The statements made by Alexander Nübel. The goalkeeper, who is currently on loan from FC Bayern to AS Monaco, does not just talk about football in the interview, however, but also very reflectively about life itself and especially in the Principality, about his family and a future without football.
Mr. Nübel, an old saying in football is that young players should play as often as possible. Do you agree with this statement?
Alexander Nübel: Absolutely. Young players need a lot of match practice to develop. But: Although I didn’t get that many games at Schalke, I was still able to develop very well.
You’ve been with AS Monaco for just over 100 days. Has your move from FC Bayern to AS Monaco proved to be the right one so far?
The move to Monaco was the right decision and has paid off. I play twice a week at a very high level and that was my goal. At the beginning, it took me some time to get used to everything, but with every game and every training session I feel more confident. Regardless of football, living in a new country and a new culture always takes you further.
What’s going well so far, what’s not yet?
As I mentioned before, I play twice a week at a high level and that is important for my development. At the beginning, I noticed very quickly that I lacked a bit of match practice. In addition, my coordination with the players in front of me was not optimal. Sometimes there is a lack of communication in French or English. English would be easier for me, but most of the time I have to speak French. This process is ongoing and it will take time to find everything.
Which words of the football language do you already know in French?
The standards, right, left, push out, time, back man.
How is the language going in general?
I didn’t have French at school, so it’s relatively difficult. I’m not the most linguistically gifted and I have to work on my pronunciation. Through lessons twice a week plus homework, I try to improve steadily.
Did you like being a student?
Honestly, no. If I stopped playing football now, I would prefer vocational training to studying. I’d rather go to work than to school.
Did you choose Monaco and abroad because your history with FC Bayern would have permanently caught up with you in the Bundesliga?
I chose Monaco because I looked at everything beforehand and I was completely convinced of this move. Of course I wanted more peace and quiet, but the decisive factor was the club. Since our games are often broadcast live on DAZN, I’m still in the spotlight.
What points spoke in favour of Monaco?
AS is a big club in France and the new training ground is absolutely top. The management convinced me, Niko Kovac as coach and the prospect of another league.
Has it thwarted your plans to get practice at the highest level that Monaco so narrowly failed to qualify for the Champions League against Donetsk?
We would have liked to qualify for the Champions League and we were very annoyed. Nevertheless, we’re just as happy to play in the Europa League now and meet awesome opponents there too.
Monaco lead the group unbeaten after four games with two wins and two draws at 4:2 goals ahead of San Sebastian, PSV Eindhoven and Sturm Graz. As a goalkeeper, do you agree with this minimalism?
It’s always good when you don’t concede so many goals. And so far we haven’t had too many to-nil games. But internationally, things are going quite well.
In the league, you have conceded 16 goals after 13 games. Four times you played to nil. You have never conceded more than two goals. Do you like that data?
No. There were still games where I could have played to nil. In the early days we conceded unnecessary goals. The statistics could look better, but I’m not dissatisfied. I hope we remain stable at the back.
How has the one year at FC Bayern with only four competitive appearances changed goalkeeper Nübel?
As a goalkeeper, I came to a different level in Munich. The quality at Bayern is enormous and you can feel the annual successes throughout the club. On the other hand, I only got four games, I noticed that too. I no longer had this rhythm with games every three days. That’s why it took me a little longer to get that feeling for the spaces again. So the time in Munich was a double-edged sword.
Was this year more progress or regression? Or simply standstill?
This Bayern year was progress for me. I’ve developed personally quite a bit, which is very important for a goalkeeper because personal maturity makes a lot of difference. Each of my three club changes has brought me further.
Manuel Neuer has a substitute throw him the ball next to the post during the match if he doesn’t get anything on goal for a long time, so that he doesn’t lose his feeling for the ball. How did the long period without games affect you then?
It’s always difficult to get back into the game after a summer break. With me, it took a few days longer. But we had good preparation, the process went well. I have good contacts in the coaching team and in the management who knew about this problem and supported me.
How long will it take you to catch up?
I hope not too much longer. I’m not where I want to be at the moment and I’m working on getting closer to my top level bit by bit in the coming weeks and pushing the team even harder verbally.
What moments in your game are missing?
It’s little things that I have to work on through training because we don’t get that much on goal in the games. Sometimes it’s just a ball where you have to be there. That’s a parallel to Bayern, where you have to be there mentally for 90 minutes. Neuer is among the best in the world in that respect and that’s where I want to be. It’s my goal to get closer to the top of the world here.
To what extent are you already practised with your new defence and the young team?
Much better than at the beginning. The trust has grown through the many games and it will continue to grow. Communication is crucial.
To what extent is football different for a goalkeeper in France’s 1st division than in the Bundesliga?
Ligue 1 is a top league with a lot of young players. I prepare for the games like in the Bundesliga, where I knew most of the players on the opposing side. It’s not the same here.
Is that why you have to prepare more intensively?
We do it together. We watch the penalty and free-kick takers anyway. I watch the games of the opponents and we also get videos about the individual players, their preferences and strengths.
How is the level compared to the Bundesliga?
The level is not worse than in the other big leagues in Europe, that’s why I chose Monaco.
So France is not a step down for a Bundesliga goalkeeper?
It depends where you play, but I wouldn’t call it relegation.
What does it mean for France’s football that Lionel Messi came?
International interest in Ligue 1 has certainly increased. But fundamentally, football in France has not changed. Paris has always bought big stars and the rest act as before.
Football in France is more than Paris?
Definitely. We’ve already had several top games, for example against Lyon, Marseille and Nice – these are giant teams. It’s really like the Bundesliga.
You were loaned out to Monaco because you are in demand there as a playing goalkeeper, just like at FC Bayern. Has this plan worked out so far?
Yes. Among other things, that was a selection criterion per Monaco, because the team wants to play football and needs to dominate in the league.
Benjamin Lecomte, the previous AS regular keeper, has been loaned to Atletico Madrid. Is it important for you to be the clear number 1? Or do you miss the daily competition?
I’m just happy to be playing and I want to continue that. I can’t influence the club’s personnel decisions. And besides, the daily competition is also there with the current trio of goalkeepers.
What does it do to you to be the clear number 1?
It is very helpful when you feel confidence as a goalkeeper. This security leads you to continuously improve and stabilise your performance. That is the case now. When you are set, it gives you a good feeling. It’s more difficult when, as a goalkeeper, you have to go to the bench the first time you make a mistake.
Your goalkeeping coach Vatroslav Mihacic is a Croatian. How is goalkeeper training different in France?
It differs in a few techniques at most, but otherwise the difference to Germany is not big. We adapt to each other. I tell him what I want and he gives his opinion. The goalkeeper training is very good.
Was the one year in Munich a lost year?
Not at all, especially since I needed some time to get into it at the beginning. The quality there is at a top level. The year at FC Bayern was not a lost year, especially not for my personal development.
What was the worst thing about this one year on the bench?
The overall situation was not ideal. I lost my rhythm and couldn’t show what I wanted to show in only four games.
You asked for a vote of confidence when Flick cut you from the 2020 squad against Hoffenheim at the end of September. Was that story the worst? Or the one when you didn’t even make an appearance in the petty Champions League game against Lok Moscow?
Neither was nice. Of course you’re disappointed as a professional when you’re not in the squad or don’t play. Any other reaction would be wrong. I would have liked to play against Moscow and those minutes could have been given to me for my safety. I had to accept it like that. Sven Ulreich was still given away.
How many times were you going to throw down in Munich?
Not even once.
How often did you regret not having followed the lure of FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid or Manchester United?
It was an exciting time to get those offers at that age, but I had deliberately chosen Munich because they presented me with the best career plan. That’s why I didn’t need to harp or think what-if afterwards.
Have you never doubted the career plan of FC Bayern?
So far, no. And I still have enough time to play games for Bayern.
Who stood by you in that phase?
My family, my girlfriend and my advisor are my contacts. They get me away from football into normal life. That’s when I realise that football is just a little bubble we live in, which is nice but doesn’t have a big impact on other important things in this world.
What things do you mean?
My life around it, my health, my family and friends. If there was something, I would stop playing football immediately.
Your departure from FC Schalke was already difficult, you were removed as number 1 and captain, there were “Nübel-raus!” shouts. Do such experiences harden you to cope more easily with the pressure as a professional goalkeeper? Or do such attacks threaten to destroy a young person?
Both effects are possible. Today, these experiences help me. When it happened back then, it was difficult to assess that these experiences made me stronger. It was already very hard to get all these hostilities, especially for my family who couldn’t deal with it because they didn’t know it. It brought me down even more.
What was going on?
For example, there were comments against my father at work and the media treatment was quite amazing.
And now everything is fine again?
Yes, my family is happy that I play a lot of games. But actually she wants me to be at home in Paderborn.
Is life in France and in fashionable Monaco ideal for finding mental balance again?
The weather is phenomenal, 20 degrees, strange in autumn for a German. I look out over the sea from my flat and have breakfast outside. Life here is balm for the soul. The small state of Monaco, however, is outside of any normality. There are many beautiful places to explore around Monaco.
How does it shape a young man when he goes abroad at 24?
I am glad that I took this step and hope that I will draw on it for the next decades, also and especially for life away from football. It was difficult at first, though, because I am very close to home.
Which experience has been the most exciting in this environment?
You don’t get very far in France with English, you just have to adapt because Monaco is very international.
Does the extreme luxury in Monaco excite or alienate you?
It doesn’t excite me, I don’t need this luxury. Luxury for me is my family and friends. Luxury doesn’t do you any good if you don’t have your loved ones around. At the yacht show, it was totally rad how many helicopters were flying in. There are as many private planes in Nice as in the whole of Germany.
How does France’s football deal with Corona?
Like in Germany. Many are vaccinated. We wear masks.
Are there differences in appearance and character between the goalkeeper and the human being Alexander Nübel?
The people who know me say that I’m pretty much the same, maybe a bit more emotional on the pitch when it comes to it, but not over the top like other goalkeepers do or have done. I’m always relatively calm and try to project my aplomb. Off the pitch I’m also a calm guy and composed.
You described the Bayern year as progress. Where did you develop as a goalkeeper?
Football-wise, because I have reached a level that is world class. But most of all as a person, because I’ve gained a lot more confidence in my behaviour on the pitch.
Have you internalised this mia-san-mia success thinking of Bayern?
That winning mentality you get from everyone is phenomenal. I also took this quality with me to Monaco. At FC Bayern there is no 95 or 98, but only 100 or more per cent. And that’s in every training session. Otherwise, Joshua Kimmich or Leon Goretzka will tell you what to do and then you’ll be on your toes in the next training session.
What did you learn from Neuer?
A lot. All his movements; his enormous understanding of the game; his recognition of the situation; his interplay with the defenders. I compared how he reacts to actions in training and how I behave there – what I could take away from that.
Did you expect him to be more willing to give up games?
As a goalkeeper, you always want to play. And that’s for the coach to decide. No goalkeeper gives up games voluntarily. That’s why I didn’t expect him to do it.
Hansi Flick thinks a lot of you. How did he convey his decision in favour of Neuer and against Nübel to you?
He said I had trained well. But Neuer was better, so he let him play. I accepted that.
Were these explanations understandable for you?
You always let the better player play.
But there was this commitment for ten competitive games.
Contract content is a matter of trust. I was supposed to get a certain number of games, which I didn’t get.
What did you learn from that experience for your further professional life?
That some things turn out differently than we discussed and I have to accept that. I don’t judge what I can’t influence. The coach or club officials ultimately decide whether you play and what you earn.
Does a professional have to force himself to have this equanimous attitude, because otherwise he is bound to fail in this business?
Not everyone has that attitude. But for me, football is not everything in life. There is a lot of time left after my career, then football doesn’t matter any more and I’m looking forward to that. Football is a world of its own.
But you like living in this football world at the moment?
I like to accept these advantages and look forward to it every day. Nevertheless, many things in football are dramatised, which I think is wrong.
There were many cautionary voices when you moved to Munich. Were they right?
None of these so-called experts know me personally to know what I want. For me, the move to Munich was a sensible step, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken it.
Would you do everything the same way again?
Yes, I would do everything the same way again.
Have you already been in contact with the new Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann?
Yes.
Are you already looking forward to working with him?
He is a very good coach and pleasant person who is very communicative. Of course I’m looking forward to returning to FC Bayern.
An extension of Neuer’s contract beyond 2023 is not ruled out at FC Bayern. Do you have to postpone your future in Munich further? Or can you imagine your career without Bayern Munich?
What I can no longer imagine is coming back and not getting more games. I rule that out. What Manu does beyond 2023, I will react to that when the time comes. My focus right now is on Monaco. I want to get back into international competition with the club.
So you will only return to FC Bayern if you become the number 1?
When Marc-André ter Stegen joined FC Barcelona in 2014 and Claudio Bravo was there, who was the first goalkeeper?
They alternated: Bravo played in the league, ter Stegen in the Champions League and the cup.
That answers the question.
You could live with such a model?
I would definitely have more than four games. There are several models. But anything other than getting more games is certainly out of the question for me.
Does it absolutely have to be a return to FC Bayern?
That’s the plan. My contract runs until 2025.
The two-year loan period to Monaco could end after just one season. What is the current perspective?
I’m assuming two years. I don’t see anything else and neither does FC Bayern.
The leadership at Monaco has big plans. Is AS just a means to an end for you to become Bayern’s number 1 keeper? Or can you imagine Monaco for longer?
I don’t know what will happen after 2023. But I hope that I will be the goalkeeper I want to be then. A year and a half is a long time in football.
You have 17 appearances in the U 21. Does your career plan still include becoming the number 1 in the national team as FC Bayern’s regular keeper?
Of course, the goal is to play for the senior team at some point.
Do you still have a mini hope for the 2022 World Cup?
I haven’t bothered with that for a second yet.
Your team-mate Kevin Volland certainly didn’t think about this chance either.
On Monday last week we were still sitting together and on Tuesday he wrote me that he was on his way to the national team. That was quite amazing.
