Hans Meyer is considered the coaching icon of the Bundesliga. He has also looked after Union Berlin and Hertha BSC in his long career.
Baggy tracksuit, analytical look, hands buried deep in the pockets of the thick winter jacket. In February 1995, for example, Hans Meyer was the new Union Berlin coach on the sidelines. At that time, the Köpenickers were a regional league team, but there is still no sign of the Bundesliga’s glamor today.
This also becomes clear when you look at the footballing qualities of the squad. “You can tell that we have some real strengths going forward,” Meyer analyzed after his debut with the Irons at Sachsen Leipzig. “But we have huge problems in terms of individual and collective defensive behavior,” he continues. Hans Meyer, who turns 80 on Thursday, is known for relentless analyzes and pithy sayings at all of his stations throughout the German football landscape.
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Union was remembered
His involvement with the Irons only lasted a good eight months. His point average with an average of 2.11 points in 27 games is quite remarkable and 1. FC Union is undefeated in second place in the regional league table. So the dismissal comes as a surprise. “I felt left alone,” says Meyer, who had previously criticized the club’s economic performance. However, Meyer does not only fondly remember games in Köpenick as a home coach.
“The Wuhlheide was always popular because we used to have to walk 60 or 65 meters past the entire grandstand to get to our seats as coaches. In this grandstand you were insulted without end as a guest coach,” says Meyer recently German press agency. “Of the ten insults you heard, you had to laugh or applaud seven because they were so classy. That was Union then and has continued to this day.”
But out of the ten insults you heard, seven made you laugh or applaud because they were so sophisticated
Mission relegation at Hertha
A few years later, after a much longer stay at Twente Enschede and his favorite club Borussia Mönchengladbach, Meyer returned to Berlin in the winter of 2004 – to Hertha BSC.
Meyer’s philosophy and approach also quickly becomes clear with the blue and whites. Meyer is a coach who today would be classified as “old school”. Structure, discipline and clear announcements are important to him. The players on the training ground and in the stadium feel that again and again. “I have no problem with that,” said Hertha’s current manager Fredi Bobic at the time with a mischievous grin. “Because I’ve already had a few coaches, I can judge quite well whether it’s fun or serious.”
The Meyer method is successful at Hertha: The then 61-year-old fulfilled his mission of staying up in the league. The fans in the Olympic Stadium thank him with banners and chants that last several minutes.
Hans Meyer hugs Nando Rafael after Hertha’s successful relegation in 2004.
At Gladbach still in the presidency
Nevertheless, Meyer resigns. At his next stop with 1. FC Nuremberg, he sensationally won the DFB Cup in the 2006/2007 season before returning to Gladbach for a short season in 2008, where he still sits on the executive committee. Overall, however, it has become much quieter around the long-standing coach.
The fact that he still follows and observes football and the Bundesliga very closely is not only evident from his regular visits to the stadiums. Most recently, he also praised his ex-club Union Berlin in the highest tones. “They really grabbed the gold with manager Oliver Ruhnert and trainer Urs Fischer. If you have as little money as they do, then you need a particularly good eye and a lucky hand when it comes to transfers. They did that,” said Meyer. Such transfers would be all the easier to implement “when the players see that they are coming to a team that is organized, plays with heart and is physically in top shape. There was an interaction,” Meyer continued.
Even as a football pensioner, Meyer keeps his analytical view – and structure, discipline and clear announcements are still important.
Broadcast: rbb24, 02.11.22, 6 p.m
