It was no surprise to anyone. Last May, the dismissal of Marco Rose from the Borussia bench allowed Edin Terzic to step out of the shadows and into the light. As sporting director at the Ruhr club, following a brief spell as interim manager when Lucien Favre left (2020), he quickly took charge of the team. 

He has not challenged Bayern's supremacy in the league, nor that of Union Berlin, but is still four points off the top spot, and Terzic's Borussia has shown stability in a young squad that has been stripped of players such as Erling Haaland and Manuel Akanji. Enough to pretend to do better during the season.

A former footballer

Edin Terzic's first foray into the world of football was with regional clubs such as FC Iserlohn 46/49, Westfalia Herne, SG Wattenscheid 09 and BV Cloppenburg. In the fourth division, he scored a total of 188 goals. He was a striker. 

However, during his football career he already had links with Borussia Dortmund. There, he was soon coaching the youth teams. Under Sven Mislintat, he stayed there until he was offered to become a scout. 

A scout and a co-coach

Under his watchful eye, players such as Robert Lewandowski, Lukas Piszczek, Shinji Kagawa, İlkay Gündogan, Ivan Perisic, Marco Reus and Nuri Sahin, among others, were recruited to the first team. Still a scout but enjoying coaching, he assisted a friend, Hannes Wolf, in coaching the junior A side in 2010/2011. The following season they were both in charge of the BVB B team. 

However, in 2013/2014 the German moved to Turkey to become assistant coach at Besiktas. He stayed there for two years before leaving for West Ham. In England, the tactician admits to having learned from great names such as José Mourinho, Pep Guardiola or Arsène Wenger. Inspirations that still serve him today. 

In 2018, Terzic returned to Borussia and became the assistant of Lucien Favre. Under their tutelage, BVB is twice vice-champion of Germany. But the momentum was lost. On 13 December 2020, the Swiss coach was sacked. Edin Terzic took over as interim coach for the first team. 

Thanks to him, the team found stability with a good four-man defence. He also allowed the Dortmund players to regain confidence and learn to create better chances. In fact, the club's manager praised him for "bringing a 'half-dead' team back to life." He was replaced by Marco Rose in the summer of 2021, despite his good results, and thus joined the offices of the yellow and black instead of being on the field.

Technical director back on the field

Terzic was involved in the planning of the squad and was the contact person for the coaches and players in the training centre during his year as technical director. He was also responsible for monitoring the players on loan. 

However, Rose's poor results on the European stage after the 2021-2022 season led to his dismissal. Indeed, the club finished third in their Champions League group before exiting in the Europa League round of 16. 

BVB then called on Edin Terzic's healing talents. Now coach, he managed to counter Bayern in the last Klassiker (2-2) and hold off Sevilla in the Champions League (1-1). But the road is still long for the tactician at the head of a young team.

This Tuesday, he will have to redouble his inventiveness to put Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in trouble, while reuniting with his former nugget, Erling Haaland.