“For me, this was never just a career,” Nuri Sahin tells Sky Sports activities. “Some footballers struggle after playing but managing always felt like my destiny.” So, what occurs while you depart your dream job in command of Borussia Dortmund on the age of 36?
That’s the scenario that Sahin discovered himself in in the beginning of final 12 months. He had, by his personal admission, listened to his coronary heart and left a great function as head coach of Antalyaspor to hitch Edin Terzic’s employees at Dortmund, serving to the membership to the Champions League ultimate.
However after taking excessive job that summer season, he was sacked final January. It was a troublesome expertise when so invested. “Because I had a special bond with Borussia, that first moment was heartbreaking,” he admits. “I would be lying if I said it wasn’t.”
Chatting with Sahin now, he’s completely satisfied to get into the element of what went unsuitable – partly as a result of his teaching profession is again on monitor with Basaksehir. With six wins and two attracts from the final 9 video games, they’re among the many type crew within the Turkish Tremendous Lig.
“There is that saying that you only become a good manager after you have been sacked,” he says, smiling. It’s not the best way he would have wished it, in fact. He elected to take six months away from the sport to take inventory after leaving Dortmund.
“It was the first time in 20 years that I had time off because I jumped from player to manager very fast.” Certainly, he had been a player-coach at Antalyaspor. Even at Dortmund, he was teaching former teammates. “It was a quick transition,” he provides.
“In those six months off, I could listen to myself, think about what went wrong, do some self-criticism and see the big picture. Testing myself against the best coaches in the world was amazing. I knew the day I left Dortmund that I would be better in my next job.”
Nuri Sahin was Borussia Dortmund head coach however left in the beginning of final 12 months
His Dortmund had their moments in opposition to the most effective, main Actual Madrid by two targets within the Bernabeu earlier than a dramatic turnaround late on. They misplaced a five-goal thriller to Barcelona and conceded a late equaliser in his solely Klassiker in opposition to Bayern Munich.
“We had some good matches. But maybe the transition I had in my mind was too fast. We wanted to implement things but did we have the profile of player to do it? I should have gone step by step but I thought I could go faster. Of course, I made a mistake.”
Sahin, who had performed beneath Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund earlier than happening to play for Actual Madrid and Liverpool, had a grand imaginative and prescient for a way he wished his crew to play. “I was focused on implementing something for the long term, that was my idea,” he explains.
However when the sensible challenges of main a behemoth like BVB kicked in, it grew to become powerful. He acknowledges that the imaginative and prescient quickly grew to become much less clear. “The little details like how you press in the opponent’s half, how brave you are, the high line you use,” he says.
Did he compromise an excessive amount of? “On and off the pitch. It was not really possible to play out from the back with the goalkeeper, for example. But I want to be more brave than I was at Dortmund. That is a lesson I learned. I want to be more committed to the idea.”
Any longer, the excessive line is non-negotiable. “That will not change.” No shock that he name-checks Hansi Flick as an inspiration. He cites Luis Enrique’s work as “super interesting” and likes what Mikel Arteta is doing at Arsenal and Cesc Fabregas at Como.
He says he was “very interested in the positional movements of Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham at the beginning” however acknowledges that the sport has modified even since then. “You must adapt things because the game is evolving at a crazy speed right now.”
Nuri Sahin’s formidable plans for Borussia Dortmund didn’t come to fruition
Sahin remains to be a scholar of that sport and evidently Basaksehir might be the beneficiaries of it. “I wish it had gone another way at Dortmund but I felt very quickly that I would bounce back. What was important was not to just go after a big name.”
He explains: “I wanted to work with people who understood me and wanted to go in the same direction. As a coach, if you want to go one way and the club wants to go another, it does not make sense, even with the best players in the world. You need to be aligned.”
The scenario that Sahin inherited at Basaksehir was not simple. Champions of Turkey as not too long ago as 2020, the funds are not what they have been. The membership had already been knocked out of European competitors when he arrived in September.
“Lifting them was maybe the toughest challenge because it was dark when we arrived. It was a problem. They were used to Europe and it was a heartbreaking moment. Everyone wanted Europe, not just the players but for the kit man, the physio and everyone here.”
“Coming into a team with two points from three games and already out of Europe, we had to turn things around fast so we changed a lot, implemented our ideas and brought some fresh energy. I think this helped everyone. We brought some positivity to the club.
Bertug Yildirim of Basaksehir celebrates with head coach Nuri Sahin
“At the beginning, it was a struggle, of course. The results took longer than the ideas. But we explained why we had to change things and what our principles were. They say that players need time but coaches need time to get know players as human beings.
“After 100 days, I might say that I understood them they usually understood me and we knew the route during which we have been going.” Belief has returned and the possession numbers are up. “Right here, I’ve a goalkeeper who is de facto good along with his ft,” says Sahin.
Muhammed Sengezer of Basaksehir passes the ball out from the again
There may be renewed optimism that Basaksehir can “compete against the big clubs” as he places it. “The only thing missing is a full stadium. But we create our own vibe. Others have the financial power but I hope next season we can attack at least a few of them.”
The message from Sahin is that he’s satisfied that he’s in the suitable place now, and never simply because his household had determined to construct a home in Istanbul not lengthy earlier than taking the job. “I would have taken it if it were 5,000 kilometres from home,” he insists.
The dialog turns to Xabi Alonso, a former teammate of Sahin’s from Madrid who was essentially the most celebrated younger coach on the earth solely to undergo his personal setback in Spain. “Now, I go again. Let’s see where it leads. My dreams did not end at Dortmund.”
