Bruno Labbadia recently did something that football coaches don’t often do: he spoke publicly about his own mistakes. Looking back at his time in Leverkusen, he said that he was too impatient with the development of his players. He would have said Labbadia, “liked to have the knowledge of today even then”.
–
Labbadia, 54, currently at Hertha BSC, has taken a different route to the Bundesliga than the coach that is actually at stake here: Florian Kohfeldt. While one started his coaching career in the Oberliga and worked his way up for five years, the other, Kohfeldt, ended up in the Bundesliga at the age of 35 after only one year in the men’s division (U23). He immediately became a kind of savior of the SV Werder Bremen.
For Kohfeldt things went up quickly. Like a gifted child that his teachers trusted to skip several classes. Perhaps Kohfeldt has lost something valuable: the experience of making mistakes and growing with them.
–
So he is in a complicated situation today. He has to correct the mistakes he made while still struggling with the consequences. And its measures must be successful.
In the evening, Kohfeldt and Bremen are concerned with preventing the GAU. Then the relegation first leg against the third of the second division, 1. FC Heidenheim (8.30 p.m .; Liveticker SPIEGEL.de; Stream: DAZN and Amazon Prime).
Was Kohfeldt overrated?
Almost three years ago, Kohfeldt took over the professional team from Bremen and saved them from relegation. This season Werder wanted to go to Europe, instead the club was able to prevent the direct relegation. Kohfeldt’s image as a top talent among coaches has suffered serious damage. Quite a few are now wondering whether it was even justified. Was Kohfeldt overrated?
–
In his first two seasons Kohfeldt achieved an average of 1.55 points per game, the past season was the most successful in nine years. It was also about how: The fact that Werder, unlike many Bundesliga clubs, did not define itself by working against the ball, but by playing with it, spoke for Kohfeldt. He developed players like Milot Rashica or Maximilian Eggestein by using them in new positions. He found the perfect role for Max Kruse. He influenced the outcome of games through his in-game coaching.
And Kohfeldt performed differently than many others in professional football. In interviews, he appeared to be devoted, his answers were free of phrases. He expressed himself eloquently, was able to explain the game. Looked polite and humble. As if he knew that this was not normal: someone like him as head coach in the Bundesliga, although he had always remained an amateur as a player.
–
With his appearance Kohfeldt gained sympathy, even thenwhen the situation in Bremen was already dramatic.
Young, modern coaches were in high demand in German professional football for a while, especially after the Carriage of Julian Nagelsmann in Hoffenheim with only 28 years. They stand for a generation of coaches who have their own access to the game. In which the tactics of the opponent are adjusted, not only from week to week, but from one phase of the game to the next.
“There was and is no better coach for Werder”
Some of these coaches made it to the Bundesliga very quickly, skipping the arduous work-up in the lower divisions. It worked well for Nagelsmann, who plays with Leipzig in the Champions League today. Others have disappeared from the Bundesliga. Domenico Tedesco, for example. The came from the junior area directly into the second division to Erzgebirge Aue. He only played eleven games there, then Schalke poached him. When he made his first division debut, he was 31 years old and led the club straight to the vice championship. But Tedesco’s first major crisis meant his end at Schalke. He is now training Spartak Moscow.
When Bremen made Kohfeldt the boss, Schalke was fighting with Tedesco for the Champions League. Once again, those responsible at SV Werder preferred Kohfeldt to experienced trainers. The club had previously worked in a similar way with other U23 coaches, such as Viktor Skripnik. The Bremen’s longing for a top coachwho shapes an era like Otto Rehhagel or Thomas Schaaf once, may be understandable. But it is also risky.
Bruno Labbadia, who has led Berlin out of the relegation battle since May and may actually have become a better coach, was repeatedly acted as a candidate in Bremen. Sports director Frank Baumann came to the conclusion that there would be no better coach for Bremen than Kohfeldt. This can strengthen the back of the coach. At the same time, it loads him with expectations.
In any case, bigger mistakes for a club like Werder in the Bundesliga can have fatal consequences. In the preparation for the season, the Bremen team had changed their procedures, they wanted to get more out of the team, it was said later. It is reasonable to assume that this resulted in the many injuries that those responsible cited as the first explanation for the crisis.
The crisis has made Kohfeldt a better coach
Maybe Kohfeldt hadn’t been fast enough before the season. Maybe he was too impatient with his team’s development. And so he got huge tasks.
How do you set up a professional team when they are on the ground? When do you scold her, when do you talk to her strongly, when is it better to be silent? Does Florian Kohfeldt know that? Can he know He, who had been the head coach for about 24 months before he came into the Bundesliga, divided between Bremen youth teams and the U23?
Once he would have had the opportunity to gain experience in dealing with a negative run, that was in autumn 2017. At the U23, Kohfeldt’s first stop in the men’s area as a boss. Setbacks followed a good start to the season. The team was victorious for nine games in a row. Kohfeldt found out of the crisis. But not together with the team, they relegated to the regional league at the end of the season. Kohfeldt had long since been promoted to the professionals.
The relegation of the second team was bearable for the club. The pros’ descent would be hard on him. There was talk of up to 50 million euros that Werder could escape. For Kohfeldt this means that it has to work. Instead of failing and growing with the U23, he had to get the team fit, stabilize the defensive, revive the attack. Fast and effective. It’s like open heart surgery.
It is quite possible that Kohfeldt will emerge stronger from this crisis. That’s when he reflects on his own mistakes and draws the right conclusions from them. In a future crisis he might find the right words and measures because he remembers the current time. Perhaps he will suffocate it even before it has arisen.
Because of the misery, Kohfeldt can become a better coach. Whether at Werder Bremen or elsewhere, the relegation may decide that.
–
