Joel Matip has always been a unique footballer.
The centre-half captured the hearts of Liverpool fans through his mix of resolute defending, trademark mazy dribbles, and partnership with Virgil van Dijk, all of which have helped show glimpses of his personality on the pitch.
It has largely been these moments supporters have been limited to during his time at the club. An elusive figure in the social media age, Matip has chosen to allow his football to do the talking.
Not that this has prevented the former Cameroon international from developing a cult online following, at times led by Van Dijk himself , as his popularity within the Liverpool dressing room shines through.
One pivotal figure who helped mould Matip into the person he is today is long-standing Schalke under-19 manager, Norbert Elgert.
The former German Coach of the Year has been at the club since 1996 and also helped forge the burgeoning careers of Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, and Leroy Sane. The Reds’ number 32 is another high-profile Knappenschmiede graduate.
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Speaking exclusively to the ECHO, Elgert remembers Matip having a similar personality to the one Liverpool fans now recognise; quietly self-confident while studious of the game.
The experienced coach also gave an insight into how the 30-year-old developed his more attack-minded attributes.
“Even then, Joel was rather reserved and modest, but quite self-confident and always a team player,” Elgert said.
“From a young age he had a very good attitude towards school and football. He was extremely hard-working and very ambitious.
"As a central defender, he was fast and strong in defensive one-on-one and with a lot of drive forward. That's why I often let him play up front in his second U19 year. He was his team's top scorer that year.”
Despite his early success, the 65-year-old stressed Matip was not instinctively destined for the top. Instead, it was his dedication to honing his craft that ultimately helped him stand apart from his peers.
The same key trait that has seen him significantly elevate his game under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp .
“Every talent develops and improves only through training. Joel was rather averagely talented and had to work very hard for many things,” Elgert admitted.
“Athletic talent is important, but it only puts you in the doorway to professional football. Only qualities such as attitude, mentality, willingness to make an effort, perseverance and will will bring you through this door. All of these qualities were very strong in Joel.
“The Joel Matip of today is still very similar to the one from back then. Clearly, Joel has made another incredible development under Jurgen Klopp. He can read a game very well, is extremely fast and very strong in one-on-one.
"His heading ability is outstanding - defensively and offensively. He has also greatly improved his play structure with fast and precise passes between the lines. Mentally he is strong and resilient.”
Having followed Elgert’s seven pillars of training - which include mental strength, character development and professional lifestyle - Matip emerged ready for the Schalke first-team as an 18-year-old.
His debut came in November 2009 against Bayern Munich. Handed his first start by Felix Magath, Matip scored the equalising goal and was given man of the match while playing as a defensive midfielder.
Across Matip’s first two years as part of the senior squad, Schalke finished second in the Bundesliga, won the DFB Pokal and reached the Champions League semi-finals.
For the 2010/11 season, under current Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick, the club possessed the impressive forward duo of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Real Madrid legend Raul.
Still only 19-years-old, Matip produced arguably his finest display in a Schalke shirt against Champions League holders Inter Milan in 2011.
Alongside fellow academy graduate and future World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes, Matip battled against Inter’s prolific strike partnership of Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o in the quarter-final tie.
Schalke recorded a famous 5-2 win at the San Siro, with Matip also getting on the scoresheet.
However, his time at Schalke did not purely consist of these picture-perfect moments.
Marcel Witte is the Schalke reporter for Ruhr24 and worked as an intern at the club around the time Matip made his first team debut, where he recalls meeting the “very shy” teenager.
And according to Witte, the defender’s inexperience and unorthodox profile made Matip a convenient scapegoat when the club failed to live up to expectations in their bid to rival Bayern Munich for major honours.
“Joel Matip never received the recognition he deserved from the fans,” Witte told the ECHO. “Many fans regarded him with scepticism because of his unconventional style of play. He was still very young and made mistakes.
"But his place in the squad was not very clear. He played often, but in different positions, sometimes as a right-back, sometimes as a centre-back, sometimes in defensive midfield. Only later did he just play as a centre-back.
“The Gelsenkirchen Ultras, the hardcore of the fans, always celebrated Matip. He was a youth player and had a very high standing with the Ultras. But other spectators in the stadium saw it differently.”
Witte continued: “Some fans made him the scapegoat for lost games, although he was still a very young player at that time who still had a lot to develop. These fans only really came to appreciate Matip when he moved to Liverpool.”
After coming under scrutiny for a spell of mistakes in 2013, Matip scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf and his squad colleagues were quick to call out his critics.
Fellow Knappenschmiede alumnus Howedes gave a brief insight into his team-mate’s mindset: "Jimmy is a sensitive guy. He needs a lot of affection."
And Matip certainly received the adulation he deserved when the time came for him to finally leave Schalke.
On the final day of the 2015/16 season, away at Hoffenheim, Schalke fans stayed behind for several minutes to chant his name and bid an emotional farewell to one of their homegrown heroes.
Matip was also gifted a Nordkurve t-shirt by the club’s ultras, referencing the main stand at the Veltins-Arena.
Now, his Liverpool career looks to be following a similar path since he arrived on a free transfer in 2016.
Having been forced to come through adversity with injuries time and again, Matip has been able to consistently demonstrate the full range of his abilities this season.
From his recent man of the match performance in the crucial away win over Arsenal to his sublime goal against Leeds , he has been rightly celebrated by supporters.
Matip’s performances have not just caught the attention of Reds fans, either. In a surprisingly wholesome moment, he was awarded the Premier League Player of the Month award for February.
Such is his popularity among the Liverpool squad that Jurgen Klopp light-heartedly compared Matip winning the award to a cup final .
When asked how the team reacted to the news, Klopp said: “It was similar to the celebrations after the Carabao Cup! Joel is a very famous figure in the group. He obviously doesn't get a lot of headlines.
“I am not too much into individual prizes for football players but I think if someone should win it it makes sense it is Joel. He definitely is underrated. There is one person on this planet who couldn’t care less if we all underrate it, it is Joel Matip.”
Having left a similar impression at Schalke, Liverpool fans are well aware of the qualities Matip brings to the Reds.
And with the defender now entering his peak, Elgert has reflected on how the teenager he coached in Gelsenkirchen has developed into the person he is today, both on and off the pitch.
“What distinguishes Joel above all is that he has this very high level of willingness to improve every day in all relevant areas,” he said. “He wanted and wants to learn more every day and be the best he can be every day.
“Joel was also popular at Schalke, although his game and style of play were often underestimated due to his reserved manner. He was and is not a ‘loudspeaker’ and never puts himself in the foreground.
“For me, he is one of the world's best central defenders and a great role model and an example of what character and attitude can do. He is not only a great footballer, but above all a great person.”
