How young is too young when it comes to managing a football club? It seems as though recently there has been a trend for younger managers in football but Hoffenheim have taken things one step further by recently announcing that as of next season they will have a new head coach who is only 28 years old. 
With the team struggling in the German top flight this season the decision was made earlier this week to relieve manager Markus Gisdol from his duties. The experienced Dutch coach Huub Stevens has been brought in until the summer with one remit, survival. After that however the board at Hoffenheim have decided that they see so much potential in young coach Julian Nagelsmann that they have formally announced him as the new head coach starting next summer. Nagelsmann is a former defender and played with both 1860 Munich and Augsburg before suffering recurring injuries that cut his playing career short. He then turned his hand to coaching and has built an impressive C.V that has attracted some impressive potential employers including Bayern Munich.
“I am looking forward to a very tempting task and I would like to thank everybody for the trust and the opportunity given to me,” Nagelsmann, who coached Hoffenheim’s junior team to the 2014 German title, said in a club statement.
It is certainly an intriguing appointment but it is one that has been made with careful consideration. There are a number of successful current managers who had a short playing career and started managing at a young age but Julian Nagelsmann is going to be only 29 when he takes full charge of Hoffenheim and he will be making Bundesliga history in the process. That is a great deal of pressure for such a young manager.
