“I catch myself more and more often”
Christian Streich talks about saying goodbye to SC Freiburg
October 23, 2023, 7:01 p.m
Christian Streich only ever extends his contract with SC Freiburg for one year, even though he has been in office since 2012. In an interview, the 58-year-old talks about his impending farewell because his energy is dwindling. Streich rules out a change of club.
Coach Christian Streich sees the end of his term at Bundesliga club SC Freiburg coming soon. “I feel that I’m getting older. My strength is dwindling, it’s just foreseeable. I find myself thinking more and more often: How much energy does the players have left?” said the 58-year-old to the magazine “11 Freunde “: “And when I realize that it’s no longer enough and that someone younger is needed to get to the players, I’ll stop.”
However, Streich doesn’t want to keep his socio-political views hidden even at the end of his career. “If someone asks me about my opinion on the AfD or the NPD, I’m happy to give them an answer,” said the coach: “Because I see it as my obligation as a public person to point out the dangers posed by such parties and theirs politicians go out.”
The longest-serving coach in the Bundesliga, who has been in office for almost twelve years, also has no ambitions for a job at another club. “That’s no longer an option for me,” explained Streich, who has only been extending his contract with the Breisgauer team by one year for a long time.
Streich only looks down in the table
Last weekend, the Freiburg team fought for success again after two defeats in competitive games, but Streich wasn’t looking towards the European Cup places. “We are overjoyed, but simply because we now have 13 points,” said the coach after the hard-fought 2-1 (2-1) home win against VfL Bochum. “It’s clear where we’re looking. We don’t need to look up, that comes naturally when you win. The only way for us and many other teams is to look backwards and keep our distance so that we can have peace. We’ve done that.”
In the past two seasons, the sports club was in the final of the DFB Cup once, in the semi-finals once and qualified for the Europa League twice. Nevertheless, Streich, who was relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga with Freiburg in 2015 and managed direct promotion back in 2016, continues to adopt a cautious tone.
His players also want to be considered favorites in the Europa League game at FK TSC Backa Topola in Serbia on Thursday (6.45 p.m./live on RTL+ and in the live ticker on ntv.de) Knowing nothing. “Many people are probably thinking: Oh, Topola, how do they even play football? But I wouldn’t say that we are the favorites. Every game in the Europa League is a blessing for them, they will be motivated and committed against us. They have to “Let’s join forces,” said Vincenzo Grifo, who scored the winning goal against Bochum from a penalty.