© Imago
The captain is back in Bayern training! Manuel Neuer joined training at Tegernsee on Tuesday afternoon, like several other internationals. The 40-year-old veteran still wants to lead the way in his 21st season as a professional and lay the foundation for a successful campaign in pre-season.
After his first session with the team in Rottach-Egern, Neuer answered questions from the media and discussed, among other things, the World Cup, new signings and possible retirement.
Neuer on…
… Germany’s last-32 exit at the World Cup
“It was obviously tough to deal with. We all hoped for more and you don’t enjoy the holiday as much as if we'd gone further, which we all wanted. But that's also part of sport. In a way you're also glad to get back to it and that you have new goals and can achieve a lot with the club. That’s our goal now.”
… aims for the new season
“It’s about all the goals we can achieve. We want to beat everyone. Everything’s not always that easy, that’s for sure – we've also seen that. But I think we had a good season and that we have the players in the team who make it possible for us to beat everyone and achieve all our goals. The motivation is there among the players to achieve even more than last season.”
… the current squad
“We're generally very happy. We’ve not had any departures from the first XI, no one’s thrown us off. I think the two new signings also bring enough power with them to help us on. We obviously hope this structure is the best thing that can happen to us as a team and the club. That's why we're happy that we've completed these two transfers and can welcome these players into the team.”
Manuel Neuer completed his first pre-season session with the team at the training camp at Tegernsee on Tuesday. | © FC Bayern
… his personal motivation for this season
“I just enjoy it. I would've probably retired in 85% of cases, but in this team and with this staff it's just fun. We always have the possibility of competing for every title and we're right at the top with this team. So, this team and the structure we have in the club accounted for the 15% that made me say: I have to carry on.”
… his family, who watched training at Tegernsee on Tuesday
“I’m doing this for myself and also because I'm capable of always helping the team. It’s very nice that I have the support of my family and friends.”
… retirement
“When I play, I’m not thinking that this could be my last season, even though it might be the last time that I'm in a particular stadium. But it certainly looks very much like I’m going to retire at the end of the season.”
… the goalkeeping team with Jonas Urbig and Sven Ulreich
“I think it will work similarly to last season. We’ll support each other. We have a good goalkeeping team, including Sven and the young goalkeepers. It's important that we help each other, push each other and can always give our best for the team in goal. And that will be the case again this season.”
The full report from training on Tuesday:
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