Anyone watching Spain v Switzerland today could not be failed to be impressed with the fantastic performance put in by the Swiss. They may have played 11 men behind the ball but they counter-attacked Spain, especially in the second half, with rapid speed and Derdiyok had an excellent chance to make it 2-0 when he hit the post. The performance in my opinion was down to one man, and one man only, Ottmar Hitzfeld. Although you could criticise the performance for being way too negative, Hitzfeld knew the limitations of his players, and got the best out of them for the job in hand. Anyone who saw Switzerland lose in the group stages as the co-hosts of Euro 2008 saw the lack of heart in their performances, the game against Spain saw the Swiss give everything they’d got, and they were successful in their ambitions.
In some ways this article is a reaction to Switzerland’s victory earlier today but he is a manager that has always been on my mind since Rafa Benitez left his post. Growing up in the nineties, two German teams really stood out for me, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, both managed at the time by Hitzfeld. Neither side played overly negative football, they were functional and expansive when the occasion required, and both were successful in winning the biggest prize in club football, the Champions League.
Hiztfeld is one of the most successful managers in football history. One of only three men to win the Champions League with two different clubs, he has also won a staggering nine league titles with three different clubs, six domestic cups and two Intercontinental Cups. He is now testing his metal at international level, and succeeding if the win against Spain is anything to go by. Nicknamed der General (the General) for his authoritarian style, Hitzfeld will reshape teams in his own image and sell on those players who don’t take well to his methods.
As a player, he played most of his career in Switzerland as a striker, and it became his second home, one of the main reasons why he was so readily taken on as manager of their national team back in 2008. Fluent in English, German and Swiss-German, Hiztfeld is also a trained maths and sports teacher, but he turned his focus to football management all the way back in 1983. After spells with FC Zug and FC Aarau, his big break came at Grasshopper Zurich where he won two league titles and two Swiss Cups.
It was when he moved back to Germany though, to manage Borussia Dortmund, where his career really took off. He finished second in his first season in charge after the German club had finished tenth the year before. The next season he reached the UEFA Cup final only to lose over two legs to Juventus, but it was his third year at the club where the club hit new heights. He won the league title and followed that up with another the following season. The 1996/97 was less successful in the league as he finished third but he won Champions League, beating a team of stars in Juventus 3-1 in the final. A dispute with the sporting director however led to him leaving the Westfalenstadion and he was appointed manager of Bayern Munich. He would not disappoint at the German giants.
After winning the league title in his first season, he lost in the Champions League final to Manchester United with those two famous late goals. He was not disheartened though and he won a league and cup double in his second season in charge. His third saw him clinch a hat-trick of league titles and also a Champions League win in a penalty shoot out win over Valencia, making him only the third man, along with Ernst Happel and Jose Mourinho to win it with two different clubs. The 2001/02 season was a barren campaign but he returned to winning ways the next season, winning the league and cup double for a second time. At the end of the season he resigned as manager and took a long overdue break from football, despite overtures from the German national team.
His return bizarrely enough, came with Bayern Munich, and despite failing to rescue a season which saw the Munich club already eight points behind the leaders by February 2007, he restored the club’s pride by winning the league and cup double in his only full season in charge. He decided however that it was to be his last season as Bayern manager and resigned at the end of the season to be replaced by Jurgen Klinsmann. Now nearing sixty, Hitzfeld decided that Swizterland would be an ideal appointment and despite a disastrous start with a 2-1 loss to Luxembourg in World Cup qualifying, they comfortably qualified from their group and have got their 2010 campaign off to a tremendous start with victory over Spain.
In summary then, Hitzfeld is a world class coach with a world class pedigree. Whether he would be interested in taking over a cash-strapped club with rotten owners such as Liverpool is another question, and he has stated his desire to return to Germany after the World Cup, but I think he is one who should be seriously considered alongside Kenny Dalglish and Roy Hodgson. He just might be tempted to have his first go at management in English football at the grand old age of 61.
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Football FanCast writer Oscar Pye-Jeary documents his time in South Africa following England in the 2010 World Cup. (England v USA).
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I think we’ve had enough of defensive managers don’t you?
Look at Joechim Loew, If you want a special german manager. The guy is fantastic: good moves, good football, team well organised & many many talented youngers in national germany side, good experience.
Yanks whould like to appoint Klinsmann, but Loew is the genius.
Bayern played fantastic attacking football under Hitzfeld, too. Löw is a tat arrogant and stubborn like Rafa …
Good shout, Rick, but many fellow Reds will claim that he hasn’t won anything and therefore isn’t a proven top class manager.
wuakakakakaka……good one Mark
Good one Mark … morons like Bill are the dimwits who swallow wholesale the lies they read in the crap press … what defensive manager would chalk up a 4-0 win over Real and 4-1 over manure … Bill, please educate your dumb ass brain.
dont even care posting…its a recycle post…if you saw loew..the next articles will be about leow linking with lfc
Listen everyone – there is only one superstar manager out there who is more entertaining than the rest put together and he just happens to be the greatest player ever as well – we want Diego Maradona -just imagine how well he would get on with Hicks and Gillett – cant wait.Marvellous.
Quick, tell the Anfield board. A website guy has sorted everything out. I think it may be time for me to stop reading this crap and just wait and see. You too.
Cutting Mark cutting,but oh so true how do you fill a vacuum when you`ve just `sacked` the best??
hate to say it but Riera may yet prove to be right
but WTF i`m an Inter fan now.F R O Yanks,`Senior` sources and backstabbing Senior players.
Opinions may differ, but there is absolutely no need to be abusive towards people with other opinions. This site needs a strict comment policy. The way Mark “argues” doesn’t exactly add value to his point.
No thanks! we need a manager that knows what it means to manage Liverpool, a manager that likes to play expansive attacking football and a manager who knows how important winning the league is to the Anfield faithful. There’s only one man for the job, and it’s not a German…
To Mark: Wow… I wonder who is moronic. As far as I am concened, you get an ‘A’ for profanity and an ‘F’ for content.
Anteater,
Again you amaze us with your superior knowledge. For your information Hitzfeld has won 18 major titles including the champion league with 2 different clubs. Twice he was voted “World Coach of the Year”, Not proven? Please do some research before you get on your soap box.
I would have him if he would come to us, but guess what, he wont, and guess why?
Apologies anteater just realised you were referring to Joachim Loew
No problem, dj.
I know why Hitzfeld wouldn’t consider managing us, well, I guess I know. He has two more years on his contract with Switzerland and has stated in an interview just the other day how much he loves it and how he wouldn’t have considered managing any other national side. He has spent much of his playing and some of his managerial career in Switzerland, was born and, as far as I know, raised about five kilometres from the Swiss border and has, as a result of that, a very strong connection to the Swiss and their country.
but what good is the protest going to do to Liverpool?
Aren those ignorant Yanks just gonna ignore our passionate efforts??
Probably they will open shops during the march to sell their dumb tshirts for more of our cash.
I hope this will end the liverpool turmoil.
if i could come i would but i live in another country far far away.
YNWA
Don u guys know!
Messi ronaldo silva mata sergio ramos gerard pique aguero rooney ibramohvic are all going to come to liverpool? EVEN roman ibra and mancity owners are going to put a combined bid to buy liverpool?
Plus they are going to have two managers instead of one!
mourinho and alex fergie are going to be new liverpool managers!
Even david villa is going to request a transfer from Barcelona(despite just going to), to come and join liverpool fc!!!
All the papers are ridiculous i don know why they must always give false info about us liverpool.
so much of funny talk and yet no good news!
I haven heard anything nice since last season.Feels like the light is turning very dim.
Why must this happen to us!?
WHy must we get the dumb yanks!?
why couldn they go to manc or manu or someother team!
DAMN!
i hope we can get this mountain of pain off our shoulders,well actually the leeches of liverpool do get lost and rot in their own stink.
PLS let something nice happen to liverpool!
YNWA
AND YPDA>>>>>>(YANKS PLEASE DIE ALONE)
and don rest in peace.
Benitez came to Liverpool and was labeled a “fat Spanish waiter” by the xenophobic press. What would they say about a manager from the “old enemy” Germany. I can just picture the adjectives…..
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