Ex-GC sports director about the Nati manager: Vogel: ‘Tami is nice, but a failure’

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Erich Vogel (85) knows Swiss football like no other. He has been in the industry for more than 60 years and has won 26 championship titles as a junior player, youth coach, head coach and sports director.

In all those years, Vogel hasn’t amassed a huge fortune. “1.8 million francs,” he replied in an interview with “NZZ” when asked whether he was rich. He doesn’t care that after all this time it has to be much more. Status symbols mean nothing to him. Although he was often offered money, he never accepted bribes. Because: “Anyone who takes money illegally is vulnerable to blackmail. This means you can no longer sleep peacefully.”

Conversely, things look different. He never oiled it, but he paid for it. “But I always stayed within the legal limits,” Vogel emphasizes. That doesn’t bother him with a bad conscience. “In football, just like in business, bribery and cheating occurs.” That didn’t happen to him. His sharp mind, his elusive values ​​and his criminal energy helped him “not be deceived and come across as a loser”.

Blick journalist makes biggest mistake

Vogel describes Giovane Elber (51) as his best transfer. His only regret is that then WG boss Werner Spross (1925-2004) did not give him the money he needed to buy it. And what was his biggest mistake? “By far: after I hired Leo Beenhakker as classification coach in 1992,” Vogel answers.

How did this come about? “The influential journalist Mario Widmer from Blick called me and said that things were not going any further with Oldrich Svab,” says Vogel. “He said he had one, this Beenhakker, and that I should get it.” Although Vogel initially said no, he agreed. “I was a coward and hired Beenhakker for eight months to save my head,” he admits. In any case, there was something good about the whole thing, because after that he became “even more ruthless – or more assertive”.

Harsh words about Tami

Vogel thinks someone else is not assertive: Nati director Pierluigi Tami (62). He is the weak figure within the Swiss Football Association (SFV). “He is nice, but a failure and overwhelmed,” was his harsh assessment. Tami wanted to dismiss Murat Yakin (49) as Nati coach after the weak international matches in 2023, “but felt the wind blowing in the association”.

Vogel knows for sure: Yakin will never take Tami seriously. The Nati coach is a brilliant tactician, but needs competent staff at his side and “not an assistant like Vincent Cavin, who was just Tami’s spy”. Tami was also unable to mediate in the conflict between Yakin and Captain Granit Xhaka (31). Since they are both stubborn, they need to be coached. “Tami can’t do that,” says Vogel.

Epee twins are chaotic

However, Vogel always believed in Yakin, whom he took out of his apprenticeship at the age of 17. “He is just like me. Direct, fast, without fear,” he says. Philipp and David Degen (both 40) are also without fear. “They are slobs, but I like them. “You have courage,” says Vogel .

They have a capital of 20 million francs and invest 16 in FC Basel. Vogel would even invest 19 million in GC with the same assets. “So I’m even a bigger bird than the Degens.” (beer)

Source : Blick