Philipp Lahm's book.

Said some interesting things about Rudi Voeller, Jurgen Klinnsman, Louis van Gaal and Felix Magath in his book that was just released, which has apparently gotten him in trouble with the DFB.

Here's some excerpts that I got from an excellent article by Raphael Honigstein:

About Klinsmann:

"We practiced little more than fitness. Tactical things were neglected. The players had to get together before [the games] to discuss how we wanted to play. After six or eight weeks, all players knew it wouldn't work with Klinsmann. The rest of the season was damage limitation."

About Magath:

"He works with pressure," writes Lahm. "He keeps many players in the dark and gets the maximum out of them that way. It's very tiring for the players ... after a while, they're not impressed by this pressure anymore. His tricks don't work."

About van Gaal:

"the whole team was thinking about going forward, [but] the defense nearly collapsed ... he simply refused to acknowledge and deal with the deficits in this [playing] philosophy".

About Voeller:

"The practice sessions are surprisingly relaxed. It was like a bunch of friends going away on holiday to play a bit of football. We trained perhaps for an hour a day ... We don't practice anything specific at all, apart from crossing the ball, with someone shooting at goal unmarked. Good fun, but totally random ... There were no tactical talks, no video analysis of the opponents, no analysis of our own mistakes."

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Honigstein's article can be read here -http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/raphael_honigstein/08/26/Jurgen.Klinsmann.crticism/index.html

That final bit about Voeller is particularly damning considering how poor Germany were back in the '04 Euros.

All in all, I really think Lahm did the right thing here. He's not known for being an out-spoken guy and maybe his timing is a bit off, as Honigstein aluded to, but I think what he's said is rather harmless. It's not going to ruin any of those men's careers. Jogi Loew appears to agree as he has decided not to strip Lahm of the Germany captaincy.

It's a bit refreshing to hear a bit of the inside story from an actual footballer and not some media insider.

Thoughts, folks?

I can't stand the releasing of autobiographies by young players who have far from earned the right and whose words could have some effect on those still in the industry. Theo Walcott is putting one out too. C'mon son, wait until retirement.

Well, I read/watched a lot of the discussion about the book in paper/tv, and from what I gathered (I didn't read the full book, I'm afraid, just the preview excerpts), it didn't sound insulting for me, more like a bit embarrassing about certain coaches.

In some talks (i.e. KIA Doppelpass at Sport1), some managers and other authority figures were a bit upset, but mainly due to the timing and the fact that Lahm is still an active player. The guy who got ballistic most was obviously Rudi Völler, but some days ago, when both Völler and Lahm were (separately) asked about their relationship, they both said it was still okay. IMO a certain tabloid (BILD...) managed to sensationalize the stuff quite a bit and IMO they actually set up the major dissent quite a bit. I bet things would never have been noticed if not for certain BILD headlines.

According to Goal.com he should be stripped of captaincy.

Why u so mad?.......O rite...






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I say meh. He's right in all his points, the German NT was a joke back then and it's come a long way now. According to goal.com he should be sacked because captains shouldn't over criticise the team, but IMO, they should be the first to do it.

On the other hand, he's criticising past coaches but he's very happy about the current.

It's not like he banged a mate's wife and then made her abort.

Well, Löw said he'll stay captain, so that's it. Goal.com can demand whatever they wish

Poor managers need to be brought into the spotlight, if they suck at the job people should know so they can get someone better.

MY opinion is that any footballer who publishes his autobiography before he finishes his career is undeserved of any respect as a person. Frankly, bigger legend than these idiots have never published their life stories.

Other than my problem with Lahm publishing his frakking life story before it frakking ends. And my problem with the general waste of time an money football autobiographies represent. There is nothing inherently wrong in what Lahm said, stupid as it is it is not wrong.

I dont know, it seems a bit disrespectful to talk about these things while the coaches still coach.

I think this does damage the repuation of some, like Voeller and Klinsmann. Because what was said indicates they are horrible coaches.

I understand the argument that poor coaches need to be brought to light, but I dont think its the players responsibility to do it.

If someone wanted to hire a coach, I am sure they find out from various sources, perhaps even ex players about some of the methods. I dont think it needs to be made public by a current player.

The thing is none of these guys actually came out and denied what was written about them.

The feeling here is that these things shouldn't have been written and yet nothing said is really that detrimental to anybodies character.

All what was done is that Lahm "revealed" that these guys have major flaws as coaches. I could have told you that for free.

Well like I said, I don't think it's going to ruin the careers of guys like Klinsmann and Magath.

We all knew that Klinsmann was a poor coach with Bayern. We didn't need Lahm to tell us that. We also knew that Magath is a strict authoritarian and disciplinarian. None of this is really news if you go back and look at the football that these sides played under these men, the football basically is the writing on the wall, especially for Voeller back in '04.

What I found fascinating is that Lahm, who's timing on the pitch is quite impeccable, horribly mistimed his thoughts off the pitch. As RWO said, it's not what said, but when he said it.

Well Zeal I dont think the coaches have to deny it, I dont think they have to defend themselves here. Unless asked about it, I doubt we will hear anything.

As for the other two lines, I would agree with you if not that I think he has said some stuff about 2 in particular which are too much.

As you said, what he said about Van Gaal, anyone could of said for free. But Klinsmann and Voeller is pretty damning.

I dont know, I wouldnt of minded if the coaches had retired or even if Lahm had, but it seems wrong to do it right now.

That being said, I would not strip him of his captaincy or anything like that. I dont see how this effects his role as captain.

Yeah I can see why it would be considered in bad taste considering all of them are still active i.e. Haven't retired yet.

But it's not like the old guard have done anything for Germany as coaches. Sure maybe they were great players once upon a time but they aren't good coaches ATM and that is what Lahm thinks.

Guys like Klinsmann and Voller (Along with players like Ballack) have done their best to belittle the current crop of German talent. I forgot who but one of them called the current German team a bunch of Fairy men.

These guys needed a ego check IMO. Lahm as captain feels he has enough street cred to call them out and I'm personally kind of happy that he is.

Well, it's really harsh to judge him without knowing the context of the book. But I'm all for it. I would find it dishonest if Lahm didn't explain his true opinions from the get go - what kind of autobiography would that be?

A bad one ^^^

Zealous wrote:Yeah I can see why it would be considered in bad taste considering all of them are still active i.e. Haven't retired yet.

But it's not like the old guard have done anything for Germany as coaches. Sure maybe they were great players once upon a time but they aren't good coaches ATM and that is what Lahm thinks.

Guys like Klinsmann and Voller (Along with players like Ballack) have done their best to belittle the current crop of German talent. I forgot who but one of them called the current German team a bunch of Fairy men.

These guys needed a ego check IMO. Lahm as captain feels he has enough street cred to call them out and I'm personally kind of happy that he is.

Yep, def agree. I can feel that aswell, it seems an issue in Germany. I hear so much criticism from past players on current ones, more so then anywhere else.

Just recently Leahman said Nueur isnt world class for example. I dont get why they are saying anything negative at all.

I bet Lehmann is just jealous hat Neuer very likely will win an EC or WC while he didn't

I think Neuer said lehmann would be a terrible replacement for him (cant remember exact quotes ) when there were rumors of Sckhale signing Lehman as Neuer replacement.So maybe Lehmann is just talking his anger out on Neuer for those comments by saying Neuer isnt world class?

Actually, what Lehmann said was not at all wrong IMO.

He said that Neuer is great in his day but needs to be more consistent.Which is true to any player.