There are more than a few parallels between Tottenham’s Ryan Mason and his Borussia Dortmund counterpart, Edin Terzic.
Having both retired early, the pair are boyhood fans of the clubs over which they have been given temporary charge. Terzic, like Mason, earned his stripes coaching in the academy.
He was given the task of salvaging a season in which his team have fallen desperately short of expectations, despite boasting a star striker who is set to spark a transfer meleé this summer. Sound familiar?
One key difference, of course, is that Dortmund have already moved to appoint a long-term replacement in Marco Rose, and that is where the interim manager’s secondment will end.
Mason is officially in charge of Tottenham until June, but it is still unclear when Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor will be anointed.
In the meantime, Terzic has emerged as the latest in a string of candidates to be linked. Bild have it that Spurs will be joined by Newcastle and Crystal Palace in pursuing the 38-year-old, who guided BVB to glory in the DFB-Pokal final.
A 4-1 win over RB Leipzig saw Dortmund lift the trophy, thanks to a brace apiece from Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland. (Herein lies another similarity: Mason had his own chance to write his name in Spurs folklore, but Spurs were beaten in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.)
Since taking the reins in December, the 38-year-old led Dortmund to the Champions League semi-finals, where they were defeated by City, and has secured qualification for next season’s competition.
That did not look like a formality when Lucien Favre was sacked on the back of a 5-1 defeat to newly promoted Stuttgart, leaving the club fifth.
“Edin Terzic has done an incredible job since taking over,” Dortmund journalist Tushar Bahl tells i. “Some might think that finishing third and winning the Pokal is not that great a season for a team like BVB. But [club CEO] Hans-Joachim Watzke summed it up best when he said, ‘When he took over the team in December, it was half dead. And he brought it to life.’
“I think more than his tactics, it is his man-management that has helped him earn such great success. He seems to have an excellent relationship with the players, and knows just how to motivate them. He is a boyhood Borussia Dortmund fan and is extremely passionate about the club and I think that has helped the fans connect with him.
“I wouldn’t say it is all-out attacking football, but Dortmund do seem to be playing with a lot more energy under him. They press high up the pitch and look to win the ball back quickly. He plays quick, counter-attacking football, especially in big games. They also move the ball a lot more quickly when in possession, which is something that wasn’t the case under Favre.
“He also has a thick skin and knows how to cope with media pressure. People thought that he was out of his depth when he took over initially, but he kept believing and got the team into the top four even though it looked impossible in April.”
Watzke has already rewarded Terzic with a new contract as part of the backroom coaching staff, which will bring with it a pay rise. That would not preclude him from taking a more senior job in the Premier League; it would only make him a slightly more expensive addition than he might otherwise have been.
Terzic is already well-versed in English football from his time with West Ham United, where he worked as Slaven Bilić’s assistant – the Croatian also his boss at Besiktas – for two years. Bilić was attracted to his analytical mind and knack for appraising opposing players at short notice.
Indeed, Favre may have been known affectionately as “the brain”, but his temporary successor is similarly respected for his tactical fluidity.
As a pair, he and Bilić conjured up a style of play which may have been a little Dimitri-dependent (things quickly went downhill when Payet left in January 2017), but it was initially in line with the “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” football for which Daniel Levy says he is on the lookout.
Terzic is still considered an outsider for the Spurs job – Betfair have him at 25-1, which puts him on a par with Zinedine Zidane, Eddie Howe and Maurizio Sarri – but he is nevertheless a name we could hear plenty more from in future.
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