'Schweinsteiger will end up a great player'

Even an experienced coach such as Felix Magath finds he sometimes has something new to learn. It happened at the start of this season when the 51 year-old took over as head coach from Ottmar Hitzfeld. "Everything here happens on a far bigger scale," the boss told fcbayern.de, although the former Stuttgart chief said he had now grown used to "the norms at Bayern Munich."

In the second part of our major interview, Magath reveals his plans for Mehmet Scholl, his view of Sebastian Deisler's prospects, and why he thinks Bastian Schweinsteiger could end up one of the greats in Munich.

Felix Magath interview, part 2

fcbayern.de: Were you surprised the Munich media went into your training methods, including routines with medicine balls, lead-weighted jackets and mountain runs, in such intense detail?

Felix Magath: "I did shake my head in disbelief a couple of times. They seemed to think I was doing something unusual or extraordinary."

fcbayern.de: Is that perhaps the biggest difference here in Munich, the permanent media presence and intense public scrutiny?

Magath: "Obviously I had to get used to the norms at Bayern Munich. Everything that goes on here attracts national, and usually international interest, but at other clubs it's normally confined to the local region. Everything here happens on a far bigger scale. Obviously I knew that in advance, but you still don't really appreciate the consequences. I had to learn that in the first few months. This is the critical difference compared to other top-flight clubs. You have to be much more cautious here. I think I've fully understood that now, and I'm hoping not to make any more mistakes."

fcbayern.de: In Stuttgart you made a virtue out of necessity and brought on plenty of younger players. Will you repeat the recipe at Bayern?

Magath: "It's a more demanding situation at Bayern and a lot more difficult for younger players to make the breakthrough. You have intense rivalry in every area of the team. You need patience to start challenging the established players. That's why you don't get as many young people in the first team at Bayern compared to Stuttgart for example. But one of my goals is to take on the fantastic young players developed by [reserve coach] Hermann Gerland and bring them into the team. I reckon one or two will make the first-team squad next term."

fcbayern.de: Does that mean one or two of the senior pros will move on? Six contracts are up in the summer.

Magath: "I could well imagine one or two players leaving, although no decisions have been taken yet. Something will happen because we want a smaller squad as of next term, so we can blood the best of the young reserves."

fcbayern.de: Have you started thinking about the squad for next season?

Magath: "No. I've been too busy getting the situation under control and I've hardly started thinking about next season. I don't think it's urgent. And we haven't taken any decisions, because we have to let players like Vahid Hashemian get used to the different level here. It can take six months, sometimes it takes a full year. So I'm aware we need to be patient with some of the players. After we're through mid-season training in January we'll sit back and take a look at the team. From my point of view we still have options, and there are definitely positions open to anyone prepared to play his way into the team."

fcbayern.de: Mehmet Scholl has been part of the team recently. He had a terrible time with injuries, so did you expect him to contribute so much?

Magath: "I sat down and talked to him before I started here, and we agreed we'd give it a shot together. He'd really like to win another championship and I can really use him. So we're giving it a go together. I wanted him in from the start, but he was still having problems at the beginning of the season and had to sit out for a while. But I think the problems are under control, this injury against Mainz is just a blip in my opinion, and he's got over it very well. The fact he played on with a broken cheekbone tells me he still has the desire to make a contribution. So I'm totally confident he'll play a full part in the life of our squad from January onwards, and the hope is he'll turn it on for the full 90 minutes, something he's basically managing for about 30 minutes at the moment."

fcbayern.de: The media love mulling over the best position for Michael Ballack. At the moment, you seem to have found a perfect role for him in defensive midfield. How did that come about?

Magath: "I first needed to see how the players reacted to certain formations. That's normally what you do in pre-season, but we didn't have a proper pre-season, so I had to try things out in the early league fixtures. I'd been thinking about it for a while and spoke to Michael Ballack in mid-September. The other factor is that we have plenty of midfielders here who can basically play every midfield position. That's an unusual situation. Based on this, we arrived at the current formation. And I believe it's best for us at this moment, although it doesn't always have to be this way, we could switch things around again."

fcbayern.de: Have you had any unpleasant surprises on the squad front?

Magath: "No. I often think over this kind of thing and I have no preconceived notions. Players react differently to a new coach. It always depends on the player-coach relationship. I never think hard about it beforehand, whether it will work out. So there's no one who's disappointed me."

fcbayern.de: Any positive surprises?

Magath: "To begin with I thought it would be very tough for Bastian Schweinsteiger. But he's come on a treat and started to play a major role. After what he's done, I'm confident he will keep on doing well with us. The decisive thing from my point of view was that he accepted criticism, went away and worked on it. He's come on very well, so I'm very, very confident. He's still young and we can still get more out of him, and he needs to get more out of himself. He's not doing everything right yet, but I believe he could be one of the greats here."

fcbayern.de: Where does Sebastian Deisler fit in?

Magath: "The basic problem I see with Sebastian Deisler is his own impatience. He's not played regularly for a number of years. Some people think you can take a break and then get right back up to speed, but that's wrong. Sebastian seems to think, under pressure from the media, he always has to play brilliantly in the next match. But he needs to rediscover his rhythm and his game. He's tended to want to do something special every time, shoot at goal himself rather than look up and find a team-mate in a better position. That's a basic of the game and he needs to remember that, he needs to work on it. And that will take time."

fcbayern.de: To what extent can you get involved and help him tone down the heavy demands he makes of himself?

Magath: "I have to try and persuade him that I'm being supportive when I say it's too early for him to return for Germany. He needs to understand that this isn't a criticism, it's an attempt to help him get back on the right path and release his full potential for us. But that won't happen overnight. He's nervous at the moment, but I believe he's recognised the situation and he's trying to do his own thing. It'll take a while, but it doesn't matter. Once he's pointed in the right direction he'll be ready for take-off. Then he can be the Sebastian Deisler everyone hopes he can be, for Bayern Munich and for Germany."

Read part 1 of our Felix Magath interview.

Read part 3 of our major interview from Monday afternoon, as Magath discusses the upcoming meeting with Ajax Amsterdam and reveals how he spends his free time in Munich.