Having recently secured an interview with former Bayern Munich star Markus Babbel, Get German Football News also had a chance to sit down with Babbel’s former Bayern teammate and friend Mario Basler. Babbel and Basler have recently co-authored a book chronicling their time spent playing together between 1996 and 1999. The pair captured two league titles and one cup whilst representing Bayern in the famed “FC Hollywood” days.
Basler’s new book – his third – is entitled “Das Leben nach der beaten Jahren” (“Life after the best years”) promises loads of anecdotes about their days spent living the dream life of German footballing superstars. The German public television produced “FC Hollywood” documentary counts as an absolute “must watch” for football fans everywhere. The book and the doc make for perfect companion pieces.
The book should prove just as interesting as our GGFN interview. Basler is an outspoken and razor-sharp Palatinate character who never shies away from controversy or scandal. In his trademark gravelly voice, the Neustadt-native loves to embark on a diatribe whenever discussing football-related topics.
Examples of “cult” Basler opinion pieces abound. A recent example illustrates this. When on tour in Aalen with Germany’s famed “Doppelpass” footballing roundtable, Basler had this to say on the ongoing topic of Thomas Müller’s departure from FC Bayern Munich:
“There’s no denying what he’s accomplished, but I’m glad that the topic is done with. I’ve been wondering over the last weeks if there’s still going to be Bundesliga football after Thomas Müller leaves. FC Bayern will go on without Thomas Müller. Seven weeks is too long. There’s plenty of reasons why Bayern decided not to extend with him in January.
“With his technical footballing skills, Müller would have been lucky to fetch the water bottles in my day. When he used to play right wing, were there regular warnings at the airport about an unknown flying object when Müller tried to cross the ball.”
GGFN spoke with Basler about this statement and other topics. Subjects covered included Basler’s coaching record following his professional career, which famous German coach influenced him the most, and some of his greatest setbacks during his playing days. When it came time to wrap things up, the 56-year-old was gracious enough to provide some interesting tips on how the exciting 2024/25 2. Bundesliga campaign will conclude.
Basler came up through the FCK amateur ranks, not making his professional debut until the age of 21. After his illustrious professional career was over, he continued representing amateur and semi-pro clubs as a both a player. He also managed several third and fourth tier sides.
Such an interesting path leaves one curious as to whether Basler preferred working in the amateur ranks or might have envisioned things differently . The man who collected five major trophies with Bayern and Werder Bremen remained rather ruthlessly honest about his career trajectory.
“There wasn’t a lot of success in my career. I often times made mistakes coaching teams that didn’t have the best financial prospects. I sometimes did a favor for one sporting director or another. At a certain point, I decided to give up my coaching career.“
Basler nevertheless did achieve some success in his coaching career and was pleased to give himself some credit after some follow-up questions. Did his own history rise through the amateur ranks as a “late bloomer” not fuel his passion for working with lower division players? Was it not a useful experience in the end?
“Of course. I also had a lot of fun and enjoyed working with the lads. In the beginning I couldn’t understand why third or fourth division players couldn’t play a 10 meter pass precisely. Perhaps I compared them to myself too much, as I don’t think football’s all that hard.
“It took some time to comprehend why certain players are in the third or fourth division as opposed to the first or second. I did learn a lot and did take Eintracht Trier to the third round of the DFB Pokal by beating first and second league opponents. I’m glad that I made that step.”
When it came time to ask which German coach influenced his own coaching style the most, one surmised that the answer would likely be the legendary Otto Rehhagel. Basler won the DFB Pokal with Rehhagel’s Bremen in 1994 and also served under him upon his return to Lautern in 1999.
Basler was not part of the legendary Rehhagel team that snatched the 1997/98 Bundesliga title away from the “FC Hollywood” Bayern crew. Even so, it was indeed “King Otto” who shaped Basler the most. This the case in both negative and positive ways.
“Otto Rehhagel was very relaxed with us players. He wasn’t the type to push his players to their limits three or four times a week. He was respectful and very adept at building a team of characters, that also had a character and were willing to walk through the fire for him.
“I took a lot from Rehhagel. I was always loose with my team. They were always totally fit, but there were times when I was a little too loose with players I should have pushed more. In the final analysis, I have to say that Otto was a great coach, person, and mentor for his players.”
Basler shall always be remembered for his accomplishments, yet also had to deal with the fact that he suffered far more than his fair share of setbacks. German national team colleague Christian Ziege injured him just prior to the 1996 Euros, meaning that Basler missed out on Germany’s title win.
Basler also scored the opening goal for Bayern in the famous 1999 Champions League final loss against Manchester United. Though he scored the winning goal in Bayern’s 1999 Pokal triumph, he never managed to help Lautern secure any silverware from 1999 onwards.
In 2001, the FCK’s Champions League dream ended in the semi-finals. Bayern also beat Basler’s Lautern in the 2003/04 Pokal final. For Basler, the 1996 Euros remained the most bitter of all disappointments, but not exactly a burning one.
“One can’t do anything about injuries. They can always happen. They happen to all players. At least I didn’t suffer a career ending injury. It was bitter, but one can’t do much about it.“
The famous Müller comments came up next. In his Get German Football News interview, Basler’s co-author Babbel placed Müller on the same level with Gerd Müller and Franz Beckenbauer. Babbel emphasised that – in the pantheon of Bayern legends – Thomas Müller belonged above Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.
How was Basler’s opinion different from his friend’s?
“It’s not really a different opinion. Twenty five years at a big club. That’s not something one sees every day. Those other players didn’t accomplish that. I think that Müller received a worthy farewell this weekend until he told that joke [Müller made something of a crude joke about a father on his deathbed refusing a cake his wife had prepared for after the burial in his post match comments. It was something of a swipe at club management.]
“That was gratuitous. No one needed that. The topic simply dragged on too long. For six or seven weeks, it was all about Thomas Müller 24/7. I was afraid that there wouldn’t be any more Bundesliga football after Thomas Müller. I thought people were talking about cancelling the Bundesliga after Thomas Müller’s departure. I was criticising the fact that this was all too much.
“But of course, he accomplished what not accomplished by Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Ribery or Robben. In terms of Bayern, Thomas Müller is way up at the top.
“I [still] have no problem with you using my quotes in the article! Use everything that I say. I’ve been saying it for years. Thomas Müller is not a player who does well on the flanks. He should be stationed behind the lead striker.
“I was totally serious. Thomas Müller himself knows that he’s not the best technical footballer. You can use those quotes. I said them and I stand by them.”
Naturally, no one interviewing Basler can resist asking for some tips on upcoming German footballing action. The 2024/25 2. Bundesliga heads for an epic conclusion this coming Sunday. Hamburger SV have already secured promotion. Below the Hanseaten, five clubs are still in the hunt.
What did Basler think of the upcoming mega match between second-place FC Köln and sixth place Kaiserslautern?
“I think that the FCK will win away at Köln and that Elversberg will secure the second automatic promotion spot [with a win at home over FC Schalke 04]. SC Paderborn 07 will probably finish third [and contest the relegation playoff]. Köln need to watch out that they don’t slip down to fourth place.
“It will prove interesting to see what happens this weekend.“
This interview was made possible by Samba Slots
GGFN | Peter Weis
