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Alex Frei had very prominent coach role models. The FCB coach explained what he took from them in the “Sport Panorama”.
As a player, Alex Frei was not always easy to manage. The Swiss national team’s record goalscorer is now a coach himself and, after a difficult start at FC Basel, has recently found his way on track in terms of results.
In the relationship between him and his players, Frei relies on humanity, warmth and honesty, as his companions attest. “You need a lot of empathy in this job. I think Alex has them. He will get very far as a coach, »says his long-time strike partner Marco Streller.
And Winterthur’s sports director Oliver Kaiser, with whom Frei managed to get promoted to the Super League, adds: “He feels the players incredibly well. He gets the young men behind him.”
Special relationship with Köbi Kuhn
The fact that these “soft factors” are so important for Frei is no coincidence, as he explained in the “Sport Panorama”. He was shown it this way, for example by former national team coach Köbi Kuhn.
“Now I have to be careful not to get emotional,” said Frei, when asked about the Zurich native who died in 2019. «Köbi managed to get 23 players in the squad to go through fire for him. Regardless of whether they played or not. That’s the greatest quality you can have as a human being.”
Legend:
Appreciate each other off the pitch too
Alex Frei and Kobi Kuhn.
Keystone/Eddy Risch
Not much experience yet
It is often forgotten that Frei has only been a professional football coach for two years. After joining FC Wil, he moved on to Winterthur before the offer came from his heart club in the summer. So it’s going uphill for the 43-year-old, who has hardly ever shied away from a challenge.
Just as he once asked his coach Laszlo Bölöni when he was a Rennes player for 5 games in which he would prove his skills, he is now trying to instill a similar winning mentality in young players. At FCB, where the average age is 23, patience and empathy are required.
Generation Z as a challenge
But Frei also makes it clear that there are limits to the willingness to compromise. “There are things that are still the same, even if the players are from Generation Z. Punctuality, decency, respect and attitude must be given. »
Frei took action on the first point in particular. Because they were not at the agreed meeting point in time, he temporarily removed Andy Pelmard and Sayfallah Ltaief from the squad before games on the international stage.
But we still have a lot of work to do together.
Early in his career as a striker, Frei experienced first-hand what it’s like to have your wings clipped. When he scored 4 goals in a game at Servette at the age of 21, he expected special praise from his then coach Lucien Favre. “However, he came to me and simply said: ‘But we still have a lot of work to do together’,” says Frei with a laugh.
Contact with Klopp never broken off
In addition to Favre, with whom he sat in in Dortmund to internalize the trainer’s trade, Frei also has a lot in common with Jürgen Klopp, under whom he played at the same place – and who didn’t always have the hay on the same stage. “He said: You don’t walk enough. I said: What do you want? Bundesliga goals or good running statistics?»
Legend:
The paths cross again and again
Jürgen Klopp and Alex Frei maintain an exchange.
Keystone/AP/Martin Meissner
The relationship with the Liverpool coach is very good and cordial, the two still occasionally exchange ideas. Frei may have learned a few things from him when it comes to leadership.
Negative experiences could not be avoided, but: “What I wish most is that players who do not play and may have to leave the club say afterwards: I had a hard time with him, but he was always honest me.”