Interview
Nuri Sahin: "It means the world to me"
Nuri Sahin, head coach of Borussia Dortmund. How does that sound to you?
Very good. It sounds different, but it sounds very good. I'm very pleased to be able to say I'm the coach of Borussia Dortmund and to have been given this responsibility, this honour.
You started out at Borussia Dortmund at youth level. You were a ball boy and you made your mark on the pitch. As of today, you are the BVB head coach. What does it mean to you?
The question in itself is the answer. It means the world to me – my connection to this club, to this city. That said, becoming the head coach of Borussia Dortmund is not something that happens automatically. I've been moving in this direction over the last few years and have tried to invest everything to become a good coach so that I could fulfil this dream at some point. Today is the day I get this great opportunity and I'm delighted about it.
You were already part of the coaching staff over the last six months and you reached the Champions League final. What did you take from that time?
A great deal. Edin and I were a team; we always coordinated together. I've been given a lot of freedom in the last six months: I've been able to get to know my club all over again and get all the insights. Edin really opened his doors to me completely – all his data, his analyses, his training: I'll be grateful to him for that for the rest of my life. I've been able to get to know my club from a different perspective. It's been a very, very formative time, which unfortunately didn't culminate in Champions League victory – but it's been a wonderful time that I wouldn't want to miss.
All the BVB fans know Nuri Sahin the player. What sets Nuri Sahin the coach apart and what made you want to become a coach?
It was actually my injury in 2015. That was a game-changing moment for me in which I then really developed my passion to become a coach. I was of course also inspired by the coaches I had at the time. I actually knew then I wanted to go down this path and began to acquire a lot of knowledge in 2015. And now, in 2024, I stand here with this great, great passion of mine as the Borussia Dortmund head coach. I never thought I'd have such passion again after my playing career, but I'm fired up to do this job. I get up every morning with a smile on my face knowing I'm going to be a coach.
What does your philosophy look like? What do you expect from the team?
Every coach is asked this question and the answer is usually: "Possession football. We want to dictate." That will of course apply to us too: we want to be active, we want to have the ball, we want to decide the direction the game takes and that's what we shall exemplify here in Brackel every day. That's the basis for everything that happens at the weekend. The spirit has to be created here, there has to be work, suffering, laughter, tears – we'll put everything on the line. We need all facets of the game. The modern game simply requires you have to cover everything. Possession is of course great, but it doesn't help you alone; we'll also have to defend. In the end, we want to make sure we always score one more goal than our opponents. I want the football we play to fit with this city. Borussia Dortmund and the city of Dortmund stand for something. And I want people to recognise that every weekend when we are in our stadium, that it is Borussia Dortmund playing football.