bundesliga.com: You came through the youth academy at Bayern and became south-west Champions. Tell us about that time.

Hürzeler: "When I was really young, 11 or 12 years old, I went to Bayern Munich and I think I was the worst player in the team there. Then I was really like, and I still am today, if I want something, I want it really badly and I go for it. So I trained a lot and I got better and better and improved a lot in that time. The main thing was that I had really good coaches, as people. For example, I had Mehmet Scholl in the second team, I had Kurt Niedermayer, I had Heiko Vogel. They were great, great characters who I learned a lot from. As a player I learned a lot from them, not only about how football works, but also how to be a professional soccer player, how to behave on the pitch and off the pitch. It’s also something different to be a youth player at Bayern Munich, because you always have to win, it’s a must. If you don’t win it’s a bad game. It’s also in my DNA and today I still want to win everything. That is what I learned there. I also learned, because I was always captain in my youth teams, to take a lot of responsibility. The coaches also gave me a lot of responsibility and it’s also a thing I try to do now as a head coach: to give players responsibility for themselves so they can make decisions. Of course, in the end, I make the main decisions, but I want them to look at scenes, to look at football and come to me if they have new ideas. That is also something I learned from my time as a player."

bundesliga.com: What experience did you gain with the professionals?

Hürzeler: "I learned a lot about transitions in football. I had a coach, [Markus] Gisdol, and he was fond of this. He did a lot of transitions, stood very compact and then if you won the ball he’d go for goal immediately. That was also the DNA of Hoffenheim, so it was also very interesting, the content I learned there as a player. It was also the first time I was away from Munich, from my family and my friends, so it also improved me in terms of my personality. The first time being away from your family is not so easy. I was pretty young, I lived in a hotel for the first month there and it was a new culture and new conditions around me, so it was really different and I grew in terms of personality."

bundesliga.com: How is your life different from other 30-year-olds?

Hürzeler: "I can’t say how normal life is in your thirties, for me it’s normal to be here. Of course I know that I am now a person who is also in the public eye and in the media a lot, so of course I don't go out celebrating all night. I like to go out with my friends for a good dinner, I also like to go play, for example, paddle tennis because I think it’s important to clear your head and for it to not just be football, football, football, the whole day. Since winter life has changed. I am at home a little bit more and here a little bit more at the moment. I also have to say that I have to work more here, but I like to do it. It’s not like I am complaining about anything, I'm really happy to be here. I’m really happy to work so much and I have a great staff around me, so it’s not like I am sitting here at eight o’clock alone in my office. I have three or four people around me, so it’s fun and therefore I am not complaining about that."

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Fabian Hürzeler: "Bayern Munich in my DNA"