Klinsmann aims to secure a lasting legacy

GENEVA: Juergen Klinsmann wants to leave a legacy for the German game and he knows failure at his home World Cup would destroy that chance.

While other coaches will be fighting to keep their jobs, the 41-year-old Klinsmann seems ambivalent about his future. What he really wants is to see his ideas on playing, coaching and preparation fully accepted and for that to happen he will have to get the team at least close to a fourth World Cup triumph. “If Klinsmann is not there, there must be someone else who really continues this philosophy,” the former striker told reporters at Germany’s training camp in Switzerland.

Klinsmann has often bemoaned the fact that German football is behind the times, particularly in terms of youth development. “The best example, and the best model, for us is Holland,” the coach said. “They are able to choose their coaches by the philosophy that they have defined. Ajax will never have a coach with a defensive style. That will never happen.”

The plotting has been done from Klinsmann’s base out in California, where he continues to live despite sometimes virulent attacks from coaches and media, who think he should have moved back to Germany.

Klinsmann is unrepentant. “Living in the US gives you a different perspective. I learn from different coaches in different sports there. It widens your picture, definitely,” he said.