February 2025
Both goalkeepers revolutionised their position, each in their own way.
MANUEL AS A CENTRE- FORWARD:
HE COULD DO THAT TOO
Sepp Maier
MN: That sounds anything but modern … SM: You‘ re not wrong. For a quarter of an hour it was just diving to the right, then just to the left, bang, bang, up and down, 20 times one after the other. It didn‘ t do any good. When I then worked as a goalkeeping coach with Jean-Marie Pfaff at Bayern in 1984 and for the national team from 1988, it was important to me that it wasn‘ t boring and tedious, but that it was fun. It‘ s much better to do an exercise five or six times in a focused way than 30 times in a row – you don‘ t get the same shot on goal 30 times in a game either. Towards the end of my coaching career, I had 146 different exercises in my programme – and Oliver Kahn didn‘ t even realise how long we‘ d been training. After 90 minutes, he would ask in amazement why we‘ d stopped. I was also never a fan of the weights room. It‘ s good in pre-season or when you‘ re injured, but during the season you need litheness and jumping power, and the best way to get that is on the pitch. When you hear that, Manu, the invention of the gloves, the innovative goalkeeper training – how highly do you rate this pioneering work? MN: It‘ s a lifetime achievement, no question about it. When I talk to people from other generations, whether it‘ s Oliver Kahn or my goalkeeping coaches, Sepp is the ultimate role model for every-
32 FC Bayern Magazine