sport news How Julian Nagelsmann built his reputation as a new, young talent trends now
He wears make-up to press conferences, idolises John Terry, arrives to training on his skateboard and leaves on his motorbike. And though Julian Nagelsmann was sacked by Bayern Munich on his day off while skiing in the Alps on Thursday and was replaced by Thomas Tuchel, he could be in at Tottenham by the end of the week to take over from Antonio Conte if he really wants an abrupt career change with no break to digest the manic nature of the past week.
The availability of the vegetarian 35-year-old, the go-to coach for Gen X hipsters everywhere, has fallen into Spurs chairman Daniel Levy’s lap. He was the man he wanted to replace Jose Mourinho in 2021 only to discover Bayern were well ahead of the game and had him tied for the following season.
Back then he was the man everyone wanted, having become the youngest coach in Bundesliga history at the age of 28 with Hoffenheim, whom he saved from relegation in a great-escape-type finish to the season. He took that team into the Champions League, was interviewed for the Arsenal job as Arsene Wenger’s replacement but the board thought appointing a 31-year-old for such a job was a step too far and he ended up at RB Leipzig, whom he took to a Champions League semi-final — he lost to Tuchel’s Paris Saint-Germain — and second in the Bundesliga.
Quite what to make of his Bayern career is puzzling. They won the Bundesliga last year (pretty much standard) and, despite recent poor form (in Bayern terms, that means eight wins and two defeats in the last 10) they are locked in a duel with Borussia Dortmund, with the two teams meeting in a game billed as the title decider next Saturday. They have an excellent Champions League record this season and face Manchester City in the quarter-finals, though they lost at that stage against Villarreal last season.
He has always caught the eye, once chatting confidently in a press conference about how plucked eyebrows and make-up made his droopy eyes look better. ‘Women are always allowed to look nice, so I thought that you can do it as a man too,’ he said.
Julian Nagelsmann could be in line to replace Antonio Conte as the new Tottenham manager
Spurs manager Conte faces the sack at Tottenham after a bizarre outburst last weekend
Nagelsmann himself was sacked recently by Bayern Munich and replaced by Thomas Tuchel (centre)
As a Millennial coach, he should be the ideal man to relate to young players. ‘I want to be the same Julian in the free time as the Julian on the pitch so, if I want to go out of bed in the morning and want to go with my skateboard, I don’t think about the headlines,’ he said.
Yet there is just the hint of the intolerant hippy about him. All the outward signifiers say chilled, laid-back 30 something. Yet he is obsessional and demanding about tactical discipline, with some Bayern players privately suggesting that he overcomplicates the game.
Joshua Kimmich, the Bayern captain, spoke fondly of him last week on learning of his sacking. But
