Julian Nagelsmann has already worked with various ÖFB kickers in his coaching career.
He even helped Stefan Posch and Christoph Baumgartner make their debut in the German Bundesliga at TSG Hoffenheim.
Both are still raving about the current DFB team boss, with whom they will see again during this course next Tuesday in the friendly international match against Germany.
“He made me a professional,” Posch knows that he has a lot to thank Nagelsmann for.
From the U19 to the Champions League
The two have known each other for a long time. In total, the Styrian played 44 competitive games under Nagelsmann’s guidance.
The first eleven of them were in the Hoffenheim U19 in autumn 2015, when the coach was 28 years old. The “coaching prodigy” was promoted to the fighting team in the same season.
In the 2017/18 season, Posch also made the jump, with Nagelsmann ultimately accompanying him from the U19 to the UEFA Champions League.
“He didn’t change much of his work, always followed his philosophy, and that always worked well. He was successful in his youth and, as everyone could see, also with the professionals,” remembers the Bologna legionnaire.
Nagelsmann’s special gift
The relationship with Nagelsmann was always good: “I learned a lot from him and developed very well. He is a tactically very, very intelligent coach, recognizes game situations very quickly, even during the game, and knows exactly what he needs to change must pretend.”
It is precisely this aspect that also wins Baumgartner’s admiration.
“He recognizes situations and opportunities during the game and can intervene – that’s sometimes really sensational.”
Christoph Baumgartner
“Julian is a very special coach. He has a gift that very few coaches have,” explains the Leipzig legionnaire and specifies:
“He recognizes situations and opportunities during the game and can intervene – that’s sometimes really sensational. We often had the feeling during the break when the score was 0-0: ‘Okay, now he’s going to give us something and we will have two or three good chances.’ He is truly an exceptional coach.”
One of the best trainers in the world
When it comes to having an eye for the game, Baumgartner also mentions luck, for example. The video analyst accompanied Nagelsmann at all coaching stations and is now also part of the DFB staff.
“This is a well-rehearsed team. They recognize situations and spaces that the opponent offers and have concrete ideas about how you can use this space. This is simply an extraordinary eye for the situation and the plan for it. Julian is certainly one of those the best trainers there are in the world.”
In the summer of 2019, Nagelsmann left Hoffenheim for RB Leipzig. Another two years later he took over FC Bayern Munich.
Baumgartner experienced the end of the coach’s Hoffenheim era. In the spring of 2019 he was promoted to the professionals at TSG, and in the last two games of the season Nagelsmann threw him into the Bundesliga waters for the first time.
It was clear that Nagelsmann would go his own way
According to the Lower Austrian, it was already clear to everyone at the time that the trainer was called upon to take on higher tasks:
“You just have to see what he did with the small Hoffenheim back then. He led us to the Champions League. With the move to Leipzig he came to a club where he had other options in terms of player material. He also led RB Leipzig to the Champions League semi-finals. So it was already clear that Julian would go his own way.”
Time travel: When Toni Polster dropped his pants in Estonia
Nagelsmann became champion at Bayern in 2022, but his path ended suddenly in March 2023. It’s difficult to judge from the outside, but Baumgartner doesn’t classify the coach as having failed with the record champions:
“I think he’s already done a good job. At the time he was kicked out, they had the opportunity to win all three titles.”
Rangnick and Nagelsmann “outstandingly good”
Nagelsmann is 36 years old, so he is still a young coach compared to his age, but he has undoubtedly developed further since the time when he looked after Posch in the U19:
“I don’t work with him every day anymore, but of course it’s different whether you work with youth, Hoffenheim or Bayern players. You certainly have to develop further and deal with it differently. But in principle I believe that he still has follows the same line.”
The test Austria against Germany will undoubtedly be a prestige duel between the two team bosses. Nagelsmann once followed Ralf Rangnick’s work closely in Hoffenheim. The now ÖFB head coach later guided him to RB Leipzig.
“They are two different coaches from different generations. But they are exceptionally good at what they do,” says Baumgartner.
Will Nagelsmann lead the DFB team out of the crisis?
It will be interesting to see whether the DFB team will find its way out of the crisis under the guidance of the new boss.
Baumgartner sees a positive trend: “In his first games you could already see that the Germans are going in a good direction. He will try everything to show what he can do.”
And as we all know, that’s a lot.
2023-11-14 13:37:47
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