Kirchhoff and Mandzukic’s toughness: “Training against him meant ‘pain’. Once…”

A few years ago Jan Kirchhoff was playing for Bayern Munich and found himself sharing the pitch with… a certain Mandzukic. The German made a very special portrait of the former Juventus player…

Jan Kirchhoff currently plays for Magdeburg, a glorious former East German club that now plays in the German second division. Years ago, however, he played for Bayern Munich and in the 2013/14 season he found himself sharing the field with … a certain Mario Mandzukic. German some time ago did a Goal a very particular portrait of the former Juventus player, emphasizing some aspects of the Croatian’s character that only those who have faced him can know. Or… who trained with him.

HARD

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Starting from the physical toughness of a center forward who has always made strength one of his secrets. “Training against him meant ‘pain.’ , he started tackling everyone. As a direct opponent it was very difficult to train well. He physically punished you, but there were never any tricks. I remember that a few times I had to take a step back. Once we played five against five, I was trained well. I caught the ball in front of the goal and was about to kick, when Mario ran like mad from the wing to stop me. I probably kicked the ball away in a mix of fear and wisdom… As a young player, I had great respect for his aggression and his quality. I also remember Guardiola once saying to him: ‘maybe you can change gears and play less aggressive'”.

GUARDHOUSE

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But Croatian is not just about physical strength, explains Kirchhoff. “Anyway, Mario was an absolute top striker, who tends to be underestimated by public perception. In aerial play he’s one of the best in the world, he always finds the position to jump behind the defender, often at the far post. He runs a lot, works , he has a crazy mentality, he knows how to press very well and he also has quality on the ball. At Bayern he was agile, fast, in top form. You rarely find qualities like his.” However, Bayern let him go. Questions of tactical incompatibility with the Catalan coach. “It was unfortunate that his way of playing did not coincide with Guardiola’s idea of ​​football. Pep wanted the center forward to return to midfield and play a lot and in this Lewandowski was simply better than him. With Robert there are never any advantages. It’s just complete and unpredictable.” But maybe…not as strong as Mario.