Dietmar Hirsch will become coach of MSV Duisburg for the new season. Before he really gets going in Meiderich, he first takes a well-deserved vacation.
Dietmar Hirsch had actually planned his 2024 summer vacation more extensively. But after signing for MSV Duisburg, the original plans of the vice-champion coach of 1. FC Bocholt had to be thrown overboard without further ado.
“But we were happy to do that. My wife is also very understanding. She knows exactly what it means to me to be employed by MSV Duisburg,” Hirsch explained to Forecasting.
On Monday, May 27, he will leave for Mallorca with his wife, eldest daughter and three other people. The Hirsch family will spend ten days on the Balearic Islands. The planned one-week vacation in the Baltic Sea, which was to follow “Malle”, has been canceled.
“That’s obvious somewhere. I have to and want to start in Duisburg in ten days. But first we’re going to relax on Mallorca. We’ll find the right balance between partying and phone calls. Or rather, the phone calls are more for me (laughs). The others can just party,” says Hirsch.
The 52-year-old soccer coach, who lives in Rheinberg, is planning a squad of 22 outfield players and three goalkeepers. With Maximilian Braune and Batuhan Yavuz, just two men are officially under contract with MSV from July 1, 2024.
MSV Duisburg: Hahn and Fakhro are about to sign
According to forecasting information, however, several other working papers are already as good as in the bag. These include players such as defender Alexander Hahn (Preußen Münster) and striker Malek Fakhro, with whom Hirsch last worked together in Bocholt.
When asked about these players, Hirsch told RS: “All I can say about Hahn is: it could be, but it could be others as well. As for Fakhro: We won’t talk to players who are under contract in Bocholt. That has something to do with decency and respect for my former club.” Ergo: Fakhro will probably come to Duisburg, as his contract with Bocholt expires on June 30, 2024
We look around everywhere for players. We can’t just sign guys from the Ruhr area. We need players who can withstand pressure, who are stress-resistant and, ideally, who have already been promoted.
Dietmar Hirsch
Hirsch will be back from vacation on June 6 and will invite the MSV squad to their first training session on June 17. The majority of the team should be in place by then. A training camp is also planned, but not yet fixed.
Hirsch knows very well how to put together an almost brand new squad. He and Bocholt manager Christopher Schorch were already successful in the summer of 2023.
“We look around everywhere for players. We can’t just sign boys from the Ruhr region. We need players who can withstand pressure, who are stress-resistant and, ideally, who have already been promoted. Because they can then also tell their teammates that real soccer, with the great stadiums and the coverage, only starts in league three. You have to get through the eye of the needle of the regional league for that,” Hirsch reveals the prey scheme in the search for players.
Hirsch is convinced that MSV will manage to put together a good team and play a successful season. “I’m not afraid, but I have respect for the task. I’m proud to be the coach of MSV Duisburg,” he emphasizes before flying off on a well-deserved vacation to Mallorca on Monday, 27 May at 6 a.m.