After a difficult first half of the season, coach Giorgio Contini is to help Young Boys regain their former strength.
16.01.2025, 21:00
SDA
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Giorgio Contini was installed as the new YB coach during the winter break. He is to lead YB back to higher ground.
- As a talented speaker, he should quickly find a connection with all the players and that is particularly important to him. "Empathy has a big influence on the performance of athletes," Contini is certain.
- YB start the second half of the season against Winterthur on Saturday. blue Sport shows all Super League matches live.
Giorgio Contini has been YB coach for just over a month. The 51-year-old from Winterthur has earned his return to club football with his work as assistant to national team coach Murat Yakin. He does not yet have an apartment in the Bern region, but hopes to find somewhere near the River Aare so that he can take his dog for a walk or go out on his mountain bike.
In an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency, Contini talks about his first impressions of Young Boys, his talent for languages, his knowledge of Bernese German and his idea of how to play. He talks about a visit to Carlo Ancelotti and reveals what he would try to do if he were ever unable to find a job in football.
The big interview with YB coach Giorgio Contini
Giorgio Contini, you've been coach of Young Boys for a month now. How have you settled in at the Wankdorf?
Very well. It started straight away with the training sessions and getting to know each other. We were able to make the most of the ten days at the training camp in Belek.
What was the focus on in Turkey?
When you're together for a long time, it's always important to focus on the interpersonal aspects. What makes the players tick? Where does the shoe pinch? What feelings do they have? What is the team's state of mind? It's very important that they feel comfortable so that what I ask for is also received.
What is the team's state of mind?
It's easy for a new coach. There are always two camps in a team. Those who have played regularly and those who haven't played so much. The former want to prove themselves anew, and the latter hope that a change of coach will give them a new chance. That automatically creates a dynamic in a team. The players are very open and eager to learn. They soak up the information. But that's nothing atypical after a change of coach.
You once took the national team on a sailing trip to Lake Constance as a team-building exercise. Belek is on the Mediterranean. Did you set sail again?
No. We didn't have time to do any team events. It was particularly important to me that we spend time together, that we study videos of the test matches, but also to analyze our training sessions. So that the ideas I bring to the team correspond with what the players can achieve.
In your career, you have never coached a top team with Vaduz, Lausanne, St. Gallen and GC. It's different now at YB. Do you feel that?
I am a very ambitious person. That means I've always set my ambitions high, with the conditions I've encountered. If I manage to get promoted and stay in the league with Lausanne and Vaduz, it's no different in terms of my ambition than it is now with YB, where I also want to get the best out of it. What is different now, of course, is the level of expectation. They are high. In recent years, YB has regularly played for the championship title and participated in the European Cup. That makes the task a little bigger, of course, but also more exciting for me.
Do you have to change anything in your approach?
No. I think it's the greatest proof that my way of working works at the highest level when I receive public praise from national team players such as Granit Xhaka recently. So there are reasons to be authentic and stay true to myself, because it shows that the path I've taken in recent years is the right one.
To what extent do your experiences in Lausanne and at GC, where you worked in a difficult environment with foreign investors, help you?
These are experiences that help you move forward. Every club and every structure helps you to become more resilient and work your way forward. I wouldn't want to miss that time. On the contrary. I saw it as a challenge that gave me a lot in my coaching profile.
You quit your job at Grasshoppers yourself and were then unemployed for over eight months. During this time, did you ever doubt whether you would get another chance as head coach?
No. I always make decisions with a clear head, and I knew that there wouldn't be a whole host of clubs in the Super League offering me a job. But I was always convinced that I would find opportunities to work. After all, I have a 'Zürischnorre', so in the worst-case scenario I would have gone to sell umbrellas in rainy weather (laughs).
How did you follow YB during this difficult first half of the season?
As a national team coach, the focus is different to that of a club coach. It's more on individual players. But I've seen YB both at Wankdorf and away from home. I know the quality of this team, and I've also seen some of the players in the national team. The way the season has gone so far is certainly atypical. And as a neutral observer with a certain distance, it's difficult to say why and how. But it's different now. Now I can have a direct influence.
Was there anything that surprised you when you started in Bern?
No. I knew that YB is a club that has clear structures that are professional, that there is a lot of expertise and a clear path. And that YB as a club represents values that suit me. I probably wouldn't have been on the list of potential YB coaches if there wasn't a certain match between the club and me as a coach, but also as a person.
To what extent did your work as Murat Yakin's assistant in the national team open doors?
It certainly raised my profile. Working with these players at international level and analyzing opponents, which was part of my job, gave me a lot of additional know-how. And the attention that is focused on a team during a tournament like the European Championship has also aroused greater interest in me as a coach.
Language skills are an important criterion for a YB coach. You speak five languages. When did you learn them?
On the one hand from my parents. I grew up bilingual, speaking Italian and German. I learned French at school. And during my playing days, I played in Lausanne for a year and a half. Then I didn't speak French much for 15 years, but I always practised it because I simply love languages. Then, of course, when I became a coach in Lausanne.
And Spanish and English?
I learned Spanish from Argentinians and other Latinos in the team. It's important for me to be able to converse with the people I'm with, and fortunately I find it easy to learn languages. I also learned English at school, but I was also able to practise it at GC, where communication was almost exclusively in English.
Is there a language that you would still like to learn?
No, but there are certainly things I would like to perfect. Perfect British English with a British accent sounds cool when I hear it in interviews. But I don't have the time for that now. Now I'm learning Bernese German (laughs).
Have you picked up anything yet?
I understand a lot. "Äuä scho" (laughs).
With Gerardo Seoane, a coach with an affinity for the language won three league titles and a cup victory with YB. A good omen for you?
I hope it's a good omen for YB. But you shouldn't confuse the two. It was a different time. There were different players. YB has also changed in recent years. It now has a lot of young, talented players. Accordingly, you need a little more patience than in the past, when players like Guillaume Hoarau or Jean-Pierre Nsame shaped the championship. But the empathy is certainly a parallel to Seoane. That I try to steer the players in the right direction with language.
Did you also learn that from Carlo Ancelotti, who you visited during your break in Madrid?
What impressed me most about Ancelotti is the way he leads a team. It was important for me to see that on the pitch and it confirms values that I also want to live by. Namely, that people come before football. If the focus is on people, the footballer will also work. Empathy has a big influence on the performance of athletes.
You have now gained an impression of your team. Are there any parts of the team where you see a need for action in terms of personnel?
From the outset, I approached the task with the attitude that everyone deserved a fair chance and that I would take the time to get to know everyone. There needs to be a good exchange between the sporting management and the coach. I find this to be very positive. Optimizations are always welcome. But only the next few weeks will show whether adjustments are necessary.
Christian Fassnacht, a player with a very successful YB past, has returned from England. What are you hoping for from him?
He is very important on a human level, can create a lot of connections within the team and has a good instinct. Once he has fully recovered from his muscular injury, his experience will also be important on the pitch.
What do you have in mind tactically and playfully with this team?
It's always a question of time. If we want to rehearse something that the players don't yet have up their sleeves, it takes time. So we have to find a balance between the time available and the results. But I have already given input. For example, that we have solutions with the ball, that we're more creative in possession again. I would like to see that. But I know that it won't happen overnight. That's why we first have to rely on our usual strengths and boost our self-confidence with positive results.
What strengths are you thinking of?
Pressing is part of YB, and we don't want to shake this DNA. We want to be a team that presses, that is good at counter-pressing and switching play. This game also suits the squad, which combines fast players and those with a lot of physical presence. We will certainly stick to that.
