League Managers and Klinsmann Clear the Air
October 26, 2005
The German soccer league's front office managers finally got their wish. Less then two weeks after the less than spectacular displays against Turkey and China they demanded a meeting with Germany's national soccer team coach Jürgen Klinsmann to clear some things up about just how Team Germany should be run.
On Tuesday, Klinsmann, who by no means was avoiding the rendezvous with the likes of Bayern Munich's Uli Hoeness, met representatives from the league and the German Soccer Federation (DFB) to discuss just how the success of Germany can best be guaranteed at next summer's World Cup.
After a round of talks in Frankfurt that lasted two and a half hours, Klinsmann called the discussion "lively and good." In the past month, he had drawn the wrath of Bundesliga managers over a number of points including his continuing presence in California for long periods of time, the ongoing goalkeeper duel between Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann, and the intensive physical fitness program he and his assistant Joachim Löw have introduced.
When all was said and done, the two sides, who had at times in the past two weeks used the mass media to launch volleys at the other, left the summit as "friends and not as parties with differences," according to Bayern Munich's chief director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Task force revival
In an effort to improve communications between the two sides, which as could be seen in newspaper articles was anything but optimal, the Task Force has been reconvened to support Klinsmann. Before the Euro 2000, a similar commission was established.
Seven people will head up the force whose spokesman will be none other than the outspoken Hoeness. Also joining the group will be Uli's brother, Dieter Hoeness from Hertha Berlin and representatives from Schalke, Stuttgart, Bremen and Dortmund in addition to the league's president Werner Hackmann.
In addressing the criticisms that the league's managers have been leveling at Klinsmann, compromises were found.
"I'll be present (in Germany) when it's important to move things ahead," was his answer to his absence from the company. Nevertheless, when those "things" will happen remains unclear and he said he will come when necessary.
As for the fitness program that he has brought partially from his long stay in the USA, when and how tests will be held would be better communicated.
Finally, as for the goalie debate that many say is preventing the formation of a cohesive unit, nothing has changed. The rotation between Kahn and Lehmann will continue.
And so little may have changed in reality but league reps and the coaching staff around Jürgen Klinsmann had the opportunity to get some things off their chest.
In the typical, optimistic style of Klinsmann he wrapped things up by saying that the team would have to find the "motivation and euphoria that we had before the Confederations Cup."