Beckenbauer notebook: Enfant terrible to German football's pathfinder

Pele, Maradona, Puskas, Cruyff, Di Stefano, Best were all perhaps more skilled players than Franz Beckenbauer at the individual level. Infuriatingly arrogant Rudi Weiss, who held roles as a player, coach and advisor for over 50 years at Bayern, felt Benckenbauer would often display poor behaviour. Sweeping them away Tschik Cajkovski, the Bayern manager at that time, initially received a lot of criticism for "wasting" Beckenbauer's talent at the back. Eduardo Galeano, the Uruguayan poet, wrote in 'Soccer in Sun and Shadow': “Bucking the trend towards a soccer of Panzer-style strength, proved that elegance can be more powerful than a tank and delicacy more penetrating than a howitzer.” Beckenbauer often played as the middle centre-back in a back five for Bayern, covering as the deepest defender in a libero role. Galeano said his forays forward were “like fire.” “I was pretty much the first to interpret the position offensively, as an attacker, and not only stay back and play as a sweeper, as was usual then,” Beckenbauer said in a 2006 interview with FIFA.