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PAUL SCHOLES couldn’t help but pick up the phone to Gary Neville when he saw Brighton training.
Fabian Hurzeler‘s side are flying in the Premier League with seven wins and a draw landing them in the runners-up spot.
Heading into the international break, the Seagulls have shown no sign of slowing down and it may even be enough to worry a few Arsenal fans.
Gary Neville revealed the secret behind their success was their stunning training sessions, which he got a sneak behind-the-scenes look at in late October.
About six weeks before Brighton’s league clash with Manchester City, the Salford City co-owner revealed that Brighton picked up the phone.
The League Two co-owner said: “They asked me about six weeks before to see if they could train at Salford.
“They trained on the Friday morning before on Salford’s main pitch.”
Neville explained that fellow co-owner and United legend Scholes went to watch them train, but what he saw was shocking.
Speaking on the Overlap, Neville said: “He rang me that afternoon.
“He went ‘Oh my god. I can’t believe what I’ve just seen.’
“He said ‘The speed, the intensity, the quality. It was unbelievable.’
“And Scholes is quite difficult to please.”
In the Saturday clash, the South Coast outfit handed City an embarrassing 1-0 defeat with Yasin Ayari’s goal.
Though Enzo Maresca‘s side did overcome Brighton in their Carabao Cup fixture a few days earlier, it was only after a 4-3 win on penalties.
Neville explained: “You think to yourself, you think about what happens on the training pitch.
“He (Scholes) said it was sharp. He said it was intense. He said everything was quality.”
The former Man Utd skipper added that Scholes has seen high levels of training in his time and for him to consider it “unbelievable” is something else.
Roy Keane asked: “How good have Brighton been?
Sunday 22 November
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“I love hearing that. No one was saying taking it nice and easy before the game.”
The Overlap group lauded the recruitment efforts of Brighton as “unbelievable” again, having cracked the algorithm under the new owners.
Ian Wright confirmed that Brighton are putting the work in and that’s why they’re seeing results.
The former Arsenal star said: “The way they’re training they’d probably take anyone on now wouldn’t they? How far can they go?”
He added: “They’ve probably got the money to be able to back up the data with what they’re doing and then they can find someone.
“They don’t need to go and say ‘Oh someone’s found him let’s
nick him off’.
“They know where they are – so they’ve got the money to be able to go and get them as well.”