Julian Schuster to replace Christian Steich  at Freiburg

 

 

Admin I Saturday, March 23, 2024

 

BERLIN – Football club Freiburg have chosen their former player Julian Schuster as the replacement for outgoing coach Christian Steich, the Bundesliga club confirmed on Friday.

The 38-year-old will take over from the long-serving Streich in July. As usual, the club did not provide any information on the duration of Schuster’s contract. The current job of the former Freiburg captain is liaising between the senior and youth squads.

“Over the past few weeks, we have spoken intensively with several internal and external candidates. At the end of this process, we decided with great conviction to work with Julian Schuster,” sporting director Jochen Saier said in a statement.

“His expertise, his personality and his comprehensive identification with the philosophy and values of the Freiburg were decisive criteria for us.”

Freiburg are famous for sticking with their coaches and for appointing from within.

Streich’s announcement on Monday that he would step down at the end of the season stunned the Bundesliga. The-58-year-old has been in charge for over 12 years and took the club into Europe as well as the 2022 German Cup final. He said he felt the side needed “new energy.”

Schuster said: “The coaching position here is both an affair of the heart and a challenge for me.

“I am aware of the task ahead and approach it with real belief, but also with humility and respect.”

Freiburg, who narrowly missed the Champions League spots the last two seasons, sit ninth in the Bundesliga this term and went out of the Europa League last 16 at the hands of West Ham United.