Former Turkish midfielder Nuri Şahin showed his talent as a teenager and was promoted to the first team at Dortmund. He made the step up to Real Madrid for his Bundesliga career, but failed to find success in Spain, and a loan move to Liverpool did not help him to revive his career.
He then returned to Borussia Dortmund but failed to shine as brightly as before, and after stints at Werder Bremen and Antalyaspor, he retired during the 2021-22 season when he was named Antalyaspor’s manager.
As a professional player, the former Liverpool midfielder has played for some of the world’s best, but while he revealed that he would have liked to be under the guidance of Josep Guardiola, he said that Jurgen Klopp was special to him.
“I had great coaches, to be honest. I think I worked with some of the best in the world. I wish I also worked with Guardiola, but it never happened.”
“I worked under Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Fatih Terim, and Thomas Tuchel. But my longest period was with Klopp. He and Bert van Marwijk are very, very special to me. Bert promoted me to the Dortmund first team when I was just 16.”
Tribal Football
Touching on the abilities of Klopp, his mentor from his days at Borussia Dortmund, the Antalyaspor commander said that he is good at creating an environment where his players feel they are needed.
“He created an environment where everyone felt appreciated. He wants everyone to feel responsible, appreciated and needed.”
“If I come to my office in the morning and I don’t say ‘hello, thank you!’ to the lady cleaning my office and if I don’t talk to her a bit, I don’t think it makes any sense for me to win at the weekend when the team plays.”
“The balance between being a football professional and being a real person is very hard to achieve. I must never forget the human side of things.”
Tribal Football