The Bundesliga young coach wave: Nuri Şahin and five other fresh-faced bosses
The Bundesliga is unique among Europe's top five leagues in having as many as four coaches under 40 at the start of the 2024/25 season. bundesliga.com profiles them and two just into their forties bringing youthful vigour and fresh thinking to the sidelines.
Nuri Şahin
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Age at start of 2024/25: 35
Şahin took to the Dortmund hot seat in the summer as the youngest of all 18 Bundesliga coaches. In an interview with bundesliga.com, the former BVB playing legend attributed the fact he took the reins at such a young age to his striving for perfectionism. Having won the Bundesliga and DFB Cup at Dortmund while playing under Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel - in addition to working for Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid - Şahin boasts bags of top-level experience in his three decades and a half. Completing a sports management course at Harvard Business School is another very useful item on his CV. Years of experience in coaching at Meinerzhagen and Antalyaspor mean Şahin is far from the untried hand that some assume, and he will hope his youthful verve can invigorate a talented Dortmund squad this season.
Watch: Şahin reunites with old friend Mario Götze on opening weekend
Ole Werner
Club: Werder Bremen
Age at start of 2024/25 season: 36
Should the fact Werner is the second youngest coach in the Bundesliga surprise you, it might be because none of the other 17 bosses have been with their current club at this level longer than him. Werner was just 33 when he first took charge of Werder, and promptly showed that age was no barrier - to promotion in his case, as his side ascended back to the Bundesliga at the end of his first season in charge. Comfortably achieving safety in two successive seasons since have made Werner a Bundesliga mainstay. His coaching experience was surprisingly lengthy before he joined Bremen, having spent eight years working up the ranks at Holstein Kiel from a youth team coach to first team boss from 2019 to 2021.
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Vincent Kompany
Club: Bayern Munich
Age at start of 2024/25 season: 38
The Bavarians made a notable pivot towards youth in the dugout by hiring 38-year-old Kompany as the successor to 50-year-old Tuchel. The Belgian is barely any older than a number of his key players, with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer also 38, while ironically he was a Hamburg player in his last match for the club opposing a young Thomas Müller making his Bayern debut back in 2008. Similarly to Şahin, what Kompany lacks in terms of a long list of previous coaching positions, he more than makes up for with experience at the highest level as a player - captaining Manchester City for eight years, including under former Bayern boss Pep Guardiola. Kompany is far from a coaching novice either after spells at Anderlecht and Burnley, but has a big chance at Bayern now to show his coaching credentials at a high-profile side hungry for success.
Watch: New Bayern Boss - Kompany Era Begins
Julian Schuster
Club: Freiburg
Age at start of 2024/25 season: 39
The last of the four under 40 in Bundesliga dugouts is perhaps the least known, yet arguably the coach in the best place to find his feet. Freiburg have a history of giving unwavering support to their coaches through thick and thin, without which Schuster's predecessor, the legendary Christian Streich, would not have lasted over 12 years in charge. Despite being a coaching novice, there is no doubting Schuster's experience in his surroundings, as he made over 200 appearances for Freiburg as a player before taking various coaching positions after hanging up his boots in 2018. His youth might bring some fresh ideas to Freiburg in 2024/25, but he doesn't have to tear up any scripts. In fact, Schuster seems perfectly positioned to provide the kind of continuity the club craves.
Sebastian Hoeneß
Club: VfB Stuttgart
Age at start of 2024/25 season: 42
It would be a stretch to attribute Stuttgart's sensational 2023/24 season to their coach's youth, but Hoeneß's eagerness to make a name for himself was reflected in an energetic and brilliantly positive side that soared to a shock second-placed finish. Former legendary Stuttgart player Hansi Müller has said that "it's definitely an advantage to have relatively young guys in charge", adding that he was amazed to have seen Hoeneß's verve in action in training. Hoeneß is another young coach whose age belies the extent of his experience. After retiring as a player at the age of 28, he coached in the youth ranks of several clubs - including RB Leipzig - for close to a decade before becoming boss of Bayern's reserves and winning the 3. Liga with them in 2019/10, then spending two seasons further underlining his reputation in the Bundesliga at Hoffenheim.
Watch: Stuttgart under the Hoeneß revolution
Xabi Alonso
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
Age at start of 2024/25 season: 42
He is the coach that the rest of the Bundesliga - if not the whole of Europe - is looking up to, and undoubtedly a reason why other clubs have opted for a relative youngster in the dugout. It bears repeating just how much of a gamble Leverkusen seemed to be making when appointing a 40-year-old with no previous experience of first-team coaching in October 2022. Fast forward two years, and the appointment looks nothing short of a stroke of genius. Alonso has inspired the club to a maiden Bundesliga title with an unprecedented unbeaten season - all thanks to a breathtaking brand of football. His attention to detail and clear possession-based philosophy might be the main reasons for his success, but the enthusiasm of his relative youth has no doubt allowed him to seize his chance at Leverkusen in spectacular fashion and become a modern-day coaching great in the making.
Watch: Xabi Alonso's historic 2023/24 season at Leverkusen
The six coaches profiled here are by no means an exception. Another seven Bundesliga bosses are still in their 40s as the 2024/25 season get started, while Bochum's Peter Zeidler was the one coach above the age of 60. When you add in the fact that Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann - formerly of Hoffenheim, Leipzig and Bayern - is just 37, the Bundesliga clearly stands out as a league where the youngest coaching talents in football can flourish.
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