Osnabrück's sports director defends Schweinsteiger's withdrawal
Sports director Amir Shapourzadeh of second-division soccer club VfL Osnabrück has defended the separation from popular promotion coach Tobias Schweinsteiger and accepted responsibility for this much-discussed move. "We have always supported Tobias, especially externally. That was the case last fall, when his start was not ideal, and also this season after the heavy defeats against Hannover and Fürth. But when we realized that we could no longer achieve the urgently needed turnaround in this constellation, we had to act like this," said Shapourzadeh in an interview with the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" (Friday).
He himself had "made the recommendation for the separation", the 41-year-old ex-professional continued. "However, I would like to emphasize that the separation from Tobias was not a gut decision, not a spontaneous reaction and not a solo effort by anyone." Schweinsteiger led VfL to promotion to the second division last season, but was forced to leave this week following the 3-2 defeat at Eintracht Braunschweig and the club's drop to the bottom of the table.
The coach and sporting director obviously had different opinions about the quality of the Osnabrück squad. While Schweinsteiger recommended "the signing of two or three players" in a NOZ interview after the separation, Shapourzadeh now emphasized: "I believe in the quality and potential of the squad. Incidentally, that was also the case a good year ago, when the team was still in the lower midfield of the 3rd division in the fall - I blocked out requests for new players and said internally that the team has what it takes to be promoted."
In hindsight, the sporting director is also critical of Schweinsteiger's regular trips to his family in Bavaria after Osnabrück matches. "In soccer, the evaluation of many actions ultimately depends on the result on the pitch," said Shapourzadeh. "It would certainly have been better sometimes if there had been a weekend or two without a trip home - after defeats, for example. Instead, we could have worked on the training pitch."
Despite the heavy defeats against Hannover and Fürth, VfL Osnabrück's sports director Shapourzadeh continued to support promotion coach Schweinsteiger. However, with the team struggling at the bottom of Bundesliga 2, Shapourzadeh had to recommend the separation from Schweinsteiger, as a turnaround seemed unlikely in their current constellation.
Source: www.dpa.com
