A-League top gun Thomas Broich has revealed that Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou has inspired him to go into coaching when he hangs up his boots.
The 34-year-old German says it took playing under “visionary” Postecoglou with Brisbane Roar to appreciate how a coach can transform a team and he can now see himself switching to coaching in his adopted country.
Widely considered the finest player in A-League history, Broich has helped the Roar to three premierships and is the only man to be awarded the Johnny Warren Medal twice.
The Munich-born schemer, who played in the Bundesliga for Borussia Monchengladbach, Cologne and Nuremberg was regarded as a huge talent in his homeland and was a regular member of the German under-21 side.
However, in the often narrow-minded world of football he was cynically dismissed as a free-spirit, more interested in German literature and classical music and with a reputation for confrontation.
His time at Monchengladbach came to an end following a row with hard-nosed veteran Dutch coach Dick Advocaat and it was a similar story at Cologne under the controversial Christoph Daum.
Broich’s time at Nuremberg was blighted by injuries and, disillusioned, he moved to Brisbane in 2010 for a new challenge.
And it was there for first time in his career he found in Postecoglou a coach he could relate to and rekindled his lost love for the game.
“For the majority of my career I have been 100 per cent sure that I wouldn’t never ever stay in the football business when I retire,” Broich told AAP.
“But I was fortunate to come and play under Ange Postecoglou.
“I didn’t know anything about him, but I quickly realised that this was a visionary coach who could change the Australian football landscape.”
Postecoglou left the Roar after winning a second successive premiership in 2012 to take over at Melbourne Victory job only to be offered the Socceroos job six months later.
But the impression he left on the softly-spoken, guitar-playing midfielder in their two years together was indelible and Broich wants to follow in his footsteps when his playing days are over.
“I couldn’t fail to be impressed by Postecoglou, he took a team that at the start had nothing and made it into one that could vary our style of football, depending on the situation,” he said.
“He produced a team that played with a personality developed on and off the park.
“Seeing how he did that was something I’d never ever considered before.
“When I was young I just rocked up to training, and played. There was never much reflection about what went into building a side. But that has changed big time.”
Broich is very settled in Brisbane with no immediate plans to return to Germany and wants to help grow the game in Australia.
“I’ve a great deal of affection for this country and still have a lot I can achieve here,” he said.
“I still have two years on my current deal and want to play for as long as possible.
“But I’ve seen how much football potential there is here in Australia and can see myself staying. I look forward to doing some proper coaching one day.
“Australia has given me so much and at the moment I don’t see myself going back to Germany.”
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