Tobias Raschl: my first steps in the first team

Lucien Favre is stood on the sidelines gesticulating to his players. It’s the fourth day of summer training camp in Bad Ragaz. On the pitch of the ''Ri Au'' sports complex, Bundesliga runners-up Borussia Dortmund are going head-to-head in a friendly match against FC Zürich.''Here! No! Forward! Not you Thomas! Play it on Tobi! Yes! That’s it!'' The head coach does all he can to make sure his players are in the right position - and today there’s one player in particular Favre wants to see occupying the number 10 role, taking on opponents and making himself available for teammates.

"The feedback works very well, I take it all in," says Tobias Raschl weeks later as he reflects on this game in Switzerland. "In the beginning, he had to introduce me to new roles and new formations. A player like me, who doesn't have much experience yet, needs help and guidance." A a sense of gratitude resonates in the words of the newcomer to the first team - not to mention a feeling of deep respect for Lucien Favre, who is well-known for the way he works with highly talented young footballers who are willing to learn. In Raschl's words: "He has seen hundreds if not thousands of young players. I know where I am, how things stand between us and what it is I have to improve on.''

The youngster seems blissfully unaware of the public attention he has been on the receiving end of. The famous German football magazine kicker wrote the following about the aforementioned friendly in Switzerland: ''Favre sent BVB out in his bread-and-butter formation (4-2-3-1) with the eye-catching Tobias Raschl occupying the number 10 role.'' The club captain was equally positive in his assessment. Speaking at the end of training camp, Marco Reus said: ''The very youngest players have made a brilliant impression. It's not easy playing at this level at such a young age.''

Tobias Raschl has only just started to make his presence felt in the world of professional football. He even managed to score the very first BVB goal of the season in the friendly match against 1. FC Schweinberg, but he wasn't getting ahead of himseld: "That game was far from an even match, but it was still a nice feeling." Just a few days afterwards, brimming with excitement, he climbed aboard the plane that whisked the BVB squad across the Atlantic to the United States for a PR tour and a training camp rolled into one: "It was very exciting," says the youngster: "Training with jet lag and time difference and then playing two games was a completely new experience for me, but everything was made as easy as possible for us." Overwhelming. Enjoyable. Exciting. These are the words which Raschl uses to describe the USA tour and his first few weeks in the first-team squad. He is a sensible, thoughtful young man and a pleasant interview partner; blessed with footballing talent, he was been forged by a down-to-earth upbringing. 

Back to his roots

To really understand Tobias Raschl, it's important you first get to know his parents and siblings. They live in Düsseldorf-Unterrath, an area of the state capital dominated by buildings from the sixties. One block of flats rises up after another. The house bearing the number 41 isn't the easiest place to find. Two-storey, homely, located in a rear courtyard: you can almost imagine being in the countryside. The Raschls decided rural life wasn't for them; instead, they chose to live as close as possible to the family business - which is located just next door. This means that father Robert can be home in time for dinner every day with his wife and children (Henrik, Tobias and Leonie), while the children only have to walk a short distance should they wish to spend some time with their father during the day. 

This is the site of Germany's oldest frame straightening workshop for commercial vehicles. To put it in the simplest of terms: the Raschl family have been bending metal here for the last 70 years. In the words of the company website: ''Through applying up to one thousand tons of pressure, chassis of all kinds can be straightened using the cold straightening method. Well-known vehicle manufacturers as well as the German Armed Forces and Deutsche Bahn trust our expertise.''

Tobi's older brother Henrik (21) will most likely follow in the footsteps of his father Robert (46) and lead the family business into the next generation. After graduating from high school, Henrik trained as a motor mechanic, a path that would also have been open to Tobias (19). "Football has stolen a frame bender from me," says his father with a wry smile. At the end of the day, all he wants is for his boy to be well-equipped to deal with the challenges that life will inevitably throw at him. 

"We're tradesmen. The chance of making it in professional football is one in a million," was the advice he gave Tobias when a potential move to Borussia Dortmund was discussed among the family four years ago. Twelve months later, as a move to the club residence was suggested as a means to avoid the long daily commute between Düsseldorf and Dortmund, mother Nadine (45) warned: "You're not moving away from home just for football - you also need to pass your exams!''

The challenge of juggling school and football

School seems to have been the only real source of conflict between the young Tobias and his parents. "Everything was great in the beginning," Tobi says, "I had very few problems, I knew all the boys from the residence who went to school. The higher up I got - U17, U19, national team meetings - the more stressful it became.'' After a week of DFB training and a trip with BVB to a UEFA Youth League match, Raschl arrived at a point where he felt completely overwhelmed by the prospect of sitting exams: ''I said to myself, 'This is too much!' But my parents really wanted me to go through with it. With tutoring sessions and the support of the club, I managed to make it through." 

In those days, his parents were regularly on the phone to staff at the BVB residency. ''Tobias had pretty much given up on school altogether,'' says his concerned mother: ''The guardians at the residency (Franziska and Marvin Mainoo-Boakye) were always there if I wanted to call, there were always on hand to help if we had issues with Tobi’s education.'' It was far from easy, but in the end Tobi managed to pass his final school exams. There are no doubts that the 19-year-old is talented enough to have a successful career as a professional footballer, but no-one is ever safe from the risks of a career-ending injury. His school leaving certificate makes for a good insurance policy. He may not quite see the benefits just yet, but he still recognises that: ''It will come in handy somewhere down the line.''

Tobias was just eight years old when Borussia Mönchengladbach got in touch. The all-clear for a move  away from local club SG Unterrath was given when his grandfather said that he could take on driving duty. Mother Nadine always looked out for the good of the family as a whole: ''We have three children. No one should miss out on anything.'' Nonetheless, football has dictated the Raschl's weekend plans ever since. Until Tobias reached U19 level, the schedule was: "Sunday we'd go to Tobi, watch football, then we'd go to Henrik, watch football. Leonie does ballet, but fortunately that's not on at the weekend. The boys would always come to watch her. Everything is important."

''Are you the one with the old-time car?''

It was in Gladbach that the young Tobias got his first real taste of the big world of top-level football. ''Watching the pros as a young lad was always exciting,'' he says. His friendship with Max Eberl’s son would survive the most difficult stage of his footballing career so far. When he reached the U13 age group, Tobi was told that there was no longer a place for him at Mönchengladbach. ''He had always done really well up till then,'' remembers his father: ''But all of a sudden, they said 'He’s good technically, but he's too slow.''

''Tobi was absolutely devastated,'' adds his father, ''Henrik was in tears too.'' In the summer of 2013, Tobias took a slight step backwards in moving to Fortuna Düsseldorf, but he soon proved that nothing could stand in the way of his development as a footballer. He was given the captain’s armband for the U14 side, and soon enough, in early 2015, Borussia Dortmund started to take notice. ''It like to try it out, see how it goes. That’s the next level,'' said Tobias to his father back then. His response? ''Go for it. If it doesn’t turn out how you want, we’ll be there for you.''

In the end, it turned out exactly how he wanted. Robert Raschl had a positive impression right from his first conversations with U16 coach Christian Flüthmann and U17 coach Hannes Wolf: ''I really wanted to know who was going to be taking care of my boy.'' During his first year at BVB, the 15-year-old Tobias spent a lot of time on the motorway or on regional express trains. Then came the move to the club residence. Nowadays he stays with a host family in the Kreuzviertel area of Dortmund, which means he ''never has to come home to an empty flat.'' ''I was never the boy that got homesick - it was more my mum  that used to miss me,'' says Tobias, who wore the captain’s armband for the Black & Yellows at U16, U17 and U19 level.

He soon came to realise that, not only could he keep pace at Junior Bundesliga, he could also dictate matches. ''At U17 level you’re not thinking about going pro or playing in the Bundesliga - those are goals that still seem a long way away. You’re focused on the junior league and you have other things to worry about, such as school for example. But then, at some point, you start thinking to yourself: 'I want to make it as a pro, ideally here at Borussia Dortmund.' But we all knew how difficult that would be. Only Jacob Bruun Larsen and Christian Pulisic were able to make it from the year gang above us.'' As he came to the end of his final season, Tobias - alongside teammates Luca Unbehaun and Patrick Osterhage - signed his first professional contract with the club. Michael Zorc welcomed him on board with the following words: ''Are you the one with the old-time car?'' - a reference to Tobi’s first-ever car - a Mercedes /8, produced between 1968 and 1976. A big heavy car with little in the way of power. It was his father who suggested it: ''So that he can learn how to drive properly.''

It doesn’t seem like Tobias Raschl has much left to learn when it comes to playing football. Now it’s all about finding the fine performance margins that separate top talents from top players. Raschl and co. have been given the perfect footballing education across the various youth performance centres found throughout Germany. Borussia Dortmund’s academy enjoys a particularly good reputation, having educated over 100 youth players who now play in Germany’s top three divisions and numerous top European leagues. 

The step up to the top

''A lot of the boys from our age group have done well for themselves and are now signed for a club in the Bundesliga or 2. Bundesliga. The education you get in Dortmund is absolutely first-rate - everything is very professional, be it the coaching staff, the technology or the training facilities. You’re taught in such a way that you can make a success of it no matter where you end up,'' says the 19-year-old, who is determined to make his breakthrough nowhere else but here in Dortmund. ''I’m well aware that I’m at an absolutely huge club and have a big opportunity here.''

Tobias Raschl made the step up to the first team squad fresh off the back of leading the U19s to the 2019 German Championship. In both legs of the semi-final tie against Schalke (2-2, 2-0), Raschl shouldered the responsibility of taking a penalty, finding the back of the net on both occasions. In the final against VfB Stuttgart, captain Raschl managed to keep his head up as his side went down 3-1 on the scoresheet. An inspired performance from the midfielder helped his side on their way to a sensational come-from-behind win, with the match ultimately finishing 5-3 in favour of the Black & Yellows. Interviewed after the match, Raschl spoke of the: ''Unbelievable feeling of having turned the game on its head. Nothing else this season can compare.'' The final whistle in Großaspach represented something of a turning point - a farewell to youth if you will. The following day, Raschl realised: ''Ok, that’s all in the past now.'' He spent his holidays in Greece with two teammates. ''You start to look forward to the day it all gets underway again - seeing all the players, the coach, the surroundings.'' In some ways Raschl arguably had something of a head-start: the midfielder was in attendance at the first team’s January 2019 training camp in Marbella. 

Wednesday, 3 July, 2019: it is full of excitement that Tobias Raschl enters the "hallowed ground" of the Borussia Dortmund first-team dressing room: "You have to know your place in the group. You are a young player who has just come up and you're sat next to World Cup winner Mario Götze on one side and club legend Marcel Schmelzer on the other.'' The former captain, known affectionately as the ''integration minister'', did his utmost to make the transition as easy as possible for his new neighbour, a full twelve years younger than him. "It was an amazing feeling to join in with everything and know that I was now part of the squad." It was certainly hard work, "much more intensive than anything in the youth teams, much faster and more physical. That was clear from the start." Two intensive sessions a day takes its toll on both body and mind. "You always have to be switched on and fit if you want to keep up. I was happy with how preseason went. The coach often gave me positive feedback and I feel I did well in the sessions overall.''

During preseason, Raschl is named in the starting line-up a total of three times. But as the season draws nearer, it soon becomes clear that the former U19 is not quite at the point (yet) where he can be counted among the top 20 players in the first-team squad. ''I can accept that no problem,’’ says the 19-year-old. His words don’t seem artificial in the slightest; they are spoken with a real sense of conviction. ''You have to be realistic about it and go in with the knowledge that you’re no longer playing lead guitar in the way you used to back in the youth teams.''

Tobias has been good friends with Jacob Bruun Larsen for a long time now, and the two of them have shared many important conversations: "Jacob didn't make his breakthrough in his first year either, but he stayed patient and kept working hard in training.’’ The day before the opening Bundesliga match against FC Augsburg, Tobias Raschl is wearing the famous Black & Yellow jersey. But he isn't all set to run out onto the grass of a sold-out Signal Iduna Park alongside the first team. He won't be competing in front of 80,000 fans; instead, eight spectators will be in attendance as he turns out for the U23s in a friendly against NEC Nijmegen. Raschl does his job well, of course, and he doesn't seem too disappointed either. Dropping down to the U23s shouldn't be seen as a step-back, but rather as a welcome opportunity to play. The youngster has set himself clear guidelines for his first full year as a professional: "Never lose your desire. It doesn't matter. It's just the first year. You should be working on your weaknesses. You should never let your head drop." Mature words from the mouth of a 19-year-old.

Back in Düsseldorf, Raschl's parents are eagerly awaiting the visit of their second eldest. Father Robert has words of encouragement for his son Tobias: "This is an educational year. You're playing alongside the best, there is so much you can learn." As for mother Nadine, she hopes her son: "Stays healthy, doesn't lose his love of playing football - and maybe gets a few minutes too..."

Boris Rupert