Bosz spoke about his experience managing Borussia Dortmund. At a masterclass organized by Omroep Brabant, he explained why he was quickly sacked by the German giants.

The masterclass took place in early December at the Eindhoven Concert Hall and is available to watch on the regional broadcaster's website from Thursday. Someone in attendance asked Bosz: when working with a hugely talented player who wouldn't follow the coach's instructions, had he ever compromised his philosophy.

Bosz said he had done so at Borussia Dortmund, but later regretted it. The coach made an excellent start in Germany, leading Borussia Dortmund to win their first five league matches and at one point held a 5-point lead at the top of the table, ahead of Bayern Munich.

Then Borussia Dortmund lost 1-3 at home to Real Madrid in the Champions League. Bosz recalled: "That's when Greek centre-back Sokratis, the goalkeeper and the defensive midfielder sat down together and said: 'This coach is completely mad. We're playing too high up the pitch. Look, we've conceded 3 goals'."

"They caused the team to start falling apart. I should have intervened. I shouldn't have talked to them, I should have kicked them out immediately. In hindsight, I should have done it then."

Apart from Sokratis, Bosz didn't name the others, but he could have been referring to Bürki and Nuri Şahin. Both played in the match against Real Madrid and were regular starters at the time.

Bosz was eventually sacked in December 2017, having won only 1 of his last 13 matches. He also recounted how Van Gaal questioned him over dinner about exactly what went wrong at Borussia Dortmund.

"Aubameyang was my number one striker. The technical director told me when I arrived that the squad wouldn't change, but Aubameyang would still go to China," Bosz told Van Gaal. "Borussia Dortmund could have received 87 million euros from that transfer, and he could have earned 24 million euros net per year there. In that case, I'd understand why I couldn't keep him."

But ultimately the transfer fell through. "Aubameyang was very angry about it, especially when the technical director said a week later that nobody from the squad would leave. Shortly after, Dembélé was sold to Barcelona for 140 million euros. Aubameyang was upset and was 1 minute late to the dressing room every day."

Bosz continued by explaining that he called Aubameyang aside. "He told me it wasn't personal against me, but against the club. Aubameyang kept being late. Then once I had a press conference, but he had invited a French channel and had been with them the night before, and was still busy near match time. That time I couldn't take it anymore. So that weekend, I didn't start him."

Van Gaal wanted to know what happened next. "'And then?' he asked. I told him I didn't take Aubameyang on the trip to Stuttgart. 'And then?' Van Gaal asked again. The next day, I had a meeting with the whole squad because everyone wanted to say something. The day after that, Aubameyang was back in full training with the team."

"Van Gaal then said: 'Wrong!!!! You should have sent him back.' I was shocked on the spot and said that Aubameyang had gone to Arsenal after the winter window for around 60 million euros. How could I have sent him back? You know what Van Gaal replied? 'No, and then you would have been sacked.' He's absolutely right," Bosz concluded with a laugh.

Tradotto dall'IA.

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