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| Pep Guardiola is such a normal person: Karl-Heinz | | | Rummenigge
FRANKFURT: It's been a while since the soiled jerseys and worn-out boots have made way for the dapper suits with spit-polished shoes but there's no taking Karl-Heinz Rummenigge away from football, or, to be more specific, Bayern Munich.
Rummenigge tasted enormous success with the Bavarian giants during his decade-long stay as a striker and now calls the key shots in his role as executive board chairman of the club. In a candid on Sunday, Rummenigge spoke about what Pep Guardiola's arrival means, Bayern's fantastic season and how the club is willing to help develop football in India...
Your take on Bayern's first leg win over Juventus last week...
The game against Juventus was a dream result. But we have to be careful because we know that Italians can come back really strong . We need to score one goal in the second leg to make things a little safe.
Bayern are on the cusp of a treble. How confident are you of that happening?
We have never achieved a treble. We aren't too optimistic but we aren't pessimistic either. The Champions League is very high quality football and we have been hard done in a couple of finals in the past years. So, let's say we are not confident but we do dream.
The club is in the middle of a fantastic run after losing the league title to Dortmund for two years. What brought the turnaround?
We changed things in the team a little with the five transfers we made. We invested close to 70 million euros in the transfer market which is a big amount even for a club like Bayern. But we have more quality now. The coach has enough players to rotate and everyone is hungry to keep their place on the team.
How did you manage to convince Pep Guardiola to choose Bayern over a lot of other big clubs?
I met him in Barcelona last July and after a conversation he gave me the impression that there was a chance that he could coach Bayern. Pep said it is a club he likes and it followed almost his own philosophy. It was like a love affair. He will be the right person. He respects the culture and philosophy of Bayern and this is what could make his stint a success.
Do you see Pep changing the club's style?
Pep used to get Barcelona to play Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid with equal focus, that's the kind of mentality he has. With him, we can write an important part of history next year. He's everything but arrogant. He respects the Bavarian culture and doesn't want to change the philosophy .
How has Bayern as a club progressed from your days as a player?
When I played between the 70s and 80s, football was completely different -- tactically and financially. Then, we had a total budget of 12 million deutschmark. Today that number is 100 million euros. At Bayern, we try to do a good job on the pitch and off it. All our financial figures have to be in line to be able to invest and improve the quality of the team. But you can never match the experience you get as a player, in your second career.
Bayern brings back a lot of its former players in different roles. How big a role does it play in the success of the club?
We have so many former players involved with the club who know the club and the philosophy. The supporters like it that way too. A lot of clubs have tried to replicate this but haven't had success. We have a lot of players from the current team who could follow the trend. Neuer (Manuel), Lahm (Phillip) and Schweinsteiger (Bastian) - these boys could end up with roles at the club after their playing days but we hope they don't finish early!
Bayern has a fair bit of history with India in the recent past. Does the club have any plans for the country?
We always love coming to India after what we saw at the Oliver Kahn farewell game. It is an important country on the world map and we have to help develop Indian football. We are always ready to help. Bayern coming to India again next year is a big possibility. The focus will always be on cricket but I did see a huge interest in football. Every country has the need to develop professionally. |
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