business being there. I’ve been doing this for 30 years and one thing is certain: nobody has any business being in my half. It’s also a matter of respect that I don’t run into the opponent’s drill, especially when they’re playing circle drills. A clear message.’

Hurzeler didn’t even try to hide the fact that his men had crossed a line. ‘I’ve never seen HSV set up the drill there before. They’re doing it now because they know we run into that half,’ he explained. 

When he criticises David Raya for going down three times, he is absolutely right. Arsenal took a season-high 30 minutes and 51 seconds restarting play. Something should be done about time-wasting. 

However, based off his history, Hurzeler might as well have been moaning at his own reflection.