🔗 Share this article

'The prospect of a late surge is arguably less likely than that fabled 5,000-1 title, which logically puts the odds in our favor.' Christian Fuchs is reflecting on his recent venture as head coach of Newport County, and the daunting task of staving off a fall into non-league football. It is a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum, though that fairytale title win in 2016 gave him far more than a Premier League trophy. {'It contributed to shifting my outlook a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unattainable can be achievable,' he notes.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The logical place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the element of the story that isn't straightforward, wouldn't you say?' he comments, erupting in a chuckle. It is the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear demonstration of his charismatic character across a wide-ranging conversation. The discussion runs in various tangents, from working under Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a nearby hairdresser.

He looks at some post on his desk. Included is a message from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, paired with a couple of shiny pictures from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. Another package brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this makes me very content,' he adds.

A Past Trip and a Funny Mistake

Prior to coming back from North Carolina to assume his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. That day the Newport kit man competed with Fuchs. {'He had the game of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the official sheets dropped, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Experiences from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian joined the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach worked wonders. {'When you look at Claudio you picture an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs explains. {'He just said he was going to observe training in Austria for the first week. He stayed out of it at all. After that week we had a meeting and he said: 'I’ve watched you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs values insights gained from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always considered: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I test them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our methodology as well. How can you make good players who choose wisely? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very driven, very anxious to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Nature

Fuchs’s motivation stems from his early years in Neunkirchen. {'There are comparisons to where we are now, because I was told when I was 11 years old that I would never be capable enough,' he reveals. {'There are people who let that get the better of them or there are people who say: ‘Forget you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can't do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my personality is: I’m pretty stubborn. If I see potential, I’m doing it.'

Analytical Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit several season peaks,' he explains, highlighting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, lower-league football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to arrive than just hoofing it all the time.'

The overarching numbers paint grim reading. Newport have won three of 19 league matches and are yet to win in eight in all competitions. By the time of their next home game, they will have not tasted victory at home for 273 days and have kept just two clean sheets in 26 matches this season. But a recent injury-time equaliser with 10 men garnered a crucial point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to build a impenetrable home.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he remarks, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, yes! I want us to regard each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re a collective, we’re striving towards this as one.'