by Arneb » Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:47 pm
While I am a card-carrying member of the ABB Fanclub (Anyone but Bayern) I have to admit I have a soft spot for their coach, Niko Kovac. He grew up in a tough Berlin neighbourhood and made it to the Bundesliga (Hertha, Leverkusen, Bayern) and the Croatian National Team through lots of grit and hard work. He and his brother were part of the team that threw out England of the '08 Euro Cup qualification. Remember the "Wally with a brolly" headline? That was him. He politely and professionally ignores the antics of his bosses (Hoeness and Rummenigge) at Bayern. It's true, the matches against Liverpool last season showed they were not top-notch anymore in Europe, he won two national titles with a Bayern team whose makeup he cold not influence and which had a lot of players on the descending arm of their career. I like him and his Berlin accent, which he tries best to bury under Hochdeutsch. He is always impeccably groomed but he never loses his don't-mess-with-me proletarian bearing. He is a true Berlin boy: Parents from someplace else, grew up poor, kicked himself up and went into the great wide world to be successful.
Also, you just have to love Thomas Müller, right?
Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem