Champions League

Klinsmann eyes European success and change at Bayern

17:17 BST, Wed 2 Jul 2008
[-] Text [+]
 Email  |   Print  |   Digg This
 
Bayern Munich's new team coach Juergen Klinsmann (L) and new second goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt smile before their first training session for the upcoming season in Munich, June 30, 2008.   REUTERS/Alexandra Beier (GERMANY)

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN, July 2 (Reuters) - New Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann vowed on Wednesday to make changes at the club and said the German Champions were good enough to reach next year's Champions League final.

Klinsmann, in his first club coaching job after leading Germany to third place at the 2006 World Cup, stated his goals for the season were a domestic double and European success.

"Expectations are always the highest at Bayern," Klinsmann told his first news conference in Munich, which was broadcast nationally by two networks.

"We want to win both German titles, the Bundesliga and the German Cup. And we want to be in the Champions League all the way to the end."

The former German striker said he believed his players would respond favourably to changes in training, as well as new language and educational programmes he has set up.

"I'm full of joy and pride to be able to work here and to move some things," he said.

"At the same time I know I'll have to live with the fact that there might be a few people not happy about the changes," he added after his second day of training before the Aug. 15 start of the Bundesliga season.

NEW TECHNIQUES

Klinsmann's centrepiece is a new performance training facility. Players will spend the entire day -- from 9:30 til 5:30, at least in pre-season -- training and learning new skills, such as improving German and foreign languages.

"I'm not worried," he said. "I think the players are looking forward to it. I think this is a young generation waiting to be inspired, stimulated and motivated. We'll see after a few months how it's going. I think it'll release a lot of new energies.

"My philosophy is to make every player better every day. I'd like to help players get to the next level," he said, adding that was the best part of coaching Germany from 2004 to 2006.

The 43-year-old said he had spent the last two years travelling and learning, spending time in South America and also with the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns basketball teams.

"I did a lot of travelling," he said. "And obviously I spent a lot of effort to learn more about soccer. It's my belief that everyone can learn something from someone else. You just have to open yourself up to it."

"Matches are decided in the head," he said, asserting that development off the pitch was vital. "It's important to keep learning, to stay hungry to learn more."

He also promised Bayern would play an aggressive, attacking and attractive style -- not unlike the system he introduced to the national team four years ago.

"We'll have a system where we'll be assertive, set the pace of the match and try to dominate," he said. "It's a secondary issue how the opponent plays us. It doesn't matter who we're playing against in the Champions League. Bring 'em on."
  

Any person accessing the football section of this website is prohibited from any unauthorised re-production of any photographs and or text content other than for the purposes of viewing the same as part of the web site.   
31 Aug 16:00 Ast Villa 0 - 0 Liverpool FT
31 Aug 15:00 Sund'land 0 - 3 Man City FT
31 Aug 13:30 Chelsea 1 - 1 Tottenham FT
31 Aug 12:30 Celtic 2 - 4 Rangers FT
30 Aug 17:30 Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle FT
30 Aug 15:00 West Ham 4 - 1 Blackburn FT
30 Aug 15:00 Everton 0 - 3 P'mouth FT
30 Aug 15:00 M'brough 2 - 1 Stoke FT

Most Popular articles

advertisement