In 2011 they opened the “Hachinger Weg”, which is what they call the third division soccer team’s concept, which is intended to focus on integrating their own talents. Such a path is usually taken in football when you can’t afford the big avenues, and sometimes a lot of innovative things come about on such beaten paths. Recently, however, it seemed as if that path led back to amateur football, so now they have gone in a different direction. A circle was closed on Friday with the signing of coach Heiko Herrlich: it was the former Bundesliga professional who once opened this path to Haching.
There are striking parallels between the Herrlich signing twelve and a half years ago and today. Haching is currently back in the third division and plagued by financial worries. This fact alone means that young players have to be thrown into the deep end – Johannes Geis was able to be signed in the summer, but now there is hardly any money left for experienced veterans. Such hardships had not stopped Heiko Herrlich back then, and now the club is even talking about a “longer-term” contract. “I’m really looking forward to being part of the Haching family again. My memories of the past time at the game association are only positive, especially when it comes to the family atmosphere and cohesion in Unterhaching,” the 53-year-old is quoted as saying in the official statement.
Schwabl was not yet president in 2011, but as a youth leader he established contact with Herrlich at the time. When Klaus Augenthaler was not extended, Herrlich simply became head coach instead of the U17 team. Although he couldn’t officially take office until September 1st, he caused a sensation even before then. After the first training sessions under Herrlich, Haching achieved a much-noticed 3-2 win against SC Freiburg in the DFB Cup; players like Sascha Bigalke and Florian Niederlechner became known nationwide at that time.
After his last engagement with the Bundesliga club FC Augsburg from March 2020 to April 2021, things had become quite quiet about Herrlich, but a year and a half ago he was said to have been briefly discussed in the Egyptian first league. Nevertheless, his return is of course a successful coup for the suburbanites. It was obviously particularly important to Schwabl to be able to present an experienced trainer whose name alone has a boost. First he tried Felix Magath, it remained unclear for a few days whether the 2009 master coach would take over in Haching, but then the 71-year-old turned it down. However, Herrlich should not be seen as an emergency solution, especially since he is a proven youth football expert.
The German Football Association may have waved a whole fence about the fine payments
In 2011 he brought in a novice trainer as an assistant, namely Manuel Baum, this time it will be Sven Bender. The club also proudly announced his whereabouts on Friday. As is well known, Schwabl thinks highly of the 35-year-old former Dortmund player, whose active career has similarities to that of Herrlich (265 Bundesliga and 33 Champions League games, Herrlich 256 and 29, both twice German champions and cup winners). When asked, Schwabl explains that what makes him hopeful now is “the combination of experience and aspiring young trainers,” “both are very meticulous and down-to-earth.”
If Bender had the necessary license, Schwabl would have given the young coach sole responsibility. But from what we can hear, the German Football Association probably waved not just a fence post, but a whole fence about the expected fine payments, and then Hachinger Weg would have been blocked. The new team will lead training for the first time on Saturday. According to Bender, it was a “matter of the heart” for him to help the club as interim coach in December, but more than that was apparently never planned. “Now I’m really looking forward to working with Heiko Herrlich. Together we will do everything we can to stay in the league.”
However, there are also differences from back then. Heiko Herrlich was able to hone and polish a lot of promising talents when he was first signed, but the team currently doesn’t seem to have much development potential. Unterhaching is bottom of the table because scoring goals is particularly difficult. “We keep our eyes and ears open,” explains Schwabl when asked whether the squad can still be improved.
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