Interview | You can’t improve the Indian national team straight away: Paul Lambert

Borussia Dortmund legend Paul Lambert, who had marked and successfully contained Zinedine Zidane in the 1996-97 Champions League final to help the Black and Yellow defeat Juventus 3-1, was on his first visit to India for a short training camp with the Murugappa Youth Football Academy (MYFA) at the end of January.

Lambert, who has joined the BVB Group as the Technical Director of Southeast Asia, came to India to train budding footballers at MYFA, which has a tie-up with Dortmund.

A small group of kids from the Australian club Wynnum Wolves, which has a partnership with the German club, were also in town to participate in the camp at the Vellayan Chettiyar School ground in Chennai.

In a chat with The Hindu, Lambert gave a lowdown on the training camp, spoke about the way forward for the Indian national football team, revealed being approached to join the Indian Super League, and more. Excerpts:

On his new role as the BVB Technical Director of Southeast Asia and first visit to India

Being part of the BVB group and Wynnum Wolves FC has given me the opportunity to come here for the first time to India. It’s been a good experience. You never know what to expect when you come into a country that you’ve never been to, and from that aspect, it’s been very satisfying.

I’ve just joined the club as the Technical Director of Southeast Asia, which is a really good role. I am happy to help the club the best I can internationally, to help grassroots football and academy kids to try and be good footballers.

I’ll be travelling quite often, which I’m looking forward to. I’ll be based in Australia, where I will work with Wynnum Wolves in partnership with Borussia Dortmund.

Agenda for the training camp

There’s no pressure, no stress. It’s for the kids to have fun and learn from the coaches, and then the coaches maybe can learn from me and the people who have come over from Wynnum Wolves. That’s the key.

There’s nothing other than the kids seeing a different way or hearing a different voice. They’re integrating with the Australian kids as well, which is important.

Football is a great game to bring people together and that’s what it has done.

I think it has been a great experience for the Australian kids also. This is the sort of surface (mud pitch) I grew up (playing on) at times.

It gives you a great feeling because when you go on to (play on) grass. To learn on this is a good thing, especially for the Australian kids who hadn’t probably known what playing on this was like.

So, I think that’s the big talking point for me. You have to adjust to playing on this and then when you go on to grass, it becomes better.

Meeting with the Bengaluru FC team management

Believe it or not, I had a meeting with the Bengaluru FC guys a few years ago in London and they asked if I would be interested in coming over. It was maybe five or six years ago, and I declined the offer then.

I knew people like David James and Robbie Fowler had come over (for coaching in the ISL), but for me, it just wasn’t the right thing at that time.

On how to improve the Indian national team

I think it comes from the grassroots, you have to start there. You’re not going to change somebody who is 26, 27, or 28 years old. They’ve got their habits already, the football is there already.

It’s the grassroots level that is the key to any country. National teams being good comes from the grassroots – from the coaches and educators and the lifestyle.

To get one player through the scheme, I think that’s the biggest thing. Kids have to play football from five or six or eight years old. You have to be really disciplined to be a sportsperson, especially in football.

You can’t improve the Indian national team straight away, but maybe you can make things better starting from the grassroots level.

About the Indian Super League

I know how it works as a league. I think you become stronger and stronger with the more you play and gain experience. But as I said before, it comes from the grassroots. The more kids you get coming through to play professional football, the better.

Possible coaching role in the ISL

No, because I really enjoy what I do now. I’ve just started the new role and I have to thank the club (Borussia Dortmund) for giving me this opportunity.

It is a special club, where I had a really good time as a footballer. And now they have given me an opportunity and it’s a privilege to work for them.

On the love he receives from the Dortmund fans

The games are all about fans. What I found about Dortmund was it was very similar to where I was born, Glasgow. Both cities are filled with really hard-working people.

Dortmund is a big area for the steel industry and Glasgow obviously had shipbuilders associated with the steel industry as well.

So both cities were really similar. I knew the biggest part of their DNA was hard work. It wasn’t the talent.

Talent is a real minimal factor. If you’re hard-working, it outweighs a lot of things. In terms of similarities, Glasgow and Dortmund were virtually neck and neck.

And I knew if I worked really hard, most of them would like me, that was always the key to it.

I played one game, two games, three, four, and all of a sudden I became a mainstay just through sheer effort, hard work, and character. And that has never left me to this day.

Hard work is the biggest lesson in anybody’s life, not just in football. It’s hard work to get to the top. It just doesn’t come easy. If you practice and practice and practice, it comes.

I think that’s why the foundation (MYFA) is a great thing. It takes people off the streets, it gives them education. India is a massive country.

For kids, the opportunity is great. Maybe not as big to go to Borussia Dortmund, but to have a life elsewhere in Asia or somewhere else. I think that’s the biggest takeaway (from the visit) for me.

On the defensive midfielder’s role in the modern age and the best players in that position today

Every coach has a different way of how they want to play with the role, whether you’re defensive and you stop the counter-attacks or you join in more and more. But you’ve always got to have them because they’re important to the team.

I think it depends on the coach as to what type of defensive midfielder he’s looking for. Rodri (Manchester City) was one the best players in that position before he got injured.

I think (Alexis) McAllister is a really good player at Liverpool, he’s a fantastic footballer. I think their [defensive midfielder’s] game intelligence is really high, they can manipulate the ball how they want to do it.