The Borussia coach, who will be in the European final in 2024, talks to Sports Predictions: “Italy in the World Cup? Yes, and no one will want to face them. There are four types of players: the survivor, the entertainer, the winner, and the leader. Let me explain who they are.”
Edin Terzic lives in a timeline of his own. He was a young man in a yellow and black jersey, celebrating Borussia’s Champions League victory in 1997. He was a passionate 30-year-old who went to Wembley on the fan bus in 2013 to watch the final against Bayern. When Borussia returned to the final in 2024, he was there to coach them, wearing a white collar under a black sweater. Terzic resigned after 12 days and has not coached since: for Italy, he is a distant figure. We perceive him as both very young—what should a coach be like at 43?—and belonging to the past. There is something new: his clock is not stuck on June 13, 2024. Terzic explained this at Hudl Performance Insights, a conference on the use of data where he discussed methodology, players, and life.
What has Edin Terzic been doing for the past 18 months? Waiting?
“I’m not waiting, I’m preparing: there’s a big difference. A coach, in his life, cannot wait, he must be ready.“
And how do you prepare to return to the bench? By watching games?
”I watch a lot of them, but there’s much more to it than that. In recent months, I’ve met with 60 people to improve myself and understand who might be suitable to work with me when they call me.”
How many passed the audition?
“Let’s say about ten or fifteen are on my list. There are data analysts, mental coaches, set piece specialists. I need people who are better than me in their field. Then, of course, I’ve also been doing other things in recent months: I’ve been a father, a husband, a brother, a friend. I went on vacation with my children for six weeks, whom I rarely saw before, and celebrated their birthdays.”
In recent months, there have been rumors of interest from Milan, Juventus, and especially Roma. What is the truth?
“Respect is the most important thing for a coach, including respect for fellow coaches. What I can say is that there has been interest from some Italian clubs, but I won’t say which ones.”
A year ago, Inter reached the final, as did Borussia, and like Borussia, they lost. How big is the shock? Can they get back to the final?
“Yes, of course, they can get back. We played in the Champions League final a year after our biggest disappointment, losing the Bundesliga on goal difference. And that year we sold Bellingham, who we faced as an opponent in the most important game. Inter, however, impressed me a lot last year…”
Why?
“It’s not normal to concede only one goal in eight Champions League group stage games. For example, I studied their way of defending crosses, which is exceptional. In the modern world, there’s a lot of copy-and-paste, but I think the important thing is not to do it blindly: you have to understand what works for you and your team. And maybe take the way a coach communicates at press conferences, not necessarily a technical aspect.“
Any other Italian influences?
”When I was a child, Serie A was the best league. Klinsmann, Voeller, all the great Germans came to you. Baggio and Del Piero had a big impact on me.”
Don’t think you don’t have strong players, Italy is famous for how it develops players
Edin Terzic
former Borussia Dortmund coach
The topic of the moment in Italy is the national team: will it go to the World Cup?
“In Italy, you think you don’t have top players, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have them in June. Italy is famous for how it develops players. I met Gattuso when he was at Valencia and Hajduk. I’m sure Gennaro has time to build a strong team, and I’ll tell you one thing: no one will want to face Italy in the quarterfinals or semifinals of the World Cup.”
So how do you recognize the right players for strong teams?
“I believe there are four types of players. There’s the survivor, who just wants to get to the end of the week and the end of the season. The entertainer, who is happy if he has money and followers on social media, not if he wins games. The winner, who wants to improve in order to win personally. And the leader, who has the same qualities as the winner but wants to have an impact on the team. They are fairly easy to recognize. If you say ‘rest on Sunday’ to the survivor, he will reply ‘okay’. If you say it to the winner, he will look you straight in the eye and say ‘why me?’”.
