Fabian Schär is a guest on blue Sport's football talk show Heimspiel. The defender has repeatedly experienced difficult times in his career.
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- Fabian Schär is a guest on blue Sport's football talk show Heimspiel.
- The player from eastern Switzerland has had an impressive career. Yet people in Wil once doubted his footballing abilities.
- But it wasn't just in his early days that the 86-time international struggled. For example, coach Julian Nagelsmann shaved him off at Hoffenheim after Schär had previously sought a transfer.
Fabian Schär is a regular for Newcastle United in the Premier League - arguably the best football league in the world. Not bad for a player who was once given a completely different (wrong) prognosis.
As a youngster in Wil at U16 level, he was told that his skills would not be enough for professional football. "It was a disappointment," says the 32-year-old, looking back on his first bitter experience in the football talk show Heimspiel on blue Sport.
However, he had already noticed throughout the year that he was no longer playing as often and that the coach probably preferred other players. "That's why it didn't come completely out of the blue. But at that moment, of course, you have to orient yourself differently. Professional football was still a long way off for me," explains Schär. "I knew I would do an apprenticeship, go to vocational school and want to continue playing football with my boys and colleagues from the past for fun."
No sooner said than done. "I took a big step forward as a footballer that year," recalls Schär. In Wil, he was lucky enough to find a supporter in Axel Thoma. Schär then made the leap from eastern Switzerland to FC Basel in 2012, before even making it abroad - and into the national team (86 caps). Andy Böni, editor-in-chief of blue Sport, wants to know from Schär whether his coach at the time ever apologized to him for his mistake.
"No, he didn't apologize," says Schär. But that's okay with him, he says, as he holds no grudges against anyone. "Everyone had slightly different views," says Schär, adding: "I have to say myself, I certainly wasn't at that level yet. I developed as a footballer very late on. I probably wouldn't have thought myself that I would one day play at this level," admits Schär and emphasizes: "It's nice that things turned out differently."
Difficult relationship with Nagelsmann
Schär did not only experience sunshine in the course of his career either. In Hoffenheim, for example, when a certain Julian Nagelsmann - then a tender 28 years old - took over as coach at TSG. "He came in at a difficult time (17th place in the Bundesliga - editor's note) and got us out of the mire in the second half of the season - everything was great, I played my games," says Schär, adding: "He was also really incredibly good as a coach. You could see that right from the start."
The following summer, after the 2016 European Championship in France, Schär wants to take the next step in his career. "I wanted to move to Valencia. I wasn't allowed to leave and ended up in the stands from one day to the next. I went through a very difficult year. That's why I didn't only have good experiences with him," said Schär about his experiences with the current DFB coach.
