5 players who played under managers who were younger than them
Football managers, all over the world, are conventionally old and proven. They literally are the pathfinder of the team looking for glory. They bring in a wealth of experience to nurture the squad and dish out motivational talks to lead the team forward while helping them out during the crisis.
However, there are few instances when the club hierarchy chose to go ahead with managers who are young and dynamic. While the theory behind success demands the managers to adapt to the progressive change as fast as possible, younger ones have lived up to the expectation quite well.
In the process, they have come across professional players who were older and managing them efficiently needed something special to avoid unrest. There are players who play till late 30’s and 40’s and for them, these issues are nothing new. Here are five such players who at some point in their career played under a younger manager.
#1 Eugen Polanski (17th Mar, 1986)/Julian Nagelsmann (23rd Jul, 1987)
When TSG 1899 Hoffenheim appointed Julian Nagelsmann as their head coach early this year, he became the youngest ever manager in the history of Bundesliga. In the process, Polish international Eugen Polanski found himself a boss who is a year younger than him. The defensive midfielder is a part of the club since 2013 and features regularly for the club.
Julian Nagelsmann briefly worked under current Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel at Augsburg. Since 2010 he has been the assistant of Hoffenheim youth teams under various age category until he was given the responsibility of the senior team on 10th February 2016.
Polanski started his career at Borussia Monchengladbach and had spells with Getafe and Mainz before joining Hoffenheim. In the international circuit, he has represented Germany at U21 level and has also captained the side at times. However, in 2011, later in his career he played for the Poland nation team.