FIRST TEAM
08/16/2018

"We are ambitious and have a lot planned"

The waiting will soon be over as TSG get their season underway on Saturday with a DFB Cup match away at 1. FC Kaiserslautern (15:30 CET) and enter an exciting year full of new challenges. With this in mind, coach Julian Nagelsmann spoke about his expectations in interview with club magazine SPIELFELD ("PLAYING FIELD") for the edition published 16 August, but also spoke about his role in the public domain and the competitiveness of German football.

Overall, it is "difficult to keep up at an international level", said Julian Nagelsmann in acknowledgement of the grotesque TV revenues of the English Premier League. "A 25-year-old who has played for Manchester United laughs at offers from Bayern Munich because in England it takes him half a year to earn what he would in 12 months in Munich." The 31-year-old is calling for youth development to be put back in focus from an attitudinal perspective: "We must rediscover the path that the Bundesliga once trod with respect to the youth academies. We have really neglected that. We need to be scouting earlier and better, and the clubs require coaches who are prepared to give young players game time. That is the Bundesliga's financial model. In contrast, it will be very hard to keep up with the transfer fees being paid."

TSG's head coach also gave reasons for taking players back down a level: "Bumping players up an age group again and again because they've got a lot of talent will not make them better ultimately. A good U16 player will always be made to know his place in an U19s team even if he is the best, and he will be made to carry the balls. He won't develop because he won't be free as a personality and will always be trying to fit it. The development that players need to be global superstars by the age of 19 won't create great players, rather servants to teams. They won't learn how to lead a team that way."

"I know what I have to be grateful to the team for"

Last season, TSG went through a bad run of form, during which time criticism was piled onto Julian Nagelsmann: "In recent years, our sporting performance has been personalised massively. The club's and the whole team's successes became Julian Nagelsmann's success in the public realm for a year and a half. But last season during the crisis, all of the negatives were projected onto my person, something which was ultimately positive for the team. When you weigh everything up, then it was balanced overall. While I had overly critical judgements placed on me, I had already received too much gushing praise. This one-sided coverage is not good, though, because I know what I have to be grateful to the team for." 

He has reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League with his team for the first time ever, a challenge that the coach is looking forward to: "It is of course the most important club competition. You can't reach a higher level, especially as such a small club like Hoffenheim. We'll have to see who we get in the draw. We're in pot four, and are a real underdog. We could get some real planks as opponents. That would be fantastic. I can imagine that it'll be funny when Hoffenheim are drawn and everybody wonders who we are and where we play. We're looking forward to that."

He also wants to perform well in the Bundesliga and has high expectations: "It is not easy to place that when you've been so successful in the previous two seasons. All of us at the club are very ambitious and have lots planned. That is also attested to by the impressions made during pre-season and the boys' attitude. Those who know me know that I am always striving for higher targets. But it won't be much higher than last season in the league. We will give everything to be as successful as we have been."

Also in the new edition of SPIELFELD: a story on captain Kevin Vogt, profiles of the new signings, everything you need to know about the Champions League draw and information about the TSG Academy

 

SPIELFELD is TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's club magazine, filled with everything that is important at TSG, about TSG, and in the region. SPIELFELD is published 11 times a year and is available free in the Fanshop, or can be delivered to your home when you subscribe at a cost of just €18.99 for delivery.

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