Spiegel magazine takes a look how Juergen Klinsmann is starting his coaching tenure at Bayern Munich, which is by far Germany's most dominant club but hasn't had European success since its 2001 Champions League win. Among the characters in the in-depth piece are former Bayern greats Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, now in club management, and a bitter Lothar Matthaeus who hasn't ceased his sniping at Klinsmann.
Reporter Alexander Osang says Klinsmann "is intent on getting into the heads of his players to improve their performance — with the help of Buddha, yoga and a holistic philosophy." As he did as Germany 2006 World Cup coach, Klinsmann is incorporating methods and ideas he picked after becoming a California resident.
Osang explains that Klinsmann discovered that "American athletes continue to derive benefit from their education on the playing field" whereas in Germany the development of a professional player's personality is neglected. "People are always talking about how matches are decided in the mind, but no one pays much attention to the mind," says Klinsmann, who is missing his Southern California home.
"I miss my family, because they're not here yet," he says. "And when I start up my computer the weather in Los Angeles comes up on my screen, and it makes me think of the beach. But I brought along the energy. It's inside me, in my coaching staff and in the team. We have a job to do here. I want to change something. I wake up in the morning and ask myself what I can change, and in the evening I think about what I've accomplished."