The start was disastrous: 0–3 at Werder Bremen. Schalke did not lack alpha personalities either – Jens Lehmann, captain Olaf Thon, Mike Büskens, Youri Mulder. Stevens had to weld them into a true unit.\n\nHe did it with discipline, but also with human warmth.
He knew every detail, even the birthdays of players’ children, and made himself available to everyone. He lived the collective idea.\n\nStar behaviour disgusted him. And above all, he brought defensive order. “The nil must stand,” as he famously said before the UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg at Valencia – a line that became a catchphrase.\n\nAfter switching to a 3-5-2, Schalke kept eight consecutive clean sheets from 6 December 1996 onward.