Two years ago, Jupp Heynckes became the first German manager to win the treble: Champions League, DFB Pokal and German league title. Following that he was voted FIFA World Coach of the Year for 2013. It was a crowning swan song at the end of a phenomenal career that began as a player for Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1964 and continued as a manager in the Bundesliga from 1979.
Today the 69-year olds has been honoured with the DFB’s Lifetime Achievement award for his life’s work as a manager. In an interview with DFB.de, Jupp Heynckes, who is celebrating his 70th birthday on the 9th May, talks about winning awards, the advantages of retirement, his development teacher of football, and the current managers who impress him the most. Remarkable reflections from a remarkable character.
DFB.de: It’s the most exciting time in the football season as everything heads towards the final stages. Do you miss it much Mr Heynckes? Does it give you itchy feet at all?
Heynckes: No, absolutely not. I was in football for 50 years, of which eight-and-a-half years were spent abroad. I’ve experienced a lot and it was an eventful time. But there is more to life than football. It’s been good for me to get away from it all. Don’t worry; I don’t have any withdrawal symptoms (laughs).
DFB.de: What do you enjoy the most about retirement?
Heynckes: Just being at home. It’s a luxury for me after years of being so tense and missing out on a lot. If you want to be successful in football, you have to work around the clock. That’s the price you pay. Your private life doesn’t sit in the background, it doesn’t even exist. I moved 18 times during my career. I’m enjoying our house now, which we built in Schwalmtal in 2002 and moved into in 2003. I’m enjoying nature, spending time with the family, with our cats and our Alsatian. I am also enjoying being able to watch football in peace as a fan, without having to be so analytical like a manager.
DFB.de: You were voted FIFA World Coach of the Year at the end of your career and now you have been honoured with the DFB Lifetime Achievement award. Could you have ever dreamt of receiving all these honours a few years ago?
Heynckes: Great success creates great managers, that’s just how it is. There are many coaches, either in the Bundesliga, or in the amateur game, who do some excellent work but never receive the recognition that they actually deserve. Titles and success get all the attention and that happened a lot in my final years, especially with the historic treble with FC Bayern.
Two years ago, Jupp Heynckes became the first German manager to win the treble: Champions League, DFB Pokal and German league title. Following that he was voted FIFA World Coach of the Year for 2013. It was a crowning swan song at the end of a phenomenal career that began as a player for Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1964 and continued as a manager in the Bundesliga from 1979.
Today the 69-year olds has been honoured with the DFB’s Lifetime Achievement award for his life’s work as a manager. In an interview with DFB.de, Jupp Heynckes, who is celebrating his 70th birthday on the 9th May, talks about winning awards, the advantages of retirement, his development teacher of football, and the current managers who impress him the most. Remarkable reflections from a remarkable character.
DFB.de: It’s the most exciting time in the football season as everything heads towards the final stages. Do you miss it much Mr Heynckes? Does it give you itchy feet at all?
Heynckes: No, absolutely not. I was in football for 50 years, of which eight-and-a-half years were spent abroad. I’ve experienced a lot and it was an eventful time. But there is more to life than football. It’s been good for me to get away from it all. Don’t worry; I don’t have any withdrawal symptoms (laughs).
DFB.de: What do you enjoy the most about retirement?
Heynckes: Just being at home. It’s a luxury for me after years of being so tense and missing out on a lot. If you want to be successful in football, you have to work around the clock. That’s the price you pay. Your private life doesn’t sit in the background, it doesn’t even exist. I moved 18 times during my career. I’m enjoying our house now, which we built in Schwalmtal in 2002 and moved into in 2003. I’m enjoying nature, spending time with the family, with our cats and our Alsatian. I am also enjoying being able to watch football in peace as a fan, without having to be so analytical like a manager.
DFB.de: You were voted FIFA World Coach of the Year at the end of your career and now you have been honoured with the DFB Lifetime Achievement award. Could you have ever dreamt of receiving all these honours a few years ago?
Heynckes: Great success creates great managers, that’s just how it is. There are many coaches, either in the Bundesliga, or in the amateur game, who do some excellent work but never receive the recognition that they actually deserve. Titles and success get all the attention and that happened a lot in my final years, especially with the historic treble with FC Bayern.
DFB.de: It has been 36 years since you first stood on the touchline as manager of Borussia Mönchengladbach. Professional football has changed a lot since then. Is it the same for being a manager?
Heynckes: Football has developed rapidly, especially the media aspect of the game. Everything is more accessible, everything has become more international. Things have also changed a lot for managers content wise. Football is a simple sport that is very popular, but for those directly involved, such as players and coaches, it is comprised of many complex aspects – from social competence to the sporting and tactical parts of the game. Compared to today’s managers, as a young coach I had an easier start to my career. I was allowed to make mistakes back then. Today you can’t do that or you will be crucified by the critics immediately. It’s a shame because you learn from your mistakes.
DFB.de: In what was has managing a team changed?
Heynckes: Back then I had very autocratic managers. The manager gave orders and the players did what he said. You can forget that in today’s game. The players are more mature these days, which is a good thing. The social dynamic within a team is fundamental. In order to be successful there needs to be mutual respect and support within a team. And the players need to trust their managers.
DFB.de:So things weren’t better before then?
Heynckes: No, I don’t belong to that type of manager. The times were completely different. As a player, for example, I never felt pressure back then, even as a youngster. I was therefore able to develop freely. Today the pressure to perform is a lot greater, mainly because, among other reasons, the corporate aspect plays such an important role today. As a manager today you need to be able to take some of that pressure of the players, not heap on more. A manager needs to be solid as a rock and able to constantly calm things down. Carlos Ancelotti does that brilliantly at Real Madrid with his unanimated and confident style.
DFB.de: What serious developments and changes have you had to undergo during your 34 years as a manager?
Heynckes: As a manager I always thought that players needed to be just as professional in there thinking as I always. I always demanded that to the point where I was too rigorous and unrelenting. At some point I realised that it wasn’t necessary. Before you had to always teach players what professionalism mean. Today it is more embedded in the players and it is only really necessary to do this at the highest level, when you want to be successful internationally. It also helped me as a person to get to know other cultures and ways of life when I worked abroad. Finally, I have always tried to be just. It might not always have worked, but at least I tried (laughs).
DFB.de: Which managers had the greatest influence on you?
Heynckes: First of all my mentor and old friend Hennes Weisweiler. He had a raw nature about him, he found a lot of enjoyment in his work and had an enormous passion for football. Hennes was lucky that his came to Gladbach at just the right time. There he found an abundance of fantastic players that he eventually nurtured into a team. His character, his ambition and his leadership all influenced me greatly. He taught me to never give up. But other managers have had an influence on me too, although they were all opponents of mine: Ernst Happel, Branko Zebec, Pal Csernai – all great tacticians.
DFB.de: Which current managers impress you?
Heynckes: I have already mentioned Ancelotti. I know from my own experience how difficult it is to manage Real Madrid. In Germany we have a lot of top-managers. Markus Weinzierl is doing a great job at Augsburg, as is an ex-player of mine Dieter Hecking at Wolfsburg. Let’s not forget Lucien Favre – the connection he has with Borussia Mönchengladbach, and vice versa, is a godsend for both clubs. Next I would like to mention Christian Streich. He has done some fantastic work at SC Freiburg in the youth and is keeping the club in the Bundesliga despite losing his best player. I take my hat off to him for that.
DFB.de: Compared to most, you had the perfect farewell in the summer of 2013, after winning the Champions League, the DFB cup and the German championship. Was that the best season of your life?
Heynckes: Based on the titles we won and the type of football we played to win them, it was most definitely the most successful season. Admittedly though, I spent two years of life in Munich living solely for football. I was incredibly happy in Bilbao, where I really felt at home. The stadium alone was great for me: always sold out, almost every fan wearing a Bilbao shirt, people breathed football there. When I arrived there in 1992, I couldn’t speak a world of Spanish. The players helped me integrate, it was a wonderful cooperation.
DFB.de: What was the most meaningful success for you?
Heynckes: In my first year as a professional for Borussia Mönchengladbach (1964/65) we were promoted from the Regionalliga to the Bundesliga. That was the best year for me as a player. We played instinctive, carefree football, like on the streets. The best title win for me was the first German championship in 1971. I had always dreamt of that as a kid and all my success following this win was due to my yearning for more success.
DFB.de: What does it mean to you to be recognised for your life’s work as a manager?
Heynckes: Of course it’s a great honour. You shouldn’t forget that it wasn’t always so easy, that I experience lows, as well as the highs, as a manager. That should give young managers courage to never give up. This award is also for all those managers who never receive the recognition for the great work they do.
Jupp Heynckes in numbers:
Born: 9th May 1945
Playing career: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hannover 96 –Statistics: 369 Bundesliga games (220 goals), 39 international caps (14 goals)
Greatest achievements as a player: World Cup winner 1974; European Championship winner 1972; German Champion with Borussia Mönchengladbach 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977; DFB-Cup winner with Mönchengladbach 1973, UEFA-Cup winner with Mönchengladbach 1975; Bundesliga top goalscorer 1974 und 1975; Third in the Bundesliga all-time top-scorer list
Managerial career: Borussia Mönchengladbach (1979-1987), FC Bayern München (1987-1991), Athletic Bilbao (1992-1994), Eintracht Frankfurt (1994/1995), CD Tenerife (1995-1997), Real Madrid (1997/1998), Benfica (1999/2000), Athletic Bilbao (2001-2003), FC Schalke 04 (2003/2004), Borussia Mönchengladbach (2006/2007), FC Bayern München (2009), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2009-2011), FC Bayern München (2011-2013)
Greatest achievements as a manager: Champions League winner with Real Madrid (1998) und Bayern München (2013); German champions with Bayern München 1989, 1990, 2013; DFB-Cup with Bayern München 2013
Honours as a manager: DFB Lifetime Achievement Award2015; FIFA Coach of the Year 2013; German Coach of the Year 2013; Bambi Prize in Sport’s category 2013; DFB-Fairplay Medaille 2013.
