The King of Underdogs

(A Thread)

What's the greatest underdog story ever in football? You might think Leicester's fairy tale win after narrowly missing out on relegation the year before, Liverpool's amazing UCL win in Istanbul, or maybe Denmark winning the Euro's in 1992?

Enter the Essen-born Otto Rehhagel. Rehhagel was a centreback who had played 201 games in the Bundesliga with 148 of them being with Kaiserslautern. While playing for them, he helped Die roten Teufel to a finish as high as 5th place. He then retired in 1972.

Otto's first stint as manager came with FC Rockenhausen in 1972 and then Saarbrücken in 1973 before becoming assistant to Gyula Lóránt in Kickers Offenbach. He then replaced Gyula in the 74/75 season & was unable to replicate the success done by Gyula. Otto then left his post.

Rehhagel managed to get Bremen to amidtable before then leaving the club at the end of the szn. The next season Otto got a job at Dortmund but the signs still aren't looking too positive for him as Dortmund lost 12-0 against Gladbach. He then had very short spells at Dusseldorf.

He was given another chance at Bremen. His second stint at Bremen was much different from his first. His underwhelming managerial career took a sharp turn as he transformed them into a major force to be reckoned with in the Bundesliga. He won multiple titles in his time there.

His success did not go unnoticed and after 14 extremely successful years at Bremen, he left Bayern to replace Trapattoni. Much was expected from him and Bayern as they splashed millions for multiple players like Klinsmann, Sforza, and Herzog.

however, he was unable to replicate the success he had at bremen due to conflicts with his players, most notably klinsmann. he was considered to be too old-school and too stubborn by the bayern players. this conflict lead to poor league performances and him getting sacked.

Now begins one of Rehhagels greatest achievements. After being sacked by Munich, he went to the newly-relegated Kaiserslautern. He comfortably won the title by 10 points ahead of second place. He did the impossible the season after and beat his former employers Bayern to first.

It was an unbelievable achievement. To think a club that had been relegated and then promoted directly to win the title was beyond comprehension. His performances the years declined & he was unable to win any titles the year after. Rehhagel left in 2000 after internal conflicts.

Rehhagel then joined the Greek National Team, which at the time was one of Europe's worse. They had only qualified for competitions twice before & they were ranked very low in the FIFA coefficient. Surely it'd be impossible to turn the tides of these tiny Mediterranean minnows?

That's what most people thought. However during one of the most iconic games of the 2000s, we saw the beginning of it all. The score? 2-1. The venue? Old Trafford. We all know what happens next. Beckham bags a magnificent freekick. England through to the World Cup. Legendary.

But we're not here to talk about the Three Lions. First we take a look again at the score. 2-1. How did the Greeks get there? Aren't they supposed to be one of the worst teams in Europe? This is where Rehhagel's skills shine. He locked the English attack. He motivated the Greeks.

Building on from this match, Otto reunited the nation's players. At the time, Greece's NT selection was divided between AEK, PAOK, and Olympiacos. By forcing the players to put the NT first, Otto effectively eliminated the problem of player dysfunctionallity.

The second problem was their players. They were not a huge footballing nation, they had their talented players here and there like Tsiartas, Giannakopulous, Charisteas, Dellas, and Zagorakis.

But we all know they aren't Figo, Henry, Zidane, or Nedved. Rehhagel set up a 4-3-3/4-5-1/3-4-3 in which Dellas, as the CB, was left free. He had two very fast and talented widemen with a striker who could head the ball well in the middle.

Entering the Euros, Greek was 150/1 to win. But they managed to go through an extremely tough group before beating competition holders France, crowd pleasers Czechia, and a very talented Portugal team.

The win was not too celebrated with many people complaining about their "negative" football when in reality it was all tactical genius. The years coming were a steady decline. Greece qualified for the 2008 Euros and the 2010 WC, but weren't able to do well.

Rehhagel went on to manage Hertha to try and save them from relegation only to loss in the playoffs to Dusseldorf. Since then he has effectively retired from the sport.

Rehhagel was a tactical mastermind. He was able to play both tight defensive football and also fast high speed possession play. He's discovered a lot of amazing talent like Rudi Völler and Klose and has also reignited the career of many older players.

He is a disciplinarian and a very authoritarian coach in controlling the locker room. He also even had the eccentric and rather arrogant side to him that's similar to Mourinho or Clough. Whatever the case may be, there is no reason to doubt his genius. He can simply do it all.

End of Thread.

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