As far as knowledge goes I’ve come a long way.
I do swear a lot, but the advantage is that having played abroad, I can choose a different language from the referee’s.
The player can only compete with the best internationally when they’ve committed themselves to this goal. They have to be properly supported until that point.
We coaches have to learn how to deal with that: How do I get to each one best – with a talk, with video analysis? And what sort of tone? We need our own coaches for that. The sports psychologist coaches me too.
We Germans are so good at penalties because we have had to rebuild our country twice.
Personally, I need a high level of physical fitness in order to feel at ease.
If there’s a national-team player, he has to do extra work. He has to do extra weeks, and he can’t go on vacation even if he says: ‘Well, but I’m supposed now to have six weeks off.’ If he comes and says that, then I give him a hug and say: ‘Have fun the six weeks, but don’t come back here.’
I had to delegate authority to the people on my staff. That means you shave away the hierarchy.
You have to work more than your adversary.
The Gold Cup really is about getting the job done and winning it and qualifying us for the Confederations Cup in Russia in 2017. That’s why it’s really crucial for us to have players on the roster that have tremendous experience.
Lionel Messi is very much the team player, while Cristiano is very ego-driven.
Based on history the expectations are simply the highest, it kind of could become a burden for you or it could be something that you are really proud of, you know so I take the second one.
We enjoy the expectations people have of us. The higher they are, the more pressure, the better we like it.
I think when there’s enough will and aggression, there’s no shortage of talent either.
I always stressed that I didn’t have coaching experience, but that I did have a deadline: June 9.
The young generation has a different curiosity that is more visual.
I train for one-and-a-half hours every day in order to keep my energy level high.
We cannot win this World Cup, because we are not at that level yet. For us, we have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament.
We can only win by giving everything and being ready to defeat the adversary with fiery aggression.
If the national coach lets decisions be made from outside, he’s lost the team.