Stephan Lerch criticizes the opportunities for coaches of women’s teams in men’s football.
“In the end I can’t explain it 100 percent. Of course there are differences in athletics and dynamics. But why shouldn’t a coach who can show success in women’s football also be able to deal with men?” said the 37-year-old German press agency.
Lerch won the championship and the DFB Cup three times with the Wolfsburg women between 2017 and 2020 and was in the Champions League final with VfL in 2018. The football coach has been working in the male youth division at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for the past year and will take over the U19s there for the new season. Lerch would like “a bit more openness for similar paths. Because we talk about the same thing with men as with women: football.”
During his football teacher training, the current national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was asked at what level she would see herself at a theoretical entry into men’s football. “She, too, was rather reserved and reserved, although one should actually say: A women’s national coach could also train a men’s team from one of the top three leagues,” said Lerch.
The way the top clubs are now set up in women’s football is no longer so different from the men’s in terms of the type of leadership and the composition of the staff. “I can only wish for more courage at one or the other club to say: Why not make a change like this?” said Lerch. As an example, he cited the former champion coach of women at FC Bayern Munich: Thomas Wörle now coaches the men’s regional league club SSV Ulm 1846.