David Wagner takes us through his career as a coach. He has been on the bench at Hoffenheim and BVB, in Huddersfield, at Schalke and at Young Boys Bern. In 1997 he won the UEFA Cup with the “Euro Fighters”. He is a promotion coach to the Premier League and has played 8 times for the USA.
Was the aim not to be relegated from the second English division, the so-called EFL Championship, in the 2015/16 season?
David Wagner: Yes. And we got promoted to the Premier League a year later. In my opinion, the achievement of holding the class in 2017/18 was even greater. As expected, the 2018/19 season was difficult. I was released in January 2019, but my successor was also unsuccessful and could not prevent relegation.
How did the comeback in the Bundesliga come about at Schalke?
David Wagner: There were other offers from the league at the time. But Schalke is Schalke, and when Schalke calls, you go there.
Was there also an offer from Frankfurt?
David Wagner: I don’t remember exactly (laughs). The timing probably never fitted.
How much did the subsequent time as a coach at Schalke drain you?
David Wagner : I don’t want to say too much about Schalke 04 and my time there. I stand by my responsibilities during my 14-month tenure, which has been very interesting and emotionally very draining. Just like Schalke is. When the negative spiral really began, at the end of which was the descent, and how big my part in it was, I think it becomes more and more clear to everyone in retrospect. I’m happy that Schalke got promoted again. And I hope they can re-establish themselves in the premier league.
It didn’t work out with the Young Boys in Bern either.
David Wagner: That’s too easy and not quite right. We played the sportingly and financially most successful European season in the club’s history. We qualified for the Champions League, beat United in the group stage (the other opponents were Atalanta Bergamo and later semi-finalists FC Villareal) and missed the final round by just one point. The goal was the championship, and that was my undoing. The fact that the club sold three regular players during the 2021/22 winter break and that the bad second half of the season with a twelve-point deficit to FC Zurich was also a result of this transfer policy is unfortunately secondary.
What remains, what is pending?
David Wagner: I know I’m in a privileged position and can wait for the right job profile and offer. I don’t have to worry about myself and my family. And we are healthy, which is perhaps the most important thing in life these days. My wife and I are currently planning to learn Spanish. We are open and waiting to see what happens. It will remain exciting.
How do you see Eintracht developing in recent years?
David Wagner: Sensational. The people involved, the structures and the environment all fit together. And of course you have the necessary bit of luck not to have been relegated in 2016 in the relegation against the club from Nuremberg. And to have won trophies at the end. Because they stay. If Eintracht is now playing in the Champions League and making good use of the income, the goal should actually be to play at European level and at the top in the long term.
