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BERLIN: Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has slammed USA coach and former Germany boss Jurgen Klinsmann for his style of management and lack of tactics during his brief tenure in charge of the Bavarian giants.
Klinsmann, who took over as USA coach on July 29, was sacked as Bayern trainer in April 2009 after several poor results and with Munich bosses concerned about their team failing to qualify for the Champions League.
The former striker was dismissed with five games left of the season as VfL Wolfsburg went on to win the 2009 Bundesliga title.
Current Munich coach Jupp Heynckes stepped in briefly to successfully guide Bayern to a Champions League berth for the 2009/10 season.
But Germany captain Lahm says it became obvious soon after Klinsmann took charge of Bayern at the start of the 2008/09 season that the new coach was not going to work out.
“After six or eight weeks, all the players already knew that it wasn't going to work with Klinsmann,” said the 27-year-old Lahm in his new book, “The Subtle Difference”.
“The rest of the season was just about damage control.”
Klinsmann, 47, arrived in Munich in 2008 for his first role as coach of a domestic team and was hailed as a successful boss of the national side, but Lahm said his lack of experience with a club side soon showed.
“He was the shining hero of the 2006 World Cup when Bayern took him on as setting the tone for the future, proof that Bayern did not hesitate when it came to improving their structures,” wrote Lahm.
“But the Klinsmann experiment failed.”
Lahm says under Klinsmann there was too much emphasis on fitness at Bayern, while tactics were neglected.
“We almost only worked on fitness in training. Tactical issues were only dealt with briefly,” said Lahm.
“We players had to meet independently before games to sort out how we wanted to play.”
Klinsmann, who won the 1990 World Cup with the German national side, declined to comment when offered the chance to respond by SID, an AFP subsidiary.
