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MonkeyTennis?

Fuchs - and Foxestalk - in today's Times.

By MonkeyTennis?, in Leicester City Forum

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MonkeyTennis?

MonkeyTennis? 70

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Interesting article about Fuchs, and Leicester in the Times this morning (I've always wondered how he manages to balance living in New York with playing for us) - but colour me suprised to note that they are directly quoting FT contributors!

 

Christian Fuchs: It’s heartbreaking to say goodbye to my kids when they return to New York
The Leicester left back talks to Henry Winter about life in America, how his stay in the Midlands was not supposed to last this long, and his goal to emulate former NFL player Toni Fritsch

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Christian Fuchs’s daughter was on the trampoline, explaining her plan to leap as high as she could. “Daddy,” she said, “I’m going to jump so I’ll catch a cloud for you.” Fuchs carries all these memories with him, and they become even more precious when his family return to their life in New York City and he remains at Leicester City. “Saying goodbye to them is always a heartbreak,” Fuchs says.

Fuchs, 34, and his wife, Raluca Gold-Fuchs, a former chief analyst at Goldman Sachs, have their family home in Harlem, 20 blocks north of Central Park, and their future mapped out there. Nice house, good neighbours. Fuchs should be in Manhattan by now but he keeps playing well, keeps getting one-year contracts and now prepares for the game of the weekend, Leicester away to Liverpool. If picked for the leaders against the champions, he will celebrate a century of Premier League starts.

Leicester fans are loving this longevity of their 2016 title winners, as one supporter posted on the FoxesTalk forum: “It will be the year 2052 and we will still be giving one-year extensions to Christian Fuchs and to Wes Morgan.” Fuchs laughs. “Oh, my God, it’s good. When I came to Leicester in 2015 [from Schalke], I signed a three-year contract and I told my wife, ‘We’ve lived apart, the Atlantic Ocean between us, for a couple of years and it’s been tough, but listen, three years [at] Leicester and I promise you I come home after that.’ There was another year added, another one and another one. Now we are sitting here and you talk about another year. No! I’m not sure she will let me have that.”

So let us enjoy the fantastic Mr Fuchs for a few final months here. He loves playing, still recalling the rejection as an 11-year-old by Austrian clubs saying he wasn’t good enough. “I’m still showing them,” he replies. “It’s the drive. It’s not financial because the businesses I have overseas [football academies and fashion] are working well.”

Brendan Rodgers is another reason. “If it wasn’t for Brendan asking me to sign another year I probably wouldn’t be here. I can learn a lot from him tactically but what impressed me the most was simply the way Brendan is managing the team which I’ve not come across before.

“Brendan leads with kindness. But then at the right time not being shy to take out the whip. It’s a good combination. He knows my family’s living over there and he’s taking care of me, whenever possible that I can see my family. I appreciate that a lot and when I come back I feel like giving even more.”

But what of those months apart from his family? “Yes, it’s tough but everybody makes sacrifices,” Fuchs replies. “Sacrifices are the only way to be successful. But this year [of the pandemic], it’s not only football I appreciate more, it’s life. When the first lockdown happened, I went back to America to isolate with my family, we have a nice house in the countryside and I was so happy just to have this safe place.

“The good thing is right now they’re here with me for a couple of months already. I usually see them once a month for a week so I’m much more connected with them. But I will go from a very crazy, busy house here right now to suddenly being alone again with no noise, nothing around me, nobody crying in the middle of the night, and I’ll miss that, 100 per cent. My son’s turning six and, overall, I’ve probably spent only six, seven months with him. FaceTime doesn’t replace the personal touch.


“Home for me is New York. That’s where my children are. It’s not really about the city itself, yes you see all the lights but the last time I was at Times Square it’s just too crowded, too many tourists. It’s about the style of living there, the people, the community of people that we have in our street in Harlem is incredible, everybody’s so helpful. I love that.”

A sense of community matters deeply to Fuchs. It’s why he loves Leicester, why he will always be grateful for their much-missed late owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who treated everyone, prince or pauper, with equal respect. “He’s really inspired me for everything that I’m doing, for the businesses, just the way I want to treat my people,” Fuchs says. “I’m not calling them employees. I’m never saying, ‘You work for me.’ I’m saying, ‘We work together, we’re a team.’ There’s a picture of him in the training ground, a painting of him at the stadium, and pictures when you walk inside the tunnel. It really puts a smile on your face every time you see it.” Vichai embodied community. “Leicester is about community, definitely,” Fuchs adds.

“I don’t feel like I’m going to work here. When I’m here alone it feels like I can come here to be with my second family, a substitute family when my people are not around.” He loves the constant rise of the club. “At Leicester there’s the drive to develop, to become better step by step and the development will never stop. We will move into a new training ground which is probably one of the best ones worldwide and being a part of that makes me very proud.”

I mention the key figures in his Leicester family like Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmeichel and Morgan. “Don’t forget Marc Albrighton,” Fuchs intervenes. Every member of that 2016 team matters. “I was just on the radio and Robert Huth texted me saying, ‘Now I have to listen to you on radio as well.’ Robert really didn’t want to talk to me. I guess he was serious because I tried to call him and he didn’t pick up.

“Jokes aside, what we went through created something special between the players. It gets you close as people and, yes, I’d even say we’re friends. I have many examples of former team-mates that I was really close with but eventually they get busy in another country, I get busy, the connections get lost but this is something very different.”


He returns to Rodgers’s influence. “The trust of the manager is the main thing for players to feel appreciated but also him being upfront from the very first day when he came in [February 2019] telling me, ‘Listen Ben Chilwell is my No 1 left back but I know that I can rely on you if I ever need you.’ ” Chilwell departed for Chelsea, and Fuchs has stepped back in, enjoying the left-sided role of the three centre backs. “The position suits me well in terms of distribution, winning my battles, winning the headers.

“When I came in first, [Claudio] Ranieri tried me also as the left centre back in the back three and it didn’t really work because I still had too much drive to go forward. Now that I calm down a little bit I feel very comfortable.”

Leicester are flying again, helped again by Vardy. “You can defend against players that are good at dribbling, you can adjust to their play, but what you cannot defend over 90 minutes is pace and Jamie Vardy has pace,” Fuchs says. “You see the way he breaks the lines, and coming from a deeper position to make his runs is incredible and it’s hard to stop him. If he hadn’t missed a penalty [against Wolverhampton Wanderers] he would have nine goals in seven games. Unbelievable. I saw a graphic of him as well, 2050, Jamie Vardy, grey hair, still holding the Golden Boot.”

Leicester’s season has also been enhanced by the composed defending of Wesley Fofana, the 19-year-old from Saint-Étienne. “We had a lack of defenders and he literally came here and played right away. There was not really too much time to talk to him or get him ready for the Premier League. I was not aware that he was 19 because he’s playing like he played in the Premier League for several years already. His athleticism is amazing. The way he goes for headers, he can outjump the stands of the stadium. It’s unbelievable. When he recovers the ball, he tries right away to initiate the attack. He’s a very good player. It’s just important that he stays as humble as he is. Humility is an important word at Leicester City.”


Back to Fuchs’s 100th Premier League start. “Who’s saying I’m starting? I’m just humble here waiting for my chance.” OK, but what of the vaunted opposition? “Liverpool were a complete team last season, they had everything from counterpressing, attacking threat, very solid defence and are still there.” As good as they were? “Every team has issues around Covid-19 and injuries. What do you want to hear from me? We’re not going to win it anyway.” The game, I ask Fuchs? “The title,” he replies.

Leicester players said that four years ago. “We’re still not going win it,” Fuchs continues. “We’re not the club that demands it wins the Premier League. Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United are the teams whose desire is to win the Premier League every single season. We just want to play our very best and see where we end up. If you’re not focused and humble enough to just think about the next game, and you think about what may be in May, you’ll be out of the top six. I understand why the fans are excited. I’m excited too, honestly. It feels amazing to be top of the table but it doesn’t mean that we have to dream too far.”

He acknowledges that fairytales can happen. “Every year you have a team that surprises. Every year you have supposedly smaller teams that can achieve great results against the bigger clubs. That’s why the Premier League is so special and so interesting to people around the world.”

He misses Leicester’s fans. “Of course. Thinking about fans coming back into the stadium gives me goosebumps. We want the supporters in there, we play for them.”

It would be good if they return in time to salute one of their most successful players before he heads to New York. Fuchs ponders the state of the States and followed the presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Will Biden be a good leader? “Time will show — and if Trump ever lets him into the White House. It’s really tough. The election showed how divided the country is. Biden will definitely try to make it a better country again.”

And what of Fuchs. He has a dream of matching the feat of his compatriot, Toni Fritsch, a striker with Rapid Vienna who won a Super Bowl ring as a kicker with Dallas Cowboys in 1972. “I want to continue my ‘soccer’ career there definitely but then I want to give it [NFL] a try. I never want to say to myself, ‘What would have been?’ Maybe in five years, I have a ring.” And his family right by.

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Vacamion

Vacamion 11,474

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I just read this.

 

Was wondering 

 

a) Who is the poster they quoted?

 

and

 

b) Oh crap, if the papers are looking in here, I've posted some utter horse manure over the years lol

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Vacamion

Vacamion 11,474

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It shouldn't need to be said that Christian Fuchs played a huge part Leicester City winning the league, was a massive factor in the unique spirit of our team and club and he's obviously a total Dude as well.

 

Watching him flick Shinji's ear after a goal still cracks me up. 

 

Hero.

 

 

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StanSP

StanSP 26,460

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Embodies the relaxed but focused nature around the club. Enjoy the time while we are where we are and just embrace the good times we're experiencing. 

 

Can't knock his attitude and approach to football and us as a club. Glad he's with us and that he was able to step in at our time of need! 

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Guest Markyblue

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We will truly never realise what we had/have until its gone, a "little club" in a corner of the east Midlands who shocked the world and a band of brothers the likes of which will not be seen again, we were blessed to support this club.

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StriderHiryu

StriderHiryu 17,039

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2 hours ago, MonkeyTennis? said:

 

“You see the way he breaks the lines, and coming from a deeper position to make his runs is incredible and it’s hard to stop him. If he hadn’t missed a penalty [against Wolverhampton Wanderers] he would have nine goals in seven games. Unbelievable. I saw a graphic of him as well, 2050, Jamie Vardy, grey hair, still holding the Golden Boot.”
 

lol

 

Fuchs is such a legend! Class act on and off the field!

 

AmbitiousJointHammerheadshark-size_restr

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