Ottmar Hitzfeld - Former legendary Bayern coach

[Oliver_Kahn]

Time, or at least the perception of time passing, has a habit of playing funny tricks on most individuals. "That's right, it's been a week already…" a slightly bemused Ottmar Hitzfeld acknowledged on Thursday in response to a reporter's question. "It's gone by in a flash."

The reason why the new Bayern head coach was taken by surprise is fairly simple: he has had a mountain of work to do. "We've trained intensively and had a number of conversations," Hitzfeld reflected. Quite apart from the daily squad workouts, the General has also been busy familiarising himself with at least part of the playing staff. No fewer than 14 of the 23-strong squad played under Hitzfeld during his first stint at the helm, but that still leaves nine new faces to meet, greet and evaluate.

Positive first impressions

"I've been reviewing previous matches on video, to get a better impression of the players I don't know so well," the coach reported. Some of the club's current international stars, who only returned to the Säbener Strasse on Thursday after a round of friendlies in midweek, fall into the "new faces" category.

Overall, Hitzfeld's first impression of his troops is positive. "They're in excellent shape physically. Felix Magath has left me a good squad of players. The lack of confidence is down to taking only a single point from three matches. The players have been in good spirits and very determined in training."

Press report condemned

Mark van Bommel confirmed that he and his team-mates were enjoying the daily workouts. "I can sense that the team feels comfortable with our training routines," the Dutch midfielder remarked, "we've all come on a very long way." The head coach returned the compliment: "I'm thoroughly enjoying the work," he declared.

The General identified just one blemish in his first full week back at the club. "Internal matters have come out into the open," he fumed, referring to an alleged dressing-room spat reported by the Sportbild weekly and headlined "Bayern fall apart". Van Bommel energetically denied the latter: "They're completely wrong. We're all up for it," he stated, adding that the players would decide how to respond to the report. "It went too far," the midfielder complained.

Full concentration

Hitzfeld saw his task as "driving home the fact we must act as a team on and off the pitch," with special reference to Sunday's home Bundesliga fixture against Arminia Bielefeld. "We have to be aiming to play as a compact unit, where everyone unconditionally helps everyone else." The coach's concluding statement will have been music to Oliver Kahn's ears. "Sometimes, we've been running around like wild animals. We lack tactical discipline," the club captain raged in a kicker magazine interview.

Hitzfeld will be working on precisely that problem area over the next few days. "My goal is to make sure the team concentrates for the full 90 minutes, maintains discipline and picks the right moment to attack," the 58-year-old explained. "On Sunday, we'll see how much progress we've made."

[Trim]

800th Bundesliga goal for Ottmar Hitzfeld

The 1:0 guidance hit of Roy Makaay in the 9th minute of the match against Arminia Bielefeld was the 800th Bundesliga hit in the career of Ottmar Hitzfeld. The first Bundesliga goal had experienced Hitzfeld on the first play day of the season 1991/1992, as Stéphane Chapuisat sored the 1:1 goal in the away game with the Karlsruher sports club (2:2 was the full time score).

[Oliver_Kahn]

Nice stat there. Hitzfeld is a legend

[Trim]

Returning Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld believes that Premiership style football is the way to get the team back into form.

The former Bayern Munich coach came back to take temporary charge of the Bavarian giants after two-and-a-half years, following the sacking of the man who replaced him - Felix Magath.

However, Bayern have been in woeful form, and have yet to show any real improvement. Hitzfeld now believes that drawing from the English Premier League is the way forward.

"We have to have big ambitions," Hitzfeld told Bild. "The Premier League must be our example. A quicker tempo, more movement on the pitch, and more application, that's what we want."

"We need to stay more compact," he continued. "That way, our passing game and our interplay will improve automatically."

His assistant, Michael Henke, has been watching Arsenal and sugested: "We can certainly follow Arsenal's example regarding quick passing and interplay."

Rather ironically, Arsene Wenger's boys arguably play the least Premiership-style team in England.

http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=233968

[Trim]

Not a bad idea...

[Trim]

Ottmar Hitzfeld is well known as a stickler for detail. "Micho!" he called out on Thursday, suddenly bringing a training routine to a halt, "Micho, your shoe's coming off!" Argentine enforcer Martin Demichelis looked puzzled for an instant, but then swiftly attended to his footwear and the session resumed, Bastian Schweinsteiger swinging a corner into the penalty area.

The crowds gathering daily to watch Hitzfeld at work see the coach with his feet apart and hands clasped behind his back, always stationed in the thick of a crowd of players and exuding a blend of authority and control. The former, newly returned coach is utterly focused on the task at hand, keeping an eagle eye on his charges and stopping the play to correct the smallest error – such as an unlaced boot, for example.

Beckenbauer delighted

"He's doing everything he can to point the team in the right direction again. I've not seen him like this for a long time," Bayern President Franz Beckenbauer enthused at the Bulls Cup tournament in Salzburg on Tuesday. "He's got the fire in his belly again, like he did many years ago."

For their part, the players have expressed approval of Hitzfeld's training methods. "I'm very pleased. We needed to work on tactics," Lucio commented. The Brazil centre-half and his fellow defenders provide the General's key focus at the present time. "We still have a few areas to work on," the boss recently commented.

Discipline and organisation

Thursday's set routine saw Philipp Lahm, Daniel Van Buyten, Lucio and Hasan Salihamidzic in the back four, behind holding midfield pair Owen Hargreaves and Andreas Ottl, fending off attacks mounted by a six-man offensive unit. Hitzfeld watched closely and stepped in whenever a defender made an error of positioning or movement.

"We're continuing to work on doing the basics automatically," Van Buyten told the scheduled news conference afterwards. The rearguard looked a great deal more solid last weekend at home to Bielefeld, and will be looking for further improvement at Aachen's Tivoli stadium on Saturday. "We know our positioning's already better, both at the back and in midfield," the Belgian colossus continued.

Mutual praise from Ottmar and Mark

"Ottmar Hitzfeld works very hard on the details. The small things are extremely important for us," commented Mark van Bommel. Hitzfeld frequently called the Dutch midfielder over to his side during the training workout. "He's an on-field leader. He gets behind the other players. He's genuinely inspirational," Hitzfeld remarked. "We're heading in the right direction," Van Bommel responded. That new course is set to cntinue in Aachen on Saturday.

[Trim]

Danke Hitzfeld! Don't stop..

[Trim]

Bayern Munich’s old-new Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, back after Felix Magath bit the Bavarian dust, has heated up the Champions League clash between the German ‘Roten’ and the Spanish ‘Merengues’ by declaring his admiration for a Raúl he would sign in a flash.

"I’d sign him right here and now, and I’d go wherever it takes to land a player like that", Hitzfeld exclaimed. "He’s a crack player and I’m a fan of everything that he does, and what’s more now is the prefect time to sign him as he’s got a wealth of experience and has reached full maturity.”

The tactician was also looking forward to returning to play at the Bernabéu: "It’s a dream playing that venue and I’m really glad that Bayern were drawn against Real". The tactician didn’t make mention of Capello’s poor record at home, preferring to confide in the second leg in Munich.

“The last time we played against them the Roberto Carlos goal in Munich was the turning point of that edition of the Champions League”, he remembered, referring to the slap shot that Oliver Kahn let slip in and the Brazilian left-back commemorated with a chicken dance.

“This time we’ve got the edge of playing the second leg at home and the Allianz Arena is much more atmospheric than our old Olimpic Stadion venue because that had a track between our fans and the pitch”, stressed Hitzfeld.

He evidently feels that the support may well make the difference as the two old warhorses come face to face again. “Now our ground is more like the Bernabéu, the fans pressurising from the sidelines", he added.

Goal.com - Hitzfeld “It’s The Perfect Time To Sign Raúl

[Trim]

Bayern Munich’s old-new Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, back after Felix Magath bit the Bavarian dust, has heated up the Champions League clash between the German ‘Roten’ and the Spanish ‘Merengues’ by declaring his admiration for a Raúl he would sign in a flash.

"I’d sign him right here and now, and I’d go wherever it takes to land a player like that", Hitzfeld exclaimed. "He’s a crack player and I’m a fan of everything that he does, and what’s more now is the prefect time to sign him as he’s got a wealth of experience and has reached full maturity.”

What the f*ck?!

[Trim]

An interesting comment in the Goal.com article (link above):

Nabukadnezar, Babilon, Sumer

16/02/2007 14.11
hahahaha Hitzfeld is such a liar!! Of course he doesn't want old Raul, he only wants to influence Cappello and make him put Raul in the line-up again, therefore ruining Real Madrid's game

This dude is smart, huh.. For real, I mean..

[Oliver_Kahn]

This is just media bullshit.

[Trim]

If they were not aware of it before Saturday evening, the Bayern players now know that unusual situations call for unusual measures, as the Bavarians began preparing for Tuesday's Champions League last sixteen trip to Real Madrid just hours after the final whistle in the Bundesliga defeat to Aachen. Immediately after the Munich party arrived home from the west of the country late on Saturday evening, Ottmar Hitzfeld ordered his stars to train at the Säbener Strasse.

"It wasn't a punishment. It was simply making best use of our time," the 58-year-old informed reporters at the unusually late hour, revealing that the session was not ordered up as a spontaneous response to defeat in Aachen. "We told the players three days ago. It was all agreed beforehand. We'd have trained even if we'd won 3-0," Hitzfeld explained.

Gaining a day

The stars who appeared in Saturday's league clash were sent indoors for regeneration exercises, while the substitutes completed a normal training session out on the floodlit field. "We wanted to use the brief phase between matches to regenerate as best as possible," assistant coach Michael Henke reported. "Matches in Southern Europe don't start until 10 in the evening, so why shouldn't we train between 9 and 11 p.m.?"

The regeneration circuit included exercise bikes, massage, Aqua gymnastics and an ice bath. "Obviously, we had to organise everything in advance," Hitzfeld observed. By completing the training and conditioning routine on Saturday night, the players effectively gained a day in terms of preparing for the trip to Madrid's Bernabeu stadium.

Emphasis on hard work

"We're in an unusual situation, and that calls for unusual action," Hitzfeld commented on Sunday morning, underlining the vital importance of Bayern's upcoming European fixtures.

"We're having to work exceptionally hard on ourselves," the boss continued, "every player needs to be aware that Bayern Munich is all that counts right now. We have to sacrifice everything for the cause." Saturday night training was just a start.

[Trim]

Well done Hitzfeld. Hope it helps...

[Trim]

No-one could accuse Ottmar Hitzfeld of not giving his all. The coach sprang from his seat time and again, charging to the touchline to issue instructions and urge his men to fight harder. But his efforts were in vain, as Bayern fell 1-0 on their travels to Alemannia Aachen, their third away defeat on the trot in the Bundesliga, and a result which could not even be described as unlucky.

With the champions now a yawning 12 points behind leaders Schalke 04, no-one at the Säbener Strasse is wasting any time talking about retaining the league title, as the more immediate danger of missing out on next term's Champions League increasingly looms on the horizon.

The Reds currently lie five points off third-placed Werder Bremen, and seven adrift of surprise package VfB Stuttgart in second. There can be no doubt that Munich are mired in one of their biggest sporting crises of the last decade. "We're in it up to our necks," alarmed boss Hitzfeld declared on Sunday morning, expressing grave concern at the almost unimaginable prospect of Europe's elite club competition taking place without Germany's most successful club.

No-one spared biting criticism

Hitzfeld's dismay is not confined to the league standings, as he expressed anger at a clutch of players' attitude. "We're still 10 percent short of total passion and the will to win. All I can do is prepare the team properly. The final spark has to come from the players," he told Sunday's news conference.

"Our nerves are shot. Our body language spoke volumes," the General declared directly after the final whistle at the Tivoli Stadium. Sunday morning's closed team talk was a no-punches-pulled affair, Hitzfeld later told reporters. "You can't always adopt a soothing tone. Sometimes, behind closed doors, you need another set of words, just to make sure everyone's finally woken up."

Profligate in front of goal

The coach's biting criticism will undoubtedly have found an echo with Oliver Kahn. There was a feeling akin to nostalgia at times on Saturday, as the club captain threatened to erupt and explode in a number of situations. "The minimum we can expect is for us to approach every game as if we were battling against relegation. We need this passion and fighting spirit right now, to haul ourselves out of this situation."

Both captain and coach made no secret of their dismay at the Reds' wastefulness in front of goal on Saturday. "You can't always explain it away as bad luck," Hitzfeld raged, calling on his strikers to provide a far greater physical presence in their opponents' penalty area. "I want us to show total commitment as of now."

Turning the corner in Spain?

"I'm still convinced we'll finish third in the league," the boss continued, although this season's Champions League now fully occupies the spotlight as Hitzfeld and his men travel to Madrid on Tuesday for the first leg of their first knockout round tie.

"I'm looking forward to Real Madrid. My optimism hasn't been dented, and I'm certain we have a very good chance," the General insisted. The best thing that could happen to a demoralised team would be a taste of success, "and what could be finer than earning that away to Real Madrid," Hitzfeld concluded.