Bayern Munich shocked everyone in German football on Friday by announcing that Juergen Klinsmann will take over as their new coach from next season. The announcement, made on Bayern’s Web site, came totally out of the blue, which is unusual in a country where almost all the big news seems to leak out via Bild newspaper.
Football fans everywhere should be glad to see Klinsmann come out of semi-retirement in California. The 43-year-old former striker has too much to offer the game to be spending his time on the beach, but as my colleague Erik Kiirschbaum notes, it does represent a gamble for both sides.
For the coach, it’s a case of laying his reputation as a saviour on the line. For Bayern, it’s a punt on a man with no experience as a club coach.
The German Football Association had run out of ideas when they turned to Klinsmann in desperation in 2004. The team had just gone out in the first round at Euro 2004 but Klinsmann’s skills as a motivator helped turn them from a laughing stock into genuine World Cup contenders.
Klinsmann will take over a fine squad of players at Bayern in July, by which time they will likely be German champions and contemplating a return to the Champions League. He will doubtless be handed a big transfer budget and there’s every reason to expect he’ll keep Bayern on top in Germany.
The bigger question is whether Bayern can now look forward to challenging again for the Champions League. Certainly, the arrival of Klinsmann should help them attract top name players.
One other thought: Does this mean Rafa Benitez can sleep a little more soundly now? Or does it just make a Mourinho move to Anfield that bit more likely?
Kevin Fylan, Berlin
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7 comments so far
You can count on one hand the really great players who made great managers.
- Posted by Mark MeadowsHowever Bayern is less of a challenge than Liverpool or England would have been and I expect him to succeed, least of all because he seems such a nice guy.
If I was a player under him I would certainly respect him and want to play for him.
I reckon it’s quite a coup for Bayern, the more I think about it. I think there’ll be many players from Italy, Spain, South America and maybe even England who might now consider a move to Bayern, while the idea of playing under Hitzfled might not have been so enticing.
- Posted by Kevin FylanI bought into the “he has no experience on club level” and “great players don’t make great coaches” school of thought regarding Klinsmann for a while and thought about it whenever he was linked to a random Premier League club. But now, that he actually has a new employee, I decided to change my mind completely.;-)
Shameless plug: http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/teams/b ayern-munich/five-reasons-why-appointing -klinsmann-was-a-stroke-of-genius.html
- Posted by JanNo problem with the plug, jan. That’s a nice piece and I agree with your reasoning. At the news conference this afternoon Bayern sounded like they’ve bought into the idea of Klinsmann being a “project manager” rather than a coach per se but we’ll see.
- Posted by Kevin FylanHe’s surprised us all again … and we shouldn’t be surprised if he quits unexpectedly after winning a championship or two. He’s not in it for the money. He’s a shrewd man. In the back of his mind, he’s probably already got this lined up as a stepping stone to another big job — like coaching Italy, England, France, Argentina or Spain.
- Posted by claudiaI think he is wise not to move to an English club. He will be at the richest club in Germany, basically guaranteeing him success. After a few years he can retire again. Having said that, I would have been pretty happy to see him as Liverpool coach (assuming Benitez is for the chop at the end of the season).
- Posted by LondonI’m not sure about this one. I don’t follow German football as closely as I used to but I can’t imagine Bayern has shed its FC Hollywood image. It is full of big egos and every tiny move gets massive attention. Actually, Beckenbauer, Hoeness, Rumminegge and big-name players at Bayern have often acted more like politicians than footballers — they pursue their own agendas, make provocative public statements and are expert manipulators of the media. Klinsmann also has a strong and shrewd personality but he will have his work cut out in this company. He also used to say how important privacy was for him and his family. He’ll get precious little of that in Munich.
- Posted by Andrew Gray