From Emsland to the Premier League
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Kersten Kuhl is living his dream: As a goalkeeper he only made it to the Lower Saxony Oberliga, but as a goalkeeping coach he has reached the highest level. The native of Lower Saxony trains the professional goalkeepers at the English first division club FC Burnley. At Transfermarkt, the 33-year-old talks about his unusual path.
When two German goalkeeper coaches, Fabian Otte (Tottenham Hotspur) and Kersten Kuhl, met in the Premier League a few weeks ago, it was an extraordinary situation. In recent years only a few German goalkeeping coaches have been active in the Premier League. “Fabian and I have known each other for years. In a way it’s funny and nice at the same time when you consider that we met years ago in New Zealand, where we both had the dream of professional football and now we get to work in the strongest league in the world,” says Kuhl at the beginning of the conversation.
For Kuhl, the world of professional football is anything but self-evident. For years it wasn’t foreseeable that he would end up there. The now 33-year-old grew up in the tranquil town of Meppen in Emsland. Between agriculture and moorland, his enthusiasm for football was early on – even due to the lack of alternatives. “I love Emsland, I’m a Meppener through and through. I know that many people think that if you grow up in Emsland you have to become a farmer, but that wasn’t the case for me. I always wanted to be a footballer,” he smiles.
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He took his first steps in football at the former second division club SV Meppen, but over time he realized that it would not be enough for a professional career. So he joined the Oberliga club Holthausen/Biene. A time he remembers fondly. “Amateur football has its own charm. Most of the time you have a team with whom you also do a lot of things privately. Amateur football is a special cosmos, you actually always know two or three of the opponent’s players personally,” says the 33-year-old.
“That was the starting signal” – How a phone call changed Kuhl’s career
At the age of 21, he began working on youth development and trained the youth goalkeepers at SV Meppen and later at Spelle-Venhaus. Up to this point it has been a classic goalkeeping coaching career, the kind you can still find in amateur football today. And Kuhl would probably still be working in the Lower Saxony league today if it hadn’t been for the call from Mönchengladbach back then.
“Back then, I had a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, I completed my studies as an industrial engineer and, on the other hand, I trained young talent at SV Meppen. At that time, Stefan Wessels was the professional goalkeeper coach, who told me that he trusted me to become a goalkeeper coach for a professional team. That was like a starting signal for me. From then on, I set myself the goal of making a living as a goalkeeper coach to earn. Through various internships I came into contact with the goalkeeping coaches of the Gladbach professionals at the time, Uwe Kamps and Christoph Semmler. This led to the opportunity to move to Borussia Mönchengladbach’s youth academy.”
The foals were convinced of Kuhl’s abilities, also because he not only made his goalkeepers better, but also trained himself further. “Gladbach was really strong in the goalkeeper coaching positions. They had, among others, Kamps, Semmler, Marcel Höttecke, Steffen Krebs and Fabian Otte. There were a lot of ideas coming together on how to organize goalkeeper training. And of course: I was inspired there every day to refine my training,” he looks back.
During that time, he continually questioned himself in order to provide his protégés with the best training and education. “For me, the most important learning effect was realizing that Yann Sommer’s training cannot be transferred one-to-one to every youth goalkeeper – just because he is one of the best Bundesliga goalkeepers. Every goalkeeper must be viewed individually and receive tailor-made training accordingly. A coach’s aim should always be to train his students to be the best version of themselves.”
After five years with the Fohlen, Kuhl moved to Hertha BSC’s youth team for a year before joining the U19s of 1. FC Köln in 2023. For the billy goats, the current sports director Thomas Kessler was seen as an advocate for Lower Saxony. Kessler was also responsible for Kuhl taking over the training of the professional goalkeepers in the second half of the 2023/24 season.
Kuhl particularly remembers his first week of training and the home game against Eintracht Frankfurt with a laugh. “It was a Friday evening game and I was actually a little excited. During the warm-up I slipped and then grabbed myself in front of everyone, that was uncomfortable. But after that the excitement was gone. Overall, it was an incredible, great and educational time at Effzeh, I especially enjoyed working with Marvin Schwäbe.”
Kuhl about the special breed of goalkeeper
Special, crazy, quirky – there are many attributes that goalkeepers are said to have. Kuhl has experienced many such characters. According to the goalkeeping coach, this is due to the keepers’ special professional profile. “The goalkeeper’s position goes against human reflexes. When something fast comes at you, you usually try to avoid the object. The goalkeeper resists and deliberately puts himself in pain by trying to hold the ball with every part of his body. That’s crazy. I think that the goalkeeper position is a very specific and special one in which strong personalities develop. Considering that almost every mistake is made by a goalkeeper Conceding a goal and, in the worst case scenario, leading to a defeat, this creates a high potential for pressure. Showing patience, resilience and mental strength and consistently delivering strong performances every weekend deserves great respect.”
The goalkeeper position is probably the most important and sensitive in football. Accordingly, Kuhl had to ask himself how he could improve goalkeeping if he had never played professional football himself. “I don’t see it critically at all. It’s a fact: I haven’t played a professional game. But that’s exactly where I see my advantage: Because I lack this experience, I’m very inquisitive and willing to learn. I’ve absorbed everything I could on the subject. I’m sensitive in my interactions with my goalkeepers and have developed a completely different perception,” said Kuhl.
Because of his own history, he still has an eye for the football grassroots and knows that he is working in a luxury position. That’s why it’s a matter close to his heart to pass on tips to goalkeepers in amateur football who can’t work with a goalkeeper coach on a daily basis. “An important point is to gain as much experience as possible – be it in training or in games. I would say: So accept every additional session or every friendly game with gratitude. Try to reflect on yourself by recording your goalkeeping game, for example with a cell phone camera or GoPro. Most of the time you can see the first opportunities for improvement yourself. It also doesn’t hurt to look at your favorite goalkeeper and think about why he reacts the way he does in certain situations. Maybe not “Transfer some of this into your own game,” explains Kuhl.
Kuhl achieves Premier League promotion with Burnley FC: “Partyed for four days”
A big career leap followed just over a year ago: Kuhl became goalkeeping coach at the then second division club FC Burnley and managed to return to the Premier League with them. The man from Lower Saxony particularly fondly remembers the promotion celebration. “I’ll never forget the mixture of a great group, beer and karaoke. We partied for four days. I don’t know how many times we sang ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra or songs by Natasha Bedingfield. In fact, DJ Ötzi was also very popular. But the bus tour through Burnley was particularly special for me. There were people everywhere, there were even fans sitting on lanterns and roofs Burnley jersey or Burnley scarf – that’s what I’ll always remember.”
At the Clarets he met then England U21 goalkeeper James Trafford, who was said to have the potential to one day keep goal for the England national team. The Kuhl/Trafford combination proved to be a lucky strike. The Emsland native knew exactly how to promote and challenge Trafford. In the end, he was partly responsible for the outstanding performances of the talented goalkeeper. In 45 league games, Trafford kept a clean sheet 29 times. This played a key role in Burnley being able to return to the Premier League.
But it wasn’t just a promotion for Trafford. His performances convinced Three Lions team boss Thomas Tuchel, who immediately nominated the hopeful for the English national team. Manchester City, with star coach Pep Guardiola, was also enthusiastic about the young goalkeeper and signed him for 31.2 million euros in the summer. “James is a great guy, both athletically and personally. He has a very special combination: on the one hand, he is very tall, but on the other hand, he is also very fast. His speed allows him to take positions that other goalkeepers cannot. I am convinced that we will be hearing a lot more from James,” emphasizes Kuhl.
Ex-KSC goalkeeper Weiß wants to assert himself at Burnley FC – “Great potential”
While veteran Martin Dúbravka now has a new number 1 in the Clarets’ goal, the previous KSC goalkeeper Max Weiß is already scratching his feet. The 21-year-old moved to England for 4 million euros in the summer. But there is no language advantage for the young goalkeeper. “We have agreed that only English will be spoken on the pitch and in the dressing room. This will help Max get into the team more quickly. We see great potential in him and have shown him a clear plan. We are very happy that he is now part of Burnley FC,” explains Kuhl, who is grateful for his path.
“I always see myself in the role of a learner. In the next few years I would like to develop further as a goalkeeper coach and pass on my knowledge accordingly. It is simply a really cool experience and a privilege at the same time to be able to be a goalkeeper coach in the Premier League.”
Interview and text by Henrik Stadnischenko