It’s common to hear top football coaches say they eat, sleep and breathe football. There are so many things to think about – tactics, team selection, transfers, players’ personal issues, media relations etc. – that it makes it virtually impossible for a top-level coach to think about anything other than the game itself.But Julian Nagelsmann isn’t your typical coach.Richards on Nagelsmann: “He comes into training sometimes on his motorbike, I think it’s a Harley-Davidson. He’s always proper cool, always happy and approachable” pic.twitter.com/CfcZLjVrlP— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) February 21, 2022 FC Bayern tactician has dedicated his life to football and has broken many records – and even more misconceptions. At a young age, without even being a pro footballer, the Bavarian became Hoffenheim’s head coach in his twenties and impressed so much that Bayern, one of the most prominent football organisations in the world, paid nearly $30 million to RB Leipzig to hire him. You’d think that such a man doesn’t ever do anything that’s not connected to the sport, but you’d be wrong.”In my professional life, I’m a very obsessed person, but not in my free time, to be honest. Sometimes, it’s essential to do something else to keep the desire for football and to have the greatest flame in you. Anything that takes up space ends up not being interesting anymore. I always find it bizarre when a coach says he’s in his office 24/7, only thinking about football every minute. It becomes tedious very quickly. You have to be able to say, “Now it’s important.” And then there are also times when it’s not important.”Money problems at Allianz Arena – Bayern Munich to follow in the footsteps of Dortmund, Ajax and suchSpeaking to L’Equipe, the 34-year-old coach said that he indeed has a lot of passion for football. But it doesn’t mean that you have to stay focused on it every second.”I’m crazy about football, but reasonably. I don’t believe that the quality of work directly correlates to the time spent thinking about football. If you do the same thing for twelve hours, I’m not sure you get anything better than if you work eight hours concentrating.”Hoffenheim and Leipzig played attractive, attacking football under the young coach. And he’s trying to make his current team even more fun to watch, even though there is much more pressure to deliver results at such an ambitious club. To attack and to get results, you must play without ever being scared.”Fear is a very bad companion in sport or football. What should we be afraid of? It is not a matter of life or death. And, to win, you have to take a certain risk, because you only win if you score. This is why it is important to consider football as entertainment.”Even if it is entertainment, Nagelsmann admits that he takes defeats very poorly.”I feel ashamed. I wonder if I’ve done enough to influence the team or whether I did my bit to prepare the players for the match. I think a lot and usually don’t sleep well after losing.”BUNDESLIGA – Round 24FridayHoffenheim – Stuttgart 2-1 (0-0)/Baumgartner 85, 90 – Endo 58/Saturday17:30: (2.20) M’ gladbach (3.50) Wolfsburg (3.50)17:30: (3.80) Greuther Furth (3.45) Koln (2.00)17:30: (2.70) Union Berlin (3.10) Mainz (3.00)17:30: (1.63) Freiburg (3.90) Hertha (6.25)17:30: (1.40) Leverkusen (4.90) Bielefeld (9.00)20:30: (7.75) Eintr.Frankfurt (4.80) Bayern (1.45)Sunday17:30: (5.20) Bochum (3.80) RB Leipzig (1.68)19:30: (5.60) Augsburg (4.00) Dortmund (1.60)***odds are subject to change
