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Introducing Spielmacher - Der EM Podcast: This project was started in Summer 2023 in anticipation of the European Championship 2024 in Germany. Together with Sebastian Hellmann and many exciting guests, we discuss insights, trends and general topics of football with the leaders of the industry.
OVERVIEW of all Episodes:
#01 Rudi Völler: Die Mannschaft ist in Bringschuld
"Spielmacher” is all about the upcoming European Championships in Germany. How can the national team succeed in bringing passionate games back onto the pitch? What needs to change so that we can return to exhilarating tournament success? How can we finally get out of the black, red and gray?
And who could be better suited to kick off this podcast than Germany's head of football? Sebastian Hellmann meets Rudi Völler, who has been DFB Sports Director since the beginning of the year, in his office in Leverkusen. Völler is everything: football hero, folk hero, world champion, and a kind of footballing paving stone for the players, the fans and the expectations. Shortly before the landmark games against Japan and France, the sports director answers questions in “Spielmacher”. Sebastian Hellmann wants to know whether this is the last chance to spark euphoria before the European Championships - and Rudi Völler has delivered. As always. Whether it's a 3-man or 4-man chain - Hansi Flick's future and he has ideas. Lots of them! For perhaps his last big task in soccer. Now Rudi Völler is talking.
#02 Mario Götze: Wir müssen unsere Rolle neu definieren
In episode two of “Spielmacher”, Germany's last soccer hero is our guest. Even if he would never call himself that: Mario Götze.
Sebastian Hellmann talks to the Eintracht footballer, the 2014 final goalscorer, the investor - and above all to Mario Götze the man.
He has technique, he can score goals and he can talk. In conversation with Sebastian, Mario talks about what can and must improve in German soccer. What he would say to Hansi Flick if he met him on the street right now. About his beginnings, his great moments - the difficult ones and the beautiful ones.
He puts Kimmich at right back, would like to see two players who were discarded return to the DFB and calls for more team spirit and a new role for the national team for Euro2024.
#03 Joachim Löw: Julian ist eine sehr gute Wahl
“Julian is a very good choice”
Joachim Löw has shaped German football more than a decade. In 2014, he led Germany to the World Cup title. He won everything - but also suffered many a bitter defeat.
In the Playmaker Podcast, he now talks with impressive candor about his time as national team coach. He talks about his experiences as a manager, about loyalty and the conflicts he had to deal with. He admits mistakes and expresses his very clear opinion on Julian Nagelsmann, the deficits in German soccer and the distractions that are not needed during a major tournament.
Löw even provides some very personal insights, talking about lost friendships, for example.
#04 Lukas Podolski: DFB-Fan bis ich unter der Erde liege
For this episode, Sebastian Hellmann traveled to Poland - to Zabrze, to be precise. To his home country, to the stadium, to the Lounge of Lukas Podolski's current club.
Podolski talks about how his origins, his family, who worked underground, and his duels on the cinder pitches have shaped him. How he collected deposit cups as a youngster at 1.FC Köln. How it feels to wear the eagle on his chest and why good manners are just as important as a check over the bar.
Lukas Podolski hopes that young players in the DFB will be let off the leash more, that there will be a real euphoria in Germany again for Euro 2024 - and: that Baumgart will make him a striker at FC once again.
#05 Michael Ballack: Führungsstärke und Balance für das Mittelfeld
The Capitano is our guest. In episode 5, the former DFB captain, midfield strategist and motor speaks plainly. In addition to clear words for Löw, Bierhoff and Lahm, he also looks to the future.
He would like to see more enfants terribles in German soccer, sees Kimmich more in defense than in midfield and explains how the balance in the national team could be restored.
#06 Stefan Kuntz: Fehler sind wichtig für das Selbstwertgefühl
European champion and Bundesliga top scorer as a player, two-time European U21 champion as a coach and most recently on the sidelines of the Turkish national team: Stefan Kuntz is Sebastian Hellmann's guest.
He gives suggestions on what needs to be improved in German soccer and believes the Nagelsmann team can reach the semi-finals of the European Championship. He calls for a positive error culture so that players develop a healthy sense of self-esteem and explains why he uses hyena metaphors in motivational speeches.
And he has a wish: Kuntz wants football to be allowed to simply be soccer again: “Football is there to be fun for people.”
#07 Björn Gulden: Die EM kommt genau zum richtigen Zeitpunkt
“Football love” is the name of the ball for Euro 2024 - sponsored by Adidas. Björn Gulden is CEO of the sporting goods manufacturer with the three stripes - he is a guest in this episode and for him, love means above all: joy and fun - feelings that have been lost again in German football after the international matches against Turkey and Austria. Sebastian Hellmann wants to know from Gulden how this can be changed again. For the Adidas boss, experiments are important on the road to success: he believes in Nagelsmann's idea of playing Kai Havertz at left-back, he would also put Leon Goretzka in central defense and try everything to get Toni Kroos excited about the DFB again.
And: He is absolutely certain that Germany can rekindle the love for football next summer. Where does this optimism come from and why did he speak to quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the phone the day before our interview? You'll find the answers in this episode.
#08 Bernd Neuendorf: Ich glaube nicht an Fußballmüdigkeit in Deutschland
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf's time in office has been turbulent. He has already had to sack one national coach and one female coach. Nevertheless, the U17 national team recently brought great joy by winning the World Cup.
The man whose glasses are written about at least as much as Julian Nagelsmann's clothes gives Sebastian Hellmann deep insights. He opens up as a private person, talks about early morning rowing sessions on the Thames. But he is just as open about the mistakes he has made in office.
Neuendorf looks ahead to the European Championship year and says what he expects from Julian Nagelsmann and the DFB team. He also talks about his relationship with Oliver Mintzlaff and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and makes it clear why Germany will be a great host for Euro 2024 and what the motto ‘united by football’ means to him.
#09 Oliver Bierhoff: Tun gut daran, Druck rauszunehmen
In the last episode before the winter break, Sebastian Hellmann talks to Oliver Bierhoff. The long-serving team manager of the German national team knows how complicated the path to major titles is - and how thin the line is between praise and criticism.
Bierhoff, who has recently started working as a consultant for the New England Patriots, reveals what impresses him about the Americans, why he has made John Wood's motto ‘Be quick, don't hurry’ his own and why he really wanted to meet Mike Krzyzewski, better known as Coach K.
He talks about Guinness sessions with the Irish, Sacher cakes and weight fluctuations - and reveals why people would rather sit next to Hansi Flick on the bus than next to him.
He believes that the European Championship will unleash a lot of energy - and has 66 per cent confidence in Julian Nagelsmann's team to win the title.
#10 Mario Gomez: Im Büro glücklicher als auf dem Fußballplatz
Spielmacher is back from the winter break - and our guest is celebrating a premiere at the start of the year: it's Mario Gomez's first podcast and, of course, Sebastian Hellmann will be hosting the interview this time too.
Mario explains right at the beginning that he is actually much happier now, with his office job at Red Bull, than he ever was as a striker.
He is thoughtful, vulnerable, he describes what it was like for him to be the ‘bogeyman of the nation’, how he learnt from these crises - and has sympathy for those who saw him differently back then than he actually is.
He would like the DFB to work less publicly with the players and more internally - to talk straight and take their time: He is in favour of sustainability instead of quick personnel changes, for trust in the generation and firmly believes that with self-confidence and real unity, the team can go really far at this year's European Championship.
The course that still needs to be set for this and where he sees parallels between himself and Timo Werner - all of this in Playmaker.
#11 Tom Bartels: Fußball-Freunde-Spezial
Commentator, football expert, sports fan and a good friend of our host: That's Tom Bartels, who is our guest in this episode.
And not just anywhere, but this time directly at Sebastian Hellmann's home. Tom & Sebastian know each other well, they have been travelling together for a long time - both privately and in football.
In this special episode, they take a look at sport, the national team and their jobs together. What is it like to be close to teams and coaches that you then have to criticise as a journalist when things aren't going well? What happens when you sit in a taxi with Roy Keane or in Jupp Heynckes' living room? And why did Tom, commentator of the 2014 World Cup final, have sleepless nights after the tournament when it was all over?
All this in this episode, this Football Friends special from Spielmacher.
#12 Matthias Brügelmann: Schlagzeilenmacher
He is one of the most powerful men in German sports journalism: what Matthias Brügelmann and his editorial team report has a significant influence on the mood on the streets - and often also in the country's football stadiums.
Sebastian Hellmann looks ahead to what awaits us in the summer with the head of sports at BILD. He says: ‘Hopefully there will be nothing but this tournament for five weeks.’
How his team will accompany the tournament, why the euphoria cannot be sparked by a newspaper but ultimately only by the team itself and what value the two test matches against the Netherlands and France in March will have - all this in this episode of Spielmacher.
#13 Lothar Matthäus: Der Rekord-Experte
The record international player who has won everything - except the Champions League - is our guest: Lothar Matthäus.
He is full of praise for Julian Nagelsmann and says a semi-final would be a success in the summer. And after that? After that, Jürgen Klopp should do it. Yes, Jürgen Klopp and from January 2025, that's Lothar's idea. A six-month break is enough, he says.
Why he is strict with his son, but can't always be as a coach on the sidelines, why his heart belongs to Puma forever and why it takes at least 50 Bundesliga games to get your first massage at Gladbach. That's what he tells us. And he reveals that he sometimes felt sorry for his parents because they couldn't understand everything Lothar did in the big, wide world. Listen to the new episode now!
#14 Esther Sedlaczek: Schon jetzt Europameisterin
After the European Championship draw, Europe was delighted with the ‘EM-Esther’ - she is already European champion, claimed BILD.
Esther Sedlaczek and Sebastian Hellman were on Sky together, today our guest works for ARD. This summer, she will accompany the national team through the tournament alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger. A career that began with a Magnum ice cream from Peter Bond in the catacombs of the Wheel of Fortune.
In this episode, Esther tells us why she cried after her first audition for Sky, how she prepares for her job, how she keeps Bastian Schweinsteiger on his toes and what she thinks of Julian Nagelsmann and the national team.
#15 Benedikt Höwedes: Wie Gewinner auftreten
Honorary captain of FC Schalke 04, DFB Cup winner, later Italian champion and Russian Cup winner - and of course: 2014 World Champion.
Benedikt Höwedes played through the entire tournament in Brazil, every game - as a left-back.
And this man, the 2014 World Cup winner, bought his own tickets for the European Championships in his own country by drawing lots. The ‘somewhat different professional’ arrives at the interview appointment by bike, talks about A-level exams after Champions League matches, reveals why he is glad he didn't score the decisive goal in the World Cup final himself and why his wife is smarter than him.
He also talks about how to win a major tournament, how important team spirit is and how you have to put your own ego aside.
Hans-Joachim Watzke is a guest on Spielmacher. He talks about his playing days, his dream goal from 50 metres and how he would have liked to have had the skills of Wolfgang Overath. Watzke reveals why he can't always listen to Matthias Sammer when he's sitting next to him in the stands and why he wants Julian Nagelsmann to extend his contract with the DFB. He would rather play in black and white than in pink and believes that it will be very difficult for his Dortmund team to make the German squad before the European Championships.
And at the end, we find out why a street or a stadium will never be named after him. All this in this episode of ‘Spielmacher’.
#17 Volker Struth: Der Macher im Hintergrund
Volker Struth advises Julian Nagelsmann with his agency Sports360. On Spielmacher, the entrepreneur reveals what it is like to accompany the national coach and, for the first time, reveals in great detail what the 182 days between Nagelsmann's release from Bayern and his appointment at the DFB were like, taking listeners to the negotiating table and to the most secret meetings at his home. Once, at the first meeting between the DFB bosses and Julian Nagelsmann, it was Struth himself who prepared breakfast for the participants, and it gets particularly exciting when Struth's balls start to itch.
All this and much more is now available - in the 17th instalment of Spielmacher.
#18 Miroslav Klose: Es kommen tolle Stürmer nach
No player has scored more goals for Germany, no player has ever scored more goals at World Cups than him. Miroslav Klose is a guest on Spielmacher.
Miro tells us why he went to the zoo alone during the 2006 World Cup, talks about an almost brawl with Jerome Boateng and explains the influence Hans-Dieter Hermann, the national team psychologist, had on him being able to develop an interest in football again after the birth of his sons.
‘Germany doesn't need to worry about the future of its strikers,’ says Miro Klose - the important thing for him is that the right coaches are there to guide the boys. For the European Championship, he sees Havertz just ahead of Füllkrug and believes that they will at least make it to the semi-finals. All this in the new episode!
#19 Oliver Mintzlaf: Nagelsmann verleiht dem DFB Flügel
Oliver Mintzlaff is our guest. Sebastian Hellmann and he met in Salzburg, at Hangar-7, and talked about Mintzlaff's path to his current job as CEO of Red Bull.
Of course, they also talk about the upcoming European Championship, the mood in Germany and Julian Nagelsmann - the man he brought to RB Leipzig and who should never have had an exit clause there.Mintzlaff says: If it were up to him, Nagelsmann would still be coach at Leipzig today and they would probably have been German champions long ago.He explains why he doesn't use social media, why he doesn't see Red Bull on the DFB jersey and that the national team has a huge chance of the next summer fairytale.
#20 Joko Winterscheid: Die abknickende 5
Today's guest on the Spielmacher podcast is a football fan. A man who feels like he is on big stages and in front of TV cameras every day and whose very special moment was nevertheless one in the stadium, on the football pitch.
Joko Winterscheidt is a presenter, entrepreneur and not infrequent quiz master - today Sebastian Hellmann gets to turn the tables and test Joko's football knowledge.Joko tells us why it wasn't a good idea to play against Claudio Pizarro without contact lenses, why he thinks Manuel Neuer owes his career to him and then suggests the bending 5 as a new tactical concept.
Watching football is like meditation for Joko Winterscheidt: ‘just good energy and head off’. So that he can look forward to the European Championship even more, he would like to see much more visibility for this event in his own country over the next few weeks - and hopes to send out clear signals in favour of a strong Europe during the tournament.
#21 Olaf Scholz: Deutschlands Kapitän
Two weeks to go until the start of the European Football Championship in Germany.
For this episode, Sebastian is a guest of Germany's captain - the Federal Chancellor. Olaf Scholz tells us how he went from being a sports grouch to an early morning jogger and what his favourite outfit is when he watches football ‘with a bratwurst and a beer’. He also explains that, as a footballer, he would always score the decisive penalty himself and why he thinks Rudi Völler would also be a candidate for the post of Foreign Minister.
The Federal Chancellor wishes the fans ‘just to be there with heart and emotions and forget their worries’ during the four weeks of the European Championships. How the security authorities want to ensure a peaceful football festival and what the Chancellor hopes this will do for the mood in the country - all this in this episode.
#22 Julian Nagelsmann: Im Heißluftballon mit Rudi Völler
Eight days until the opening game - after the Chancellor, the national coach is our guest.
Julian Nagelsmann gives deep insights into his plans and ideas on how he wants to coach the team through the tournament. He explains how he and his team have been working on plans B and C for months so that they are prepared for all scenarios.
Why Nagelsmann will go to the training pitch with a big grin on his face over the next few days, why sometimes even a football tennis match in the hotel can be the final deciding factor for starting eleven decisions and why Nagelsmann's sister would like to go on a hot air balloon ride with Rudi Völler - all in this episode.
#23 Volker Struth: Leidenschaft hier, tote Hose da
It was supposed to end after 22 parts. But the interest in the Spielmacher podcast is too great. So it continues.
Sebastian Hellmann and Volker Struth talk about how the podcast will continue during and after the European Championship - and, of course, how the European Championship is affecting the transfer market, as well as the influence transfer journalists have on the market and the role rumours really play.
#24 Wolff-Christoph Fuss: "Wir sehnen uns nach Helden"
Only a few hours' sleep and they're already back on air. Sebastian Hellmann and Wolff Fuss got out of bed early for Spielmacher to take a brief look back at yesterday's opening match and, above all, to report on their exciting life as reporters. One anecdote follows the next. More insides from Fuss and Hellmann and from the stadium catacombs are hard to come by.
#25 Gordon Herbert: Warum ein Team Rennpferde und Schweine braucht
Julian Nagelsmann said at the beginning of the year that there are coaches who inspire him. ‘I recently watched a documentary about the German basketball players. You could watch the conversations between coaches and players. It became clear that each individual knew their role months before the tournament. I will adopt this clear division of roles.’ That's why Nagelsmann invited Gordon Herbert, the basketball team's world champion maker, to the DFB camp before the start of the tournament. Herbert now explains what exactly happened there. Why he has racehorses and pigs in his team. And why he admires Toni Kroos so much.
#26 OMR-Boss Philipp Westermeyer: Wie diese EM ganz Deutschland hilft
Philipp Westermeyer has created one of the biggest advertising events in Europe with the Online Marketing Rockstars (OMR). When he speaks, tens of thousands listen. When he calls, people come in droves. Top stars, marketing experts, paying customers. The German newspaper ‘Die Zeit’ described him as a ‘trend scout, chief contact, perhaps also a bit of a ringmaster of the digital advertising industry’. Here, Westermeyer talks about the staging of football and explains why a lot of things are going right at the DFB at the moment. He talks about the appointment of Andreas Rettig, the squad nominations, pink jerseys, presentation videos and says: ‘A lot of pieces of the puzzle are being put together very well at the moment and result in an ever better whole.’
#27 Boris Becker: "Wenn Deutschland spielt, stehe ich auf"
Boris Becker is Germany's favourite fan. The three-time Wimbledon winner follows the national team closely on Twitter. So far, he has posted 36 times about the tournament. ‘When Germany plays, I get up,’ says the former world number one, who is thrilled at how much fans and the national team have merged. ‘I can't remember such emotion for a long time. The spark was lit right from the opening game. The hour before kick-off was incredible, I haven't experienced that for ages. Such unity, such cohesion - I haven't had that feeling for ages. The team can feel that too. The team carries it. The opposition can feel it too - the atmosphere was also crucial in Dortmund. ‘Becker is friends with Toni Kroos. That's not the only reason he praises his return. ‘Every game can be his last, you have to be mentally very strong to deal with that.’ His advice to Kroos ahead of the quarter-final: ‘Under no circumstances should he think about Saturday morning. Just be in the moment. There's nothing else like Friday night.’
ARD pundit Thomas Hitzlesperger talks about Julian Nagelsmann after the German national team's dramatic exit against Spain and what remains after the European Championship. A lot, believes the former professional footballer. ‘Nagelsmann has achieved a lot. You can't overestimate that. Nagelsmann has re-established a connection between the fans and the team. ‘Hitzlsperger also has nothing but praise for Toni Kroos. He is certain that Kroos has given some players important things for their future careers beyond the European Championship. ‘The impact he has had can shape players and help them in the years to come. “Hitzlesperger also believes: ”Kroos can achieve so much beyond his footballing impact.’