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
► Frustration in Bayern training
Gomez: “In training under van Gaal there was always the A team without jerseys, the B team with orange jerseys – and those who didn’t actually play a role got blue jerseys. And he almost always gave me the blue shirt. That frustrated me so much that I kicked the balls away like the last asshole to show him how angry I was – but he put up with it all because he knew: He’s hard on me, then I can Sometimes it can be hard – but in the end I have to do what he wants. That was the school I went through.”
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►His almost change 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!”
Louis van Gaal (2nd from left) trained Gomez (left) at FC Bayern from 2009 to 2011
Photo: picture-alliance / augenklick/firo Sportphoto
► The change under van Gaal
Gomez: “I sat on the bench for eight games, then van Gaal brings me into the room before the game against Hannover and says: ‘I don’t want to let you play, but I have no other choice. They’re playing tomorrow!’ And then I scored three goals, was sitting in the dressing room after the game between tears of frustration and tears of joy, suddenly someone taps me on the shoulder and there is Uli Hoeneß and says: ‘I told you: you just have to keep at it! ‘ And I just thought, yeah, sure. You can all do me! What are you doing here with me?” (laughs)
► His peace with van Gaal
Gomez: “I scored 28 goals that season and was top scorer. One of the greatest triumphs of my career was when he pulled me back onto the couch before a game and told me with tears in his eyes: ‘I didn’t want you. You weren’t my striker! But now you do everything exactly the way I want it – from now on you ALWAYS play!’ When I got out of there, my whole body was shaking. That was pure happiness.”
You can find the phrase mower wherever there are podcasts (including… Spotify and Apple Podcasts). It’s definitely worth listening to!
2024-04-16 15:12:54
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