7pm here is 10pm there, but your point stands.
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Yeah I only realised the other night the commentator said it was midnight long after final whistle which ties in with ten
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Wasnât the 02 final at 12 o clock or something
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Itâs day 28 of the World Cup.
Today Gianni Infantino feels like Batman.
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It was the middle of the day anyway.
Yeah it was the same day as Waterfordâs win over Tipp in the Munster final. It caused hilarious scenes in and around Malaga with my dad wandering around asking pubs if they were showing âthe matchâ
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Benzema is a some two ends of a Cunt all the same. Good to see he hasnât changed
Didnât they used to have apres match host this game in previous tournaments? Or did I dream that?
They did. But aprws match havent been arou d this world cup
Fucking split season
A knowledgeable work colleague was telling me nearly 3 weeks ago that the French had left Benzema as No.26 in the event that he might be available before the end of the tournament. Surely only get a brief run as an impact sub tomorrow though?
Anyone with an examiner sub for a poorman?
Didi was lucky enough to catch the end of the great RTE punditry team. He would have learned to take each game on its merits from Johnny Giles and about the technical qualities of Nobby Stiles. Eamonn bestowed a sense upon him that the street footballers were dying out. He should also be well versed on listing Katie Taylor, Henry Shefflin, Brian Oâ Driscoll and Ruby Walsh in quick succession when randomly discussing Irish sporting personalities after a Champions League Round of 16 tie. Liam Brady has no doubt taught him how to phone it in successfully and take RTĂ coin. Wouldnât we all love to pull the wool over Dee Forbes eyes and fleece her and the rest of the big wigs in Donnybrook.
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Here you go buddy
The Didi Hamann interview: Drinking with Dunphy, Klopp criticism, Kenny project
Hamann is an automatic starter on the RTĂ panel for the World Cup final with his blend of principle and pragmatism, his unflinching and forthright views and wider European perspective
SERIOUS MEN: Didi Hamann with Damien Duff and Richie Sadlier in the RTE studio
SAT, 17 DEC, 2022 - 07:00
KIERAN SHANNON
We catch Dietmar âDidiâ Hamann just after heâs arrived into Dublin on an early-morning flight and though itâs hardly the ideal setting for an interview â over the phone while heâs still on the move â weâre instantly reminded why we wanted an audience with him and why RTĂ have been bringing him over for a dozen years now.
Asked where heâs flown in from and he says that he relocated to Munich in the wake of Brexit after two full decades living in the UK.
âI just thought with all the challenges we face these days in Europe and the world and the need for co-operation, I didnât want to live in a country that didnât want to be part of it.
âIâd also been working for a few years by then for Sky covering the Bundesliga a couple of times a week so I had been thinking of it [moving to Munich] anyway. But Brexit sealed it for me.â
It epitomises Hamann and why, after a few days off following his strong assessment of the England-France quarter-final, heâs an automatic starter on the RTĂ panel for the France-Morocco semi-final and the final itself, a stage he played on 20 years ago. Irish audiences respect and like his blend of principle and pragmatism, his unflinching and forthright views and how he offers a distinct, wider, European perspective.
Though he played and lived in England for all those years, he is not of the English game, nor of the Irish one, as opinionated and informed as he now is on both. He served his football education in that most formidable and prestigious of schools, Germany, before graduating and going on to win a Champions League with Liverpool as well as couple of FA Cups and League Cups, not to mention a second UEFA Cup after claiming one starting out with Bayern.
As for where he was schooled most in his second career, he makes no secret that his university was RTĂ, Montrose, Ireland, with extra tutorials provided by his most generous of professors, Eamon Dunphy, in various watering holes around Dublin. And as you listen to him recall those masterclasses, itâs as if youâre chatting to him yourself over a pint rather than the phone.
Kieran Shannon (KS): How did the connection with RTĂ come about?
Dietmar Hamann (DH): Iâd made a few appearances on BBCâs [Saturday lunchtime show] Football Focus and then Match of the Day. I donât know if [RTĂ sport producer] Eugene OâNeill saw them but he asked me would I mind coming over to Dublin for the 2010 World Cup. And right away I found myself learning so much from the guys who were there â John, Liam, Eamon, Bill.
KS: What did you learn from them?
DH: Well, I obviously had the odd pint with Eamon, and on one of our first nights out he said to me, âDidi, if you want to have a career in broadcasting you need three things. The first is to see what is going on. Then you have to be able to articulate it. And then you have to have the bottle to say what youâve seen. A lot of people might have one of those qualities, some might even have two of them. But very few have all three.â To this day that sticks in my mind. Especially coming from him. He was box office.
KS: What other memories have you of nights out with Eamon? They wouldnât have been dull.
DH: I remember he took us to some club with a members bar thatâs gone now [Renards]. We had gone for dinner, a few drinks, then went in there and suddenly I couldnât find him anymore. Someone spotted that I wasnât necessarily lost but that I had lost Eamon and thought the deal was that if we came in together weâd stick together! He said, âAre you looking for Eamon?â I said, âYes.â He said âDonât worry. Heâs upstairs.â So I went up and there he was, playing the piano!
I had a good rapport with them all. I learned from them all. I remember Eugene saying, âWe donât take the viewer for granted here.â Thatâs something else that has stayed with me and why RTĂâs coverage is so different and special.
KS: What is meant by not taking the viewer for granted?
DH: Well for a long time there seemed to be an attitude on certain stations that the viewer is going to tune in anyway, they just want to see the football, so if you just state the obvious it doesnât really matter. In recent years you have more pundits inclined to speak their minds. If you have friends still in the game and youâre afraid of hurting them or anyone, youâre doing the wrong job.
KS: Have there being times where youâve been uncomfortable having to say something about someone you knew or liked, or even shied away from it?
DH: First of all I have the utmost time and respect for anyone who has played or worked in this game on a professional basis. Itâs happened a number of times now in Germany where Iâve said critical something about Munich or Dortmund or now about the manager of the national team and theyâve had a go back at me. But I always say if someone calls me â it hasnât happened often but a few times it has â itâs never personal. Every point Iâm making is about the cause (theyâre meant to be serving).
If I am asked if Hansi Flick is the right person to be Germany manager heading into the home Euros in 2024, Iâm going to say heâs not; heâs been in the job 18 months without being able to build and set up a team so why should I believe in 18 monthsâ time itâll be a different story? And Iâd say the same if he called me [and asked]: Do you think I should still be the manager? Iâd say no, for the reasons Iâve just outlined. It happened before when Flick was leaving Munich and it broke in the press while the board of the club were in the air coming back from a game. He called me. I told him exactly what I had said on TV and that I would say it to his face: Youâre not bigger than the club, that should have been a joint statement.
The only thing I have going for me is my credibility. So thatâs something Iâll never let anyone say about me. âOh, he didnât say that because heâs friends with that guy or he wants that [coaching] job.â
KS: Have you ruled out coaching or managing again? In 2011, just after you finished playing, you coached Leicester and then took over as manager at Stockport County only to finish up after a takeover fell through.
DH: Iâve said it for a while: coaching is not for me. If there was a position in a club at some stage where someone said to me I might be able to help them, I might listen to them but Iâm not looking for it. Iâm very lucky and happy in what Iâm doing. Again, any criticism is never personal. I have the utmost respect for anyone playing or coaching or managing at this level. Iâve had some personal insults thrown back at me but I have not reacted to it. You donât want to go to that level.
KS: Jurgen Klopp had a bit of a go at you recently [âOh great,â Klopp retorted at a press conference after a Hamann observation was cited. âA fantastic source, well respected everywhereâ].
DH: Look, if thatâs how he reacted, thatâs fine. Heâs in a highly-pressurised job and you have to give people in such positions some leeway. If I were to see him, Iâd shake his hand. I have no problem with him. If he has a problem with me, thatâs fine too. I donât think I said anything that was unfair or personal.
KS: Youâd been critical not long before that of Kloppâs assistant Pep Ljinders bringing out a book. Maybe itâs because Iâm a journalist but I thought it was generous of him to share some insights for Liverpool fans and aspiring coaches.
DH: If he had done a book after heâd finished up at Liverpool, that would be fine. But while heâs still in the role, whatâs in it to write a book like that? It can be only one of two things: you want to make a few quid â and heâs already healthily paid by Liverpool â or he wants to let people know how good he is. Or both. Either way, how does the club benefit from it?
TEAMMATES: Hamann with Jamie Carragher before the 2019 Champions League final. Pic: Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
KS: You did a book yourself shortly after you retired and Jamie Carragher wrote the foreword. Are you still mates and if so would you talk much about punditry?
DH: Weâre still in touch. If something happens he might let me know and weâll chat about it but we wouldnât really speak about [the art of] punditry itself. Heâs a very keen student of the game, always was, and very knowledgeable.
KS: As a pundit youâre not afraid to call it as you see it. What were you like in the dressing room as a player? Rio Ferdinand spoke well recently about how Roy Keane would pull people up as to how they were training, behaving. Were you like that?
DH: I was quiet in the dressing room that way. The only time Iâd talk was for those 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon and give teammates a hand. Steven Gerrard would need a lot of information playing ahead of me. So Iâd talk a lot on the pitch but without having a go at players. I had a few run-ins with Carra over that. He would slaughter people but you canât do that to everyone because some people canât take it.
Luis Garcia was a funny player. The more often he gave the ball away the more likely he was to score half an hour later. Sometimes I wondered was he giving the ball away on purpose. Carra would have a real go at him but I would say, âLeave him alone. Heâll score.â I had to protect Luis. If you were in his face all the time it would affect him. I was more into encouraging teammates. âCome on, youâre better than this.â
WATCHFUL BRIEF: Hamann with former teammate Steven Gerrard. Hamann says he would talk to Gerrard a lot during game. Pic: Mike Finn-Kelcey /Allsport
KS: How do you spend your downtime in Ireland?
DH: Well a few of the other lads are staying in the same hotel, so we might have a meal together or even go into OâDonoghueâs in Merrion Row, have a pint and Iâll see where the tide is going to take me.
I obviously know Liam for years now. I love how he gets his point across. I used to watch him playing in Italy when I was a kid so just to have a glass of wine with him, and not necessarily pick his brain, but simply to talk to him and hear about his journey is something I really enjoy. I obviously played with Shay [Given] at Newcastle while Kenny Cunningham is also staying in the same place as us.
KS: How do you think the current panelists are performing?
DH: Well quite a few of them are new but I think overall from what I have seen they are doing really well. Things have got to grow. During my era Ireland produced some wonderful players like Shay who for me is offering insights into goalkeeping that are second to none and that youâre not getting in many other places. Damien Duff has been great ever since he came on and especially now that he has the perspective of being a coach and manager.
KS: Should Gareth Southgate stay on? Should he be kept on?
DH: Itâs a very tricky situation. Heâs very respected by the public which is a big thing because the public have got rid of other managers. He also has the press on side which again is significant. Has he done enough to decide his own fate? Probably yes. But I just think at this time it probably needs someone else. Heâs had three chances to win and whereas great teams find a way to win, average teams find a way to lose. Now that might seem harsh but what he hasnât got which you need to be at this level is boldness. In the knockout stages you have to be bold and fearless.
One of my biggest interests is the psychology of sport and how the psychic energy and psychological edge flows and changes out on a pitch. If England had brought on Jack Grealish or another forward on after 60 minutes, [Didier] Deschamps would have gone, âHoly shit, this Southgate means business. He wants to win this game. I might have to bring on an extra defender nowâŚâ
KS: Whereas they seemed to assume a holding pattern after they equalised?
DH: Exactly. They didnât go for it. Next thing they concede and they have to chase the game again. It was a shame about the [second] penalty but you have to be proactive, you have to be fearless. He was trying not to lose the game rather than to win it. That prevents you from advancing in the late knockout stages.
KS: Is that not something though he can develop? To use the kind of parlance Southgate would, is that not one of the âlearningsâ heâll take from this? To be bolder when a similar situation arrives in 18 monthsâ time at the Euros?
DH: Again, I donât want to be too harsh on him but if he can learn then he hasnât learned much in the last 18 months [from Euro 2020]. Italy were gone in that final. Finished. So were Croatia two years before that yet he didnât approach the Italy game any different. So would he do anything different 18 months from now? I can only go on what Iâve seen and if he hasnât made the adjustment the second or third time you cannot anticipate or be confident that heâd do it the fourth time.
It wouldnât be the worst thing for England if they had a new manager. They have to be careful. I said it before in my book, they glorified Gazza when he came back from Italia â90 when in my eyes he actually let the country down by not taking a penalty. They cannot continue to glorify people for failure.
KS: You have concerns about the Stephen Kenny project as well.
DH: My worry is that he wonât be able to achieve what heâs trying to do with that crop of players. You have to see what players you have at your disposal and find a way they can win a game.
KS: But to develop more technical players, is there not a case that people have to see the senior team cherishing that kind of player and playing something resembling a style of play theyâd fit into?
DH: The national senior team is not going to produce players. They might give someone an opportunity but ultimately players are produced by the grassroots, clubs.
Iâm not saying you just knock it long for 90 minutes but you canât start a game like Ireland did against Norway and try to play straight away out from the back and end up going nowhere. Play it long, make it a scrap and then once the game settles, you can happily play some football with the ball. You have to give yourself the best chance to be successful and I donât think Ireland are doing at that moment.
In the past other teams didnât like coming to Lansdowne Road, they knew it was going to hurt. But now theyâre coming over thinking, we can play here, theyâll let us play. And if you play that kind of game against a team that is technically superior to you then you will always fall short. You have to bring them down to your level. As good as the 2002 Irish team was with guys like Duffer and Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne and Finnan and Kilbane, they were tough. Iâm not saying the guys now arenât tough but they donât play tough football. That should be the first thing Ireland do and the rest will take care of itself.
CLINIC: Hamann at a football clinic in Singapore in 2013. Pic: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images
KS: What about Germany? Where are they at now?
DH: As close to rock bottom as we have ever been.
KS: They thought that might have been Euro 2000 after which they massively restructured their systems, and theyâd already started changing things again ahead of this World Cup. 2v2 at U6, 3v3 at U7âŚ.
DH: Yeah, with four goals and no goalkeepers. Some things need to change, thatâs clear. But now they wonât allow the results of youth football to be published in case kids feel diminished. Weâve to be careful because if youâre a kid and see your name and the result in the paper it gives you great encouragement. But what we have to do above all is not to be telling kids too much too early. Kids are going to academies at 10 or 11 and the talent is being coached out of them. If we tell kids everything they can become lazy because they donât have to find solutions themselves. So the national governing body can have all the concepts and plans it likes but if clubs go down a different path weâre knackered.
A lot of youth coaches now arenât going in to necessarily coach the kids and help their development. Theyâre more interested in their own advancement. Someone becomes the U16 coach, next thing theyâre moved up to U18, then the first team, the manager gets sacked, you win a few games as the temporary manager and you get the job.
You should develop kids individually. If youâre a full back and Iâm a winger and I go past you four times, you have to find a solution to stop me. And your coach can help encourage you to discover that or maybe suggest that you adjust your body position or whatever. But not by him switching to five at the back or making two or three other formation changes and wanting people to say, âWow, he must be a good coach.â Thatâs bollix.
You canât coach what Duffer had. Glen McGrath, the great Australian fast bowler, said if he had a coach when he was 10 or 12 he would never have played top-level cricket because his bowling action was technically far from perfect. You have to see what kids have got and let them go with it. In Germany we donât have a top-rate centre forward. We donât have a holding midfielder which traditionally has been a key strategic position for us. We have no wingers that are different. Our academies have all produced the same kind of player. And if somebody does something a bit wayward off the field theyâre discarded.
I would nearly throw out the kids who donât do anything wrong! You need to have an edge, a bit of individuality. And if you have a technical player, hold on to them, regardless of their size. I never played for any select or representative teams until I was 16 because I was always the smallest. You can learn later how to run or fight for the ball but itâs so much harder to learn how to play with the ball. Weâve teams like Salzburg and Leipzig where playing without the ball is more important than what you can do with it; thatâs what their scouts are looking for and valuing most. Thatâs not why kids take up football.
Itâs that kind of authoritative, no-nonsense analysis which keeps RTĂ bringing him over and having him on our screens, one of Eamoâs many drinking partners and one of his finest legacies.
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On the radio here theyâre saying thereâs savage support for Argentina in the Mayo town of Foxford. This isnât a good omen for the Argies as thereâs a proven piseĂłg about Foxford and the ability to bring home the bacon.
Advantage the Frogs.
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Muldoons are such odd people.
Heâs a poison and theyâre better off without him. Be great to see France win two world cups without him
France hit with mystery illness. The fix is in for Messi
Time for Mboobily to have a Michael Jordan âflu gameâ
There was a time when we were a proper country and the Apres Match crew would do the coverage of the 3rd/4th place game.
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