Winning titles does NOT equal success at the youth level
When asked what he values more, such as turning Jamie Gittens into a UCL player or having a youth team win the league, all he could do was chuckle. Of course, we all want to win whenever possible, but for Broich, it's mainly about elevating prospects to one day, hopefully, play in front of 80,000. And what would make that even sweeter is if it happens to be one of the locals. A kid who has been with the club since nine or ten years of age. He mentions Kjell Wätjen as a possible example of that.
"What is happening with Kjell right now? He gives us all such profound hope. He would give young fans someone they can identify with. He would be a role model. He could give people belief, as the kid from next door who made it!"Thomas Broich
Barcelona once made the headlines for simultaneously fielding eleven players all from their own academy (La Masia). Why can't that be the case for Dortmund in, let's say, 09 years? It will beyond a shadow of a doubt take patience, cut-throat analysing, and some failures at first. But Broich believes that in a 5-10 window, there's no reason BVB shouldn't be able to at least field half an eleven of purely homegrown players.
If you have the time, do yourself a favor and watch the full interview below. Thomas Broich is by far one of the most competent, well-spoken acquisitions we have made in recent times, and I'm very much looking forward to watching him lead and reconfigure our youth system.