Arjen Robben wants to party Dutch style

The lukewarm atmosphere of Bayern Munich’s most recent championship celebration left one party animal (Feierbiest!) craving more. Arjen Robben thinks the Bundesliga can do better:

Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

In Holland it’s done differently. When you win the championship, then you have to celebrate right away. With the trophy.

Robben celebrated his own first championship with PSV Eindhoven in 2003.

When you become the champion, then your joy is still spontaneous, you’re totally thrilled. Today you saw that it wasn’t spontaneous anymore. That’s a shame. That’s something that can be changed—or actually has to be.

Celebrating on the day one clinches the title might present some minor logistical problems for the DFB, but it moreover breaks with the notion that the season is not over until it is truly over. Building the momentum to reverse long-standing tradition may be the biggest challenge. But Robben affirms that it is not the routineness of winning the Bundesliga championship, but rather the delay after doing so that made Bayern’s celebration seem so flat.

Robben looks ahead

After recently signing a one-year contract extension, Robben has one more season with Bayern ahead of him. It is likely that Robben will play a new role for Bayern, as the club rejuvenates its starting lineup. What matters for Robben is ambition:

Bayern Munich is a top club; here, only winning matters, only titles matter. I stayed here because I want to attack all-out and be important for the team.

Robben is currently working to return to the team in time for the final game, the DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt. Beyond that, he believes Bayern already are set to contend for the Champions League next year:

That’s the big goal. If the team stays together and else leaves, then we are set up perfectly. The semifinal against Madrid gave me a feeling that we’re capable of something like that again next year.