| 23.09.2008 |
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| I followed Bayern Munich's 5-2 humiliation by Werder Bremen last weekend with strangely mixed feelings. On the one hand, like most fans here, I relished the spectacle of the arrogant Bavarian giants getting their clocks cleaned at home. On the other, I have young Bayern keeper Michael Rensing in my fantasy football team, and his bad day at the office brought back unpleasant memories from the late '70s of the Bristol Blue Devils being thrashed by the Damariscotta Lions 8-nil –- with yours truly in goal. My teammates were quick to identify me as the reason for that debacle, just as many Bayern fans are now blaming Rensing. In fact, in a poll, a majority of Munich supporters were already calling for goal-keeping legend Ollie Kahn to come back from retirement. So I was also impressed with Kahn's reaction in a newspaper interview on Tuesday. Kahn, who has every reason to hate Juergen Klinsmann for demoting him within the German national team ahead of the 2006 World Cup, told everybody to chill out and reminisced humorously about some of the drubbings he took early on in his career. Anyone who follows German soccer has memories of the combustible Kahn chewing the ears off teammates and opponents –- once almost literally. But Kahn has been nothing but gracious to his successor in the national team, Jens Lehmann, and now to his young heir between the posts at Bayern. And he's also right in a footballing sense. If there's anyone at Bayern who's failed to live up to King Kahn's standard, it's midfielder Mark van Bommel, who's proving to be a woeful replacement as team captain. Rensing will be all right, if people leave him alone. And Kahn deserves credit for being much more of a class act than most of us Bayern haters ever thought possible. In a recent interview with DW, Bayern assistant coach Martin Vasquez stressed Klinsmann's emphasis on getting players to develop as people. Kahn, it turns out didn't need Klinsi's mentoring. Footnote: In the wake of the Blue Devils' slaughter by the Lions, I was transferred to central midfield and instructed to concentrate on my true strength: reckless two-footed challenges. The Devils won the return match 2-nil, after their opponents were forced to play with nine men due to injuries. |
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