krone.at interview

Acimovic: “Don’t want to play with emotions!”

Milenko Acimovic was the director at Austria for almost four years, but a knee injury put an early end to his career last September. Just under eight months later, krone.at visited the former Vienna star, who has since been promoted to sports director at Olimpija Ljubljana, and spoke to him about his injury, his transition from active player to manager, the essential move abroad of his successor Zlatko Junuzovic and why he has not yet returned to Vienna.

krone.at: Dober dan, Milenko! Almost six months have passed since you had to end your career due to injury - how is your knee, how are you as an ex-footballer?
Milenko Acimovic: The knee is still the same. It's been checked three times recently and there's no way around an operation, I hope in a month or two, we'll see. Especially when there's a change in the weather or I want to do a bit of sport, I still feel pain. Anyway, I'll have it fixed now, the knee is okay for normal life.

krone.at: You are now 34 years old and "only" an ex-footballer, although football careers end much later these days. How do you feel about having to watch your peers and older players continue to actively put their bones on the line?
Acimovic: It's really difficult. Especially because in my job I have to deal with players who are my age. Sometimes I think to myself that it's over for good, and then I think about returning later, possibly to the fifth or sixth division, just to play once a week. Maybe next year, when the knee thing is over.

krone.at: After the end of your career, you are now sports director at Olimpija Ljubljana - have you already internalized the transition from active player to functionary?
Acimovic: Yes! I was without a job for the first three months after I retired, and it was a very difficult time. At first I thought I would stay away from soccer for a year - but suddenly I started to miss the pitch, the players, the stadiums and everything around it. It was strange to be at home and do nothing. That's why I took this job here.

krone.at: Wouldn't you be tempted to put your soccer boots back on in your great Stoice Stadium after all?
Acimovic: Of course! Especially because my job means I'm very close to the players, for example in the dressing room when they're preparing. Normally I would go onto the pitch with them...

krone.at:...only they have their shirts on and you're wearing a suit now...
Acimovic: Yes! And now they go out to the left by the door, and I go up to the VIP club. But well, that's okay.

krone.at: Keyword Olimpija Ljubljana: After a few turbulent years (bankruptcy and a new start at the bottom, please note), the club is doing well again, after being promoted again last year you are fighting for a Europa League place again this year...
Acimovic: But in December, when I started thinking about taking over the job, Olimpija were in eighth place, just two points ahead of last place. So it was a big risk for me, because I could have ruined my name within a few months. If I had stayed in eighth place with the club or even been relegated to the second division, everyone would have said: "Look at him. He spent 14 years abroad and knows absolutely nothing about our soccer." Only one or two friends advised me to take the job, but 50 others said: Don't be stupid now!

krone.at: What tipped the scales then?
Acimovic: I spoke to the president and explained that I needed three fresh players. Well, the result is that since then we've won eleven games, drawn four and only lost once. For me personally, qualifying for the European Cup in fourth place is tantamount to winning the championship. But of course I was also lucky that the three players I brought in proved to be key players and justified their commitment.

krone.at: Can Ljubljana regain its leading role in Slovenia as it did in the early 1990s, when the club won four championships in a row? Is that possible in the near future?
Acimovic: (Reflects) Winning a championship with only young players is very difficult. It's one thing to play great from September to February, for example, but then something changes in the players' minds in the spring. Until then you can be champions, for example, but from then on you have to. You then need three or four experienced players around these youngsters.

krone.at: Lack of experience due to too many young players - that's reminiscent of the criticism currently being leveled at Austria. They have mutated from title favorites at the start of spring to a laughing stock. How do you explain these fluctuations?
Acimovic: They played really well for six or seven months. But then the pressure increased and a negative week or even a single defeat can do a lot of damage. You can't always play at the same level - sometimes things go down and then they go up again. Okay, Austria got caught at the worst possible moment, but I think they still have every chance. And in this composition, this team can also cut a good figure in the European Cup next year. If they survive this pressure phase, they will certainly become even stronger.

krone.at: Keyword level - many feared after your departure from Austria that it would fall behind. Instead, your former team is considered to be the strongest in the country, albeit not the most consistent. Did you expect this development?
Acimovic: When I was still there, a lot of people expected me to score in every game, to do something special. And I scored often enough. But I thought they would normally have to have the players to replace me. No, I had no doubt that they would find players who could play on the left like me.

krone.at: This year, Austria's chances of becoming champions were very good for a long time, also thanks to Zlatko Junuzovic, who many see as your successor as playmaker. What do you think of him?
Acimovic: The boy can really play, he came from the bottom and is now top in Austria at the moment. But now he has to take the next step and learn something new. He must not stop at his current level. As the past few years have shown, he's great for the Bundesliga! But when he joins the national team, a different level will be required - and that's where he lacks a little something.

krone.at: So should he go abroad?
Acimovic: To become an even better player, I think so. Also to see where his maximum lies. If he stays in Austria for another two or three years, what good will it do him? He won't learn anything new, he'll continue to play at the same level. And then at some point he might miss a penalty or get injured and suddenly things will go downhill. He's a really good player, he has a lot of quality - at least enough to play in a good league at a good club.

krone.at: You played for Wiener Austria for just over three and a half years, were the team's mastermind - but the Violets never won the title during that time. What was the problem?
Acimovic: I have to be honest, when I was still playing, Rapid was really great - Hoffer, Maierhofer, Heikkinen, Hofmann, coach Peter Pacult, that was a really good team. Salzburg also had a lot of experienced and expensive players. We were always close, but we were always a little bit short. With Austria it was perhaps the case that many people thought h was very good, Salzburg was experienced and expensive - what was Austria?
Acimovic: Austria was and is a club with heart - all the fans, all the people who work there, from Parits to Kraetschmer to Daxi, everyone knows what they have to do. Otherwise there's often a lot of confusion in the management team, but at Austria we always knew what Parits or Kraetschmer stood for. Everyone did what they had to do.

krone.at: Have you been able to learn anything from Thomas Parits and Markus Kraetschmer for your work here at Ljubljana?
Acimovic: Of course! Especially from Parits, how he works in general. You only have to look at how many good players he has brought to Austria, that's him, that's his success. I like Thommy because he's someone who always stays calm. Even when he's nervous, he doesn't show it. Now that I'm in a position like Parits, I can of course see what a difficult job it is.

krone.at: In your opinion, what about the level of the Slovenian "Prva Liga" in general, especially compared to the Bundesliga?
Acimovic: It's difficult to say, after all I've only been back here for four months. But as far as the stadiums, the crowds, the newspapers and television are concerned, things are very different in Austria compared to Slovenia. Everything is much quieter here.

krone.at: How would a team like Olimpija Ljubljana do in Austria?
Acimovic: I would like to organize a match against Austria just to find out. I really want to see my team play against strong teams, here in Ljubljana or also in Vienna, when there are more spectators. Just to see how my team deals with such a situation. I hope that works out. As far as the ranking in Austria is concerned: Possibly somewhere in midfield, but it's difficult to say. I'd have to be able to watch my team in the European Cup first, those are the games where you see something like that.

krone.at: So what makes the difference between the Slovenian and Austrian national teams? At club level, the domestic representatives are probably better, but when it comes to the national team, red-white-red is somewhere between the two. Why is that? Is it the team manager?
Acimovic: No, I know Constantini, it's not because of him. I don't know, Austria has really good players. Maybe things just happen too quickly in Austria to become a star. That's how you kill young players. I think to be called up to the national team, you have to have played really well for at least one or two seasons. When I was in Austria, players were in the papers after one or two games, even though hardly anyone really knew them. A few criteria need to be created for getting into the national team. Because the people there (in Austria, note) love soccer very much.

krone.at: Maybe they do, but we're not that great at it...
Acimovic: But people love watching live soccer. They don't even like that here in Slovenia. Instead, they watch Manchester or Chelsea on TV, for example.

krone.at: How many fans normally come to the Stoice stadium?
Acimovic: It's not so interesting here in Ljubljana at the moment because Olimpija haven't had an international game for seven years. And so we have lost a lot of fans. Even if there are more of them now, it's all going quite slowly. There are 8,000 to 10,000 people at a derby, but when we play against the last-placed team, there might only be 1,000 people there. You think to yourself: "A game against the last-placed team? No, that's not interesting!" It's different in Austria...

krone.at: Is that generally a difference in mentality between Austrians and Slovenians?
Acimovic: Look, in Austria you can be a star within a week or two. People read the newspaper, they use the internet, they watch TV - and then a youngster scores one or two goals and is suddenly a hero! No one knows you here until you've made the national team, you're not a star here. Here the players work hard so that someone recognizes them on the street.

krone.at: Your former club is currently holding a vote for the Austria Team of the Century, with Milenko Acimovic up for election in midfield alongside all-time Austrian greats such as Herbert Prohaska, Ernst Ocwirk and Felix Gasselich. What would it mean to you to be selected for this team of the century?
Acimovic: It's hard to say, but it would be something very special for me to be selected, it would be a huge honor, a sign that the club has done a really good job.

krone.at: Have you actually seen Austria play live since you retired?
Acimovic: No, I have to admit that it's difficult for me. After all, my own season is still running in Slovenia and I can't just go away. I also have to look after my family. Even I myself had a strange feeling when I came back to Ljubljana because I missed Vienna. This also affects my wife and especially my daughter Clara (9, on the right in the picture), after all, she had a lot of friends in Vienna and learned German. She often asked me: "Why?" She didn't feel well for almost three months, she woke up in the middle of the night, cried and suddenly started speaking German. Only now, after eight months, is she feeling better again and is also much happier. I'd rather not play with these feelings.