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Weary but upbeat
Pre-season fun factor meets with approval

Sunday’s 7-1 victory in Lippstadt marked a successful end to Jürgen Klinsmann’s second week as Bayern head coach. In the 14 days since the former world-class striker assumed the Munich helm, the players have completed two gruelling training sessions practically every single day. The preparatory phase for the new campaign is making heavy demands on the squad, but the stars are still in overwhelmingly upbeat spirits.

“I have to say that this is the most enjoyable pre-season of my career so far,” commented Christian Lell. “Pre-season is obviously hard work, but it’s unbelievably good fun. And the regeneration techniques are very, very good – like the ice baths and recovery drinks. We’re all fired up, we all want to win things.”

The right balance

Daniel van Buyten also remarked on “a little muscle tiredness, but that’s completely normal at the start. You arrive at a point where your body feels a bit lethargic." However, the defender reckons the head coach has struck exactly the right balance: “I don’t think we’re too tired, nor are we too fresh – we’re at exactly the right point.”

Kahn successor Michael Rensing definitely feels “very comfortable with the new performance centre and the new coach." The Bayern number one keeper praised a change in the approach on the training ground: “We keepers weren’t as involved in the skills exercises or the functional training in the past, but now I’m involved in everything. The way keepers play now brings a new set of demands, and I think I can only get better.”

Klinsmann’s innovative methods were already bearing fruit, van Buyten reported: “We’re noticing how we’re improving and finding our rhythm.” Klinsmann himself was satisfied with the opening warm-up fixture in Lippstadt: “It was a great game."

Pre-season fun factor meets with approval