Toni Kroos reflects on his time at Bayern Munich, criticizes Jurgen Klinsmann

Toni Kroos is set to have a documentary about his footballing career premier at the end of June. The Real Madrid and Die Mannschaft midfielder spent 7 years of his career at Bayern Munich, collecting 3 Bundesliga titles, 2 DFB-Pokals, and of course the Champions League title in 2013. During his time in Munich, he experienced a handful of different managers, from Ottmar Hitzfeld to Pep Guardiola, before he eventually left for Real Madrid in 2014 for a fee of around 25 million euros.

Speaking about his early days with Bayern, Kroos described the frustrations he experienced while playing under manager Jürgen Klinsmann, who managed Bayern from July 2008 to April 2009. Under Klinsmann, Kroos received few minutes of play despite receiving constant words of encouragement from his coach (SportBild):

I was often told how great I am and how right I am doing everything — but I did not play.

The season after Klinsmann was sacked, Kroos was loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen from the winter of 2009 to the summer of 2010. He had a breakthrough season for Leverkusen during the 2009-2010 campaign, scoring 9 goals and providing 12 assists in 33 appearances, most often as a starter. When his loan with Leverkusen expired in 2010 and he went back to Bayern, he began to establish himself on the first team when Jupp Heynckes took charge of the club in the summer of 2011. The rest is history.

When Kroos was sold to Madrid in the summer of 2014, he was on the last year of his contract with Bayern and was trying to negotiate higher wages in connection with a contract extension. However, Bayern’s front office felt that Kroos was not yet worth the fees he was asking for. Hence he transferred to Madrid. In the documentary, Bayern President Uli Hoeness says, in hindsight, that letting Kroos leave was more than likely a mistake. Hoeness said,

A club sometimes has to make difficult decisions — and that was a difficult one, maybe the wrong one.

Kroos went on to enjoy an incredibly decorated career with Real Madrid, with whom he just recently signed a new four-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2023.

The trailer for the documentary: