Wanderers coach Markus Babbel on his big derby memories
Having played in some of the biggest derbies in world football, Wanderers coach Markus Babbel is well aware of what they mean to the players and fans involved.
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Even now, almost exactly 18 years later, Markus Babbel still smiles at the “dirty” insults that a derby entails.
The Wanderers coach was a player with a taste for the big occasion, and those when Liverpool faced Everton were indisputably one of those.
Best of all came the moment he scored for Liverpool against Everton in 2001, a rare but vital goal in the context of a season when Liverpool won five trophies but also the perfect answer to the abuse coming his way from the Goodison Park stands.
Babbel has already shown this season how the intensity of a derby can spill over even for the coaches, to the degree of earning a red card in round two against Sydney FC.
Even in a game on Saturday night with nothing but pride to play for from the Wanderers side, Babbel the coach understands what these matches mean after playing in such contests from the Allianz Arena to Anfield.
“It was a hot derby, it was not easy to play there, dirty people smashing you,” he says of wearing a Liverpool shirt away at Everton.
“The crowd — if you go to do a throw in, Mamma Mia! You hear something. It was a good time.
“I'd played many derbies, but this was special — the atmosphere was unbelievable. I I'd never had this before, if you go to get the ball, 500-1000 people smashing you.
“You hear really bad things! The seven year old kid is smashing you, and the father next to him is smashing you.
“I had the luck to play for really good teams and have success. If you leave Bayern Munich you never know what will happen.
“But Liverpool was fantastic, a really special club. It was just a shame I could only play one season, maybe the most enjoyable of my career.”
Being the underdog in the Sydney derby is a new experience for him, after a playing career when it was his teams throwing their weight around.
“I was always in these teams where we had something to lose,” he said. “For Bayern v 1860 Munich, they were a smaller club so we had something to lose.
“Hamburg against St Pauli, we were the bigger club. Same with Liverpool v Everton, we were the bigger club with something to lose.
“You have to stay calm, really focus on your job. Put the emotions to the side, because if you come down to the same level as these teams, play with the same emotions, normally you lose — because they are better at this.
“There's reason why you are a better team and play to win the league or cups. They are technically not so good but they can fight.”
When Babbel speaks about staying calm it’s hard not to smile, thinking of the near-pantomime tantrum he threw in round two at referee Chris Beath, and for which he had the good grace to apologise immediately following the game.
“I'm not sure if the reason was the fact it's a derby — it was just a feeling,” he said. “We deserved more, a couple of decisions went the other way, and this is why I love this sport because the emotions are there.”
Originally published as Wanderers coach Markus Babbel on his big derby memories
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