Christian Streich

Christian Streich
Personal information
Date of birth (1965-06-11) 11 June 1965
Place of birth Weil am Rhein, Germany
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 SC Freiburg (Manager)
Youth career
SpVgg Märkt-Eimeldingen
FV Lörrach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1985 Freiburger FC 56 (8)
1985–1987 Stuttgarter Kickers 21 (2)
1987–1988 SC Freiburg 22 (2)
1988–1990 FC 08 Homburg 33 (1)
1991–1994 Freiburger FC 77 (27)
Total 209 (40)
Teams managed
1995–2011 SC Freiburg U19
2007–2011 SC Freiburg (assistant)
2011– SC Freiburg

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Christian Streich (German pronunciation: [ˈkʁɪsti̯an ˈʃtʁaɪ̯ç]; born 11 June 1965) is a former German footballer and current manager of SC Freiburg of the Bundesliga. On 29 December 2011, he was named manager following the release of former manager, Marcus Sorg.[1] Because of his immediate success at the club and his enigmatic and, oftentimes, energetic personality, Streich has been called a "cult figure",[2] a "firebrand",[3] and a "football philosopher".[4]

Playing career

Streich began his youth career in 1983 with Freiburger FC in the second division of Baden-Württemberg. In his first season with the club, Freiburg won the championship, but was defeated in the promotion round to reach the 2. Bundesliga. After a further season with FFC, Streich was transferred to the Stuttgarter Kickers in 1985. He left a little over a year later to play for SC Freiburg in the 2. Bundesliga.

After a season with SCF in which he made 22 appearances and scored 2 goals, Streich left the club and went to the second-division team FC 08 Homburg, with which he obtained the vice championship and promotion into the top national league in 1989. In the 1989–90 season, Streich made ten appearances for Homburg. In 1991, Streich transferred back to Freiburger FC and played there until his playing career was cut short by a broken metatarsal in 1995.[3]

Coaching career

Early career

Streich returned to SC Freiburg in 1995 as a youth trainer. With the youth squad, he won the 2006, 2009, and 2011 junior DFB Cup and the Under 19 Fußball-Bundesliga championship in 2008.[3] After Robin Dutt was named manager of the Freiburg's first team in the summer of 2007, Streich served as a co-trainer, attending mainly to the youth squad. Under his direction, many youth players made the leap to the pros including: Dennis Aogo, Jonathan Pitroipa, Daniel Schwaab, Eke Uzoma, Ömer Toprak, and Oliver Baumann.

2011–12

At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Streich became assistant coach of Freiburg's first team with the new trainer Marcus Sorg after Robin Dutt left the club to become head coach of Bayer Leverkusen. Following a poor first half of the Bundesliga season which saw Freiburg in the relegation zone,[5] Streich became head coach on 29 December 2011 after Marcus Sorg was sacked.[6]

Following the winter break, Freiburg played its first Bundesliga match under Christian Streich against fellow relegation battlers FC Augsburg. Freiburg won 1–0 off of an 88th-minute goal by Matthias Ginter, a player who trained under Streich at the youth levels at SCF and who was brought to the senior squad by Streich himself. The goal came off of a free-kick by the newly signed Danish defender Michael Lumb, another of Streich's own signings during his first transfer period with the club.[7] With the victory, Streich became the first Freiburg manager to win their Bundesliga debut. Volker Finke lost his debut in 1991 while his immediate successors, Robin Dutt and Marcus Sorg, both drew in their debuts. The win also lifted Freiburg off of the bottom of the league table, passing Augsburg in the process.[8] Despite being viewed as a club that would certainly be relegated before Streich took over, following an unbeaten streak of 9 matches, Freiburg secured their place in the Bundesliga for the upcoming season on matchday 32 with a 0–0 draw against Hannover 96. The team finished the season with a club record of a 10-match unbeaten streak before losing on the final matchday of the season to league champions Borussia Dortmund.[9] After the season, Streich was named Coach of the Year by Goal!, the official Bundesliga magazine.[10]

2012–13

Under Streich, the 2012–13 Bundesliga season saw the club finish in fifth place, their best league standing since the 1994–95 season. The fifth-place finish secured a position in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, an accomplishment that the club had not achieved since the 2001–02 edition of the tournament. Had SC Freiburg defeated FC Schalke 04 on the final matchday of the season, Freiburg would have leapfrogged Schalke and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club's history. However, the 1–2 defeat to Schalke saw Schalke secure fourth place in the league and qualify for the tournament instead.[11][12] During the 2012–13 season, Freiburg also advanced to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal for the first time in the club's history but lost to local rivals VFB Stuttgart 1–2 and missed the chance to play FC Bayern Munich in the final.[13] Following the season, Streich was named Coach of the Season by Kicker magazine, beating out treble-winning Jupp Heynckes.[14] Streich extended his contract at the end of the season.

2013-14

The third season with Streich as coach started out very unsuccessful with SC Freiburg remaining 16th in the Bundesliga and failing the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage at third place. SC Freiburg was eliminated in round 3 of the 2013–14 DFB-Pokal by Bayer Leverkusen, however finished the Bundesliga season as 14th and therefore remaining in the league.

2014-15

In five games at the start of the season, SC Freiburg lead until at least 87 minutes into the game but then conceded equalizers in either regular or added time. This caused the team to drop to the last position in the league table.

Only six wins in the second half of the season were not enough and the team finished 17th and therefore relegated to the 2. Bundesliga by a single point.

2015-16

SC Freiburg was able to lead the 2. Bundesliga 17 games into the season. All managerial contracts including Streich's originally expiring summer 2016 were extended in February 2016.[15]

Personal life

Streich is the son of a butcher and grew up working in his father's shop. He attributes his welcoming personality to his parents and their nature towards customers at the shop. After the abrupt end to his playing career, Streich completed his studies of German and also studied sport and history and eventually became a qualified teacher. Streich is known for his heavy southwestern German dialect and has been called a firebrand by many because of his energetic personality. Currently, Streich has two children and has described himself as, "...just a normal guy, no tattoos, no piercings". Streich also cycles to the stadium on his bicycle for Freiburg's home matches.[10]

Managerial statistics

As of 3 December 2016
Team From To Record
M W D L Win % Ref.
SC Freiburg 29 December 2011[6] Present 188 76 48 64 40.43 [16]

Honours

Managerial

SC Freiburg-Youth
SC Freiburg

References

  1. ↑ "Freiburg and Sorg part ways". bundesliga.de. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Saviour of the season: Christian Streich". Bundesliga. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Freiburg pinning their hopes on a low-key firebrand". Bundesliga. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "Streich der Woche: Ehrfurcht vor dem Punkterekord". Badische Zeitung. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "1. Bundesliga - Spieltag / Tabelle" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Streich übernimmt für Sorg". kicker (in German). 29 December 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Freiburg tops fellow struggler Augsburg". foxsports.com. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  8. ↑ Stockitt, Jonathan. "New Year, new Freiburg". bundesliga.de. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  9. ↑ Thorogood, James. "Freiburg win big despite draw". Bundesliga. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 James, Andy. "Christian Streich: Freiburg's free spirit". Bundesliga. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  11. ↑ Gladwell, Ben. "SCHALKE SNATCH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BERTH IN FREIBURG". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  12. ↑ Gladwell, Ben. "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL FOR FREIBURG". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  13. ↑ Wittmann, Gerry. "VfB Stuttgart 2 – 1 SC Freiburg: Stuttgart Salvage their Season with Pokal Win". bundesliga fanatic. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Bundesliga-Profis wählen Christian Streich zum besten Trainer". Badische Zeitung. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  15. ↑ "Vertragsverlängerung mit Christian Streich und Trainerteam" (in German). scfreiburg.com. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "SC Freiburg". Kicker (in German). Retrieved 21 September 2016.
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