New Bayern München coach Jürgen Klinsmann knows he has a tough act to follow as the double holders kick off the new season against HSV.
The successful defence of those two titles is viewed as nothing short of obligatory in Munich, on top of which the club is gunning for glory in the Champions League as well.
100 percent conviction
“Jürgen has stood a lot of things on their head here, what we need now is for the results to match expectations. Otherwise all the changes and investments count for nothing”, club President Franz Beckenbauer warned ahead of the eagerly-awaited league opener against Martin Jol's Hamburg side.
That considerable burden of expectation notwithstanding, Klinsmann has been his usual confident self in the run-up to the match, saying, “I'm going to prove that Bayern and myself are made for each other and that we are destined to succeed together. I'm a hundred percent sure of that.”
Patience required
Striking a slightly different note, club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has for his part on more than one occasion indicated that “we need to show the necessary degree of patience until everything falls into place.”
Klinsmann will be without top scorer Luca Toni, playmaker Franck Ribery and defenders Martin Demichelis and Willy Sagnol due to injury, while Breno and Jose Sosa are both on Olympic duty in Beijing. But the coach is in no mood for making excuses: “We'll take it as it comes and make the best of the situation. The team is good enough to make a winning start to the season.”
Bayern struggled to overcome Third Division Erfurt 4-3 in the DFB Cup, of which Klinsmann says, “none of the component parts of the team functioned properly.” Further intensive training in the interim has been aimed at radically improving the teamwork: “And that starts with the forwards.” To that end, striker Miroslav Klose has called for “more legwork against HSV.”
Upbeat opponents
That will certainly be required as Hamburg, even without Real-Madrid bound playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, travel to Munich in confident mood. “Our team is looking good, physically and metally”, sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer said before they set out for the Bavarian capital.
New coach Martin Jol meanwhile pointed to his side's record in the Allianz Arena: “HSV have never lost there. Hopefully that will remain the case”, said the former Dutch international, who himself made nine appearances for Bayern back in the 1978-79 season.
Klinsmann as role model
To date, Hamburg have come away from Bayern's new home turf with two wins and a draw. Their most recent success, 2-1 on 28 April 2007, was also Bayern's last Bundesliga defeat.
To that, the hosts' sporting director Uli Hoeneß said merely, “Statistics don't interest me”, adding, “we're not at full strength, for sure, but that doesn't bother me. The side we'll be sending out can beat anybody.”
Hoeneß anticipates a “convincing win” against Hamburg. His optimism is founded above all in the fact that under Klinsmann, problems are “solved strategically and with elan… if everybody takes the same approach to their work as Jürgen, we're going to have a lot of fun this season.”
Probable line-ups:
Bayern München: Rensing - Lell (Jansen), Lucio, van Buyten, Lahm - Altintop (Kroos), van Bommel, Ze Roberto, Schweinsteiger - Klose, Podolski
Hamburger SV: Rost - Boateng, Reinhardt, Mathijsen, Benjamin - Jarolim, de Jong - Pitroipa, Trochowski - Guerrero, Olic
“I’m extremely happy at Bayern”
Klinsmann appoints backroom staff at Bayern
Klinsmann watches Demichelis and Sosa