Intense life as a trainer: Christian Streich
Photo: image/Horst Mauelshagen
Probably the most drastic event in SC Freiburg’s recent club history was announced via video message. Christian Streich declared that he would quit as coach at the end of the season. He does this “with a heavy, very heavy heart,” but believes that “after 29 years, now is the right time” to “let new energy, new people, new opportunities come into our country.” “Our professional players and the people around them” also need “this new energy.”
The 58-year-old, who played his 711th competitive game as head coach in the 2-3 win against title candidate Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday evening, apparently no longer believes that he could broadcast it himself. It was “important to him that I didn’t want to miss the moment when I think it’s time to go.” In fact, Streich has sometimes let it be known in private that he feels sorry for politicians and other celebrities who miss the opportunity to resign on their own initiative. He himself wanted to do it differently. He has done that now.
Streich has worked in various positions in Freiburg’s youth team since 1995, becoming head coach in January 2012. Since then, he has transformed SC Freiburg from an elevator team into a team that has established itself in the top half of the Bundesliga table and for the second time in a row in the Europa League played. This season they were eliminated in the round of 16 with a 5-0 defeat by West Ham United just last week.
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But if both the fans and most of the players hoped until the end that Streich would extend his contract by another year, as usual, this is not only due to his undeniable successes. His style, which can certainly polarize, is well received around Freiburg, where the trainer riding a racing bike is a common sight. When he says in his video message that he is “extraordinarily grateful for the great support and affection that I have always received,” it is no more hypocritical than the statement: “This club is my life.” People like his former one Flatmate and current sports director Klemens Hartenbach have been close friends for decades.
Also because it is difficult to separate the private and professional areas of his life, Streich has repeatedly extended his contract in recent years. This time he decided differently, also out of consideration for his health. As an above-average sensitive person, Streich always knew that the way he lived his coaching job, and not just on matchday, cost more substance year after year. Also because he never saw it as a purely sporting task and always took a clear position on political issues. He never left any doubt about his stance on refugee policy and his opposition to the AfD.
Sports director Jochen Saier, who was also a confidant of the prank, had known for years that the 58-year-old was toying with the idea of quitting. Which is why the wording chosen for each extension over the past three years was that the collaboration was “on sight”. Saier was quoted as saying on Monday that the end result was “a decision that we regret but can fully respect and understand.” A long time ago, Streich officially ruled out that he would coach another team in Germany after his time in Freiburg was over.
Internally, any other involvement in the Bundesliga was always considered unlikely. Even though Streich was happy about one or two offers from the industry, it was always clear to him that, on the one hand, he was too close to his homeland to be able to cope, for example, in a big city in the north – i.e. north of Freiburg. And on the other hand, he would have problems with higher external pressure than there is in Freiburg. Mainly because he always puts enough pressure on himself, sometimes from Monday to Sunday. The association wants to inform “promptly” about the successor solution, which has apparently already been determined internally.
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