Julian Nagelsmann has spoken out clearly in favour of a dissolution of the 50+1 rule. The future coach of RB Leipzig sees this as the potential to move closer to the Premier League.
“Football is an industry in an open competition. Every association, but also the fan, must ask itself the question: You want to keep whining? Accept it that way? Or just not, then we have to open up,” said Nagelsmann in an interview with the kicker.
The difficulty between the Bundesliga and Premier League will “not close on its own,” said Nagelsmann: “The traditionalists will have to rethink. There is a beautiful saying: tradition is like a lantern, it shines the way for the intelligent, the stupid cling to it. That’s the way it is.”
Starting in July 2019, Nagelsmann opted for RB Leipzig, a club that has already repeatedly come into conflict with the regulations of the DFL. But the Red Bulls have formed a competitor for Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich. Nagelsmann wants to expand this further.
“I’m going there to get titles sometime,” said the 31-year-old. Even though he will need time: “The second year will probably be the more interesting one. Now it’s just clear that a talented coach will meet a talented team, but nobody knows how it will be.”
Nagelsmann does not want to touch the principles of RB, but he does want to bring in his ideas: “The way to defend the many zero games. That remains the DNA of RB.” With possession of the ball, he wanted to “generate extreme pressure in both phases of play” and develop “more variability” overall.
Doubts about Nagelsmann’s qualities in Leipzig are unlikely to arise in any case: “I had a total of five or six offers from Leipzig, even as a youth trainer. Much more detailed than Ralf Rangnick and Oliver Mintzlaff know me is difficult.”
The fact that the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim recently lost a few points was also linked by the coach to the announcement of his farewell: “There are players with strong character who completely ignore this and exploit zero. But there are others. “Where the view of the ego is sometimes greater than the view of the team.”
He sees the change as quite positive: “I demand a lot, a clear structure in the field, that is mentally already exhausting and costly in the mediation, many meetings with a lot of content. At some point, the players may be fed up.” Pep Guardiola had therefore also developed the “three-year rhythm for himself”.
