Makaay is not happy with his performance in 2005
Bayern Munich faced Hamburg in the Cup to round off their competitive schedule in the season 2005. "We desire to lay down a marker and make it clear we're the best squad in Germany," a highly motivated Roy Makaay declared beforehand.
The dutch player duly took the field despite a niggling hamstring problem, but the 30-year-old was back on the bench just 17 minutes later after recognising he was not fit enough to go the distance.
That was at least partly analogy of a less than happy three or four months in the striker's career. Roy finished 2005 as top scorer in Germany for the calendar year on 23 league goals, but the autumn saw him endure a two-month barren spell, and the player went through a first he would rather forget when ciach Felix Magath took him off at half-time in Bayern's final Champions League group match away to Bruges.
The starting of the season showed Makaay in outstanding form. He scored six times in the first three league games and was tipped in some quarters of the media as a contender to beat Gerd Muller's all-time record of 40 goals in the 1972-3 season. But the father of two limped out of a Netherlands training camp in late August with a knee injury, and his form suddenly deserted him.
Now, reporters started counting as the number of minutes without a Makaay goal increased from week to week. After 1,124 minutes barren minutes, Roy finally struck again to complete the scoring in a 3-1 home victory over Werder Bremen in early November. "I was more steady after that, but still nowhere near where I've been for most of the last two seasons. I started well this term, but with a couple of exceptions, I can't honestly be satisfied with myself," Roy admitted.
"I never rediscovered my rhythm after the injury," he continued. Coach Magath thought his normally deadly striker succumbed to the mental strain when Dutch coach Marco van Basten overlooked him in the autumn international call-ups. "Yes, I always put myself under pressure," Roy confessed, "I tried to forget all about it, but it was probably lurking in my subconscious."
The striker remains convinced of his ability to bounce back. "I intend to work like a dog after Christmas," he revealed, rating physical fitness as the foundation for maintaining his consistency. There can be little doubt Roy will soon return to normality, which in his case means a torrent of goals.
The dutch player duly took the field despite a niggling hamstring problem, but the 30-year-old was back on the bench just 17 minutes later after recognising he was not fit enough to go the distance.
That was at least partly analogy of a less than happy three or four months in the striker's career. Roy finished 2005 as top scorer in Germany for the calendar year on 23 league goals, but the autumn saw him endure a two-month barren spell, and the player went through a first he would rather forget when ciach Felix Magath took him off at half-time in Bayern's final Champions League group match away to Bruges.
The starting of the season showed Makaay in outstanding form. He scored six times in the first three league games and was tipped in some quarters of the media as a contender to beat Gerd Muller's all-time record of 40 goals in the 1972-3 season. But the father of two limped out of a Netherlands training camp in late August with a knee injury, and his form suddenly deserted him.
Now, reporters started counting as the number of minutes without a Makaay goal increased from week to week. After 1,124 minutes barren minutes, Roy finally struck again to complete the scoring in a 3-1 home victory over Werder Bremen in early November. "I was more steady after that, but still nowhere near where I've been for most of the last two seasons. I started well this term, but with a couple of exceptions, I can't honestly be satisfied with myself," Roy admitted.
"I never rediscovered my rhythm after the injury," he continued. Coach Magath thought his normally deadly striker succumbed to the mental strain when Dutch coach Marco van Basten overlooked him in the autumn international call-ups. "Yes, I always put myself under pressure," Roy confessed, "I tried to forget all about it, but it was probably lurking in my subconscious."
The striker remains convinced of his ability to bounce back. "I intend to work like a dog after Christmas," he revealed, rating physical fitness as the foundation for maintaining his consistency. There can be little doubt Roy will soon return to normality, which in his case means a torrent of goals.
posted by Keeper at 3:40 PM
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