After four years in various functions at FC Bayern, Miroslav Klose recently took on his first head coaching job. The former Bundesliga striker, who was successful in Munich, Werder Bremen and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, wants to take his first steps at SCR Altach and eventually end up back in Germany in the Bundesliga. The ex-soccer player remains true to himself as a coach.
At FC Bayern, Miroslav Klose was active between 2018 and 2020 as a coach of the U17s, later he became assistant coach under Hansi Flick. After Flick’s change to the position of national coach, Klose also withdrew from Munich and actually wanted to dare a new adventure. But two thromboses in his leg forced the 44-year-old to take a break.
In the meantime, however, Klose has his energy back and recently hired a somewhat surprising job at SCR Altach. At the Austrian first division club, just a two-hour drive from Munich and on the border with Liechtenstein and Switzerland, Klose should not only ensure that they stay up in the league, which was only achieved with a lot of pain last season, but also improve the football and make it more respectable make.
“My job is to train the lads so that they play football the way I would like them to play. I want our fans to be enthusiastic about football and they go home happy after games,” Klose explained to “Sport Bild”. his plans.
The 2014 world champion is an absolute driving force for the league and the club. The provincial club’s first friendly match attracted 600 spectators instead of the usual 50. Media coverage has also changed. “Miro is a driving force for the league,” quotes the trade journal Werner Grabherr, the sporting director of the SCR.
The former footballer had visited the Bayern campus two years ago, and he immediately noticed Klose. So Klose became the top candidate to succeed Ludovic Magnin who had emigrated and was finally committed.
Klose: I had a different role at FC Bayern
“He reached the highest level as a player, he was allowed to learn from one of the best coaches as an assistant,” said Grabherr, referring to the time under Hansi Flick, “Miro stands for a specific game idea that suits us.”
“Unique” about Klose is his ability to take people with him. At the same time, he exemplifies modesty. “I never saw myself as anything special. Of course I achieved something. But I have the strength to treat others as equals,” explained Klose, who had to adapt to changes compared to his previous engagements.
“At Bayern I had a completely different role as an assistant coach. You’re more of an assistant to the head coach, the link between him and the team, now I have a different standing. But I have no problem being authoritarian at all,” revealed the trainer .
In the long term, Altach is just a springboard for Klose. “Of course, my goal must be to be on the line in the Bundesliga and the Champions League at some point. I make no secret of that,” he said, but added: “But the first steps are the decisive ones.”