Winti monument Dario Zuffi (59) talks to blue Sport about coach dismissals, the dismissal of Patrick Rahmen, the Bernese boccia house, Basel Badis and reveals why he never wanted to become head coach.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Ex-football star Dario Zuffi has been with FC Winterthur for 26 years, many of them as assistant coach.
- The football legend talks to blue Sport about Patrick Rahmen, Bruno Berner and Alex Frei, who were all top coaches at FC Winterthur and are now all without a club.
- "I don't think it's easy as a coach in Winterthur," says Zuffi. He feels sorry for Rahmen, who was sacked by YB a few days ago. "We had a great time here, and I feel very sorry for 'Pätti' that it went like this. I can fully empathize with that."
Dario Zuffi, is it that easy to be a coach in Winterthur?
Zuffi: Why should it be easy?
Because Patrick Rahmen was sacked at YB. He was the third coach in two years to leave FCW after a short, successful spell. And is now unemployed like Alex Frei and Bruno Berner.
These are all different cases, so I don't have a precise insight anywhere. Generally speaking, it's possible that one coach is better suited to a certain place than another. But that it should be easy in Winterthur? No, I don't believe that. Of course, the pressure is perhaps greater in Basel or Bern, but you have to work with the smallest budget in the league here. That can't be easy at all.
But there must be a reason why FCW has only sacked one coach since 2017 - Ralf Loose after three and a half years.
Let's put it this way: the people in charge at FCW certainly don't lose their nerve too quickly.
Do you feel sorry for Patrick Rahmen?
Of course I do. We had a great time here, and I feel very sorry for "Pätti" that it went the way it did. I can fully empathize with that.
He was one of a total of ten head coaches you assisted. You were also very successful as a youth coach. Why did you never try it as head of the first team?
Dario Zuffi
Dario Zuffi will be 60 years old in December. The Winterthur native played for FCW, YB, Lugano and Basel. He was champion and cup winner with YB; he also won the cup with Lugano. In 1991 he was top scorer and footballer of the year. Zuffi has been coaching at FCW for almost 25 years: at youth level, as an assistant and also as interim coach. His sons Sandro, Luca and Nico were and are also professional footballers.
Until I was 34, I never wanted to be a coach anyway. Standing in front of a team, motivating them day in, day out. I didn't think I could do that. It wasn't until I was faced with the question of what to do after my career and had started my first coaching courses that I thought it might be a good fit, at least for young players. But becoming a professional head coach? No, I didn't want that.
Why not?
At the end of the day, I didn't have enough self-confidence. As a head coach you are a manager, you have to be able to communicate with 30, 35 different characters. And when I look at our head coaches here in Winterthur - whether Loose, Frei, Berner, Rahmen or now Ogi Zaric - they can all "schnorre"! I'm not so good at it.
Later national team players went through their school as coaches of the U16s or U21s: Fabian Frei, Remo Freuler, your son Luca and, and, and. I did well with them too.
I've always defined myself through my training work. I wanted the boys to benefit, to get better. And of course I explained to them what I wanted. But that can't be compared with the communication work that a head coach has to do in the professional game these days.
Do today's Winti players actually know who you were as a player? You were champion, cup winner, top scorer, national team player and footballer of the year.
Many of them were. They just google it or find out from their advisor or colleagues who they're up against. I've always felt the respect of the players. Recently, Ogi Zaric jokingly asked a new player: Do you know who Zuffi is? And the player replied: Yes, of course, a legend (laughs). But I don't like that word at all.
But it's not undeserved. As a young player, you were part of Winterthur's promotion team in 1984. And in 1985, at the age of 20, you moved to YB. A year later you were champions.
Yes, crazy. We started badly, and after a run of improvement we were suddenly champions. Nobody had expected that. There was no planned celebration after the decisive win in Neuchâtel. Some celebrated in a bowling alley, others in a club. There were practically no fans.
They scored 15 goals.
Yes, that earned me the respect of the players. It was tough at the beginning. As a youngster, you pumped balls, carried goals and dragged ball sacks. Coach Alexander Mandziara was old school. That meant: "Seckle, seckle, seckle." And someone like Georges Bregy could fold a boy up sometimes (smiles). But it was all good for me.
Then there was a duel with Real Madrid in the Champions Cup. What memories do you have of that?
Only good ones. We even won 1:0 at home, and away from home one of us ran onto goal on his own when the score was 0:0. After conceding the first goal, it was difficult and we lost 5-0, but the Bernabéu was unique. The pitch was already a carpet back then and couldn't be compared to anything I'd played on before.
You moved in 1991. Why? You had everything in Bern: success, recognition. You also became a national player.
But there was one thing I honestly never had: a really good salary. I wanted to take the next step and thought that was legitimate as an international. Everything was actually clear with Xamax. Roy Hodgson was the coach. But then I failed the medical check. I had adductor problems. I had always played. Nevertheless, Xamax no longer wanted me.
You then signed for Lugano. Why did you do that?
I was earning well. And Lugano was also a beautiful city. It felt like you were on vacation (laughs). It was a successful time with two cup finals, one of which we won against GC in 1993.
Why did you move to Basel after this Cup triumph?
Our eldest son started school. And that's why we wanted to return to German-speaking Switzerland. The transfer system also played a role.
In what way?
At the time, the calculation was as follows: The previous salary times a certain factor - depending on the club. And because I was earning well in Lugano, I was too expensive for most Nati A clubs. FCB, as a Nati B club at the time, only had to pay half.
In Basel, you experienced promotion in 1994 and great euphoria.
I actually couldn't walk ten meters in the city without someone shouting something. When we went to the pool for the first time, I realized at some point that the queue behind me was there because of me (laughs). That wasn't so great for the family. But in the end it was a wonderful time.
It ended rather surprisingly in 1998. You went back to FCW, which had just been relegated to the 1st division. Why did that happen?
My contract expired, and when I went to the then FCB sporting director Heinz Hermann in March or April to ask what the club was planning, I was told that no contract would be extended until it was clear where we were playing ...
... despite the Bundesliga strategy and the additions of coach Jörg Berger, Oliver Kreuzer and Maurizio Gaudino, FCB had plunged into the promotion/relegation round ...
... exactly. And I was offended at the time that they didn't want to extend my contract early. I thought: Sorry, I'm 33 and no longer a junior. I also had the feeling that coach Guy Matthez didn't like me. And then Winti made me a great offer. So I went back. In the meantime, however, I regretted leaving FCB.
Why?
As I said: I was dabbed. But if I had known that the club's rise would begin just one year later under Christian Gross, I would probably have been more patient.
You've now been at the Schützenwiese for 26 years. At the start of the new millennium, you worked for your club owner Hannes W. Keller's company alongside your coaching job. Why was that?
The club was having financial problems at the time, so Peter Knäbel, then head of youth development, approached me and suggested that I could continue as a coach but earn 70 percent of my salary at Keller AG. And from then on, I was employed as a payroll accountant for about seven years at 70 percent. After that, I became a professional coach again.
Did you never want to do anything else?
Alex Frei told me before he moved to Basel two years ago that he wanted me and Davide Callà to join him as assistants. I actually thought about it, but in the end it wasn't for me. If I had been younger, I might have done it. But it's fine the way it is. History probably intended for me to stay here. And I've always felt at home in Winterthur.