Swiss in an interview
A few years ago, Charles Pickel was a permanent member of the junior national teams in Switzerland. There he played alongside Ruben Vargas, Breel Embolo and Djibril Sow, for example. But while these players’ careers have soared effortlessly, midfielder Pickel had to overcome a number of hurdles and detours to climb the ranks. This not always straight path has meanwhile led him to the US Cremonese in Serie A. Transfermarkt spoke to the 25-year-old.
Most of the time, it is fateful encounters that have a lasting effect on you and that you remember even years later, even though they were far in the past. Pickel experienced such a formative event a good three years ago. After he returned to his parent club Grasshopper Club Zurich after a loan, he knew after talks with those responsible for the club at the time that there would be no future for him at the GC. Irony of fate: Pickel previously celebrated relegation with his loan club Neuchatel Xamax, while the Grasshoppers had to start the bitter journey to the second division. At that point, Pickel was a young midfield talent who had the skills and talent to possibly establish himself in the Swiss Super League, but nobody in Zurich really wanted to believe him.
Pickel’s regression to Grenoble: “I knew I had to take this opportunity”
So while his time with the Swiss record champions was over, his career was really just beginning at that moment. To do this, however, Pickel had to take two steps back and that on a path that was paved with bumps. Surprisingly, he moved to France, but not in Ligue 1, but in Ligue 2 to Grenoble Foot 38. Although the region around Grenoble is one of the tourist hotspots, the club had fallen asleep in sport. Grenoble last played in the first division in 2010. But this development did not detract from Pickel’s decision to move to the south-east of France. “I knew I had to take this opportunity to advance my sporting development. The change was not easy for me because I had to leave my home country for the first time in my life and was completely on my own,” he says.
“I was blown away by the all-or-nothing mentality that the French showed,” says Pickel. “In Switzerland, if you don’t succeed with football, you are usually covered by an apprenticeship that you complete when you are young. There is no such thing in France. The players put everything on one card. For many it is also a kind of last resort to avoid ending up on the streets.”
Not only did he quickly establish himself as a regular with the blue and whites, he also became a key player, distinguished himself by his good eye and his solution-oriented style of play. In order to advance this development at all, Pickel also had to deal with the doubts about his abilities that had accompanied him up to that point. “There is no professional footballer who does not have doubts or fear of failure. You have to go through it to even get into the flow. When you have reached this flow, many things will take care of themselves. You suddenly play passes that you have never been able to play in your life before. The beauty of football is that there really is no limit. You can improve every day – and you should too.”
Pickel: “Of course it would have been cool to move to Germany”
The former U20 international says: “The most important thing for a footballer is to be trusted by their coach. I was lucky in Grenoble. Philippe Hinschberger always said to me: ‘Feel free. You can do whatever you want on the pitch. You have the skills to turn a game in our favor.’ Such statements give you strength and the necessary self-confidence.”
Bundesliga professional at the top: The most valuable Swiss
Pickel has the reputation of a mentality player. But the 25-year-old knows that this image is not always an advantage and remembers a special situation. He says: “I have a lot of ambition and I hate to lose. During a training game, my team lost and I was extremely frustrated. The situation turned into a scuffle and the coach sent me into the dressing room. He then summoned me to the office and said to me, ‘Charles, I don’t want any explanations. You can be an incredibly important player for any team, but try to channel your ambition and motivation.’ At that moment I thought of my former coach Boris Smiljanic, with whom I had experienced a similar situation. He once gave me a shark tooth on the grounds that it would reflect my personality. For me, this situation in Grenoble was like a click. Since then I’ve been calmer and more relaxed.”
Especially in his second year, the native of Solothurn was able to convince his last critics in France. For almost the entire season he played with his club for promotion to Ligue 1, but just missed it. As with his move to France, he also surprised with the next step in his career: instead of switching to a French first division club, it took him to the lesser-known Portuguese first division club FC Famalicão. This decision also turned out to be spot on. At the club from Vila Nova de Famalicão, Pickel became the undisputed regular player, so clubs from the Bundesliga took notice of him as early as the winter break.
“Of course it would have been cool to move to Germany, but I want and always wanted to gain match practice and not switch to a club just because the club has a good reputation. It was important to me to take the right step, even if it was supposedly small. During my time in France I could have gone to bigger clubs, but I was convinced that this would not have helped me on my way,” emphasizes the midfielder. It was only six months later that the dream of a transfer to one of the top European leagues became a reality. Instead of going to Germany, he went to Italy to this year’s Serie A promoted Cremonese.
Pickel is struggling with a change there, because while his clubs in France and Portugal have focused on offensive football, Cremonese focuses on a well-organized defense. But this has no influence on his inner drive or motivation. Rather, he is looking forward to the new challenge. “First of all, every country, every new culture, every new language matures you in personality and character. Each league made sure that you learn new skills, which you then pack into an imaginary backpack. And whenever you encounter obstacles or difficulties in another league, you unpack and apply those skills you have learned. For example, in Portugal I was initially taken to my borders in one-on-one situations. After that, I used every training session to let these boundaries disappear until I could say, I feel safe, I’m relaxed in a one-on-one situation.”
Switzerland or DR Congo? For pimples “perhaps the most difficult decision”
Pickel also says about himself that he has undergone a transformation through the birth of his children. “For me, my daughter and my son are the greatest happiness. Every time I step onto the pitch I want to win for them. In general, I am a family man who wants his family to be well. Of course you could buy a lot of luxury items with the money you earn in football, but that’s not my intention at all. Rather, I want to guarantee my family a carefree life. In this context, my most emotional moment wasn’t a win either, but after my parents told me that they were extremely proud of me. After that I, who is otherwise very hard, had to shed a few tears.”
Pickel feels great pride and gratitude when he realizes that children or young people are now wearing his jersey. “When I was young, I watched videos of Zidane and Ronaldinho, looked up at them and practiced their tricks on the pitch until I could do them. When I then realize that there are children, young people or adults who want a shirt with my name on it, that honors me. However, sometimes I can’t believe it, because I’m not a real star like Zinédine Zidane, for example ‘” Pickel emphasizes.
Two worlds, or rather two nations, beat in his heart. On the one hand Pickel is Swiss and on the other hand there is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The 25-year-old is slowly having to decide which national team he wants to play for in the future. “This is perhaps the most difficult decision of my entire career. On the one hand I would like to play for Switzerland, on the other hand I also feel connected to the Congo. In the end, it will probably be my gut feeling that will decide,” laughs Pickel.
The connection to the African continent makes Pimple thoughtful more often than he would like. Especially when you read about poverty and hunger in this context, because these problems are not present in professional football and its environment. “When you are in the Congo, the supposed problems that we Europeans have become irrelevant. When I first came back from the Congo, my girlfriend didn’t recognize me. I was withdrawn because I would have liked to help everywhere, but I couldn’t. In these moments you reflect on what is really important in life,” emphasizes the midfielder.
When Pickel left Switzerland a good three years ago to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional soccer player in a top European league, he had no idea where he would end up later. Today he speaks of many lessons he had to master on his way, but the most important one was perseverance. “You should always work in such a way that you can eventually fulfill your wish, no matter how big that dream is. I go onto the pitch every day with a smile because I can still feel the fascination with football that touched me as a child and I feel lucky to be able to work as a professional footballer.”
Interview by Henrik Stadnischeko
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