- Otto Rehhagel
-
Otto Rehhagel 
Personal information Full name Otto Rehhagel Date of birth 9 August 1938 Place of birth Essen, Germany Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) Playing position Defender Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1957–1960 TuS Helene Altenessen 1960–1963 Rot-Weiss Essen 90 (3) 1963–1965 Hertha BSC 53 (6) 1965–1972 1. FC Kaiserslautern 148 (17) Teams managed 1972–1973 1. FC Saarbrücken 1973–1974 Kickers Offenbach (Assistant coach) 1974–1975 Kickers Offenbach 1976 Werder Bremen 1976–1978 Borussia Dortmund 1978–1979 Arminia Bielefeld 1979–1980 Fortuna Düsseldorf 1981–1995 Werder Bremen 1995–1996 Bayern Munich 1996–2000 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2001–2010 Greece * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Otto Rehhagel (born 9 August 1938 in Essen) is a German football coach and former football player. Along with Helmut Schön, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Udo Lattek and Hennes Weisweiler, he is considered one of the most successful German managers.
Rehhagel is the only person who, as player and as manager combined, has participated in over 1000 Bundesliga matches. In the Bundesliga, he holds the records for the most victories (387), most draws (205), most losses (228), and his teams have scored the most goals (1473) and conceded more (1142) than any other.
Internationally, Rehhagel coached the Greece national team from 2001 to 2010 in what has been the nation's most successful footballing era – during that period, the Greek team won the 2004 European Championship and qualified to the 2010 World Cup, their second ever World Cup finals participation.
Contents
Playing career
Rehhagel began his playing career with local club TuS Helene Altenessen in 1952 before moving to Rot-Weiss Essen (1960–63), after the start of the Bundesliga for Hertha BSC (1963–65), and until 1972 for Kaiserslautern. He played 201 games in the Bundesliga. As a player, Rehhagel was known as a tough-as-nails defender.
Managerial career
Early years
He first became a coach in 1974 with Kickers Offenbach, but failed to make an immediate impact. Most famously, with Borussia Dortmund, he suffered a historical, record-setting 12–0 loss after which the tabloids called him Otto Torhagel ("Tor" means goal in German, and "Hagel" means a hailstorm).
Werder Bremen
After several short assignments including Arminia Bielefeld and Fortuna Düsseldorf he worked for Werder Bremen from 1981 to 1995. During these fourteen years, Rehhagel transformed Werder from a small minnow into a powerhouse, dazzling spectators with powerful up-tempo play and a smothering defence. During this spell, Werder Bremen established themselves as one of the main teams in the Bundesliga, overtaking hated rivals Hamburg as the top club in the north and sparking an intense feud with Bayern Munich. In the mid-eighties, Rehhagel often fell just short of success and had a string of second places and Cup Final losses. In that time, his nickname was Otto II or Vizeadmiral ("Vice Admiral"). After this unfortunate period, Rehhagel led them to two German championships, in 1988 and 1993 and two German Cup victories, as well as one win in the Cup Winners' Cup. In this period, Rehhagel produced a host of international stars, such as Rudi Völler, Karlheinz Riedle, Dieter Eilts, Marco Bode, Mario Basler, Hany Ramzy, Andreas Herzog and Rune Bratseth. His Werder Bremen team of 1988 was until recently the squad which conceded the fewest goals ever in the Bundesliga (22), this record was surpassed by Bayern Munich in the 2007–08 season with 21 goals. His stint with Werder Bremen (14 years Bundesliga) is the second longest consecutive occupation as a manager ever in the Bundesliga. It was only recently surpassed by Volker Finke of Freiburg (15 years – 10 Bundesliga, 5 second Division).
Bayern Munich
After fourteen golden years, Rehhagel left Bremen to coach Bayern Munich in the 1995–96 season. After a disappointing, but financially lucrative year (only sixth place in the Bundesliga, but semi-finals in the Champions League), Bayern spent a lot of money, buying Jürgen Klinsmann, Andreas Herzog, Rehhagel and others, and it was widely expected that Munich would steamroll the opposition. However, from Day 1, Rehhagel clashed with the team and the team environment. His single-minded and occasionally eccentric ways did not mesh at all with Bayern, who quickly felt that Rehhagel was too rural at heart and had no clue about how to interact in the fancy environment of Munich. Moreover, Rehhagel's old-fashioned tactics and patronizing of the players caused major antipathy in the Bayern team, especially from Klinsmann, who never missed an opportunity to take shots at Rehhagel. The team disintegrated in the second half of the season. Rehhagel was famously ousted three weeks before they were to play in the final of the 1996 UEFA Cup, after a disappointing end to their league campaign. His job was taken over by Franz Beckenbauer, who led the team to victory in the cup.
1. FC Kaiserslautern
After this, Otto Rehhagel coached Kaiserslautern between 1996 and 2000, which had just been relegated after a catastrophic season. He injected new energy into the team which led to FCK's comfortable promotion back to the Bundesliga. Prior to the season, FCK was seen as a dark horse for a place in the UEFA Cup, but Rehhagel's team simply steamrollered the opposition. With sparkling offence and sheer never-ending energy (half a dozen games were won in injury time), Kaiserslautern won a sensational German championship in 1998, by now the first win by a promoted team. Rehhagel coached FCK to some less spectacular, but very decent results, but heavy internal conflicts and a massive smear campaign against him caused him to leave.[citation needed]
Greek national squad
Otto Rehhagel giving instructions to players of the Greece national football team before the changes.
In 2001 Rehhagel became the coach of the Greek national team. The team qualified directly for Euro 2004, ahead of Spain and Ukraine. Ranked 100–1 outsiders, they sensationally defeated Portugal (the hosts), France (the holders) and the Czech Republic (favourites for many) on the way to the final where they defeated Portugal again to lift the cup. Rehhagel, who was seen as the man most responsible for the team's success, became the first foreign coach ever to win a European Championship. Despite not having a star-studded line-up, the Greek team won the championship, conceding no goals in the knock-out stage.
Rehhagel adopted a defensive approach in playing his Greek side, using energetic midfielders to wear down the opponents and the policy of defending in numbers to numb the opposition's attacks. When charged with boring play, he said, "No one should forget that a coach adapts the tactics to the characteristics of the available players." Interestingly, his time at Werder Bremen is remembered for the flashy and spectacular attacking football the team favoured.
After Rudi Völler resigned as Germany coach in the wake of that country's first-round exit in Euro 2004, Rehhagel was considered by many to be a strong candidate for his homeland's job. He had the support of the public, despite being considered a maverick by the footballing establishment. After three other candidates removed themselves from consideration, Rehhagel received an offer to take over as Germany coach, which he officially turned down on 10 July.
In their qualifying group for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the Greek side failed to make the grade, finishing fourth in a tough group which saw Ukraine advance as group winner and Turkey go on to the play-off. The team returned to success though by qualifying for Euro 2008, ending the qualifying stage with the highest points total of any team and ensuring they would be able to defend their title. On 30 March 2008 Otto extended his contract with Greece until 2010.[1]
For the qualifying group and having finished second in group Two behind Switzerland, coach Rehhagel and the national team met Ukraine in a two-legged play-off and won 1–0 in Donetsk after a 0–0 draw in Piraeus, with Dimitrios Salpigidis getting the winner. The success against Ukraine has allowed the Greek squad to compete in the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa and has solidified the position of Otto Rehhagel as one of the most important people in the history of Greek sport. Greece lost to South Korea, Argentina, defeated Nigeria 2-1 and exited the FIFA World Cup after the first round, scoring the first Greek goal ever in World cups against Nigeria. Rehhagel announced his wish to leave his coaching position after the World Cup. On 23 June 2010, he officially announced his resignation from the Greek National Team.[2][3]
Accolades
- UEFA Euro 2004
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1992
- Fußball-Bundesliga (3): 1988, 1993, 1998
- DFB-Pokal (3): 1980, 1991, 1994
- Bundesverdienstkreuz of the Federal Republic of Germany (2005)
- Laureus World Sports Awards with the Greek football team (2005)
- "Greek of the Year" (2004), first-ever foreigner to win this award
Coaching style
Rehhagel has popularized the phrase kontrollierte Offensive (controlled offence). He prefers a grass-roots approach to football, stressing the importance of at least two (often also three) big, strong headers in central defence. His defensive schemes often use a dominant libero, such as Miroslav Kadlec, Rune Bratseth or Traianos Dellas. In defence Rehhagel usually prefers robustness and height over footballing abilities (the most notorious example being Ulrich Borowka). In the period of all-round, fluid defence, many have criticized this as dated and anachronistic, but Rehhagel loves to reply that his success makes him right.
Rehhagel's teams also regularly develop a lot of pressure on the wings, e.g. Mario Basler/Marco Bode (Bremen) or Andreas Buck/Marco Reich (FCK), who were dominant wingers when Rehhagel coached them. His teams also regularly employ at least one dominant header as the central striker (Karlheinz Riedle, Rudi Völler, Frank Neubarth, Olaf Marschall, Angelos Charisteas). The wing play and the header-strong striker obviously complement each other.
The backbone of his teams are usually older, more experienced players, talents rarely find themselves taking responsibility. Under him, even the young Michael Ballack often sat on the bench as a substitute. However, Rehhagel is also known for being an excellent talent scout, having discovered Völler, Riedle, Marco Bode, Dieter Eilts, Marco Reich, Miroslav Klose, Angelos Charisteas, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Theofanis Gekas and many others.
Rehhagel is also known for being a good motivator. His teams regularly have a lot of team spirit, most famously the Greek national squad, which he turned from a dead-end squad nobody wanted to play for into a must-be-there-at-all-costs team. He is also famous for reigniting the careers of older, seemingly dead-end players, such as Manfred Burgsmüller, Mirko Votava, Olaf Marschall or Theodoros Zagorakis.
Rehhagel is also a deft and ruthless club politician. He is notorious for restructuring clubs so that he wields absolute power, making friends with powerful people and using them to eliminate the opposition. He prefers the system of a benign dictatorship. His way of handling a club – in a competent and innovative, but also highly patronizing and condescending way – has been immortalized as ottocracy, a pun on his name alluding to the style of management/government; autocracy.
Finally, Rehhagel is considered somewhat of a maverick in Germany. In decades of interviews, he has established a reputation for being elitist, eccentric and unwilling to admit mistakes, similar to e.g. José Mourinho. However, seeing his impressive record, he is apparently able to back up his words.
Famous players associated with Rehhagel include Klaus Allofs, Mario Basler, Marco Bode, Rune Bratseth, Manfred Burgsmüller, Angelos Charisteas, Traianos Dellas, Dieter Eilts, Andreas Herzog, Marian Hristov, Miroslav Klose, Olaf Marschall, Hany Ramzy, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Wynton Rufer, Thomas Schaaf, Ciriaco Sforza, Rudi Völler, Theodoros Zagorakis, Andreas Brehme and Michael Ballack.
Personal life
He is married to Beate Rehhagel. Beate is also remarkable in her own light, because she acts as a sort of player scout for her husband. They have one child, Jens Rehhagel, who has played football at semi-professional level.
Rehhagel likes to call himself Kind der Bundesliga ("Child of the Bundesliga"), having played in the very first Bundesliga game, and spent his club career there, with nine teams. In Greece, he is occasionally called King Otto (βασιλιάς Όθων), probably in allusion to King Otto of Greece from Bavaria, however he already had this nickname during his coaching career in Germany. As a wordplay referring to Herakles, son of Zeus, he has been nicknamed "Rehakles" as well.
External links
References
- ^ "Rehhagel agrees new Greece contract". uefa.com. 29 March 2008. http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=677047.html. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
- ^ "Rehhagel officially announced his resignation". troktiko. 23 June 2010. http://troktiko.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-post_4814.html. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ "Otto Rehhagel quits as Greece coach". BBC Sport. 24 June 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8755226.stm. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
Preceded by
Alex FergusonCup Winners' Cup Winning Coach
1991–92Succeeded by
Nevio ScalaPreceded by
Roger Lemerre
FranceUEFA European Football Championship Winning Coach
2004Succeeded by
Luis Aragonés
SpainArminia Bielefeld – managers Zoubec (1922–23) · Wellhöfer (1923–24) · Wellhöfer & Zoubec (1924–25) · Wellhöfer (1925–26) · Zoubec (1926–33) · Faist (1933–35) · Wellnecker (1935–38) · Brochmeyer (1938–39) · Swatosch (1939–40) · Kranefeld (1940–42) · Wunderlich (1942–45) · Brochmeyer (1945–46) · Swatosch (1946–47) · Wunderlich (1947–48) · Münstermann (1948–49) · Otto (1949–50) · Kaiser (1950–51) · Maidt (1951–53) · Donndorf (1953–55) · Westphal (1955–58) · Gruber (1958–61) · Rasselnberg (1961) · Wimmer (1961–63) · Meidt (1963–65) · Gebhardt (1965–66) · Wendlandt (1966–69) · Piechaczek (1969–72) · Meidt (1972) · Notermans (1972) · Nolting (1972–73) · Faßnacht (1974) · Ahmann (1974–76) · Feldkamp (1976–78) · Beljin (1978) · Rehhagel (1978–79) · Tippenhauer (1979–80) · Franz (1980–82) · Köppel (1982–83) · Feldkamp (1983–84) · Roggensack (1984–86) · Franz (1986) · Fuchs (1986–87) · Klug (1987–88) · Middendorp (1988–90) · Raschid (1990–91) · Grösche (1991–92) · Peter (1992–94) · Schneider (1994) · Sidka (1994) · Middendorp (1994–98) · von Heesen (1998–99) · Gerland (1999–2000) · Möhlmann (2000–04) · von Heesen (2004) · Rapolder (2004–05) · Geideck (2005) · von Heesen (2005–07) · Middendorp (2007) · Dammeier (2007) · Frontzeck (2008–09) · Berger (2009) · Gerstner (2009–10) · Eulberg (2010) · Ziege (2010) · Lienen (2010–11) · von Ahlen (2011) · Krämer (2011–)
Greece national football team – managers Nikolaidis (1929–30) · Kopsiva (1930–32) · Panourgias (1932–33) · Negrepontis (1933–34) · Nikolaidis (1934–35) · Konstantaras (1935–38) · Negrepontis (1938–51) · Migiakis (1951–53) · Negrepontis (1953–54) · Migiakis (1954–55) · Chelmis (1955–56) · Andritsos (1956–57) · Martini (1957–59) · Baron (1959–60) · Tzanetis (1960–64) · Petropoulos (1964–66) · Markovic (1966–68) · D.Georgiadis (1968–69) · Petropoulos (1969–71) · Bingham (1971–73) · Panagoulias (1973–76) · Petropoulos (1976–77) · Panagoulias (1977–82) · Archontidis (1982–84) · Papapostolou (1984–88) · Sofianidis (1988–89) · A.Georgiadis (1989–92) · Panagoulias (1992–94) · Polychroniou (1994–98) · Iordănescu (1998–99) · Daniil (1999–2001) · Rehhagel (2001–10) · Santos (2010–)
Categories:- 1938 births
- Living people
- German footballers
- Rot-Weiss Essen players
- Hertha BSC players
- 1. FC Kaiserslautern players
- German football managers
- Arminia Bielefeld managers
- Borussia Dortmund managers
- SV Werder Bremen managers
- FC Bayern Munich managers
- 1. FC Kaiserslautern managers
- Greece national football team managers
- UEFA Euro 2004 managers
- 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup managers
- UEFA Euro 2008 managers
- UEFA European Football Championship-winning managers
- 2010 FIFA World Cup managers
- People from Essen
- Fußball-Bundesliga managers
- Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Expatriate football managers in Greece
- Fußball-Bundesliga players
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
