Germany should consider foreign coach: Klinsmann

Agencies

Lisbon, July 4:

Germany should consider appointing a foreign coach to replace Rudi Voeller, according to their former striker Juergen Klinsmann. “It would be no problem. We have to go with the best coach we can find. It should be one of the options they have,” Klinsmann said. “But, on the other hand, we have to find a manager that suits our mentality. It’s important he understands the people and the football philosophy. If you come to Germany you have to understand our character and the style of football we play. It would be a new step for Germany. It’s a great way to get a new perspective, to change certain things in our (coaching) structure,” added Klinsmann, who scored 47 goals in 108 internationals.

The German Football Association (DFB) executive will hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday to discuss the search for a new coach. Christoph Daum has ruled himself out, and one-time favourite Ottmar Hitzfeld, the former Bayern Munich coach, said last week that he had rejected an offer from the German football association. Greece coach Otto Rehhagel is another candidate, and he has the backing of 38 percent of fellow Germans, according to a television survey.

“I worked with him (Rehhagel) at Bayern Munich and he’s somebody who really believes in confidence in the mental aspect of the game and he makes his players very strong,” Klinsmann said. “He will certainly be mentioned as one of the possible names for the national team job but I just think right now the German federation need to analyse what happened here in the tournament.” Germany went home after the group stage following draws with the Netherlands and rank outsiders Latvia, and a 2-1 defeat by a second-string Czech Republic team who had already qualified.

“They need to have some very serious meetings not only between themselves but also maybe by having the 2006 WC organising committee in the room as well with (its president) Franz Beckenbauer getting in some coaches from the Bundesliga.” Klinsmann, however, does not think the decision needs to be rushed. “They should take their time to analyse what happened and maybe in a few weeks or months they can decide,” he said. “Whoever comes in they really need to have a structure that has a vision, that has a clear picture, that has lots of professionals working there. I would even suggest that we have a manager next to the coach like a double role that we have a very strong person that kind of sits next to the coach and helps him in certain areas.”

“We need to work on a new structure there because I think if somebody strong had been sitting next to Rudi Voeller on the night we got eliminated then maybe he (Voeller) wouldn’t have walked out the next day and said that he would step down.” Klinsmann, who played alongside Voeller in the Germans’ 1990 World Cup final triumph, ruled himself out as a candidate to succeed his former team mate. “We live our life in California because my wife is from America,” he said. “It was a family decision to live there so it wouldn’t be a possibility for me. I work with the organising committee for 2006 and if they would ask me to help in a certain capacity around the national team I certainly would try to help them as much as I can but not from the coaching side.” Although Klinsmann would have no objection to a foreign coach he thinks the right candidate must have a German approach.