Alexander Zorniger

Alexander Zorniger (born 8 October 1967) is a German professional football manager who is the manager of Greuther Fürth.

Alexander Zorniger
Zorniger in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-10-08) 8 October 1967
Place of birth Mutlangen, West Germany
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Greuther Fürth (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2000 SV Bonlanden 0 (0)
Managerial career
2002–2009 1. FC Normannia Gmünd
2010–2012 SG Sonnenhof Großaspach
2012–2015 RB Leipzig
2015 VfB Stuttgart
2016–2019 Brøndby IF
2021–2022 Apollon Limassol
2022– Greuther Fürth
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Coaching career

Early career

Zorniger started his coaching career with stints as head coach of Normannia Gmünd, assistant coach at VfB Stuttgart, and as head coach at Sonnenhof Großaspach.[1]

RB Leipzig

Zorniger became head coach of RB Leipzig on 3 July 2012.[2] He managed the club to an undefeated season in all competitions.[3] They finished the league season with 21 wins and 9 draws[4] and went on to the promotion play–off; winning the first leg 2–0 and drawing the second leg 2–2.[3] They also defeated Chemnitzer FC in the Saxony Cup final.[3] He resigned on 11 February 2015, as earlier that month Ralf Rangnick announced that he would be RB Leipzig's coach for next season.[5]

Back to VfB Stuttgart

On 25 May 2015, VfB Stuttgart announced in a press conference that Zorniger would be their new head coach and signed a deal with the Swabians until Summer 2018.[6] He was sacked on 24 November 2015 after Stuttgart lost to FC Augsburg 4–0.[7] He finished with a record of five wins, one draw, and nine losses.[8]

Brøndby IF

On 17 May 2016, Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF announced the hiring of Alexander Zorniger as their new head coach. He signed a two-year deal.[9] On 30 June, Zorniger made his official debut, beating Icelandic side Valur 4–1 away in the first round of the Europa League qualification. One week later, Brøndby won the return leg 6–0 at home.[10] On 17 July, Zorniger made his Superliga debut with a secure 4–0 win at home against Esbjerg fB. On 4 August, Zorniger surprisingly managed to guide Brøndby past his fellow countrymen Hertha BSC in the third round of the Europa League qualification, going through 3–2 on aggregate after a 0–1 loss in Berlin one week earlier.[11] Hertha were one of the sides that beat Zorniger's VfB Stuttgart during his stint at the club in 2015.[12] On 21 August, Brøndby beat AGF 7–0 at Ceres Park,[13] thereby handing the opponents their biggest defeat in the club's Superliga history.[14] Late in the same month, following a 1–1 draw at home against arch-rivals FC Copenhagen,[15] Brøndby went into the national team break leading the Superliga by goal difference, tying FC Copenhagen and AaB on points.[16] On 18 September, Zorniger lost his first Superliga game in charge of Brøndby, surprisingly being beat 2–1 at home against Viborg FF.[17]

Zorniger finished his first season in charge of Brøndby as runner-up, a feat not achieved by the club since 2006.[18]

On 10 May 2018, Brøndby IF won the Danish Cup Final 3-1 against Silkeborg IF, the club's first trophy in 13 years. The season ended under traumatic circumstances for Brøndby IF however, as the club was leading the table until the penultimate round, where during stoppage time they conceded two goals and thus threw away a 2-0 lead against AC Horsens. The draw meant for the club that they for the second year in a row ended up as runner-ups and lost out on what would have been their first league title since 2005.

During his third season in charge, the club never fully regained their momentum from the preceding season, and on 18 February 2019, placed third in the table, he was sacked from Brøndby IF following their loss to Esbjerg the previous day.

It was reportedly a decision made by the board, as they no longer felt Zorninger was able to lead the team forwards in the strategy called 6.4, the "Brøndby DNA" was missing from Zorninger's coaching and playing style, and he had been particularly criticized for on one occasion playing with a line-up consisting of all-foreigners, thus, according to some, neglecting the development of young players at the club.[19]

After a year in Cycprus he returned in October 2022 to Germany to manager Greuther Fürth.[20]

Coaching record
As of 9 August 2022
Team From To Record
G W D L Win % Ref.
Sonnenhof Großaspach 1 July 2010[21] 30 June 2012[21] 64 29 15 20 045.31 [22][23]
RB Leipzig 3 July 2012[2] 11 February 2015[5] 96 58 25 13 060.42 [24]
VfB Stuttgart 29 June 2015[6] 24 November 2015[7] 15 5 1 9 033.33 [8]
Brøndby IF 1 June 2016[9] 18 February 2019[25] 84 51 16 17 060.71 [26][27][28][29]
Apollon Limassol 1 July 2021 10 August 2022 39 19 11 9 048.72
Total 298 162 68 68 054.36 —

Honours

As manager

RB Leipzig

Brøndby IF

Apollon Limassol

References
  1. "Alexander Zorniger". World Football. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. "Rangnick entlässt Pacult, Zorniger schon da". kicker (in German). 3 July 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  3. "RasenBallsport Leipzig" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  4. "Regionalliga Nordost - Spieltag / Tabelle" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  5. "Trainer Zorniger schmeißt bei RB Leipzig hin" (in German). Die Welt. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  6. "Alexander Zorniger neuer Trainer des VfB Stuttgart" (in German). T-Online. 25 May 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  7. "VfB Stuttgart entlässt Trainer Zorniger" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  8. "VfB Stuttgart - Trainer". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  9. "Selskabsmeddelelse 14/2016: Ny cheftræner". Brøndby IF official website (in Danish). 17 May 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  10. "Brøndby-Valur 2017 History | UEFA Europa League".
  11. "Brøndby-Hertha 2017 History | UEFA Europa League".
  12. "Hertha Berlin vs. Stuttgart - 12 September 2015 - Soccerway".
  13. "danskfodbold.com - DBU's Officielle Statistikere". danskfodbold.com.
  14. "DANMARKSTURNERINGEN 2022/23, SUPERLIGAEN, KLUBSIDER".
  15. "danskfodbold.com - DBU's Officielle Statistikere". danskfodbold.com.
  16. "Superligaen 2016/2017 - 7. Spieltag". weltfussball.de.
  17. "danskfodbold.com - DBU's Officielle Statistikere". danskfodbold.com.
  18. "Denmark - Brøndby IF - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Soccerway". nr.soccerway.com.
  19. "Ebbe Sand sætter ord på fyringen". 18 February 2019.
  20. ""Alles dafür tun, um erfolgreich zu sein"". sgf1903.de (in German). Greuther Fürth. 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  21. "SG Sonnenhof Großaspach » Trainerhistorie". World Football. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  22. "SG Sonnenhof Großaspach - Termine 2010-11" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  23. "SG Sonnenhof Großaspach - Termine 2011-12" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  24. "RB Leipzig Trainer" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  25. "Selskabsmeddelelse nr. 02/2019 - Alexander Zorniger stopper - Brøndby IF". brondby.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019.
  26. "2015–16 Brøndby IF season". Brøndby IF official website (in Danish). Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  27. "2016–17 Brøndby IF season". Brøndby IF official website (in Danish). Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  28. "2017–18 Brøndby IF season". Brøndby IF official website (in Danish). Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  29. "2018–19 Brøndby IF season". Brøndby IF official website (in Danish). Retrieved 14 October 2016.
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