Thursday 7 August 2014 09:25, UK
Sami Hyypia has set his sights on leading Brighton to promotion and establishing them in the Premier League, but admits it will take time to achieve his dream.
Former Liverpool star Hyypia was brought in to replace Oscar Garcia at Brighton this summer after the Seagulls saw their promotion hopes ended for the second successive year in the Championship play-offs.
Hyypia believes the infrastructure is there for Brighton to be a Premier League club and he admits the set-up at Albion played a big part in persuading him to make the move to the Amex Stadium.
"Every morning you drive in and see the great facilities. You wouldn't think that many teams in the Championship have these kind of facilities," said Hyypia.
"That was one of the reasons my decision to come here was quite easy.
"And then I heard the right things from the chairman. When you build this kind of thing, they don't do it just for fun.
"Of course, the ambition is to go on and be a Premier League side for years. It's not my ambition to come here and be one year in the Premier League and come down again. When it happens that we go to the Premier League, we will stay."
Hyypia is keen to change Brighton's style of play this season feeling they need to be more direct than they were under Garcia.
Of course the ambition is to go on and be a Premier League side for years. It’s not my ambition to come here and be one year in the Premier League and come down again. When it happens that we go to the Premier League, we will stay
"We need time but hopefully we will get to the same wavelength about what we need to do on the pitch," added Hyypia.
"My players have to have more impact than last season when Brighton were too slow. I like a possession game but one with purpose to score a goal and not just keep the ball.
"Keeping the ball is easy when you do it in your own half but you won’t score with that. We have been working on quick transitions from defensive to offensive.
"From what I saw from last year, that did not happen a lot when we had the ball. We didn't even try to go forward. Hopefully now it will be different."
