Klinsmann's Californian ideologies aren't going down too well in Bavaria

European Leagues / Jonathan Wilson / 25 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

Jonathan Wilson on how Bayern Munich's thrashing at the hands of Werder Bremen at the weekend is just the latest episode in Klinsmann's as-of-yet largely unsuccessful spell at Bayern. But just where exactly is it all going wrong?

Tournaments can make a mockery of the best of judges. Sir Alex Ferguson has always maintained that you should never sign a player on the basis of his performances over the month-long span in the rarified atmosphere of a World Cup, and it may be that the same caution should
be exercised with managers.

Jurgen Klinsmann was much derided in the build-up to the 2006 World Cup, mocked for his insistence on living in California and for his reliance on the team-building psychobabble for which that state is notorious. As Germany defied expectations by reaching the last four of the tournament they hosted, playing with a freedom and a swagger that defied the old stereotypes, though, all that was forgotten. He had suddenly become the man who had unlocked the new Germany, supposedly more concerned with playing the game well than with winning.

It is easy to say that, though, when expectations are low. If you have no chance of winning trophies, then winning friends is probably the next best thing, and even amid the collective glee and - largely justified - self-congratulation that marked the German reaction to their World Cup there was the thought that, given they had been good enough to overcome Argentina, who had been playing the best football of the competition, an earlier incarnation of Germany might have
seized the initiative and gone on to win the tournament.

There were others who suggested that Klinsmann was merely the front man, and that the real work was being done behind the scenes by Joachim Low, who ended up succeeding him. That Germany have maintained their level - perhaps even improved - since indicates just what a
major figure Low was. Klinsmann, though, had gained the reputation and, after a flirtation with Liverpool, was appointed at Bayern Munich in the summer. Five games into the season, and Bayern lie eighth in the Bundesliga with eight points. After last weekend's 5-2 home defeat to Werder Bremen, all the doubts that had been obscured by the exuberance of the summer of 2006 are looming large again.

Bayern won the league last season, but the feeling was that they had done it unconvincingly, and that their coach, Otmar Hitzfeld, was too old, too set in his ways. Klinsmann is emphatically modern, and was hailed by fans as the man to re-establish Bayern amoing Europe's elite. The former Bayern midfielder Mario Basler even dubbed Klinsmann "the white Barack Obama". That was before Saturday.

There had been teething problems, and they had largely been accepted as part of the bedding-in process, but what happened on Saturday went beyond all that. This was an extraordinary, shocking humiliation: Werder were 5-0 up with quarter of the game still remaining. And all
on the first weekend of the Oktoberfest, when Bayern are supposed to be invincible. To an extent, it was perhaps freakish. As Bayern's president Franz Beckenbauer said, his side had "one of those days when you can't pick your nose without breaking a finger". They are still,
despite their struggles, only three points off the top, but [1.85] to win the title still looks short for a side with so many problems.

It took Manchester United several seasons adequately to replace Peter Schmeichel - arguably they have not done it yet - and Bayern may have similar problems in summoning a replacement for Oliver Kahn. Michael Rensing, emphatically, is not the answer. Nor does Martin Demichelis look comfortable as a central defender, unless he is given the free role in a back three, which, remarkably, Klinsmann seems to be attempting to restore. As even Steve McClaren noted, 3-5-2 is dead as soon as opposing sides stop playing two out-and-out forwards: a spare man plus two markers becomes a spare man, a marker and a redundant bloke with no discernible role. And that is without mentioning Christian Lell's all-too-apparent inability to operate as a wing-back.

Even after Wednesday's 2-0 cup victory over Nurnberg, it is probably fortunate that Bayern [1.65 to win] travel to Hannover [6.4], who have taken just four points from five games so far, on Saturday. Lyon, though, who await in the Champions League next Wednesday must be
rubbing their hands together. These are difficult times for Klinsmann.