Hurzeler: My job is a privilege

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Luke Nicoli

2024-12-01T06:00+00:00

Fabian Hurzeler led St. Pauli to promotion from 2. Bundesliga last season. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

In the latest of his monthly interviews with the matchday programme, we discover what drives head coach Fabian Hurzeler and what he looks for in those people around him…

Fabian, management is not a 9–5 job, with Mikel Arteta recently saying he starts at 6am, so what’s a typical day like for you?

I don't have a typical day. I can completely understand the idea behind coming in early because then you have time for yourself and time to prepare, so I will normally arrive between seven and eight. I also leave quite late, but I don't have a set time where I say, ‘Now I have to leave.’ It's more like, ‘Did you do everything you could do today? Did you prepare well? Did you analyse everything?’ and if I feel I have reached that point then I’ll leave. I can't rest if I have something on my mind – it has to be cleared so I don't go to bed with any problems.

Is it important to have some down-time at home so you can completely switch off?

I won’t switch off because I don't want to switch off. First of all, I always want to be there for my players. Secondly, I love to think about football; I love to think about my team and I love to think about new ideas. I see my job as a privilege, a dream to work in football, so I’m always thinking about ways we can improve and to keep getting better. Football is my life and I'm really enjoying it, so it's not about switching off and I don't know if I would be able to, to be honest.

Every player has his own characteristics, so do you feel you know your squad by now?

I have this one idea of building a structure, a hierarchy, so there are the leaders, the team players and the individualists. The players who have creativity on the pitch, they’re the individualists. They need love, they like being embraced, they need a hug, but sometimes if they do something wrong, they need to know it. Then there’s the team player – they do their job, you know what you’re going to get from them, and they're very important regarding mentality, their attitude towards training and towards the work ethic. Then we have the leaders; they are so important for me as they build the hierarchy. They are the role models, they set the example, so I always demand a lot from them. Looking more generally, they’re all players of individual needs, individual wishes, individual motivations, so it’s a process to discover the person and it takes time. I don't think after four months that I can say I know them all 100 percent, but I’m getting to know them better and better and I think this clear structure helps.

Hugs, love… would you say you need to be a psychologist as well as a coach?

Gary Walker speaks to Brajan Gruda. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

We have psychologists who work for the club – they are the real experts – but I can say that I know a little. It’s the same with the players’ performance; I know how much you should run, what should be the total distance, how much should be the high-speed distance, but the real expert is Gary (Walker, head of performance). I also know a little bit about muscles, a little bit about bones, but the real experts are my physios and my medical team. I believe it’s important for me to have a little bit of knowledge in each department so that I can discuss certain things with these experts, but it’s far more important that you trust the experts around you and really value them.

Let’s talk coaches. You have appointed Daniel Niedzkowski as assistant head coach, who takes up the position in January. Tell us more…

First of all, Jonas (Scheuermann) and Crofty (Andrew Crofts) are doing a great job. I'm absolutely pleased with them and really happy how they work together, how we work together. So Daniel’s not a replacement, his appointment is more of an add-on. Daniel has experienced a lot as an assistant coach; he worked for Leverkusen for a long time and then he went to the German Federation, where he worked for the under-21s. He has since worked a long time as boss of the UEFA Pro Licence in Germany. There, he developed many coaches and he has a very good eye for dynamics and giving very good feedback on how you work together, how your exercise fits with the match plan, with your principles, and how the schedule is during the day: is it effective? Is it productive? Is it not productive? On top of that, he has a good tactical eye and he will make us better. Actually, I think he will make the whole club better, because, although he’s working for the first team, I think he can have an input across the whole club. I got to work with him when I was taking my Pro Licence, which took one year, so I got to know him well, got to know his ideas and to experience his knowledge. I was so impressed by him. But, like I said, he's an add-on and while I'm delighted that he will join us, I'm also very, very happy with Jonas and Crofty.

Crofty has become Craig Bellamy’s assistant with Wales. He clearly had your blessing…

Andrew Crofts became a part of Craig Bellamy's backroom staff in August. 📷 by Football Association of Wales.

Absolutely. I talk with him a lot about Wales; he has a clear role there and you can already see the impact he’s made. Wales play really good football and deserved to finish top of their Nations League group. Like with Wales, Crofty has made a great impact here. He has big value as an assistant coach; he has a great eye for detail, he's very helpful, he's humble and he’s always looking for new ideas. He’s always thinking about football and that's what I like. Given his background as a player, you can discuss football with him on a high level and that's of big value to me.

He's always calm and assured around the training ground, just like you. Is that what you look for in your coaching staff?

I wouldn't say that I'm not emotional, I can be quite emotional, but on the whole I'm quite calm. I’m just trying to be predictable. I can't work with people who aren't predictable, whose moods keep changing. It's very important that you're always showing the same characteristics, otherwise it’s not going to be easy to work with you. On top of that, it's very important to have clear roles within the coaching staff. Crofty was an ex-professional so he brings a lot of experience with him. He knows how the players feel and has a lot of knowledge about the Premier League and how to win games at this level, which is very important. Jonas, who is also responsible for our set-pieces, brings an energy into the building, a real positivity. I think it's also very important to have a guy like this in our coaching team.

To be a Premier League coach brings a lot of pressure – much of it from outside the building. How are you dealing with that?

The German has had a good start to life with Albion. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

I don't feel the pressure from outside. In fact, I don't feel the pressure from anyone because I’ve already put myself under the most pressure. I am the most demanding of myself because I know I'm responsible for everything. If there's pressure from the media or from elsewhere, it doesn’t affect me because I know it's part of the job. I can't change it. And like I said before, the most pressure comes from what I’ve already put on myself.

Defeats are what usually bring pressure, so how do you deal with them?

Everyone wants to win, but I learned from my youth that you also have to embrace the defeats as these are the moments that make you stronger. When I was younger I always wanted to be perfect and I think in some ways I forgot to learn from the setbacks. It was hard for me because I'm very ambitious and competitive, I always want to win and I’m the worst person losing a game, but you still have to embrace the negative results. You have to analyse everything, you have to learn from these moments and then you will grow.

We lost at Liverpool but played brilliantly in the first half. Could you be pleased in any way despite the result?

No, I can't accept this and I don't want anyone in the club accepting this – we should never accept playing a good game and losing. Football is about getting results, so I don't want to be getting compliments for playing well but having nothing to show for it. If you do accept this way of thinking then you start hiding behind your ambitions and this is a club that has ambitions, the owner has ambitions and everyone in the club wants to achieve something. When you lose, even if you have played well, you should always stand there and say, ‘We can't be happy – how can we learn from this?’ We have a very young squad and they have to learn how to win games at places like Anfield. Don't be satisfied because of a good performance, learn from the defeat and move forward.

Then we had a fantastic result against the champions Manchester City. What goes through your head then?

Albion beat Pep Guardiola's Manchester City 2-1 in November. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

It should be a confirmation for the players that hard work pays off, that they are in a good place and that they should be proud. It’s also a very important reminder of what has brought you to that point – the work ethic, doing the basic things right and the simple things that you can always influence. I said to the guys after the game that the benchmark is what they showed in the second half and now they need to keep working to have this day again and again. What’s also important for me after games like this is to stay humble, stay grounded and know that it's a long journey.

Be honest though, you’ve just got one over on Pep. Do you retire to your office, put your feet on the desk and light a big cigar…

No, not a cigar, it was one glass of wine! Of course it’s important to enjoy the moment when you’ve worked so hard, but I'm not a guy who can enjoy it for too long. While the hype and everything going on around you is justified, I’m soon refocusing on the next task.

Do you get much spare time – it doesn’t sound like it…

I don’t need to have that much spare time because, as I say, working in football is a privilege and my passion. I don’t go home and say, ‘Now I have to relax’ and I'm not the biggest fan of the ‘work-life balance’ phrase. I get my energy from the challenges that are here every day, and I feel it every time I enter the building at the training ground. To have this feeling, it’s one I’ve had to work hard for, and that’s what makes it such a special feeling.

We spoke about padel in your previous programme interview and you and Paul Barber have since beaten Bobby Zamora and Jamie Redknapp in a game down at Hove for Sky Sports. Your desire to win clearly came out that evening…

I had to be on the winning side otherwise I know what people would have said afterwards, especially in the building! I have to say that I had a great partner and we never gave up. We stayed focused on our task and we went from 6-1 down to win the game. We showed a great attitude and deserved our win!

Like the team against Man City and Spurs, you came fighting back…

We did come back. Now we have to see if there will be a rematch!

Supporters can still buy their programme from Friday night's game here.