Berlin (AP) – The former Brazilian soccer professional Grafite has given deep insights into Felix Magath’s coaching work.
“When Magath was angry, there were two options. Either he was silent or he yelled. In Brazil they say: Oito ou otenta, he’s either eight or eighty. There’s nothing in between,” said the former VfL Wolfsburg player in an interview with the “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”. Grafite played for Lower Saxony from 2007 to 2011 and became German champion with VfL in 2009 under Magath.
“He’s a great motivator”
“Magath had two special characteristics. He strengthened the mentality of the players. And he held a training session that was extremely tough,” said the now 42-year-old Grafite: “Most players don’t like that. But it gave us a strong one Physis. I don’t know if he can handle it in Berlin now, he doesn’t have much time.” Magath should save Hertha BSC from relegation from the Bundesliga. On Sunday, the 68-year-old was surprisingly presented as the successor to the hapless Tayfun Korkut.
“He’s a great motivator. He asked us what we wanted to do with our careers, things like that,” said Grafite about Magath: “He was always interested in personal things, asked about the family, wanted to know what was going on when you’re sad.” Magath’s coaching team was also “great, by the way”, the veteran coach himself “hardly ever” made any jokes.
The training under Magath is just as hard as it is always said, said Grafite. “I had never worked like that in my life. Not even in the pre-season. Later I saw the results. I was physically a monster,” he said: “There are colleagues who say I’m crazy because I speak well about Magath . But it’s like this: I have him to thank for my successes in the Bundesliga.”
Magath used unusual means at the time when dealing with Wolfsburg. A special feature was “that there were no plans worked out, at least not that we knew about. Whether you had one or two units the next day, whether you trained in the morning or in the evening, you often only found out at the last moment.”