Hasenhüttl on his PL tenure: "Nobody loses their nerve there"

Ralph Hasenhüttl managed FC Southampton from 2018 to 2022 and gained a wealth of experience in the Premier League during this time.

In the current edition of "Doppelpass," the Austrian talks about the differences between English football and the German Bundesliga.

Above all, the freedom to make decisions was significantly greater on the island: "In the German Bundesliga, we are responsible for everything, but we don't decide everything. In the Premier League, at least for me, I was also responsible for everything, and I also decided everything. That makes the job much easier."

Hasenhüttl quotes Arsene Wenger

His influence was by no means limited to sporting matters. "From the away kit to the bus we travel in. Of course, you are much more challenged, but it's also a lot of fun to be able to shape things."

Fittingly, Hasenhüttl recalls a statement by a coaching legend: "Arsene Wenger said, until Thursday I'm a manager and from Friday I'm a coach. There's something to that."

Coaches also have a much stronger say in transfer decisions. In Germany, however, responsibility for transfer policy usually lies with the managing directors and sporting directors.

However, the distribution of power is not the same at every club in England either. At Brighton & Hove Albion, for example, the club of coach Fabian Hürzeler, there is an owner who wants to make many decisions himself.

"Nobody loses their nerve there"

Hasenhüttl also recognizes differences in dealing with difficult sporting phases.

"In England, for years, the top six spots were largely a given, and everyone else was more or less just grateful to have stayed in the league."

As a result, the expectations at many clubs are different: "It can happen that you play in Liverpool, then at home against Manchester City and then against Arsenal. Then you have zero points after three games, and nobody loses their nerve there."

Hasenhüttl describes the work in the Premier League as particularly intense overall: "You mustn't forget that the Premier League has no winter break. That means you're only working from November to March. Then there's a transfer window in January, and then you don't know how 24 hours in a day can possibly be enough."