FCB coach Timo Schultz in a big interview: ‘FCB should not become a self-service store’

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After the interview we go to the fan shop for the photo shoot. Apparently Timo Schultz (45) is here for the first time, shows the employees the sweaters and clothes and asks with a laugh: “And where are the slow sellers?” FC Basel has been characterized by many changes and departures in recent years – also in the coaching position. So Schultz didn’t have to stay on the phone too long to accomplish more than his predecessors, each of whom was quickly fired.

Timo Schultz, if you ever leave FC Basel again: how do you want to be remembered here as a coach?
Tim Schultz: It starts well, a question about my departure for the first game (laughs). If the spectators finally say that they enjoyed going to the stadium during my time here because there was a unit on the field playing football and defending passionately, I would be very pleased.

Did you actually apply for a job with sports director Heiko Vogel?
The club has contacted me. I haven’t applied anywhere.

When FCB approached you in the spring, were you already looking for a club three months after your resignation from St. Pauli?
I was still processing the time in Hamburg and putting off the inquiries that came in. But when FC Basel called, the first thought was: I definitely want to do that.

You are on an ejection seat, you are the sixth coach since the beginning of 2021. Are you concerned about that?
Nowadays, a trainer has an average employment of about 1.4 years. If I’m worried about this, I’m in the wrong job. I enjoy every day here, I want to make a difference, play good football and be successful. Everything else doesn’t interest me.

You have seen many FCB matches in the stadium in the spring. Why?
To get impressions of the players I now work with on a daily basis at training. But I was not only at FCB games, but also at GC-St. gall. To get an idea of ​​the level of the Super League. Ah yes, I was also in the Aarauer Brügglifeld, wonderful, even though I only saw half of the back row in the stands.

FC Basel must save, at the same time titles must be restored. Only magicians can square the circle.
The term fits very well. On the one hand, every Super League club is dependent on transfer income due to the low TV income. On the other hand, as a coach, I naturally wish that the best players stay and that the departures stop. FC Basel should not become a self-service store and that is not going to happen.

The first league game in St. Gallen in a week, followed by the European Cup qualifiers. Can you already guess a basic eleven because of the turnover?
I still have a week to do that (smiles). Seriously, it would of course have been ideal from a coaching point of view if we could spend weeks getting to know all the available players so we didn’t have to beat around the bush. But that is also our fate in the Swiss training competition. We have young, talented players in the selection and many of them were allowed to go to the U21 European Championship. Still others traveled with the senior national teams. But that is always a compliment to the club. And maybe soon we will introduce one or the other experienced newcomer …

Speaking of experienced players: Taulant Xhaka, Fabian Frei, Michael Lang and Co. wanted Heiko Vogel as a long-term coaching solution. But now you’re here.
Any other statement about your future head of sport would have been very tactically unwise (laughs). Seriously: I can understand your wish one hundred percent. Heiko is a super guy. And if you can’t get along with his direct and honest manner, you’ll have to blame yourself. The players I mentioned welcomed me here with open arms.

Her predecessor Alex Frei dared to put the sacred cows Xhaka and Frei on the bench. Do you dare?
As a coach you have to communicate very clearly with players who have played more than 500 games for the club. They have incredible merits here and are progressing in training now, are really ready. Players who get more rights from me must do everything they can to have maximum success. The bottom line is that the performance principle also applies to them, but Fabi and Tauli emphatically want that too.

Unlike Heiko Vogel, you don’t want to mess with the referees. Because you are a forgiving person?
Because I want to spend my energy on things I can influence.

Which doesn’t mean you always agree?
Absolutely not. But I certainly couldn’t do better than the referees.

To the outside world you appear cool, calm and relaxed. What drives you crazy?
Players waste their talent. When I teach young players how to act like a pro and then watch them stare at their cell phones 18 out of 20 minutes in the weight room, I get angry. Bringing your cell phone into the weight room is a no-go.

And in the cabin?
I’m not naive, I have a 17 year old daughter and I know how important this thing is. It is crucial that the focus is completely on work in the weight room, at the physio appointment and on the track. Longer concentration on a topic, a willingness to do the dirty work, these are big topics, especially for younger players.

So no longer self-evident?
Certainly not, that has changed. But then the cell phone is good again if I can send them a video sequence on it instead of taking them to the office. Players these days are more afraid of a shitstorm on Instagram than getting a clear message from me privately.

What is your mobile phone usage?
Very manageable. I leave social media alone, I’d rather read a good book than check 20 blogs.

You have never lived and worked further south than Bremen. How much courage did it take to move to Basel?
I landed in Basel in northern Switzerland. Ten years ago I wouldn’t have taken the step because of the family. Now my kids are grown up. And I am not of the world. From here I can reach Hamburg faster by plane than by car from Cologne. But yes, it is a step out of the comfort zone, from which I hope to gain many new experiences, as a person and as a trainer, for my backpack.

Which Swiss characteristics have you already adopted?
After two or three attempts, I was already forbidden to say “Grüezi” (laughs). I’d love to have a good piece of Swiss chocolate, I’ll do that next time I’m in town. Ah yes: I already tried to swim in the Rhine. I now have four wrap fish.

What surprised you in your first month in Switzerland?
A few weeks ago I was in Istanbul with a friend. I would never even think of driving there by car. Here in Basel I recently rented a bicycle and in the city traffic the drivers waved me in nicely. The friendly, polite and courteous, I already know that from Germany.

How do you spend your free time in Basel?
Before the start of the training I did a lot, discovered the city. Since the beginning I’ve only had one free afternoon, so I got a bitter lemon and sat down by the Rhine for two hours.

Can you be found in the city as a hands-on coach?
If I’m already in such a great city, I want to discover it too. And when the family is visiting, I want to show them the beautiful places and take them to good restaurants. I should know a little about that.

Jungfraujoch, Matterhorn – can you be found there as a tourist?
Anything above sea level doesn’t have to be.

fear of heights?
In the training camp we hiked to an alpine hut, after two hours it was enough for me. I prefer cycling, I like sitting by the river, Basel is ideal for that.

A cliché question: do you have to appear regularly on the Reeperbahn to become an FC St. Pauli icon like you?
At St. Pauli there is no cult around players or coaches, the club is above everything and represents certain values. The public has a sense of who lives these values ​​and who is only there to play football. I don’t like the term icon. But yeah, I’ve been around once or twice, mainly as a player. You can have fun there, but it’s not what sets the club apart.

What do you think of the sect around FC St. Pauli?
We don’t like the term cult at all. Because: Values ​​such as the rejection of racism, openness and tolerance apply everywhere, including here at FC Basel. St. Pauli fans may experience it more violently. In general, it would do us good as a society to shift down a gear, for example, take tolerance for granted. And don’t always cover everything and everyone with a shit storm.

Were you actually a good football player?
No.

You played in the Bundesliga. Surely you have to be able to do something for that?
A teammate once gave me the biggest compliment: Schulle, I feel better when you’re on the field. Almost every summer the club brought more talented players to my position, but I did play on the first match day. I understood the game quite well, knew what was needed in what situation. And I could hide what I wasn’t very good at.

What is the biggest difference between your generation of players and today?
If the trainer said run twelve laps, he said how fast? Today the players want to know: why? That has many advantages, because I want to work with mature players. I love being challenged by the players.

What do you ask of your players?
That they like to come to the training and deal with our demands. And that they represent FC Basel well at all times.

Penultimate question: What is actually wrong with German football?
In the first place because of the enormous expectations. We Germans have the urge to always look for what we are not so good at. We have so many incredibly good footballers. Even though we haven’t reached the finals in the last few tournaments, we are a great footballing nation. Other countries are probably doing better at youth level than we are at the moment. Still, I don’t see us as bad as we pretend.

How do you want to be remembered as a person when you leave Basel?
When I come back to Basel at some point, hopefully ten or fifteen years from now, and people are happy and go for a coffee with me, then at least a lot of things have gone straight off the field.

Source : Blick