Thomas Broich was once considered the greatest talent in German football. At a time when the national team could not get past the preliminary round of the European Championship in Portugal and even opponents like Latvia could not be defeated, Broich was also seen as a promise against the blandness in German football with his fine, filigree style of play. However, the former U21 international was rarely able to fulfil the high expectations during his career.
When his career faltered after many injuries and stints in Gladbach, Cologne and Nuremberg, the Munich native moved "Down Under" - and found his great fortune. He won the Australian championship three times and even received the Australian Footballer of the Decade award in 2014. Today, Thomas Broich is a TV and tactics expert and also passes on his knowledge as a coach in youth football.
We at B42 met the 40-year-old and talked to him about his career highlights, the culture of mistakes in football and reaching his best sporting self.
"It was unbelievable - people went crazy".
On the pitch, Broich was a difference maker. One who could put his stamp on the game. He was agile, tricky and equipped with the ability to make difficult situations look easy.
A particularly challenging situation was undoubtedly the A-League Grand Final 2011. Opponents were the CC Mariners and in extra time Broich and Co. already had their backs to the wall with a 0:2 score. What happened next went down in the football history books, and not only in Australia: Brisbane levelled the score in the 117th and with the very last minute of the game in the 120th minute, even decided the penalty shootout in their favour and finally won the Championship after an outstanding season.
"It was unbelievable. The people went wild - a Sea of Orange," the midfielder remembers the final with beaming eyes. More finals followed in 2012 and 2014, and finally even the award for "Australia's Footballer of the Decade".
Due to persistent ankle problems, he put an end to an enormously successful playing career in 2017.
Wasted talent or fortunate by indirection?
Anyone who saw Thomas Broich play, how he acted with inimitable naturalness, with what ease he ruled the field, inevitably asked himself what else would have been possible in this football career. He himself was very specific: "There would have been a lot more in it. A conclusion about his own football career that comes across as astonishingly honest. But anyone who suspects melancholy, disappointment or suspicion in this statement is mistaken. Broich seems content with it. He has experienced a lot and reflected on a lot more. And finally, after an eventful career, he was able to learn a lot.
He once said in an interview that he was probably considered a failure in the Bundesliga. Perhaps, he says, that is even true. But: "Everything that came after my time in the Bundesliga was much more awesome. And even if some people say that maybe I kicked third-class football somewhere in Australia: for me that was everything - it meant the world to me."
The example of Thomas Broich shows us clearly: to be happy in football, you don't always have to take the straight path to the top. Detours can also lead to satisfaction and happiness - no matter in which league you play.
"Up to that point, I had been aware of football while half asleep".
It was not only for his active career that the other side of the world was a real gamechanger. Australia was also important for his future. One man played a decisive role in this: Ange Postecoglou.
The now 55-year-old ex-professional was coach of Brisbane Roar from 2009 to 2012 and thus also of Thomas Broich. "Through Ange, I experienced for the first time what a coach can really achieve. He was so imbued with football and could explain it with a clarity."
"With an average squad", says Broich, Postecoglou "wanted to play football like FC Barcelona". With success! For within a short time the game of "Roarcelona" (as the newspapers christened Brisbane Roar because of their style of play) changed.
"We all got better in the head and understood football. That was the moment when I thought, 'don't you want to try something like that?' Ange pulling that off with that squad never let me go and eventually made me become a youth coach."
"The biggest mistake you can make? Being afraid to make mistakes".
Together with Jerome Polenz (who played professionally for Aachen, Union Berlin and Sydney, among others), he took over the U15s of SG Eintracht Frankfurt in March 2020.
Probably also due to personal experience, the topic of "culture of mistakes" is of particular importance to coach Thomas Broich: "In order to be able to achieve extraordinary things, you also have to be prepared to make mistakes. That's why we've tried to develop a culture in our little football bubble where you're not afraid of making mistakes."
Rather, as a coach, he wants to constantly encourage his boys to seek fearless solutions. Because only in this way is further development possible. According to the former Gladbach, Nuremberg and Cologne professional, there is one unforgivable mistake you should never make: "Being afraid to make a mistake on the pitch.
"I don't like statements like 'the player can't do it'. That is far too simplistic. Maybe this or that player still can't do it. But that's exactly my job as a coach. And the players are allowed to make mistakes just as long."
"Working hard at something will also make you happy in the long run".
One thing Thomas Broich would like to pass on to his Eintracht youngsters, but also to all footballers: "I am sure that happiness lies in working on things you like to do and realising yourself in them. When you develop with plan, meticulousness and joy and suddenly you can do things you couldn't do before, that makes you happy. And that's what life is all about: We just want to be happy.