Der Kaiser

 

Der Kaiser is a German phrase meaning The Emperor and that was Franz Beckenbauer's nickname. He has been praised for great vision on the football pitch and an undying desire to win. Speaking of winning this past weekend I participated in a tournament where we got eliminated in the quarter finals it was quite painful because one of my team mates missed their penalty.
We were the better team and we deserved to win but that's football for you any one can be beaten even the one's who deserve to win ask Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester United fans.


 

Back to Der Kaiser he got this name from a journalist and soon after he became the captain of Bayern Munich in the 1968 -1969 season where he lead them to the Bundesliga title and became German footballer of the year. From the videos I have seen of him he is quite good at dribbling and he played as libero i.e a deep lying playmaker just like Pirlo. I play as an attacking midfielder more up front but the great similarity is the vision. You have to have the greatest eyes, control and passes to play in these positions.

Most of the time you find the players playing this position are the team captains e.g. Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Xavi just to mention a few.

Another thing I have learnt from Der Kaiser is tackling.... When you tackle you tackle hard and strong so that the opponent does not come and try anything again. It sounds a bit too much but it's the passion any slight mistake or missed tackle and boom your scored.

Der Kaiser represents domination at it's best which naturally became part of his team's culture (Bayern Munich) . He played for them for around 20 years. If you see Bayern's game most of the time when they win they win with more than 2 goals. Especially these last two seasons they have dominated World football like no one's business. Currently they have already won the Bundesliga and last week they eliminated Manchester United from the Champions League.

I am amazed at how Pep Guardiola has managed to maintain the winning culture at Bayern Munich. The interesting fact though is that during his time as a player he played in the same position as Der Kaiser. So it seems there is a big correlation towards that position and the ultimate performance of a team. Maybe I should switch roles and take on more responsibility not just in attacking but also in defending and mainting the whole balance of the team....

But I need to mature first, that role requires a lot of experience and composure. These are the next two things I need to work on. So the big question as to why Der Kaiser is among the best???? It is quite simple. He has won the World cup which is now around 1 month and a some days away. He has won the Champions League, German Bundesliga, German Pokal and the Ballon d'or. In short he has won almost everything here is a full list I got it from wikipedia Franz_Beckenbauer

Honours

Player

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga:
• DFB-Pokal: 
• European Cup: 
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 
• Intercontinental Cup: 

Hamburger SV

• Bundesliga:

New York Cosmos

• North American Soccer League
• Trans-Atlantic Cup

West Germany

• FIFA World Cup
• UEFA European Championship

Manager

Marseille

• Ligue 1

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga
• UEFA Cup

West Germany

• FIFA World Cup: 1990

Individual

• Ballon d'Or
• FIFA Presidential Award
• UEFA President's Award
• FIFA Order of Merit
• FIFA Centennial Player and Football Personality Award
• Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award
• Marca Leyenda
• World Cup Young Player of the Tournament
• World Cup Silver Ball
• FIFA World Cup All-Time Team
• FIFA 100
• World Cup Team of the Tournament
• Regionalliga Süd
• UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament
• German Footballer of the Year
• NASL Most Valuable Player Award
• World Soccer Magazine Player of the Year
• FIFA World Cup All-Time Team
• ‏World Team of the 20th Century
• FIFA World Cup Dream Team

Civil

• Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Bavarian Order of Merit
• Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Honorary Golden Coin of the City of Munich
• Honorary Doctor of the National Sports Academy
• Commanders' Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Lower Saxon Merit 1st Class
• Order of Merit of the State of North

When I said everything I meant everything from as a player to civil awards to even as a manager I just have to meet this guy one day Germany here I come. I wonder if this years National mannschaft will go far in the world cup and be inspired by his legacy