August 3 - Why I Hate JÃ¼rgen Klinsmann

IN June 1994 Guardian writer Andrew Anthony wrote a piece for his newspaper entitled ‘Why I hate Jurgen Klinsmann’. Just a couple of months later he penned another article about the German striker, this time called ‘Why I love Jurgen Klinsmann’.

In the intervening time, on this very day in 1994, Jurgen the German signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Monaco for a £2m fee, and he arrived with a reputation as a diver, a cheating German with no sense of fair play.

He had been in the team that had knocked England out of the 1990 World Cup and to say he was not universally popular in England would be akin to saying Roy Keane and Alfie Inge Haaland did not always see eye to eye. Within months of arriving at Spurs however, Jurgen had turned his image around and was being lauded up and down the country for his sense of humour - quite a feat given his nationality.

Signing the player was quite a coup for Spurs, with chairman Alan Sugar apparently the decisive factor. Klinsmann said: “I had the choice of three clubs but met Alan Sugar in Monte Carlo and just liked the way he approached me.

“As a little boy I watched a lot of English football on television and loved the atmosphere, so I took a decision to try something new and ended up in London. I soon learned how much Spurs meant and was very proud to be part of it.”

The British press were on his back from day one, with his reputation as a diver entrenched in the minds of the media and the fans. Klinsy would have the last laugh however when he scored on his debut at Sheffield Wednesday and dived along the pitch the celebrate the strike.

He said after the match “It was a very special moment because before the game started we were welcomed at Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium by all the diving signs, 5.9, 5.8, all that sort of thing and we were all laughing about it. Teddy Sheringham came up and said ‘Jurgen, if you score your first goal here, we’re all going to do a dive’. It was like all the pieces of the puzzle came together, I scored the goal and the whole team came over and did the dive. The wonderful thing was that the fans from Sheffield even laughed about it. Everyone took it the right way and it was a great way to start the season.”

That one moment started to turn the tide for his image and helped by his impressive form in front of goal he was soon a firm favourite at White Hart Lane. He scored 29 goals that season as Spurs finished seventh and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup under Gerry Francis.

The love affair was not to last however and Klinsy left north London after just the one season - a decision that incensed Alan Sugar who even threw his shirt to the floor at a press conference saying he wouldn’t even wash his car with it. Despite this Jurgen it seems does not bear grudges. He later said of his former chairman, “I admired him, The only little issue I had with him is that he thought I had a two-year deal but it was a one-year deal with a two-year option. He got upset, but no big problem.”

Klinsmann left for spells at Bayern Munich and Sampdoria before returning to Spurs in 1998 on a mission to keep them in the Premiership. Once their safety was secured, he retired from club football and then left the game altogether after the 1998 World Cup.

Here is the famous Kilnsmann dive and point your mouse this-a-way to see what we were banging on about on this day last year.