In recent years the Bundesliga has emerged as Europe’s hotbed of promising young footballers, with Alphonso Davies, Jadon Sancho and Erling Braut Haaland, among the twenty-somethings dazzling in Germany’s top-flight.
It is increasingly becoming home to Europe’s top up-and-coming coaches too. Jurgen Klopp became the poster boy for Germany’s tactical revolution at Borussia Dortmund before handing the baton over to his successor Thomas Tuchel who in turn looks set to pass it on to Julian Nagelsmann. Hansi Flick took a more circuitous route to the top but has done an extraordinary job at Bayern Munich.
This, it seems, is the era of the German super-coach and another one primed to roll off the production line is Borussia Monchengladbach’s Marco Rose, who will pit his wits against Pep Guardiola in the Champions League knockout stage on Wednesday night. Rose will take the reins at Dortmund next season after they matched the €5m buyout clause in his contract last week, news that was about as well-received in Monchengladbach as a flat Krombacher.
The 44-year-old has enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence having been in charge of Red Bull Salzburg’s U18 team as recently as 2016-17. After leading Salzburg’s youngsters to Uefa Youth League glory against a Benfica side containing Ruben Dias and Joao Felix (since sold for vast sums to Manchester City and Atletico Madrid respectively), Rose was promoted to the top job at Salzburg that summer. Things have only gone in one direction since.
Rose won back-to-back domestic titles during his two years in the top job, but more impressive were his achievements in Europe. Salzburg reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2017-18, claiming the scalps of Real Sociedad, Borussia Dortmund and Lazio along the way and doing the double over RB Leipzig – the favourite child in Red Bull’s football family – in the group stage the following year.
Gladbach came calling in 2019 and Rose proved to be an inspired choice, leading the club back into the Champions League after a four year absence. Things haven’t been quite as rosy this term – Gladbach lie 8th in the Bundesliga after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to relegation-threatened Mainz – but qualification for the knockout stage was a commendable feat given they were pitted against Real Madrid, Inter and Shakhtar Donetsk.
It has become a tired cliché to label any promising German coach “the next Klopp” but Rose certainly assimilated plenty of his ideas while playing under for him for seven years at Mainz. “I spent a lot of years under Kloppo and it was a great time,” Rose said in 2019. “He shaped all of us. We picked up a few things in terms of football, but above all it was the way he was with people.”
Like Klopp, Rose has a knack for recognising talent and then cultivating it. He gave debuts to Haaland and Dominik Szoboszlai at Salzburg and has helped turn Florian Neuhaus, Marcus Thuram and Denis Zakaria into three of the Bundesliga’s most highly-coveted prospects.
Gladbach were already regarded as rank outsiders to beat City when the draw was made in December and the chasm between the two has only widened since. While City have won 18 games in a row, The Foals have just one victory from their last five and are reeling from their manager’s imminent departure.
Nevertheless, Rose has vowed to make things uncomfortable for the bookie’s favourites to lift Ol’ Big Ears. “If there is something that Manchester City don’t like, then it’s not having the ball,” he said. “We need to play with courage and defend with passion. I have a team that is absolutely capable of that.”
Masterminding another shock win in Europe will offer further proof that Rose is a coach going places.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2ZOWwFL
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