So far, the 374 million euros that the entrepreneur Lars Windhorst pumped into the capital club Hertha BSC have fizzled out without any significant effects. At least there is an increase in value now. The entertainment value shot up sharply on Sunday after Hertha announced that Felix Magath, 68, would take over as coach until the end of the season.
Even before the first astonishment in the social joke booths was overcome with the help of date gags (“Is it April 1st today?”), the inevitable medicine balls came into play, accompanied by the prognosis that the “Quälix” or “Schleifer” Magath was Hertha – Players will now certainly be chasing them up the Kreuzberg (66 meters) every day while forbidding them from drinking and certainly also from breathing. Whereby, which players actually? Magath will throw out all of the current ones in order to get 42 new ones next week.
It is part of Felix Magath’s ambivalence that he always ridiculed and cultivated the Magath clichés at the same time. His brand essence, the inscrutability, is also a gesture of defiance on display – the ironic distancing from the trade that has made him rich, famous and cynical. But there’s a bit of truth to every cliché, and ultimately Magath is a worryingly reactionary coach, both in his work with young people and in his view of modern football.
When he left VfL Wolfsburg in 2009, he likes to say, “everyone was broken”
There is no question that he was successful at it. When he redeemed VfL Wolfsburg in May 2009 by voluntarily saying goodbye to himself, “everyone was broken,” he likes to say. But they were all German champions.
A picture from the Wolfsburg days: Diego (right) doing circuit training, with medicine balls of course.
(Photo: Imago sports photo service)
Only: Eight games before the end of the game is the wrong moment to get in shape at Hertha. His usual player revirement fails due to the closed transfer window. No one should expect Magath to delve deep into tactical details in order to stabilize the squad put together by Hertha manager Fredi Bobic. And to put the players with his aura in a cult-like state of allegiance, there is probably not enough time. Which leads to the question: What exactly should Magath do in Berlin now? Bring in his experience, his calm. And ensure the discipline that has often been lacking recently. That would be a lot. But is that enough?
If the dismissal of coach Tayfun Korkut, whom he brought in just a few months ago, was an admission of a mistake by Hertha manager Bobic, then Magath’s commitment is an admission of far-reaching helplessness. A liberation you don’t know if it’s going forward or backwards. A risky investment somewhere between total loss and top return. Because of course you can also consider that possible: that Felix Magath saves Hertha from relegation. Simply by stirring a cup of green tea with a steady hand.
