Hamburg, Aug 7 (DPA) Louis van Gaal, Felix Magath and Armin Veh are just some men starting a new challenge in Germany in an unprecedented merry-go-round on the Bundesliga coaching benches.
Eight of 18 top flight clubs have a new helmsman and three other coaches make their Bundesliga debut as the season kicks off Friday night when defending champions VfL Wolsburg take on VfB Stuttgart.
The Dutchman van Gaal replaces Juergen Klinsmann (and caretaker Jupp Henyckes) as mighty Bayern Munich chose authority over more experiments in the quest for domestic and international glory.
Magath decided to leave Wolfsburg for the Schalke 04 hot seat where he could become immortal with a first German title for the club since 1958.
Veh, meanwhile, replaces Magath (again), as the new Wolfsburg coach.
Leverkusen (Heynckes), Hamburg (Bruno Labbadia), Borussia Moenchengladbach (Michael Frontzeck), Eintracht Frankfurt (Michael Skibbe) and Mainz (Thomas Tuchel) have new coaches as well.
Zvonimir Soldo (Cologne), Robin Dutt (SC Freiburg) and Michael Oenning (Nuremberg) are the new faces in the Bundesliga.
After failing to add any silverware last season under Klinsmann, Munich picked van Gaal this time to steer the team in the right direction again.
Munich are the top title favourite and van Gaal is confident enough to seek more glory after previous success with Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona and AZ Alkmaar.
“I have made history wherever I have been. I want to do this again,” he said.
Veh, meanwhile, was due to open his first Bundesliga campaign at Wolfsburg against the club where he took charge in February 2006, a year and half after Magath’s departure.
Veh led Stuttgart to the 2007 Bundesliga title before being sacked in 2008 – after a defeat against Wolfsburg. Now he is at the Northern Germans and aims for more glory.
“We want to establish Wolfsburg at the top of the league,” he said, adding that being compared with Magath “is part of the appeal of the challenge.”
Magath, for his part, faces what appears the most daunting task after guiding Bayern Munich to unprecedented back-to-back league and cup doubles in 2005 and 2006, and Wolfsburg to the surprise championship in May.
Unlike van Gaal or Veh, Magath can not work with new high quality players at Schalke, and must teach the team attacking football over the next months as a first step towards possible success.
Magath knows that he will gain fame like nowhere else if he manages a Bundesliga title with Schalke and their devoted fans.
“I would like to give the fans a league title over the next four years,” Magath told Kicker sports magazine.
“Schalke is arguably the most emotional club in the league. I know what is expected from me. But I also know that I have always managed to have good results from difficult tasks.”
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