World on alert Germans marching again!

[Parky]

The cases of Rink and Dundee, both unprecedented in German football since the war, demonstrated that something was very wrong. The disappointing quarterfinal exit against Croatia at the 1998 World Cup then made it plain to see: not enough talent was coming through. In the Bundesliga, the percentage of foreigners had risen again, to 50 percent by the time the season kicked off in 2000.

 

The German FA realized that something had to be done. It looked at the French system and decided that something similar was needed. In May 1999, FA vice president Beckenbauer, first-team manager Ribbeck, Bayer Leverkusen general manager Reiner Calmund and FA Director of Youth Development Dietrich Weise presented a new concept for producing young German footballers. All across the country, 121 national talent centers would be built to help 10- to 17-year-olds with technical practice. Each center would employ two full-time coaches at a cost of $15.6 million over five years. The second key point was a new requirement for all 36 professional clubs in Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 to build youth academies.

 

"If this concept works, we will see a lot of youngsters get into Bundesliga clubs in the coming years," Weise said.

 

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/world-cup-2010/writers/raphael_honigstein/07/01/germany.reinvention/index.html#ixzz0sdsjmKEY

 

[mrmojorisin75]

The cases of Rink and Dundee, both unprecedented in German football since the war, demonstrated that something was very wrong. The disappointing quarterfinal exit against Croatia at the 1998 World Cup then made it plain to see: not enough talent was coming through. In the Bundesliga, the percentage of foreigners had risen again, to 50 percent by the time the season kicked off in 2000.

 

The German FA realized that something had to be done. It looked at the French system and decided that something similar was needed. In May 1999, FA vice president Beckenbauer, first-team manager Ribbeck, Bayer Leverkusen general manager Reiner Calmund and FA Director of Youth Development Dietrich Weise presented a new concept for producing young German footballers. All across the country, 121 national talent centers would be built to help 10- to 17-year-olds with technical practice. Each center would employ two full-time coaches at a cost of $15.6 million over five years. The second key point was a new requirement for all 36 professional clubs in Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 to build youth academies.

 

"If this concept works, we will see a lot of youngsters get into Bundesliga clubs in the coming years," Weise said.

 

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/world-cup-2010/writers/raphael_honigstein/07/01/germany.reinvention/index.html#ixzz0sdsjmKEY

 

 

gah! it's almost like a football association acted in the best interests of it's country's game rather than feathering it's own nest!!

 

then again with us isn't it that we have the players but it's really the managers fault, or something?

[Wullie]

The cases of Rink and Dundee, both unprecedented in German football since the war, demonstrated that something was very wrong. The disappointing quarterfinal exit against Croatia at the 1998 World Cup then made it plain to see: not enough talent was coming through. In the Bundesliga, the percentage of foreigners had risen again, to 50 percent by the time the season kicked off in 2000.

 

The German FA realized that something had to be done. It looked at the French system and decided that something similar was needed. In May 1999, FA vice president Beckenbauer, first-team manager Ribbeck, Bayer Leverkusen general manager Reiner Calmund and FA Director of Youth Development Dietrich Weise presented a new concept for producing young German footballers. All across the country, 121 national talent centers would be built to help 10- to 17-year-olds with technical practice. Each center would employ two full-time coaches at a cost of $15.6 million over five years. The second key point was a new requirement for all 36 professional clubs in Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 to build youth academies.

 

"If this concept works, we will see a lot of youngsters get into Bundesliga clubs in the coming years," Weise said.

 

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/world-cup-2010/writers/raphael_honigstein/07/01/germany.reinvention/index.html#ixzz0sdsjmKEY

 

 

They took on a lot of Howard Wilkinson's ideas that he'd presented our FA with, which they subsequently ignored.

[Guest Antigalican]

The blaming of the manager(s) players, WAG's, press and who ever else is in the firing line is all well and good. Its the FA's job to get things right. They have huge resources at their disposal, and basically since Venebles left after Euro 96 we've had 14 years of failure permiated with the odd oasis of success. Grasroots football and lower division clubs should be the breeding ground of Top Flight stars not these ridiculous accademies. My son recently signed for an Accademy, he's 6 years old!! Wallsend boys club has produced more top flight talent than the current accademy set up.

[Wullie]

The blaming of the manager(s) players, WAG's, press and who ever else is in the firing line is all well and good. Its the FA's job to get things right. They have huge resources at their disposal, and basically since Venebles left after Euro 96 we've had 14 years of failure permiated with the odd oasis of success. Grasroots football and lower division clubs should be the breeding ground of Top Flight stars not these ridiculous accademies. My son recently signed for an Accademy, he's 6 years old!! Wallsend bots club has produced more top flight talent than the current accademy set up.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with academies as such, I just think ours are badly run and aimed towards the wrong things. The Dutch team has been built for years on the Ajax academy.

[johnnypd]

I remember in 1998 the germans were all up in arms that they weren't producing youngsters like Scholes, Owen, Campbell, Beckham, Neville. specifically they were obsessed with Scholes and his supreme technical ability and have been trying to produce skilful players like him ever since. end result = ozil. 121 centres round the country with 2 full time coaches each is a massive investment mind u, doubt our greedy clubs would want their kids going off to be trained by someone else, never mind wanting to pay for it in the first place.

[Wullie]

Whatever happened to Lilleshall?

[johnnypd]

Whatever happened to Lilleshall?

 

wilkinson recommended it be closed because the academies made it obsolete. would've perhaps been better to create a few lilleshall's round the country so that the best kids from the academies could go there for specialised training, rather than just getting training at their clubs. didn't someone on here say that NUFC were only looking for 6 footers at our academy? 

[Wullie]

Whatever happened to Lilleshall?

 

wilkinson recommended it be closed because the academies made it obsolete. would've perhaps been better to create a few lilleshall's round the country so that the best kids from the academies could go there for specialised training, rather than just getting training at their clubs. didn't someone on here say that NUFC were only looking for 6 footers at our academy? 

 

I think that's the case at most academies. I get the impression that the teams all the way up are ran like the teams at the top - on results - so they want big quick lads who can take advantage of smaller kids. Trouble is once the smaller kids fill out and catch up, the bigger/quicker lads are shown up for their lack of ability.

 

Who gives a fuck about the U17s results? It should be about how many come through into the first team - our record at NUFC is shameful. We've not produced a midfielder capable of playing in the Premiership since Lee fucking Clark. Never mind Steven Gerrard, we've not even managed a Danny Guthrie in 20 years.

[Guest Antigalican]

Great point on the size issue. Kids in Accademies get pigeon-holed according to physique far too redily.Peter Beardsley is a great example of why that ethos should have been ditched years ago. Far too many coaches are earning decent money for their junior team's results rather than the end product of actually producing talent that goes on to make the grade.

 

I was disappointed when Richard Money left, I thought he had things back on track, but what ever happened to scouts who could spot talent outside of the club they worked for? Bill Emery was a great exponent in this area.The philosophy now is to sign anyone who knows how to run fast and take a throw in for fear of missing anyone. Kids should be alloweed to play for their local boys clubs and local teams, enjoy playing and if talent is evident enough they should be checked out.

[David28]

Interesting words from Klinsmann about the development of the German football team over the last few years.

 

By Jurgen Klinsmann

World Cup-winning striker, former Germany coach and BBC pundit

 

Germany have impressed everyone with their attacking displays en route to the semi-finals of this World Cup.

 

But it is only six years ago that, like England this summer, they were returning home early from a major tournament and wondering what the future held.

 

Germany had to rebuild after the disaster of the 2004 European Championship in Portugal. We did not win a game and failed to get out of our group.

 

I got the chance to decide on the direction we took when I agreed to take over as Germany coach that summer, with current manager Joachim Loew as my assistant.

 

'Jogi' and I began the whole regeneration process by trying to give our national team an identity.

 

We eventually decided to go down an attack-minded route, passing the ball on the ground from the back to the front line as quickly as possible using dynamic football.

Jurgen Klinsmann and Joachim Loew

Klinsmann and Loew designed a new blueprint for German football

 

From that, we created a style of play that this Germany team in South Africa now really lives and breathes. Since 2004, we have reached two World Cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2008.

 

Can England recover from their poor showing in South Africa as quickly as Germany did six years ago? Yes, but they cannot just copy the German style and expect that to succeed for them.

 

Every nation has its own culture and specific environment as well as its own footballing identity. England have to develop their own vision and decide how they should play.

 

As I found, making that vision work is not an easy process. It will take time and England's results might not be positive while it takes effect.

 

England will also need the help of the Premier League. Every club coach will have their own philosophy but I tried to work with those in the Bundesliga to build something together.

 

There are a lot of foreign players and managers in England but that should not make a difference. You simply have to explain to them what the style of play is that you want to develop and be prepared to persevere.

 

When Jogi and I took over the German side, we made our plans very public and made it clear that we were trying to rebuild from the bottom up.

 

The German Football Association (DFB) helped us by putting a lot of pressure on all the first and second division teams in the Bundesliga to build academy programmes and ensure talented young players were coming through but we still had to decide on our playing style.

 

Whatever approach the England team decides on, everybody in the English game needs to sign up to it

 

Jurgen Klinsmann

 

To do that, we quizzed everyone we could.

 

We held workshops with German coaches and players, asking them to write down on flip charts three things: how they wanted to play, how they wanted to be seen to be playing by the rest of the world and how the German public wanted to see us playing.

 

If we could define all of that, we thought we could lay out how we wanted to work and then, from there, sort out the training and paperwork behind the scenes.

 

What we ended up with amounted to 10 or 12 bullet points laying out our proposals. We then announced that it was our intention to play a fast-paced game, an attacking game and a proactive game.

 

That last term was something the Germans did not really like because they did not really understand what proactive meant. We just told them it meant we did not react to what our opponents did, we played the way that was right for us.

 

Once we had done all that, we created a curriculum for German football and presented it to the Bundesliga and DFB boards.

 

At that point, I told them I did not have the time to implement the strategy at all levels because I only had two years to prepare for the World Cup, so I asked for Germany's Under-21 team to adopt it and that was it.

 

I brought in a former international team-mate of mine, Dieter Eilts, to run the under-21s and said they had to play the same way as the senior team because they would be a feeder for it.

 

I was always looking long-term but I knew our plans would be measured by our success at the 2006 World Cup.

Germany thrashed England 4-1 in the quarter-finals

Germany thrashed England 4-1 in the quarter-finals

 

There was a lot of negative media at the start. Everybody agreed German football had to change after 2004 but nobody actually wanted to adopt our proposals.

 

For example, we told the Bundesliga teams and coaches that their players needed to be fitter to play the kind of football we wanted to play.

 

That meant carrying out fitness tests every three months, which did not go down well with some clubs because I was able to prove that some of them were training their players properly and others were not.

 

I was basically doubted for the two years I was coach - and when we lost 4-1 to Italy in a friendly game three months before the 2006 World Cup, everybody wanted my blood!

 

We had another game three weeks later against the United States and we won that one 4-1.

 

That victory saved my job and kept me in charge for the World Cup because the DFB had been ready to make a change. They wanted the conservative approach again, not the revolution.

 

But I kept on being positive, explaining that this was how I wanted us to play. I did not know if we would master it in time for the 2006 World Cup but we would give it a shot.

 

We had the players for four solid weeks before the tournament began and were able to get our thoughts across. They agreed to train the way we wanted them to and do extra work. Soon they started to believe in the system.

 

606: DEBATE

Germany will prove to be the most influential team at this World Cup

 

djmolineux 49

 

That was crucial because, no matter what your job is, you need to identify yourself with the work that you are doing and be happy.

 

I was happy because, as a former striker, I liked the style we intended to play. I could never coach a team that played defensive-minded football.

 

I also think the players understood that I was the one taking the risk and that if it did not work out the DFB would send me packing back to California!

 

We started well at the 2006 World Cup and the public began to feel that something special was going to happen.

 

In the second game, when we beat Poland with a last-minute goal, the whole nation embraced us and said "yeah, that's our team and that's how we want them to play". We lost in the semi-final against Italy but I was still very proud.

 

After that World Cup, I was burned out after two years of banging my head against a wall but I made it clear to the DFB that Jogi had to take over after me to continue the job we had started.

 

He has continued to develop that initial style of play and is enjoying success. It has taken Germany six years to learn to play it properly - and it has developed along the way - but the players are completely comfortable with it now.

 

Germany's style of play might work for England because, in a way, Germany now play a lot like a typical Premier League team, with the emphasis on pacy attacks.

 

But whatever approach the England team decides on - whether it is attacking or defensive, patient or high tempo - everybody in the English game needs to sign up to it.

 

After all, it is the players, coaches and clubs who will help to make it work.

 

Jurgen Klinsmann was speaking to Chris Bevan in Cape Town.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8789682.stm

[Parky]

The Germans took the report Howard Wilkinson gave the fa in 1998 and the fa duly ignored and used it as a blueprint.

[NG32]

Interesting words from Klinsmann about the development of the German football team over the last few years.

 

By Jurgen Klinsmann

World Cup-winning striker, former Germany coach and BBC pundit

 

Germany have impressed everyone with their attacking displays en route to the semi-finals of this World Cup.

 

But it is only six years ago that, like England this summer, they were returning home early from a major tournament and wondering what the future held.

 

Germany had to rebuild after the disaster of the 2004 European Championship in Portugal. We did not win a game and failed to get out of our group.

 

I got the chance to decide on the direction we took when I agreed to take over as Germany coach that summer, with current manager Joachim Loew as my assistant.

 

'Jogi' and I began the whole regeneration process by trying to give our national team an identity.

 

We eventually decided to go down an attack-minded route, passing the ball on the ground from the back to the front line as quickly as possible using dynamic football.

Jurgen Klinsmann and Joachim Loew

Klinsmann and Loew designed a new blueprint for German football

 

From that, we created a style of play that this Germany team in South Africa now really lives and breathes. Since 2004, we have reached two World Cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2008.

 

Can England recover from their poor showing in South Africa as quickly as Germany did six years ago? Yes, but they cannot just copy the German style and expect that to succeed for them.

 

Every nation has its own culture and specific environment as well as its own footballing identity. England have to develop their own vision and decide how they should play.

 

As I found, making that vision work is not an easy process. It will take time and England's results might not be positive while it takes effect.

 

England will also need the help of the Premier League. Every club coach will have their own philosophy but I tried to work with those in the Bundesliga to build something together.

 

There are a lot of foreign players and managers in England but that should not make a difference. You simply have to explain to them what the style of play is that you want to develop and be prepared to persevere.

 

When Jogi and I took over the German side, we made our plans very public and made it clear that we were trying to rebuild from the bottom up.

 

The German Football Association (DFB) helped us by putting a lot of pressure on all the first and second division teams in the Bundesliga to build academy programmes and ensure talented young players were coming through but we still had to decide on our playing style.

 

Whatever approach the England team decides on, everybody in the English game needs to sign up to it

 

Jurgen Klinsmann

 

To do that, we quizzed everyone we could.

 

We held workshops with German coaches and players, asking them to write down on flip charts three things: how they wanted to play, how they wanted to be seen to be playing by the rest of the world and how the German public wanted to see us playing.

 

If we could define all of that, we thought we could lay out how we wanted to work and then, from there, sort out the training and paperwork behind the scenes.

 

What we ended up with amounted to 10 or 12 bullet points laying out our proposals. We then announced that it was our intention to play a fast-paced game, an attacking game and a proactive game.

 

That last term was something the Germans did not really like because they did not really understand what proactive meant. We just told them it meant we did not react to what our opponents did, we played the way that was right for us.

 

Once we had done all that, we created a curriculum for German football and presented it to the Bundesliga and DFB boards.

 

At that point, I told them I did not have the time to implement the strategy at all levels because I only had two years to prepare for the World Cup, so I asked for Germany's Under-21 team to adopt it and that was it.

 

I brought in a former international team-mate of mine, Dieter Eilts, to run the under-21s and said they had to play the same way as the senior team because they would be a feeder for it.

 

I was always looking long-term but I knew our plans would be measured by our success at the 2006 World Cup.

Germany thrashed England 4-1 in the quarter-finals

Germany thrashed England 4-1 in the quarter-finals

 

There was a lot of negative media at the start. Everybody agreed German football had to change after 2004 but nobody actually wanted to adopt our proposals.

 

For example, we told the Bundesliga teams and coaches that their players needed to be fitter to play the kind of football we wanted to play.

 

That meant carrying out fitness tests every three months, which did not go down well with some clubs because I was able to prove that some of them were training their players properly and others were not.

 

I was basically doubted for the two years I was coach - and when we lost 4-1 to Italy in a friendly game three months before the 2006 World Cup, everybody wanted my blood!

 

We had another game three weeks later against the United States and we won that one 4-1.

 

That victory saved my job and kept me in charge for the World Cup because the DFB had been ready to make a change. They wanted the conservative approach again, not the revolution.

 

But I kept on being positive, explaining that this was how I wanted us to play. I did not know if we would master it in time for the 2006 World Cup but we would give it a shot.

 

We had the players for four solid weeks before the tournament began and were able to get our thoughts across. They agreed to train the way we wanted them to and do extra work. Soon they started to believe in the system.

 

606: DEBATE

Germany will prove to be the most influential team at this World Cup

 

djmolineux 49

 

That was crucial because, no matter what your job is, you need to identify yourself with the work that you are doing and be happy.

 

I was happy because, as a former striker, I liked the style we intended to play. I could never coach a team that played defensive-minded football.

 

I also think the players understood that I was the one taking the risk and that if it did not work out the DFB would send me packing back to California!

 

We started well at the 2006 World Cup and the public began to feel that something special was going to happen.

 

In the second game, when we beat Poland with a last-minute goal, the whole nation embraced us and said "yeah, that's our team and that's how we want them to play". We lost in the semi-final against Italy but I was still very proud.

 

After that World Cup, I was burned out after two years of banging my head against a wall but I made it clear to the DFB that Jogi had to take over after me to continue the job we had started.

 

He has continued to develop that initial style of play and is enjoying success. It has taken Germany six years to learn to play it properly - and it has developed along the way - but the players are completely comfortable with it now.

 

Germany's style of play might work for England because, in a way, Germany now play a lot like a typical Premier League team, with the emphasis on pacy attacks.

 

But whatever approach the England team decides on - whether it is attacking or defensive, patient or high tempo - everybody in the English game needs to sign up to it.

 

After all, it is the players, coaches and clubs who will help to make it work.

 

Jurgen Klinsmann was speaking to Chris Bevan in Cape Town.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8789682.stm

 

Good fucking on them.

 

I know another manager that likes to get the ball down on the deck, play from back to front in an attacking style.

 

He gets slagged off on here a canny bit.

[merlin]

The Germans have done far better in this tournament than anyone expected - even the German public, but I suspect that Loew was not surprised.....

 

As I stated in an earlier thread, they have planned properly over the years, and there is far more co-ordination between the DFB and the clubs than exists in England with the FA and the PL, whose interests are only the same when it comes to getting the fast buck in.

 

As with their Industry, the Germans are far more organized and have a long-term plan ; in the UK almost EVERYTHING is done on the hoof and with only today in mind - you just have to look at how many UK companies are sold off to the highest foreign bidder(which usually means job losses further down the track - there is NO WAY that Germany would allow Daiimler-Benz or BMW to be sold to a foreign firm - no matter WHAT EU 'Competition rules' say.

 

The Bundesliga is officially the best-run league in Europe and has far less indebtedness among its clubs than the circus that is the PL - their methodical, common-interest approach has paid dividends and for that, if nothing else, I hope they win the WC, although it would be a pity to see Holland miss out again after their 2 undeserved defeats of 1974/78. Of course, Spain may have something to say about all that in today's SF - nothing is guaranteed in football, but generally, the 7 P's apply - Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performances....!

[mrmojorisin75]

The Germans have done far better in this tournament than anyone expected - even the German public, but I suspect that Loew was not surprised.....

 

As I stated in an earlier thread, they have planned properly over the years, and there is far more co-ordination between the DFB and the clubs than exists in England with the FA and the PL, whose interests are only the same when it comes to getting the fast buck in.

 

As with their Industry, the Germans are far more organized and have a long-term plan ; in the UK almost EVERYTHING is done on the hoof and with only today in mind - you just have to look at how many UK companies are sold off to the highest foreign bidder(which usually means job losses further down the track - there is NO WAY that Germany would allow Daiimler-Benz or BMW to be sold to a foreign firm - no matter WHAT EU 'Competition rules' say.

 

The Bundesliga is officially the best-run league in Europe and has far less indebtedness among its clubs than the circus that is the PL - their methodical, common-interest approach has paid dividends and for that, if nothing else, I hope they win the WC, although it would be a pity to see Holland miss out again after their 2 undeserved defeats of 1974/78. Of course, Spain may have something to say about all that in today's SF - nothing is guaranteed in football, but generally, the 7 P's apply - Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performances....!

So what you're saying is you want a return to Communism, Stalin and queuing for bread then?

[Wullie]

Main flaw in that plan is that is zero chance of the Premier League clubs working together for the sake of the national side. Can't see fat headed Sam going for it, his idea of proactive is confined to long throws.

[Cronky]

Interesting words from Klinsmann about the development of the German football team over the last few years.

 

By Jurgen Klinsmann

World Cup-winning striker, former Germany coach and BBC pundit

 

Germany have impressed everyone with their attacking displays en route to the semi-finals of this World Cup.

 

But it is only six years ago that, like England this summer, they were returning home early from a major tournament and wondering what the future held.

 

Germany had to rebuild after the disaster of the 2004 European Championship in Portugal. We did not win a game and failed to get out of our group.

 

I got the chance to decide on the direction we took when I agreed to take over as Germany coach that summer, with current manager Joachim Loew as my assistant.

 

'Jogi' and I began the whole regeneration process by trying to give our national team an identity.

 

We eventually decided to go down an attack-minded route, passing the ball on the ground from the back to the front line as quickly as possible using dynamic football.

Jurgen Klinsmann and Joachim Loew

Klinsmann and Loew designed a new blueprint for German football

 

From that, we created a style of play that this Germany team in South Africa now really lives and breathes. Since 2004, we have reached two World Cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2008.

 

Can England recover from their poor showing in South Africa as quickly as Germany did six years ago? Yes, but they cannot just copy the German style and expect that to succeed for them.

 

Every nation has its own culture and specific environment as well as its own footballing identity. England have to develop their own vision and decide how they should play.

 

As I found, making that vision work is not an easy process. It will take time and England's results might not be positive while it takes effect.

 

England will also need the help of the Premier League. Every club coach will have their own philosophy but I tried to work with those in the Bundesliga to build something together.

 

There are a lot of foreign players and managers in England but that should not make a difference. You simply have to explain to them what the style of play is that you want to develop and be prepared to persevere.

 

When Jogi and I took over the German side, we made our plans very public and made it clear that we were trying to rebuild from the bottom up.

 

The German Football Association (DFB) helped us by putting a lot of pressure on all the first and second division teams in the Bundesliga to build academy programmes and ensure talented young players were coming through but we still had to decide on our playing style.

 

Whatever approach the England team decides on, everybody in the English game needs to sign up to it

 

Jurgen Klinsmann

 

To do that, we quizzed everyone we could.

 

We held workshops with German coaches and players, asking them to write down on flip charts three things: how they wanted to play, how they wanted to be seen to be playing by the rest of the world and how the German public wanted to see us playing.

 

If we could define all of that, we thought we could lay out how we wanted to work and then, from there, sort out the training and paperwork behind the scenes.

 

What we ended up with amounted to 10 or 12 bullet points laying out our proposals. We then announced that it was our intention to play a fast-paced game, an attacking game and a proactive game.

 

That last term was something the Germans did not really like because they did not really understand what proactive meant. We just told them it meant we did not react to what our opponents did, we played the way that was right for us.

 

Once we had done all that, we created a curriculum for German football and presented it to the Bundesliga and DFB boards.

 

At that point, I told them I did not have the time to implement the strategy at all levels because I only had two years to prepare for the World Cup, so I asked for Germany's Under-21 team to adopt it and that was it.

 

I brought in a former international team-mate of mine, Dieter Eilts, to run the under-21s and said they had to play the same way as the senior team because they would be a feeder for it.

 

I was always looking long-term but I knew our plans would be measured by our success at the 2006 World Cup.

Germany thrashed England 4-1 in the quarter-finals

Germany thrashed England 4-1 in the quarter-finals

 

There was a lot of negative media at the start. Everybody agreed German football had to change after 2004 but nobody actually wanted to adopt our proposals.

 

For example, we told the Bundesliga teams and coaches that their players needed to be fitter to play the kind of football we wanted to play.

 

That meant carrying out fitness tests every three months, which did not go down well with some clubs because I was able to prove that some of them were training their players properly and others were not.

 

I was basically doubted for the two years I was coach - and when we lost 4-1 to Italy in a friendly game three months before the 2006 World Cup, everybody wanted my blood!

 

We had another game three weeks later against the United States and we won that one 4-1.

 

That victory saved my job and kept me in charge for the World Cup because the DFB had been ready to make a change. They wanted the conservative approach again, not the revolution.

 

But I kept on being positive, explaining that this was how I wanted us to play. I did not know if we would master it in time for the 2006 World Cup but we would give it a shot.

 

We had the players for four solid weeks before the tournament began and were able to get our thoughts across. They agreed to train the way we wanted them to and do extra work. Soon they started to believe in the system.

 

606: DEBATE

Germany will prove to be the most influential team at this World Cup

 

djmolineux 49

 

That was crucial because, no matter what your job is, you need to identify yourself with the work that you are doing and be happy.

 

I was happy because, as a former striker, I liked the style we intended to play. I could never coach a team that played defensive-minded football.

 

I also think the players understood that I was the one taking the risk and that if it did not work out the DFB would send me packing back to California!

 

We started well at the 2006 World Cup and the public began to feel that something special was going to happen.

 

In the second game, when we beat Poland with a last-minute goal, the whole nation embraced us and said "yeah, that's our team and that's how we want them to play". We lost in the semi-final against Italy but I was still very proud.

 

After that World Cup, I was burned out after two years of banging my head against a wall but I made it clear to the DFB that Jogi had to take over after me to continue the job we had started.

 

He has continued to develop that initial style of play and is enjoying success. It has taken Germany six years to learn to play it properly - and it has developed along the way - but the players are completely comfortable with it now.

 

Germany's style of play might work for England because, in a way, Germany now play a lot like a typical Premier League team, with the emphasis on pacy attacks.

 

But whatever approach the England team decides on - whether it is attacking or defensive, patient or high tempo - everybody in the English game needs to sign up to it.

 

After all, it is the players, coaches and clubs who will help to make it work.

 

Jurgen Klinsmann was speaking to Chris Bevan in Cape Town.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8789682.stm

 

Success has many proud parents. Failure is an orphan.

[Disco]

Did Jogi Low ever sign his new contract as his old one was due to run out mid tournament?

[David28]

Did Jogi Low ever sign his new contract as his old one was due to run out mid tournament?

 

His old one ran out on June 30th. So he is currently without a contract. After the world cup they will be in talks over a new one again.

[merlin]

The Germans have done far better in this tournament than anyone expected - even the German public, but I suspect that Loew was not surprised.....

 

As I stated in an earlier thread, they have planned properly over the years, and there is far more co-ordination between the DFB and the clubs than exists in England with the FA and the PL, whose interests are only the same when it comes to getting the fast buck in.

 

As with their Industry, the Germans are far more organized and have a long-term plan ; in the UK almost EVERYTHING is done on the hoof and with only today in mind - you just have to look at how many UK companies are sold off to the highest foreign bidder(which usually means job losses further down the track - there is NO WAY that Germany would allow Daiimler-Benz or BMW to be sold to a foreign firm - no matter WHAT EU 'Competition rules' say.

 

The Bundesliga is officially the best-run league in Europe and has far less indebtedness among its clubs than the circus that is the PL - their methodical, common-interest approach has paid dividends and for that, if nothing else, I hope they win the WC, although it would be a pity to see Holland miss out again after their 2 undeserved defeats of 1974/78. Of course, Spain may have something to say about all that in today's SF - nothing is guaranteed in football, but generally, the 7 P's apply - Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performances....!

So what you're saying is you want a return to Communism, Stalin and queuing for bread then?

 

I don't see many bread queues in Germany - do you..?? They are FAR from Communists, and if ever the UK looked like facing Communism and Bread queues it was under the last load of morons...ID cards for all, Huge Debts in Public Sector etc etc....

[Guest Haris Vuckic]

 

Err wrong!

 

The Tories are once again fucking over the poor people!

 

Massive job cuts, Cuts in the rebuilding of schools - which will in turn effect the construction industry and 20% Vat render poor people are going to be royally fucked by King Cameron!

 

Oh and not to mention public sector cuts!

[dcmk]

 

Err wrong!

 

The Tories are once again f***ing over the poor people!

 

Massive job cuts, Cuts in the rebuilding of schools - which will in turn effect the construction industry and 20% Vat render poor people are going to be royally f***ed by King Cameron!

 

Oh and not to mention public sector cuts!

 

Savings have got to be made across the board.  That's for another forum though.

 

Back on topic - Hope Germany smash them tonight.

[OzzieMandias]

Football's debt to socialism

 

According to football legend John Barnes, England will never win a World Cup until our footballers embrace their inner socialist. "Players from other nations when they play for their country are once again a socialist entity, all pulling in the same direction," he told the journalist Mihir Bose last week. Apart from citing Brazil and Argentina as role models seamlessly making their way to the World Cup final, he was spot on.

 

The best football teams are socialist in nature. They play for each other, and individual brilliance is often subservient to the common good. Even the language of team sport is socialist – solidarity, unite, goal, come together. Why do you think the word United is so beloved by football people that 15 clubs in England's top four division divisions have it in their title? Barcelona, possibly the world's most successful club, are the living embodiment of our old clause four (remember that?) – owned by the supporters for the supporters, they have indeed "secured by hand or brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof" as some of us used to say.

 

Which takes us back to England players and the Premier League. Never has there been a more pure and banal example of the cult of the individual: a Premier League in which everything is measured by money and the success that that money has bought, and the money that that success will then generate: the supreme hydra-headed monster. This is a world in which the moneyed insist on the right to instant success and if it's not forthcoming a teamful of heads will roll at the end of each season (look no further than my club, Manchester City). Of course, your Lampards and Gerrards and Rooneys know exactly what they are worth – what they are paid.

 

Is playing for England as important as playing for Chelsea, Manchester United or Liverpool? No, because the monetary rewards don't compare. Meanwhile the "best league in the world", as it constantly touts itself, continues to eat itself – more and more clubs in massive debt, less and less homegrown players nurtured, and little chance of a successful future England team because such is the demand for instant gratification in the Premier League that there is no time to cultivate future World Cup winners.

 

Forget Brazil and Argentina, the team that has really played like a team, with Barnes's socialist footballing principles, is Germany – 11 players on the pitch, 23 in the squad, working together for the common good; none of them superstars, and most playing in a German league that doesn't elevate the individual above the collective.

 

Football's greatest managers always knew how much the sport owed to socialism. Brian Clough, who gave tickets for Derby's games to striking miners and agitated for a player walkout (admittedly after he had walked out on Derby), was once asked by the former Labour MP, Austin Mitchell, whether he was a superstitious man? "No, Austin, I'm not," he answered. "I'm a socialist." Sure he drove a Mercedes, but he wanted everybody to be able to drive a Mercedes. A slice of bloody cake for all, that was his philosophy.

 

Bill Shankly, possibly the greatest and wisest of them all, believed football and socialism were inseparable. "The socialism I believe in is everybody working for the same goal and everybody having a share in the rewards. That's how I see football, that's how I see life," he said.

 

As for the World Cup, we should have known there was no chance of glory for the Three Lions with a Con-Dem coalition. After all, England has never won the World Cup under the Tories or the Liberals, or the Liberal Democrats, or New Labour. As Harold Wilson boasted in 1966: "Have you ever noticed how we only win the World Cup under a Labour government?"

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/06/footballs-debt-socialism-world-cup

[Guest Haris Vuckic]

 

Err wrong!

 

The Tories are once again f***ing over the poor people!

 

Massive job cuts, Cuts in the rebuilding of schools - which will in turn effect the construction industry and 20% Vat render poor people are going to be royally f***ed by King Cameron!

 

Oh and not to mention public sector cuts!

 

Savings have got to be made across the board.  That's for another forum though.

 

Back on topic - Hope Germany smash them tonight.

 

I'm aware savings have got to be made and the implication of these savings is poorer poor people.

[Parky]

Isn't it time the rich made the savings and not the poor?