Schweinsteiger: "Bundesliga on the right track"
Munich - A little over a fortnight ago, the most coveted tactician in professional football, Pep Guardiola, was revealed as the next coach of FC Bayern Munich, a position he will take up this summer.
Envied across the globe
It was a notable feather in the cap for the Bavarian outfit and the German top flight as a whole, not to mention another sign, according to FC Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, that the Bundesliga is very much "on the right track".
The Bundesliga’s growth in recent years has been clear to see. Progressive changes implemented just over a decade ago by the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga have been continued by the 36 professional clubs, ensuring that German teams field more local, home-grown talent than ever before.
The quality of coaching has also improved, so much so that club academies are now the melting pots from which an array young, talented and predominantly German players emerge every season. Germany’s two leading clubs, Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, are two of the best examples of the Bundesliga reaping the rewards of youth development, bringing through the likes of Schweinsteiger and Mario Götze respectively.
Schweinsteiger impressed
Schweinsteiger for one shares in the optimism that German football now exudes: "It [the league] is on a good financial footing. It’s good for the Bundesliga [to be able to attract names such as Guardiola], but it’s also important for the national team that young German talent is coming through."
Indeed, the Bundesliga's ability to attract top-class coaches and players from abroad whilst investing in the stars of tomorrow is the result of a forward-thinking DFL and huge strides taken by clubs - both on the pitch and in the boardrooms. It’s also a sure sign that even more success, at domestic and international level, is on the way.
