Philipp Degen: ‘Liverpool And Dortmund Embody Tradition – I Always Admired Supporters Of These Clubs’ | OneFootball

An interview with Philipp Degen, by Ben McFadyean.

In early June, Liverpool announced the £29.5m signing of right-back Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen. Former Swiss international Philipp Degen was signed from Borussia Dortmund to great fanfare by the club in that position in season 2008/09.

Degen, born 15 February 1983, is now a leading football agent. During his playing days, he usually played as a right back, but could also play at left back or on the right wing. He reached the last 16 in the 2006 World Cup with Switzerland and was selected again for Euro 2008, but did not play any games.

Degen began his professional career at Swiss club FC Basel, playing four seasons in the first team before moving to Borussia Dortmund. He spent three years at the German club, his final season marred by injury.

Injuries also blemished his stay at Liverpool, and his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 31 August 2011 and he joined VfB Stuttgart on loan until the end of the season, playing in five matches.

At the start of 2011/12, Degen returned to Basel. He ended his professional career at the end of the 2015/16 season with a total of eight Swiss championship titles and two Swiss cup titles.

Degen has represented Switzerland at various age levels, including U17s, U19s, U20s, and U21s. He made his Swiss U17s debut on 10 February in the 2–1 away win against the Turkish U-17s. His U21 debut was on 20 August 2003 in the 1–1 home draw against the French national under-21 football team.

Degen played for the Swiss team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where they were knocked out on penalties by Ukraine in the last 16. Despite having been injured for much of the season, he formed part of the Swiss squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament. However, the host nation was knocked out in the group stage of the tournament, and he did not make any appearances. He played his final match for the Swiss national team in the 0-1 defeat against Norway on 14 November 2009.

Following active retirement, Degen started SBE Management. This Swiss-based player agency represents players from across Europe, including Leeds United right-back Isaac Schmidt,  Cologne striker Luca Waldschmidt, and Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

Philipp, you played for both Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund. You were at Borussia between 2005 and 2008 and at Liverpool between 2008 and 2010, two massive clubs with a great history. Was tradition an essential factor for you when deciding on a club to play for, or just the ‘luck of the draw’ that you ended up at two clubs with so much history?

“Both Liverpool and Dortmund embody tradition. I always admired the supporters of these clubs. These are clubs with a lot of history, the big fan-bases, and then the stadiums Anfield and Westfalenstadion, amazing grounds; the combination of these factors is the reason why I chose to play at these clubs along with the opportunity to develop as a player under coaches like Roy Hodgson, Rafa Benitez, or Bert van Marwijk.”

Speaking briefly about coaches, let us contrast Jürgen Klopp with Rafa Benitez, who you worked with at Dortmund and Liverpool, respectively. There are different ways to describe Rafa, who is now manager of Celta Vigo. He is an excellent tactician and has an incredible ability to read the game, but what was he like to get along with as a person? What was your experience with him? How does he compare to Jürgen Klopp?

“I think Rafa’s main strength, like you said, is his tactics. He is not a big talker; he is more like ‘Let’s get straight into the daily work’. He would focus on tactics, which is different from Jürgen, who is a communicator. Jürgen is a guy with real fire. He has the power to keep getting everybody behind him.

“Rafa is a completely different kind of coach. Of course, Rafa was also successful at Liverpool, but when you have a boss, it doesn’t matter if it’s in football or business, if the boss has ‘fire’, the team feeds on that passion. Klopp made things happen; that’s why success came back to Liverpool. He is a perfectionist, and you can see his work everywhere in Liverpool.

“Rafa is, of course, also an excellent coach and a very nice guy, but he was more analytical and less of a people person. Rafa’s main strength is his ability to read the game.”

Another coach you worked under with the Swiss national team was Ottmar Hitzfeld. He is a legend in the Bundesliga who won titles with both BVB and Bayern. What was it like working with Ottmar? The results he achieved, like the Champions League win of 1997, indeed prove that he is one of the greatest coaches ever to gift Borussia Dortmund. What was he like to work under as a player?

“Ottmar Hitzfeld is similar to Roy Hodgson, who was my coach at Liverpool. Ottmar is a gentleman. He’s a guy the players look up to because he was very successful as a player, including with my home club FC Basel, and even more successful as a coach in the Bundesliga.

“Ottmar’s main strength is his ability to earn respect; players always listen to him. Ottmar had great tactical ability, but it was his personality that led the team to success with old-school qualities.”

You played as a defender, but BVB has struggled to play consistently. Although they reached the Champions League quarterfinals in 24/25, they have lost significant ground to Bayern Munich, compared to the nine-point lead Borussia had over Bayern Munich in the 2018-19 season. Which other positions, apart from defence, do the club need to strengthen to start competing for the title with Bayern again?

“Another area of concern is in defensive midfield. Can has added options, BVB can look for a further player for the defensive midfield.

“BVB have an excellent team with lots of young talent, but the young players cannot play 50 games per season. Also, an area to look at is in the striker position.

“There is a lot of reliance on two players. Who can play upfront when Serhou Guirassy or Maxi Beier are suspended or injured?”

What is it that made your time at Borussia Dortmund so special for you? You scored an excellent 3-2 in a 3-3 draw in 2006, and I believe it was your only goal for Borussia Dortmund, but what a goal! Do you remember that goal against FC Bayern?

“It was against Oliver Kahn in goal, whom I know very well.  I can still see my goal at the Allianz Arena. In that era, the fullbacks did not play as offensively as they do now.

“So that was, of course, my strength; I could play offensively as well as in the back-line. I scored only one, but it was a good one to score.”

“I like Bradley as a player. He’s very tall, he’s physically strong, he scores a lot of goals, and he is a box-to-box player.

“He is perfect in the area. However, he also needs to develop his technical ability, but I think he will. And he’s been going well at Basel.

“You know, they wouldn’t have signed him unless they had a vision for him. They have an excellent scouting department, and Bradley could soon become part of the first team and do very well.”

*Fink signed for Wycombe Wanderers on a two-year contract earlier this week

This interview was originally conducted in audio form on the Borussia Dortmund Fan Club London Podcast with The Blood Red Liverpool podcast.