His attitude commands respect. The "Kaiser" leaves the training ground shortly afterwards and the man on security stands to attention and salutes him on his way
Saturday interview
'This is the first time I have really enjoyed being at the club'
Daniel Taylor
Saturday October 27, 2007
The Guardian
Dietmar Hamann is looking back on a career that has incorporated Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, a Champions League winner's medal at Liverpool and two World Cup campaigns. Hamann, it is fair to say, knows a thing or two about what it takes to create a successful side, and it is no fluke that Manchester City's renaissance has coincided with the German rediscovering the qualities that compel his team-mates to refer to him as the "Kaiser".
These are golden days for the clever old sentry in City's midfield and Hamann is far removed from the peripheral, unhappy figure who could be found moping around the club last season. He has been an ever-present under Sven-Goran Eriksson, rediscovering his most influential form to put a wretched first season at the club behind him. Only Arsenal and Manchester United have more points than City as they travel to Chelsea today and as Hamann takes his seat in an upstairs office at the training ground, the large number of autograph-hunters waiting outside the front entrance provides more hard evidence of Eriksson's restorative powers.
Laughter can be heard from the pitches as the younger pros embark on an impromptu piggyback race; in reception, the staff are debating how Eriksson compares to his predecessors - easily the most charming, they agree. The Swede even has a cat at the training ground, a ginger called Wimbley-don (after the way the foreign contingent pronounce Wimbledon), who spends his time sleeping in the laundry room or watching training from an upstairs window.
"The whole place has changed," says Hamann. "Last year was a real struggle. The supporters were unhappy and, at times, there was a really bad vibe. Everyone was fed up. We didn't have the quality to challenge the top eight, or even the top 10, and we were in relegation danger until March or April. That incident at the end of the season [the fight between Joey Barton and Ousmane Dabo] summed it up. Things were not right. There were disciplinary matters, fines being handed out and a general sense that the club was in a bad state. All-round, things were wrong. It was dire - absolutely terrible."
He is referring to the dressing-room cliques and fallouts also discussed by the captain, Richard Dunne. "The basis for any successful team is that everybody respects one another and treats each other in the right way, but we didn't have that last season. It was only when the new manager took over that things changed. We've bought a lot of new players and he told the ones already here that he wanted us to make them feel welcome because otherwise it would be impossible to integrate eight or nine new signings. The team spirit has improved beyond words and we're seeing that on the pitch. We're playing some very good football - outstanding, at times - and the fans are going home happy from games. They have seen us beat Manchester United and go top of the league, things they haven't had for years. The atmosphere is so much better."
He attributes the success to one man. "As soon as I heard Sven was coming here I knew it would be good for the club and good for me. But it doesn't surprise me because I always thought the way he was treated [as England manager] was ridiculous. His club record is as good as anyone's in the business and, results-wise, he was probably England's most successful manager. Yet some of the things that were said about him at the time were completely out of order. I've lived in England a long time but there are still some things I don't understand. England lost to Brazil in the [2002] World Cup because of a fluked goal from Ronaldinho and they went out on penalties in their other two quarter-finals. So what can he [Eriksson] do? Should he take the penalties himself?"
His admiration is reciprocated. Ask Eriksson to identify his most important player this season and he will not hesitate before naming "Didi" - this after Hamann endured the most difficult year of his career after signing from Liverpool, never making more than five consecutive league appearances last season.
"I didn't play enough and, when I did, I didn't do well enough. I felt my second season would have to be different because I couldn't do another year like the first one. I didn't want to leave, I just wanted to play. I came here with a two-year contract and I didn't want the supporters to think, 'He's come here for two easy years and then he's going to call it a day.' I always believed in my ability and that, if I was fit, I should be in the team but this is the first time I have really enjoyed being at the club."
He does not criticise Stuart Pearce directly, but nods when it is put to him that Eriksson has more confidence in him than the man who actually signed him. "Possibly," he replies, "but I'm looking to the future now rather than the past."
The future looks good, too. Hamann has been around too long to make "daft" predictions and does not expect City to remain in a Champions League place. None the less, he is optimistic. "I don't see any team breaking into the top four permanently in the next few years because the gap is too big, but we've got an ambitious owner, a new manager and some great new players, so everything is pretty much in shape."
At 34, time is not on Hamann's side but City will reward him with a new contract in the next few months (his current deal expires in June). "A couple more years shouldn't be a problem," he says. "The older I get, the more I have to listen to my body but I don't feel that much different to two years ago. I don't see any reason why I can't continue for a few more years."
Hamann will have lived in England for 10 years come the end of his current contract (a decade in which he has developed a passion for horseracing and cricket). Part of him wants to take his children, Luna and Chiara, back to Bavaria but he intends to take his coaching badges here "because it can't do me any harm".
His qualities have never been restricted to passing and tackling and Steven Gerrard tells one story, from England's match against Germany in Euro 2000, that epitomises why colleagues are convinced Hamann could become a top coach. Gerrard was winning his second England cap, a substitute playing the biggest game of his life "sweating, nervous and panicky". Germany were losing 1-0 and were on their way out of the tournament but even in the depths of his own despair, Hamann could see his Liverpool team-mate was struggling and offered encouragement. "Keep doing what you are doing," he told him. "Relax, just do what you do normally and you will be absolutely fine."
It takes a special man to demonstrate that level of kindness but Hamann can always remember how grateful he was, as a 17-year-old at Bayern, when Lothar Matthäus passed on advice. "Young players need help and I will always try to provide it," he says, and he has been paying particular attention to his young colleague Michael Johnson - "although he's so good he rarely makes mistakes".
His attitude commands respect. The "Kaiser" leaves the training ground shortly afterwards and the man on security stands to attention and salutes him on his way
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