Julian
Nagelsmann was labelled a 'PR stunt' at the start of his career. The man who
turned down Real Madrid before turning 31, is now wanted by Chelsea and
Tottenham. Here's the definitive guide to the former Bayern Munich
manager...
'Schnapsidee' - a crackpot idea that could only be fuelled by alcohol -
screamed a headline in the German publication Frankfurter Rundschau. Their
counterparts, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, went for the simpler but no less
stinging 'PR stunt.'
It was early 2016 and the local press pack weren't pulling any punches when
Hoffenheim placed a 28-year-old Julian Nagelsmann in charge of their first
team.
Flick on a few years and youngest permanent manager in Bundesliga history
was turning down Real Madrid before celebrating his 31st birthday. Let go by
Bayern Munich last week - a decision that has split the dressing room and
club legends - he is now wanted by Chelsea and Tottenham.
Nagelsmann will manage in the Premier League - it is only a matter of where
and when. His career has been moulded by personal tragedy that made it easy
to drown out dissenting voices, frame football in perspective, and peel back
before making major decisions.
How injury and grief impacted Nagelsmann's
career
To understand Nagelsmann requires tracking back to a half-year period when
aged 20, he suffered cruciate ligament damage that forced the centre-back to
prematurely retire. While still wrestling with that pain, he unexpectedly
lost his father, Erwin, after a short illness.
"The big dream to become a professional player broke down and this certainly
hurt," he told this writer in April 2018.
"I felt and thought back then that I wasted all my youth, that it was all
for nothing. It just felt terrible. First, there was that decision I had to
take to stop playing and then, more painfully, was the death of my dad. That
changed a lot of things in my family. It was a huge cut in my life."
With his older siblings far away, Nagelsmann had to assume responsibilities
beyond his age. He moved back to the family home in the southwest town of
Landsberg am Lech from Munich to be his mother's rock.
He tackled all the administrative issues "that comes with the death of a
person, like in our case: selling the house, dealing with insurances, and
the car.
"I had to organise all things I never thought about before, but that needed
to be dealt with. You realise then what it all means.
"It made me more mature and grown in my life. I did maybe things that were
not normal for somebody my age.
"You get to know that there is something so much more important in life than
football, which is the family. It opens your eyes. It helps you make
decisions that others might not be able to take, and as a coach you are
faced with decisions constantly.
"You experience and feel a lot of pressure being in this job, but then your
private life shows you that there are many more significant things around. I
am very passionate about football, and about coaching, but it's not
everything to me. I love it, but it is not life or death."
Hoffenheim: From scepticism to Champions
League
Nagelsmann's outlook ensured he was not unnerved by the antagonism which
greeted his Hoffenheim appointment, nor the prospect of relegation. He
preached courage to his players and advocated attacking football without
fear of failure, wanting them to enjoy themselves and not merely survive.
That cut across his erroneous portrayal as a "laptop coach," obsessed with
analytics and technical advancements. "I strongly believe that if you want
to be successful, empathy and taking care of the person behind the player is
of greater importance than any tactical aspects," Nagelsmann would say.
"I place great emphasis in giving my players a clear tactical plan to help
and support in match situations. But the relationship I have with them is
very, very important to me."
Hoffenheim swerved the drop and went on to finish fourth in Nagelsmann's
first full season in charge, when Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool would then beat
them in a Champions League qualifier to delay his participation in Europe's
elite competition.
The following year, Hoffenheim secured third spot and featured on the grand
stage for the first time in their history, which prompted a phone call in
the summer of 2018 that stunned Nagelsmann.
Real Madrid come calling
Jose Angel Sanchez, the managing director of Real Madrid, was on the line to
relay the fact the club saw him as the primary candidate to replace Zinedine
Zidane at the Bernabeu.
"It's normal if Real Madrid call you, you think about it," Nagelsmann
admitted. "I was surprised at first, I weighed it up and I didn't feel
comfortable with a decision to go there. I want to improve. If you go to
Real Madrid, there's no time to improve as a manager.
"You don't have a chance to be a better manager, you already have to be the
best. I'm not the best now, but I can admit I want to be one of the best in
future. If you go to Real Madrid or Barcelona, the fans, the media and the
decision-makers don't give you the time to grow into that.
"They only want to see victories every game, titles, Champions League
trophies. If you don't win, you can't say 'but I'm still young, I'm still
developing.' It's not that easy in football to plan a career, because it is
so unpredictable, but you have to try.
"The main thing is to make the right steps, not the biggest steps. Real
Madrid is probably one of the highest steps you can take so I thought 'you
turn 31, go to Real and where to do you go from there?'
"The other thing is language is very important to me. I like to communicate,
I'm very expressive with my players and I can't speak Spanish yet."
How the inside track benefitted Leipzig
Nagelsmann's next step from Hoffenheim was already sketched before the phone
call from Spain's giants, courtesy of fast work from RB Leipzig.
They had an inside track - much like Chelsea do now.
Ralf Rangnick had been at the Hoffenheim helm when Nagelsmann was assistant
coach of the club's U17s and was promoted to taking full charge of the youth
team. He pinpointed the former defender as "the greatest managerial talent
in Germany," and acting as Leipzig's sporting director, did everything to
land him along with the club's CEO, Oliver Mintzlaff.
"They called me over a year before they wanted me at Leipzig and told me why
and how it would work," Nagelsmann revealed. "The next day, there was a
contract sent to my email. It took just 20 hours after we spoke for it to
arrive and that is not normal.
"A lot of clubs in the summer period phoned me and said 'perhaps we'd like
to have you.' There was no 'perhaps' with Leipzig. I am a young manager and
it appealed to me to work at a club where the structure is clear, where
there are not 20 guys all with an opinion that takes you in different
directions.
"Here I can decide and things happen quickly because the vision is the same
across the club."
At Hoffenheim, Nagelsmann became the youngest coach, aged 31 years and 58
days, to feature in the Champions League. He became the youngest to win in
the competition at Leipzig, before leading the club to the semi-finals.
Success at Bayern - but abrupt end
It was only a matter of time before Bayern came knocking - and they duly
paid a world record €25m compensation fee to extract him in 2021.
Nagelsmann won the Bundesliga title and two DFL Supercups but, while on on a
skiing trip in Austria during the March international break, the club
released him due to the "big fluctuations in performance that have cast
doubt on our goals for this season, but also our goals for the future."
The decision was a jolt to most players. "I was surprised," admitted
defender Matthijs de Ligt. "We're second in the league, in the
quarter-finals of the cup, and in the quarter-finals of the Champions
League. Everything's still in there.
"Those in charge decide who the coach is, but it was a tough pill to
swallow. I had a good relationship with the coach and his staff, so it was
difficult for me.
"I got in touch with him, sent him a message and thanked him for everything
he taught me. He really wanted me at the club, and was important to me.
Thanks to him, I've taken important steps in my development."
Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka also put on record their disappointment at
Nagelsmann's sacking.
But there was celebration in the dressing room too, chiefly from Manuel
Neuer, who was angered by the firing of goalkeeping coach Tony Tapalovic
after almost 12 years at the club.
Thomas Tuchel replaced Nagelsmann, but there will be no hard feelings
between the pair. Their relationship stretches too far, too deep for that.
How Tuchel helped Nagelsmann into coaching
After being forced into retirement at 20, Nagelsmann went through a "four to
six week period where I didn't want anything at all to do with the game."
He undertook a course in business studies and was about to start a job in
sales with BMW when Tuchel diverted his course.
"To earn money for my studies, I worked as a scout for Tuchel at Augsburg
II, where I still had a playing contract, but I still didn't really realise
that I wanted to become a coach," Nagelsmann explained.
"When Tuchel later said to me that I should try the coaching route and an
offer came from 1860 Munich to work as their Under-17 assistant coach in
2008, I decided to give it a try.
"After a few weeks, there was so much passion and I felt the fire burning in
me."
Nagelsmann would complete a bachelor's degree in sports science to
complement his rapid coaching rise.
Chelsea or Tottenham next?
The motocross enthusiast, who also won the Bavarian championships in the 50m
sprint as a youngster, could now follow Tuchel in managing Chelsea.
Nagelsmann worked with the club's sporting director Laurence Stewart and
technical director Christopher Vivell at Leipzig. They believe his history
of developing young players, as well as his European experience and working
with big names, marks him out as a fit for Chelsea's squad.
The club engaged with his agency, Sports360, over the sale of another one of
their clients, Timo Werner.
Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, has also liaised with Nagelsmann's camp
previously over players - and the manager himself. He twice unsuccessfully
tried to appoint the Bundesliga winner.
It is understood the complex situation surrounding managing director of
football Fabio Paratici has put Tottenham on the back foot, with Chelsea
having an edge as things stand.
Nagelsmann started doing interviews in English four years ago to get
comfortable communicating in the language to prime for a Premier League job.
He will work in England - it's only a matter of how soon, and for whom?
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