Robert Lewandowski has been showered with praise following his selection as Germany’s Footballer of the Year. Oliver Bierhoff has spoken about Thomas Müller’s future at the DFB. News and rumors about the FCB can be found here.
FC Bayern, News: FCB legends praise Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski has been voted Germany’s Footballer of the Year for the second time. The Pole, who scored 41 goals in the Bundesliga in the previous season, received 356 votes and beat teammate Thomas Müller (31) by a margin of 315. Afterwards, he received praise from all sides.
“It was clear that Lewy would win the vote this year,” former coach Hansi Flick told kicker, saying Lewandowski had played “at the very highest level” over the past two seasons. His goal rate had been “simply gigantic.” Flick had “enjoyed being able to work with him.” Lewandowski’s body is “a high-performance machine. He works very hard, he invests a lot in all facets of his job.”
These words were echoed by former Bayern striker Miroslav Klose, who knows “how Lewy lives and what he does for his body. There he is just as merciless to himself as I used to be. Lewy does without everything and knows no quarter. He’s been given a special body by nature that he’s been shaping and nurturing for many years.” As an attacker Lewy has “everything a striker needs, Lewy is complete. Meanwhile, he has been the number one center forward for years.”
For Bayern’s CEO Oliver Kahn, too, the choice was a clear one: “Who else?” Lewandowski needs “very few chances,” which would make it very difficult for the goalkeeper. “You know as a goalkeeper that he is very likely to put the ball in. He has an incredibly good feeling for what the goalkeeper is doing,” Kahn explained, seeing parallels with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Another former coach, Jupp Heynckes, sees Lewandowski as a “super professional,” while honorary president Uli Hoeneß puts him in the “ranks of the great Bayern players” like Beckenbauer, Müller and Breitner. “Robert lives completely for his profession – in his private life, on vacation, with his diet. He does everything to be able to perform at his best.”
“It is for me a reason for great pride and joy,” the player himself had already said on the club’s website about the award, which he earned by scoring 48 goals and 13 assists across the competition. “Of course it would be great, it is one of my dreams, three times this title would be an extraordinary achievement,” he told kicker about a possible third consecutive win of the award.
FC Bayern, News: Bierhoff can build on Müller
DFB director Oliver Bierhoff expects Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels to continue to be part of the national team under new national coach Hansi Flick. Bierhoff hopes Flick will bring a spirit of optimism to the German national team.
Flick will make room for talents, he said, but can probably also continue to rely on veterans Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels. “I haven’t received any negative signals from either of them, at least,” Bierhoff said, “They integrated great and helped lead the team at the European Championship. I assume that they will continue to be available to us.”
Flick, he said, will take his cue from the most successful European Championship nations in his new start. “Hansi enjoys playing a beautiful game, he wants to play offensively. He creates a good atmosphere in the team. That is a realization of this European Championship: Italy and England were not the teams with the best individual players, but have developed a special spirit. With his style, Hansi can awaken this unity.”
