interview de dietmarr hamman

ça vient de l'offal.
et non,josemi,c'est pas pcq tu n'aimais pas les beans on toast que tu n'es pas resté.
et didi,change tes baskets plus souvent,tu es le seul pecquenot à ne pas en changer toutes les 4 semaines!!!
didi senti que son pied s'est cassé peu de temps avant la fin du match contre le milan AC,mais il a serré les dents et il a continué.c'est avec ce même pied qu'il a tiré son penalty.sheer class.
il dit qu'il est arrivé sans pression pour tirer son penalty pcq 'il se disait que c'etait déja du bonus d'être là pcq'il sait que le match etait normalement fini à la mi temps.

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Congratulations on earning a new contract. Pleased?
"Thanks. The contract extends itself for another year if I play a certain number of games and I've passed that number now. I don't think I have to sign anything new - I think it's a clause that just comes into place when I hit a certain amount of games - so it looks like I will be here for another year."

Last summer a lot of fans didn't think you'd be around this season never mind next...
"I could have joined someone else during the summer for two or three years but I wanted to stay here because I love the club. I get on well with the people here and I've had a great time here so far. I think there's still more to come so I didn't want to leave during the summer. I said a few weeks before the end of last season that I would make a decision after the last game because I didn't want to have anything on my mind before the Champions League final. I probably would have stayed here anyway but after the final, there was no question I could leave Liverpool."

Wouldn't a three-year contract elsewhere have given you more financial security at this stage of your career?
"It would have been the easier option going somewhere else and taken the two to three years I was offered but I took a chance to sign the one-year contract with the option for another year. I was happy to do that. It may have been a bit of a gamble because you never know with injuries or whether you'll get another year but I've got every faith and belief in the manager so it's all come good now."

After the Champions League win, it's only a title winners medal that you need to complete your collection at club level. Next season?
"It would be nice. When you see the progress we've made over the last 18 months, I think there's every chance - whether it's next year, in two years times or whether I'm still here. I think we are in a much better shape and position than we were a year ago and closer to the top. I know it might not look like it because Chelsea are too far ahead but we're getting closer. Having said that, if they keep going like this for the next four or five years then I don't think anybody else will win it. But if they have an off year, you've got to be there to take your chance. I think we are in a good position now and in good shape. The manager has already made a few signings for next season and I think we'll improve and be stronger again. We've certainly got the belief that we can win it."

Thirty-seven points was the difference last year. At the moment it's about 17. Keep improving like that and you'll walk it next season!
"They're tough to beat over a season because of the way they play and the consistency they have is very hard to match. You don't have to be a clever man to acknowledge that. Arsenal went a season unbeaten and if you do that you will win the league. I don't think you can afford to lose more than four or five games in a season. We are making rapid improvement but there's still some way to go to match the actual champions. We are heading in the right direction though so who knows?"

As fans, it's hard to take Chelsea's achievements seriously because how hard can it be to beat most teams when you've just spent over £200m on players in such a short space of time? What's your take on the whole Chelsea phenomenon?
"Well, they've got the possibilities and the funds to go out and buy whoever they want. On the other hand, money doesn't buy you success and there's still a lot of hard work to be done. I think other clubs have tried to do what Chelsea have done and a good example of that is Borussia Dortmund, who are bankrupt now. They spent money they didn't have. Obviously it's a bit different with Chelsea because they actually have the funds to buy anybody but you still have to make a team out of all the individuals.

Money might not buy you success but it's hardly a hindrance, is it?
"It does help you but I still take my hat off for what they have done. They have been in the semi-finals of the Champions League twice, they won the league last year and are probably going to win it again this year. People say they buy success but I don't agree with that. They do buy a lot of good players but you still have to make a team out of them. If you have got a team of 11 individuals out on the pitch, they are going to get you nothing so you still have to acknowledge, respect and appreciate what the manager has done with the club."


When you arrived at Anfield in 1999, did you ever think you'd still be here seven years later talking about what you hope to achieve at Liverpool?
"You don't really think that far ahead as a footballer. When I went to Newcastle, I signed for five years but it was pretty clear after a few weeks when Kenny [Dalglish] was sacked that I wouldn't be there for five years. Everything was always pretty smooth at Liverpool. I got on well with the last manager and I've got no problems with Rafa. My kids go to school here and my wife is happy and so as long as my wife and my kids are happy, then I'm happy. You can't play for many better clubs than Liverpool because if you look at the history, the tradition, the fans, the way everyone sticks together.... I think it's only something you can talk about when you've played for the club. It's easy to say a club is like a big family but here it's actually true. You see the ex-players coming to the games with fans and it's obvious how much everyone supports the team."

What do people think of Liverpool back home in Germany? I take it you still think of Germany as 'home'?
"Home is with my family and that is here at the moment. In Germany, Liverpool is seen as the most successful club in England. Obviously Liverpool made their name in the '70s and '80s and they probably realise that we are on the way back again after our win last May. Everyone wants to play at Anfield because of the history and the great games that have been held at the ground. Liverpool is still seen as the most successful and the biggest club in England."

What did you make of Josemi's recent revelation that he couldn't settle at Liverpool because he didn't like beans on toast?
[Laughs] "He didn't say that, did he?"
He did.
[Laughs even louder] "I don't like beans on toast either and I've been here longer than he was! That hasn't stopped me from staying here. It is a different culture but my kids enjoy going to school here and speak fluent English. You've got to put up with certain things and adapt to certain things but that's one of the reasons why you come to a foreign country - to improve as a player and probably also as a person."

Is England actually very different to Germany? I'd guess we're more like the Germans than we are the Spanish?
"That's probably true. We're probably not too different in all reality. Every country has a different way of life but it's not like you are going to Asia or anything. You can fly home to Germany in just over an hour."

Before Robbie Fowler rejoined the club, Jamie Carragher claimed that you were one of three Scousers in the Liverpool team, alongside himself and Steven Gerrard. Do you feel like a Scouser?
"If Carra says anything, I have to think long and hard before I can bring myself to agree with him but I have been here for a few years now and I have always felt welcome, so I will say I do feel like a Scouser."

He also said that you were the worst trainer at the club and the worst dresser...
"He actually brought me a pair of trainers because mine were a few years old. I just don't see the point of buying a new pair of trainers every four weeks. You can't even see them when you're tracksuit bottoms are hanging over them! I think some of the players are more bothered about what boots they play with than actually how they play!"

You've always appeared to get on very well with all the lads. Is it true you're the dressing room joker?
"Well, you've got to keep the boys happy and share a few jokes with them. We have a few miserable ones here so every now and then, you've got to make them laugh. It's not easy but we'll get there."

Who are the miserable ones?
"Well, there's a few and you've obviously got to put up with them but life goes on."

You've been here seven years and you've not even got the Jan Molby-style Scouse accent. What's wrong with you?
"You know what, I've never actually met him so I can't really compare our accents. I think he lives in the Wirral like me though so maybe there's time yet."

What about your kids? I read recently that they're struggling a bit with their German.
"Well, we have to teach them to read and write in German because they don't learn it in school. We teach them at home once a week but they do struggle a bit with things like the grammar."

They must speak like their friends at school with a Liverpool accent...
"No, they don't speak with any accent. Maybe just the Queen's English. Is it Oxford English? They go to school with Robbie Fowler's girls but they haven't picked up the accent from them!"

How close were you to Robbie when he was here the first time?
"Robbie has always been great to have around. He's a bit of a joker and it's good to have these people around."

Has he come back a different person? Is he keeping his head down to impress the new boss?
"I don't know if he's keeping his head down. Nobody needs to tell him anything about the club, if you know what I mean? He's probably scored more goals than most people in the current squad have played games for Liverpool. Well, maybe not quite as Carra has played over 400 times but I think the reception the fans gave him on his return says everything about his status within the club. He's been called 'God' by the supporters and I think deservedly so for what he's done for the club. He has just been outstanding. He's obviously got to get to know a few of the lads because he's been away for a bit but I wouldn't say he's like a typical new player."

You and Robbie were both here when we won the Treble in 2001. How would you compare that team with the current side?
"It's tough to compare teams. I was looking at a photograph of when we won the UEFA Cup in Dortmund and we had a terrific team with some great players like Michael Owen, Danny Murphy and Markus Babbel, who had a great year. There was Stephane Henchoz, Vladimir Smicer, Patrik Berger, Gary McAllister... The year after that we finished second in the Premiership. That was a very good team. There have been one or two changes since then though and rightly so because you always have to try and improve your team."

In what way is Rafa different to Gerard?
"There's a huge difference. Rafa and Pako have got a completely different way of training. We train harder, we train for longer and we workharder than we used to. Everything is about tactics as well. You know that they know what they are doing and that's the main thing. If you ask Pako, he tells you what we will be doing in training in two weeks time. That's unusual because when sometimes things don't go right, people change things. What he does is very impressive. We work on tactics almost every day and if you look at our goals against record, that is a massive improvement. We played Valencia a few years ago when Rafa was in charge there and that was probably the hardest game ever for us. It was hard to get the ball and once we had it, we couldn't play. We got beat 1-0 at home and I think we only had half a chance through Emile Heskey. We were completely outplayed and couldn't get anywhere near them. When you work with them and see the way they train us now, you can see why Valencia played the way they did."

When a new manager comes in, do you still learn new things even at your age?
"Everybody does. Rafa tells the defenders to take up different positions when the ball is in certain areas and I think maybe they hadn't heard or done that before but it makes sense. You always keep improving and learning. The day when you say you've seen it all or heard it all before is the day you will go backwards. We have got quite a few young players here and it is very important for them to work with a manager like Rafa who can teach you tactics and where you should be on the pitch. It's very important at a young age to have somebody who can really improve your game."

Has Rafa ever said anything to you about your goals to games ratio? I was looking at your stats the other day and I think you've scored 11 times in six seasons. You're hardly prolific.
"No. The old gaffer mentioned to me how he wanted to see me score more goals but as long as we are winning, I'll be alright."

You don't even take any free-kick anymore...
"I think I've only taken one in the last two seasons but I did score that one. It was against Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of the Champions League and I don't think I've taken many more since then."

You don't fancy repeating the trick on Wednesday, do you?
"That would be nice. It will be a very tough match. We are at home, in front of our crowd and we have done it before but Benfica came through a very tough group that included Manchester United, Villarreal and Lille. It's not straightforward and it's not a certainty that we will win 2-0 or 3-0. It will be a very tough game."

A lot of people presume that because we beat Olympiacos when we needed a two-goal margin, it'll automatically happen again.
"We certainly don't think that it'll happen automatically just because we've done it before. You can't think like that. It will be a very tough game because they are a very tough side. They made it very hard for us to play in Portugal and their style may be even better suited to playing away from home. We'll really need to be at our best and on top of our game to get past them."

At least you know exactly what you have to do on Wednesday.
"At 0-0, I always say it's probably a better result for the home team than the away team because if you come away with a 0-0, if you score away from home then the opposition needs to score two. We know that we need to score and we probably need to score three goals to make sure we do go through. We need to go forward and score, it's as simple as that."

On the subject of the Champions League, is it true you played some of the final with a broken foot?
"Well, I felt a little crack in my foot a few minutes before the end of the game. I didn't know it was broken but I certainly felt it. With five minutes to go though, the adrenalin was pumping. I felt pain but it wasn't stopping me from playing and running and that's all that mattered at the time."

Was it the foot you took the penalty with?
"Yes but I hit the penalty with the inside of my foot. Once you get to the penalties though, things like pain don't even come into it because you are so focussed."

What was going through your mind when you stepped up to take the penalty?
"The fact that Serginho missed was probably a bit of a help but then I'm thinking, 'Bloody 'ell, I can put us 1-0 up here!' It was just a bonus to be out there as we probably should have been in the dressing room by that time. We had come back from 3-0 down, which nobody had expected. By the time it came to the penalties and Jerzy made the first save, I was actually thinking that we should be in the shower now and on our way home. It was just a bonus and we had to make the most of it."

How did playing in the Champions League final compare to playing in the World Cup final of 2002?
"Well, it's the biggest game at club level and the biggest game at international level. Unfortunately I lost one but it could easily have been two defeats. It would have been nice to have won the World Cup final but maybe it's even better winning the Champions League with your team because they are the boys you work with all year. With the national team, you only come together for two to three days in a month, you come from different clubs and there's not the same bond. I think it means more winning the Champions League final than the World Cup final."

Is there still a chance you could make the Germany squad for this year's World Cup?
"I've told the coach that if he wants me, I would come back. I would like to come back but it's not in my hands. There's a chance as eight to 10 weeks is a long time in football; a lot of things can happen in three months and it helps if you do well in the Premiership and the Champions League. I'll just wait and see and do my best for Liverpool. I told the Germany coach that I want to concentrate on doing my best for Liverpool and nothing has changed. There are some young players in the Germany squad and if the coach wants me to help them, I'll be there."

You mention a lot of things can happen in 10 weeks but for Momo Sissoko, his world almost fell apart in 10 minutes out in Lisbon...
"I saw him the other day for the first time since it happened and it's terrible. His eye is swollen and it's a terrible thing. I've just got my fingers crossed that his eyesight comes back and he can carry on playing for us. He has every support of the players and the club here and even though I may get a few more games now, that's the last thing you want to happen to anybody. He is a very important player for Liverpool. He played a lot of games this season and brought something else to our team with his energy. What really impressed everyone was the way he kept his level up which is unusual for a young boy. We are really going to miss him because him and Djimi [Traore] could just run for fun in training. The pair of them can just run and run and run. I think they must be the two fittest players at the club. When something like what happened to Momo, Djibril [Cisse] or Alan Smith occurs, it just makes you aware that a football life can be a short one."

As you get older, do you start thinking about what you are going to be do in three or four years time?"
I probably think more about it than I did a few years ago but I wouldn't know now what I wanted to do. I think I've got at least another two or three years in me at the top level. The thing is, you want to do something which makes you happy and you enjoy. If you don't like doing it, there's no point doing it. There's a few things I've been thinking about but I'll wait and see and keep my options open. Staying in the game might be a possibility. I don't really see myself as a coach but you never know."

comment je suis heureux que josemi n'aimait pas les baked beans!!!
je vois vraiment pas d'autre raison pour laquelle il ait quitté LFC!!!

si j'ai bien compris,didi dit qu'il est un des seuls à déconner dans le vestiaire pcq les autres sont trop serieux.
c'est fou,ça,non?

J'adore ce joueur !!!!
Vraiment vraiment top classe!!!!!
Il meriterait un monument !!! Lui c'est une vraie legende de liverpool!!

Quand il partira, ça laissera vraiment un grand vide, il est irremplacable ( et il meriterais d'etre titulaire plus souvent selon moi, car la il porfite surtout de la blessure de Momo!)

autumn319 wrote:

What did you make of Josemi's recent revelation that he couldn't settle at Liverpool because he didn't like beans on toast?[/b]
[Laughs] "He didn't say that, did he?"
He did.
[Laughs even louder] "I don't like beans on toast either and I've been here longer than he was! That hasn't stopped me from staying here. It is a different culture but my kids enjoy going to school here and speak fluent English. You've got to put up with certain things and adapt to certain things but that's one of the reasons why you come to a foreign country - to improve as a player and probably also as a person."

Moi j'adore les baked beans on toast au p'tit déj'

hamman un tres grand joueur et un gars bien.

Hamman s'est taillé un palmares prodigieux au bayern et surtout a Liverpool!!

il est now une legende du Club!!

clivethered! wrote:

Hamman s'est taillé un palmares prodigieux au bayern et surtout a Liverpool!!

il est now une legende du Club!!

C'est clair quand il joue le milieux est maitrisé par les Reds et Steven peut jouer plus devant.

Faut le cloner

ou la

en fait il faudrait prendre un gars pareil plus tard stYLE Moi quoiiiii