Precise tactics, speed, dynamics, knock, knock, knock, goal. Leipzig footballers enjoy everyone – just not their opponents. After all, Tottenham Hotspur and Atlético Madrid were knocked down on the way to the semifinals of the Champions League. And they don’t have enough. On Tuesday night, they want to play Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals of the Champions League.
Leipzig vs. PSGOnline report from the semifinals of the Champions League from 9 pm |
Behind the sensational story of Leipzig is also Julian Nagelsmann. The coach, who is only 33 years old and fans can see him with a parachute on the hill while paragliding or on the streets on a skateboard. “Sometimes I drive home from training, I only have seven kilometers. What about people? I am laughing. They don’t say I’m crazy, I just live a normal life, “he says.
However, his coach resume is not very common. Judge for yourself. The youngest coach who ever led his team to the semifinals of the Champions League. The youngest coach in the history of the Bundesliga. And quite possibly the most sought-after football coach in the world at the moment. At the same time, there was little shortage and he left football for good.
The year was 2007, when the then-starting coach Thomas Tuchel and the young Julian Nagelsmann, who had just finished his playing career due to a knee injury, collided in the Augsburg bullfight. “My big dream of becoming a professional footballer has fallen to pieces. I collapsed. I thought that all that time as a child with the ball was useless, “Joe recalled for the British news portal. He considered going to sell cars. Then came an even greater blow. His father Erwin died unexpectedly after a short illness, he was 56 years old.
“Suddenly I had to deal with things I thought I would never do. We sold the house, the car, I handled the estate, “he says. The older brother and sister were already away from home and had to work, so the youngest Julian took care of these matters.
The Ore period. After all, in a short time he lost two of his certainties – football and dad. Somewhere here, the transformation from a carefree boy into a responsible man and later a coach began.
Especially no boredom
Paris coach Thomas Tuchel, Leipzig’s opponent in the semifinals of the Champions League.
—
His playing contract was still running when coach Tuchel offered him to watch future opponents for him as a scout. “Yes, it was Thomas’s idea for me to start training,” admits Nagelsmann. The coaching craft engulfed him, but he didn’t warm up for very long with the youth. He was 28 years old when, as the coach of the Hoffenheim U19, who led to the youth title, he took over the local A in February 2016.
The penultimate Bundesliga team. What can this coaching beard do with him?
He gained respect soon. Not only did he save the group around Pavel Kadeřábek in the Bundesliga, but he also led them to the Champions League twice.
He was nicknamed Baby Mourinho, but he always wanted to be himself. At the side line, he pumps his fists for a while, gestures powerfully or devils himself to the referee. He lets the players touch him. During training, he also uses drones and a giant screen, on which he shows his charges errors in the live broadcast.
He claims that the player’s biggest enemy is routine. He never wants the player to be bored. Treat the players from the bench just like everyone else, another of his advice sounds.
Julian Nagelsmann still as a coach of Hoffenheim.
—
The game layout can change faster than socks, so it is often difficult to decide who is in which position. But the players themselves are clear.
“He kept urging me between four eyes to finish more, to center, to push forward. Everyone below him knew exactly what his job was. He was really advanced tactically, “said Pavel Kadeřábek a year ago in an interview for MF DNES. “Each of us has improved under him, pulled us huge.”
Do you like Real Madrid? Bayern Munich? Or Borussia Dortmund? There was interest in Nagelsmann among elite clubs. After three and a half years in Hoffenheim, he finally decided on RB Leipzig last June. And as is his good habit, he goes beyond the plan.
What about the fact that in June they sold him the best shooter Tim Werner to Chelsea. That he doesn’t have big stars in the team. He likes to create them from his players. Whether from Werner or maybe the stopper Upamecan or midfielder Sabitzer. It’s also Patrik Schick’s turn.
Sometimes Nagelsmann remembers his dad’s words: “Focus on your goals and you will be successful.”
So far, he’s doing really well. “We want to advance to the finals,” he reports before a duel with Paris Saint-Germain, led by coach Thomas Tuchel. The guy who made young Julian then enjoyed training.
This story is far from over.
–
