2024-01-08 18:38:00
It’s a piece of German football that is disappearing. Franz Beckenbauer died this Monday, January 8 at the age of 78, announced the German federation. World champion as a player then as a coach, he is one of three men to have accomplished this feat, after Mario Zagallo and before Didier Deschamps.
Was he playing the same game as players today? Franz Beckenbauer played in a position that no longer exists, or almost, this libero who monitored the rear of the defense, the last rampart before the goalkeeper, free (hence his name) to intervene or not. The Kaiser did not run, or very little. He monitored his troops, his head held high and his chest straight. He harangued a failing defender, replaced one or the other, encouraged a worn teammate, motivated the eleven of Bayern Munich, his only club apart from a quick trip to Hamburg, and, above all, to the New York Cosmos where he ended his career like today Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia.
Beckenbauer didn’t tackle, he imposed himself. His mere presence impressed the opponent. This economy of means allowed him to play the 1970 World Cup semi-final between Italy and Germany, his arm in a sling, supporting a broken collarbone during a previous match. He was a libero but, in Germany, he was considered a Spielführer as his vision of the game and his influence brought him closer to a playmaker. The man loved the game, the attack, he looked for the beautiful pass, the one- two, feinting, everything that makes football an art. A Platini from behind, in short.
When Beckenbauer falls under the spell of Bernard Tapie
As a player, the Kaiser has accumulated successes: four German championship titles, in particular, and three champion club cups (the ancestor of the Champions League), including that won by a short header (1-0) against the AS Saint-Étienne, in 1976. At the head of the German national team, he won the 1990 World Cup, becoming the second to win the trophy as player and coach with the Brazilian Zagallo (and before Didier Deschamps, more than twenty years later).
The 1972 and 1976 Ballon d’Or, however, was misunderstood in the early 1990s. Like others, he fell under the spell of Bernard Tapie, who made him the head coach of OM. The experience is short. Tapie doesn’t want a coach, since he’s the coach. The OM boss wants Beckenbauer because Beckenbauer is a man who matters. He can influence referees or leaders of world football. The Kaiser, the man who understood everything on a football field, did not understand this. He also doesn’t like the “swamp” (the word is his) that OM was then. He left after a few months. He preferred to remain free, like a libero.
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