Argentine Martin Demichelis hopes to present his credentials as a coach capable of rising to the level of major matches, when he leads German Leipzig against his former team, Manchester City, England, on Wednesday, in the European Champions League.
The former defender spent three seasons with City, during which he won the English Premier League title in the 2014 season, in addition to two titles in the League Cup competition.
Demichelis, who also won four German League titles as a player with Bayern Munich, hopes to achieve success in Saxony, as part of his rising coaching career that began with the reserve team of the Bavaria giant in 2021, before passing through the Argentine River Plate, the Mexican Monterrey, and the Spanish Mallorca, arriving this summer in Leipzig.
Leipzig beat City only once in 6 confrontations between them, but Demichelis is willing to take advantage of the shaky morale of Italian coach Enzo Maresca's team.
City lost two out of the last three matches, while the third was decided on penalty kicks, at a time when it faces the specter of possible sanctions, due to alleged violations of financial rules.
Demichelis (45 years old) was chosen in a controversial way by Jurgen Klopp, then the official in the Red Bull Group that owned the club, to take over the job during the summer.
In order to sign him, Leipzig fired beloved coach Uli Werner, who returned the club to the Champions League with a young team, and at the same time contributed to developing the talent of Ivorian player Yann Dumande, who moved this summer to Real Madrid in a big deal.
According to reports, Real paid 125 million euros ($140 million) to sign Diomande, just one year after he joined Leipzig for 20 million euros.
Demichelis arrived at Leipzig after a brief and disappointing period in Spain, which ended with Mallorca's relegation to the second division, but Klopp and the Leipzig management saw enough to convince them of his abilities, after he oversaw a noticeable improvement in the team's level.
Aside from a faltering start with Leipzig, which included a loss to Italian Como 1-4 in the Champions League, then a humiliating defeat in the local league against Bayern Munich 1-6, the team achieved 3 consecutive victories.
Leipzig is currently only 3 points away from the lead in the German League, but it urgently needs to score points on the continent.
The team that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2020 is ranked 29th among 36 teams, after winning only one match out of 3 it played in the tournament this season.
During his career, Demichelis benefited from working under the supervision of a number of prominent coaches, including: Dutchman Louis Van Gaal, Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, his compatriot Diego Simeone, and his legendary role model, the late Diego Maradona.
Leipzig's French defender, Maxime Esteve, said that Demichelis brought to the club a "competitive aura," adding to Agence France-Presse and other media on Monday: "Even in small matches during training, you can see that the coach does not want to lose."
He continued: “When he misses something, you can see that he feels a little angry. “You can notice that it has not been long since he retired from football.”
Esteve played under the leadership of another former Manchester City player, Vincent Kompany, during his time with Burnley in England, and he said that Demichelis reminds him of the Belgian coach who currently leads Bayern Munich.
He continued: “It is funny that they spend a long time in the gym. “They want to maintain their fitness because they have a great history in football.”
He added: “They participate in training matches, and you can see the extent of their competitive spirit. "They don't want to lose."
He concluded by saying: “They strive for perfection and want to address small details as quickly as possible.”
Esteve also has experience facing Manchester City's Norwegian top scorer, Erling Haaland, during his time playing in the Premier League.
He described Erling as “the best striker in the world,” adding: “He is very strong, excellent at playing with his head, and very fast. “He has all the ingredients that make him a phenomenon.”
He expected it to be “a difficult match, but when you want to improve in football, you have to face the best competitors.” “And you want to give your best in this type of match.”
“This was not the plan, and this is a point that must be made clearly,” Newcastle United coach Matthias Jaisse said after the dull loss to Everton with a goal without a response, on Monday.
The German coach's assessment of his team's attacking performance, which seemed to rely randomly on long balls, was surprising, especially as he added: "The patterns we trained on seemed very good during the training sessions throughout the week, but we saw nothing significant of them during the match."
According to a report published by “The Athletic” website, Jaisle’s statements did not provide a convincing explanation for the mediocre performance that sparked boos from Newcastle fans at halftime, before the boos escalated more widely when the final whistle sounded. Indeed, the coach's speech raised additional questions, some of which contain worrying indicators about the team's future.
If that was not the plan, why did the players enter the match and implement a different approach on their own? If that was indeed the plan, why did Jaisle try to evade responsibility and blame his players? Are players unable to implement his ideas, or do they not want to implement them?
None of these possibilities suggest that Jajsle will have a long future on the coaching bench at St James' Park; They all indicate that there is a gap between the technical messages directed by the coach and the way the players understand and implement them on the field.
However, Yaisle stressed that he bears responsibility as a coach for the results and performance, after Newcastle suffered four defeats in its last five matches, amid a continuous decline in level and an increasing absence of clear technical direction, in a way that is difficult to continue.
If long balls were not an essential part of Jaisle's "vertical football" philosophy, then why have high passes forward become a recurring feature in Newcastle's matches since he took charge?
Against Everton, Newcastle attempted 54 long balls, of which only 12 balls reached fellow players, with a success rate of only 22 percent. The average long balls executed by the team this season is 52 balls per match. What confirms that relying on aerial play has become a continuing approach, despite its lack of effectiveness.
This style was even more puzzling against Everton, whose defense line included three tall defenders, who easily dealt with the frequent high balls sent by Newcastle players.
Jaisle began to implement a style that focused on competing for the second ball, but Newcastle failed to achieve this.
However, the German coach's philosophy is not based on long balls alone, but rather includes direct play and penetrating lines.
Jaisle pointed out the lack of courage in penetrating the opponent's first line of pressure.
Reliance on long balls marginalized the role of the outright striker.
Newcastle only shot a few shots on goal, with clear suffering in defense and attack, amid calls for a course correction.
