History shows Roger Schmidt remains the right man to lead Bayer Leverkusen

History shows Roger Schmidt remains the right man to lead Bayer Leverkusen

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Bayer Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt has endured a rough start to his second campaign at the Leverkusen helms.

His men have already collapsed to defeat on four occasions. In the 2014-15 season, they suffered just seven losses and it appears Leverkusen may not reach the heights they did last season.

Considering all present circumstances, Schmidt is still the right man to lead Leverkusen. He is a man with a pure passion for the beautiful game who has continued to excel year in, year out in his managerial duties.

Where did the journey begin for the 48-year-old?

The man renowned for his role as a professional football manager actually started out as a mechanical engineer. During that period, Schmidt managed a semi-professional squad, Delbrucker SC. At the time, Delbrucker were playing their trade in the eighth tier of German football.

In 2007, having spent three seasons at Delbrucker, Schmidt decided to take control of his dream to become a professional football manager.

He quit his job and seized control of the ranks at Preussen Munster. Schmidt guided the fifth division German side to promotion in his first season in charge. After two more successful years in division four, Schmidt’s reputation was accelerating dramatically – he then joined 2.Bundesliga side SC Paderborn 07.

In his one-year tenure at Paderborn, Schmidt’s contributions in less than a year were outstanding. It was the 2011-12 2.Bundesliga term when Schmidt inspired Paderborn to a fifth place finish, concluding the season with 61 points, nine adrift of league winners, SpVgg Greuther Furth. In the season prior to Schmidt’s employment, Paderborn finished 12th with a measly 39 points. This transition was impressive.

Major breakthrough

Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg were captivated by Schmidt’s efforts at Paderborn, so they decided to offer him a job, in which Schmidt accepted with great delight.

In the 2012-13 campaign, Schmidt guided the reigning champions to a second place finish; not an ideal outcome, but still far from a horrendous one.

When the 2013-14 season arrived, Schmidt made no mistake in redeeming himself to mastermind the domestic title back to Salzburg. In the successful season, the Austrian side scored 110 goals to finish with a goal difference of 75 and Salzburg also won the Austrian Cup. Schmidt smashed a record as the title was sealed with eight matches remaining.

Throughout his incumbency at Salzburg, Schmidt received a taste of European football for the first time. In 2012-13, Salzburg bowed out in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. In 2013-14, Salzburg did one better, this time getting knocked out in the third round of qualifying.

However, Salzburg’s most outstanding showing emerged in UEFA Europa League during the 2013-14 season, winning 10 consecutive matches consisting of two play-off matches, six group stage matches and two round of 32 matches to reach the round of 16, where they were eliminated by Swiss outfit FC Basel.

Leverkusen

Schmidt is now the man occupying the Leverkusen hot seat, his biggest ever honour.

In his first year at the Leverkusen throne, Schmidt conducted his side to the round of 16 in the Champions League, where heartache was visible when knocked out by Atletico Madrid on penalties. European despair could not stop a positive Leverkusen who went on to finish fourth, securing a Champions League play-off position.

Prior to the inception of this season, Schmidt recruited well, bringing in the likes of Javier Hernandez, Admir Mehmedi and Kevin Kampl. All three have endeared themselves to the Leverkusen faithful.

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The high-pressing style of play Schmidt bought to the BayArena has made Leverkusen one of the most exciting teams to watch and has resulted in the squad becoming more vigorous.

Leverkusen’s poor start has nothing to do with Schmidt’s style as chances have not been hard to come by. There is no issue in that department; the problem is clinical finishing. Several points have been dropped because of this.

Managerial record

Delbrucker SC, July 2004-June 2007; matches: 99, wins: 40, draws: 25, losses: 34, win percentage: 40.40%.

Preussen Munster, July 2007-March 2010; matches: 93, wins: 44, draws: 28, losses: 21, win percentage: 47.31%.

SC Paderborn 07, July 2011-June 2012; matches: 36, wins: 18, draws: 10, losses: 8, win percentage: 50%.

Red Bull Salzburg, June 2012-May 2014; matches: 99, wins: 68, draws: 18, losses: 13, win percentage: 68.69%.

Bayer Leverkusen, June 2014-present; matches: 61, wins: 33, draws: 12, losses: 16, win percentage: 54.10%.

An inspiration to aspiring coaches

Schmidt is nothing short of an inspiration, remembering that just eight years ago he was a mechanical engineer coaching an eighth tier German club.

Now he is the head manager of an exceptional German team who compete in the Bundesliga, arguably one of the most potent four leagues in world football.

Schmidt is competing against some of the greatest managerial minds in the world, including the likes of Pep Guardiola’s rampant Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and Luis Enrinque’s Barcelona in the Champions League.

Roger Schmidt leads Leverkusen training on the Camp Nou
Roger Schmidt leads Leverkusen training on the Camp Nou

Guardiola is among an abundance of Schmidt’s admirers. This was evident after the Bayern manager’s comments following a 1-0 victory over Leverkusen in December 2014.

“This is a great team and I’m a big fan. We weren’t used to a team pressing us so aggressively and it was one of our toughest games. Compliments to Schmidt and his team,” Guardiola said.

Despite the underwhelming start to the 2015-16 expedition, Schmidt is more than capable of pulling a rabbit out of a hat to turn misfortunes into good fortunes. Can he engineer his side to success?

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