display
There has always been pigeonhole thinking.
But among the more than 30 years that I have experienced as a journalist, 2020 has achieved top marks in terms of categorizing people across the board.
The alien scientist, the power-hungry politician, the inhuman critic of the Corona measures - you were extremely quick to use such names.
In August I met a man who has been used to being stamped since he was in public: Lucien Favre (63) - the coach of Borussia Dortmund who was dismissed a good two weeks ago.
Favre clings to almost every prejudice the football industry can produce (and there are quite a few).
He is cerebral, solitary, unable to motivate, a tactical nerd who does not know the reality of his young players at all.
A real brake on fun.
The conversation with Lucien Favre, which was held on the terrace of a Swiss luxury hotel, took a completely different course than could be expected - based on Favre's reputation.
Favre got up, left the table, shifted the chairs
display
First he offered me the you.
"I'm just tired of that German you," he said.
The first questions I asked focused on football details: tactics, technical errors, the reasons why he "only" became runner-up with Borussia Dortmund in the past two seasons.
Admittedly: I feared that Favre wouldn't care about anything but football anyway.
Another prejudice.
Favre answered the technical questions with full physical effort: he got up, left the table, moved the chairs.
He simulated game situations, pushed the chairs as his players had conceded before certain goals, ran around some chairs, got stuck on one, simulated a loss of the ball and shouted out loud:
"Disaster!" The waiters and the other guests paused.
Then Favre sat down again and we talked.
About his life.
About prejudice.
About his access to these extremely young professionals like Sancho, Haaland or Moukoko - blessed with unbelievable talent, but at the same time punished with an inflationary popularity in which they can get lost even faster than on the pitch.
When you think your millions of followers are more relevant than your coach's sometimes painful criticism.
Other coaches would have delivered over pampered young professionals
display
This is where Favre amazed me most.
Other coaches would have won over pampered young professionals, who are blamed for everything.
I've seen it a thousand times.
Instead, Favre told what these teenagers took on to fulfill their dream of a footballing career: “I wonder what kind of childhood did they have?” And answered his own question: “I wouldn't have taken it upon myself. "
Then he reported on his time as a footballer.
In the roaring seventies.
From drinking and party nights.
From his goalkeeper at the time, the one before training
"Smoked another flower".
The representative of the BVB press department who attended the interview and I looked at each other questioningly.
“A flower?” Favre: “A flower!” He didn't want to go into floristic detail.
At the very end, I asked him why he almost never gets upset about the prejudices he has to live with.
His answer was a phrase that was rarely heard in 2020: "I respect all people."