Lavish spending no guarantee of success says Bayern coach

LAVISH off-season spending will not automatically bring Bayern Munich the Bundesliga title this year, says coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

The team that finished a disappointing third last season after three straight German championships needed more than an open wallet to get back on top, Hitzfeld said in an interview yesterday. “Everything has to fit together,” Hitzfeld said. “Look what happened to Real Madrid, Manchester United, or Barcelona even though they invested heavily in recent years. Money is not a guarantee for a title.”

Bayern acquired three of the Bundesliga’s top players in the off season: Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto from second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, and Sebastian Deisler from fifth-placed Hertha Berlin. Commercial manager Uli Hoeness has warned Hitzfeld publicly that the Bayern management will not be content with another third-place Bundesliga finish.

Bayern also just barely qualified for the Champions League.

“There are no more excuses for the trainer,” Hoeness said bluntly.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that this year’s side was the best ever and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn has already predicted that Bayern will win the championship by six points.

“There’s nothing automatic in the Bundesliga,” Hitzfeld said. “Who knows whether key players will be injured? My optimism is nevertheless quite high for this team.”

In his four years as Bayern Munich coach, Hitzfeld has taken the club to the three Bundesliga crowns, the Champions League title in 2001, the German Cup and the world championship last year.

The success-spoiled team’s slump to third last year led to criticism of Hitzfeld, who had been toasted as one of Europe’s best coaches.

“There are of course some nights that I’m not able to sleep,” Hitzfeld said. “My head is full thinking about a system that might help us or which players to focus on. I get out of bed and jot down a few notes about whatever I was thinking about.”

Hitzfeld was recently urged by Bayern’s supervisory board chairman Franz Beckenbauer to drop the system of rotating players to keep them fresh for the long season.

“Franz can say what he thinks and what he wants but I’m responsible for the team and I will make the decisions based on my knowledge and conscience,” Hitzfeld said. “We have had a lot of success with this rotation system in recent years. Sure, some players such as Elber would want to play all the time but that would exhaust him.”