New coach in the 2nd league: Miroslav Klose at 1.FC Nuremberg – Arrived in adventure land

Status: 11.06.2024 16:39

The new head coach of 1. FC Nuremberg is Miroslav Klose. This is a brave decision, and not just from the club’s point of view.

As an assistant coach, Miroslav Klose has already worked in prestigious positions. With the German national team under Joachim Löw and at FC Bayern under Hansi Flick. There, as in Klose’s active career – sometimes more, sometimes less successful – it was all about one thing: winning titles, being at the top.

Klose’s task at 1. FC Nuremberg will be different for now. Nuremberg wants to have a quiet season. Seventh place is the goal, which Klose can live with: “Anything else would be presumptuous,” Klose explained at his inaugural conference at the club. This is undoubtedly true for FCN, after another disappointing season, at the end of which the fear of relegation was present until shortly before the last match day.

Klose at FC Bayern: No desire for promotion

But it would probably be presumptuous to expect miracles from Klose. He attracted attention at FC Bayern as U17 coach. Hasan Salihamidžić was particularly impressed by Klose and wanted to promote him again and again – to U19 coach as successor to Sebastian Hoeneß, to coach of the second team – but Klose successfully resisted.

In his eyes, the move came too early. He eventually became Hansi Flick’s assistant coach. There, too, he made a good impression and recommended himself for higher tasks. After he left FC Bayern – like Flick, not necessarily in harmony with the then sporting director Salihamidžić – there were rumors about offers to Klose from well-known German clubs.

Klose disappointed by Altach: “A lot of things didn’t happen”

At the time, Klose wanted to go down a different path, wanted a club where he could build something up in the medium term and decided to take the position as head coach at SCR Altach, a first division club from Austria. But he did not find peace and medium-term planning in Altach. Klose was fired after 24 games in March 2023 during his first engagement as head coach in the professional sector. “Unfortunately, a lot of things that were agreed upon did not happen there,” said Klose in January of this year about his time in Altach.

Chatzialexiou: “Miro fits like a glove”

Will he get the time in Nuremberg? The club has not exactly been an employer with a job guarantee recently. 13 different head coaches have tried to stay in the saddle at FCN for as long as possible over the past ten years. If the initial successes fail to materialize, it will be up to the new sports director Joti Chatzialexiou to decide how much rest and time Klose will get.

“Miro is a perfect fit,” said Chatzialexiou, who only started working in Nuremberg two weeks ago and knows Klose from his time at the DFB – like many of the names that have been circulating in the Nuremberg rumor mill in recent days. It was not just the “charisma” that the 2014 World Champion brings with him that ultimately tipped the scales. Klose is someone who “moves things and inspires people,” and is also an “enormously meticulous and detail-obsessed coach who has experienced and learned a great deal, not just during his successful playing career. Miro knows how to develop young players, and he will continue our path in this regard,” emphasized Chatzialexiou.

Klose on Max-Morlock-Stadion: “Not loved as a player”

Klose, who has taken cautious steps in his career so far, now knows that even a cautious step can go wrong. With FCN he is now taking a big leap. “I like adventure. You never know what to expect,” he said at his presentation. And that is perhaps one of the most important qualities a coach at 1. FC Nuremberg must have. Because there is never a lack of pressure, drama and adventure here. “I know what I can do as a coach and I try to bring that onto the pitch.” What Klose and his FCN bring onto the pitch will look like in two months when the second division season starts.

From his active career, the new head coach knows what kind of atmosphere he can expect at the Max-Morlock Stadium. “As a player, I didn’t always love playing here. You could hardly communicate because it was so loud,” the 46-year-old remembers. As a coach, he now has to find a way to ensure that his instructions still get through to the players, even if the fans will cheer him on in his new role – at least for now. Because in Nuremberg, you don’t always get time from the supporters either.

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Source: BR24Sport 11.06.2024 – 18:30