There is hardly any footballer who has experienced as many ups and downs in his career as Mario Gomez (38). In the new “Phrasenmäher” podcast, the ex-striker now reveals outstanding anecdotes from his career…
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► Whether he, as technical director of Red Bull Soccer, will work twelve hours a day, as Uli Hoeneß demanded of Oliver Kahn…
Gomez (laughs): “My days are typically atypical. We have clubs in Brazil, New York and Leipzig. Often it’s more than twelve hours, but that has nothing to do with me or because I want to say: ‘Uli Hoeneß, can you hear that now?’ It’s just the reality of this job. You have to step on the gas – and I want that too. It doesn’t feel like work either. It’s what brings me great joy.”
► The first encounter with van Gaal
Gomez came to Bayern from VfB Stuttgart in 2009 for a record fee of 35 million euros and signed there before it was clear that Louis van Gaal would become coach.
Gomez: “He comes into the dressing room, shakes my hand, I say ‘Hello’ – and then he doesn’t let go of my hand for ten seconds and looks me in the eyes. And I’m already thinking: what does he want now? And then he says: ‘Hello, I’m Louis van Gaal. In Holland we greet each other by name!’ And I thought – okay, wow, he just said hello to the other players. But, whatever: “I’m Mario.” And he asked: “Which Mario?” And I thought, okay, he wants to know: “I’m Mario Gomez.” That was a clear provocation on his part, but the bottom line is that he’s right. Since then, I always introduce myself with ‘Hello, I’m Mario’.”
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► How van Gaal shaved him
Gomez: “I had three or four really absurd moments with him. One was quite early in the season: I had scored three goals in the first four games, then scored against Dortmund to make it 1-0, and at the break he took me out. Before the sixth game, he called me into his room at the team hotel to tell me that I wasn’t going to play anymore because I wasn’t doing what he asked. He asked me: ‘Do you know Vitor Baia?’ I answer: ‘Sure, from FC Barcelona. The best goalkeeper in the world.’”
Van Gaal: ‘Yes, but Victor Valdes played for me. Baia then went back to FC Porto and was the best in the world there again, but Valdes still always played for me.”
Gomez: “I then asked, ‘Coach, what does that mean? Does that mean I should go back to Stuttgart?’ And he’s like, ‘I didn’t say that. That’s what you said!’ Then I got up and just thought: ‘Okay, this guy – it’s not going to happen with us.'”
Alonso’s first words as master coach THIS speech sounds somehow familiar
Source: BILD/DFL04/15/2024
► Why Neuer is on the same level as Messi for him
Gomez: “I would put Manuel Neuer on the same level as Lionel Messi in terms of the importance of the game. I don’t know if we all realize that we live with a goalkeeper who revolutionized the entire game. We will all only understand this in 20 years. He is the goalkeeper who made it clear to the whole world that the pill on the foot is just as important as the hand – how he masters both is unbelievable.
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►His almost move to Liverpool
Gomez: At the beginning of the second season, he brought me back on the first day. We sit down, he says: “I’m only playing with one striker and you’re No. 4. It’s best for everyone if you go.” Gomez then agreed with Liverpool FC, and the clubs were already clear . Gomez: “And then I get a call from Uli Hoeneß and I drive to him at Tegernsee, we sit on the couch, the second league is on the TV. And suddenly he puts his hand on his stomach and says: ‘My gut feeling tells me that you aren’t allowed to go!’ And I answer: ‘Mr Hoeneß, that doesn’t make any sense. We both know how brutal van Gaal is in his views. Mr. Rummenigge also told me that I could go. Christian Nerlinger too. What should i do?’ And then Uli Hoeneß said in a state of deep relaxation and calm: ‘Mario, in this club the coach doesn’t decide whether a player goes or comes! You just have to promise me one thing: you have to give it your all!”
► The candle against Austria
In the third group game at the 2008 European Championships, Gomez missed a pass from Miro Klose from 1.5 meters away.
Gomez: “I resisted watching this number again for many years. For me, what was much more tragic than the missed shot was the ball afterwards. The ball goes up like a candle and comes back down above me, but I was so stunned and frozen that I couldn’t jump up to head it and the right-back, who was much smaller than me, cleared the ball.”
► Which player impressed him the most
Gomez: “The overall package of quality, body, mental strength, spirit, humility and energy – for me the most impressive is David Alaba. For me he is the personified leadership figure in football. No barkers, no shithouse slogans. He has a natural leadership from another planet. When he joined the professionals at Bayern, he looked at us with wide eyes because we were superstars for him. Then to go down this path and be the undisputed leader at Bayern – that’s brutal. And then at Real Madrid with Sergio Ramos, in a very short space of time, we forget the man who was the only one who put Cristiano Ronaldo in his place ten years ago – that is the ultimate discipline!”
You can find the phrase mower wherever podcasts are available (including Spotify and Apple Podcasts). It’s definitely worth listening to!
2024-04-18 07:22:23
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