Jens Scheuer: Brighton’s motivator prepares to make Women’s Super League history

Authenticity is key for Scheuer. He admires the extroversion of Megan Rapinoe, Miroslav Klose’s down-to-earth sense of fun and the increasing willingness of players to take a stand on issues such as homophobia.

He has admitted that he discounted working in the women’s game after seeing a farcical handball go unpunished during the 2011 World Cup, then felt “immediately annoyed” for being “so negative” when he watched Freiburg women play.

Scheuer became a Frauen-Bundesliga manager for the first time when Freiburg appointed him in 2015, leading a team including Germany forward Lina Magull to third place – their highest ever finish – in 2017-18, as well as the DFB-Pokal cup final a year later.

When Bayern Munich secured his services, Scheuer oversaw the end of Wolfsburg’s four-year stranglehold on the title.

Bayern had finished eight points behind Wolfsburg in Scheuer’s first season in charge. By the end of his second, they held a 19-goal superiority over the vanquished champions, scoring 82 times and conceding nine while losing once in 22 matches.

“He has a lot of self-confidence,” said Buhrer, who remains close to Scheuer and chuckles at his friend’s appetite for English lessons in recent years.

“He will coach a lot. Sometimes he is very emotional. We had to work hard.

“I expected his success because he is very professional and he does everything for football. That’s why he is coming to Brighton.

“It’s a big chance for him to do everything, every day, every hour for football. It’s exactly his thing.”