Fabian Hurzeler reveals why Carlos Baleba was hauled-off at Everton

Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler said there is no fitness issue with Carlos Baleba after the 2-0 loss against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Baleba, 21, was hauled off at halftime and replaced by fit-again midfielder Jack Hinshelwood.

Baleba, who was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United over the summer, struggled with a knee issue in pre-season and played the first 69 minutes of the 1-1 draw against Fulham last Saturday.

Prior to the match, Hurzeler said his Cameroon international was fully fit to face Everton but the midfielder played just 45 minutes against David Moyes’ team.

When asked why Baleba was hooked at halftime, Hurzeler told a post match press conference that it was a "tactical decision."

Hurzeler also gave an emphatic "no" when asked if the recent transfer speculation had impacted his star man and then said he fully expects Baleba to be at Brighton after the window.

Brighton were also missing the considerable talents of £40m striker Georginio, who picked up minor injury in training yesterday.

"It's only a small issue, I'm sure he will be back soon,” Hurzeler stated.

Hurzeler was clearly frustrated and kept his answers very brief as he conducted his post match media duties.

His upset was understandably as the Seagulls were probably the better team and created more than enough chances to win the game.

Danny Welbeck missed a second half penalty and a very presentable chance before the break. Kaoru Mitoma crashed a volley against the bar, Jan Paul Van Hecke hit the post and Matt O’Riley should have buried a clear cut chance when he latched on to James Tarkowski’s loose back pass.

The telling stats however show that the impressive Jack Grealish claimed two assists on his home debut as he teed-up Iliman Ndiaye and James Garner to seal the 2-0 win.

"Of course, the game could also go in a different direction,” complained the German.

"But in the end it's about scoring goals when you create the chances and keeping a clean sheet. There were some details we didn't make right, and that's something we have to improve on if we want to win a game.”

Brighton were short of attacking options and Brajan Gruda was the only attacking player introduced from the bench, that arrived in the 85th minute and centre back Jan Paul van Hecke played the final stages as a striker.

It’s a tough situation as Joao Pedro was sold to Chelsea last month, Evan Ferguson is on loan in Roma and Greek striker Stefanos Tzimas and Charalampos Kostoulas are yet to feature.

"If we scored a goal, we wouldn't have this discussion,” Hurzeler said. “We created so many chances, and not only chances, they were big, big chances.

"Overall, we created enough to win this game, we had enough chances to score, so I think that's the main thing to take away, no matter how many options we had.”

One point from their opening two games of the new campaign is Brighton's worst start in the Premier League since their 2017-18 season.

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