Nuri Sahin is back at Borussia Dortmund. In future, the ex-professional will act as assistant coach. In an interview in May 2022, he revealed how Thomas Tuchel persuaded him to pursue a career as a coach
According to Nuri Sahin in an interview with the in May 2022, he actually had other plans for his career after retirement. He once intended to “become Michael Zorc one day. In other words, sports director.” For many years – during which he celebrated great success with BVB and became a Turkish national player – he pursued this plan. Until Thomas Tuchel became coach of Borussia Dortmund.
“I took a lot from my time with him,” emphasized Sahin, who also admitted that he had many an argument with the current Bayern coach. But: “Thomas is an incredibly good coach. He’s a monster professionally, with world-class training. And the way he stood at the tactics board or did the video analysis with us – that was outstanding.”
It was also Tuchel who gave the final impetus for Sahin to decide to take on the coaching job after all – following a botched test match. “Thomas was unhappy because some of us thought it wasn’t so bad because it was just preparation. Then he showed us scenes of John Terry and Carles Puyol. Not from competitive matches, but from supposedly insignificant tests, so that we could see the intensity with which they defended in such games,” Sahin recalled. “Thomas was so impressive back then that I came out of the meeting and said to Marcel Schmelzer and Oliver Kirch: ‘I want to be a coach’.”
That’s how it happened: After a brief interlude on the coaching staff at RSV Meinerzhagen in the amateur sector, which he supported financially, he became coach and sporting director at Antalyaspor in October 2021 and did an impressive job there
Now he is returning to BVB, where he once celebrated his greatest successes as a player under Jürgen Klopp – it is clear that the current Liverpool coach was the most influential figure for him (“He is the perfect person”). Whether Sahin himself will one day follow in the footsteps of his former coach remains to be seen. “When I left BVB and went to Bremen, I sat at home with my wife in the evening and said to her: ‘I think I have what it takes to coach this club one day. But I know that I have to work hard for it every day.”
But one thing is clear: “I’ve never made a secret of the fact that Borussia Dortmund is a matter close to my heart and that I dream of celebrating a win in front of the South Stand as a coach one day.” As an assistant coach, this dream could soon come true for Sahin.
