Lars Ricken: 'We love to see Dortmund coaches develop – even at other clubs'

Lars Ricken made his Borussia Dortmund debut 25 years ago and never left. He is now shaping the club’s academy

By Alex Clapham for Caño Football

As an evening filled with whimsical stories about Jürgen Klopp’s antics draws to a close, I try to pay the bill at the downtown burger-house in Dortmund, but the barman brings the jokes to an abrupt halt. “We don’t accept card payments here. Nobody in this city does!” Jens Volke, one of the staff on the Borussia Dortmund media team, interjects to explain: “There’s a movement in which locals don’t want to use credit cards, to stop Big Brother watching our every move.” I make my way to the cashpoint thinking that things are done differently around here.

That distinctive tone is also apparent the next morning at Borussia Dortmund’s training ground in Brackel. While chatting to staff, I notice that no two people – whether youth players, first-team stars, kitchen workers or kitmen – walk past each other in the corridor without shaking hands and offering a greeting. There is a congenial feel to this club that comes from the top.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jun/27/borussia-dortmund-lars-ricken-coaches-club