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Kick off!

July 23, 2013

Bundesliga football changes gear - Jürgen Klopp and Michael Ballack talk about more speed and more passion in the game.

https://p.dw.com/p/19C8G

Klopp is one of the pioneers of today's high-intensity, full-court-press game. He's also a believer in horizontal hierarchies and teams without alpha-male stars - alpha males like Michael Ballack. The stand-out midfielder was a representative of a physically more rugged game that was played at the very start of the new millennium.

So what do they think about the development toward "soccer at the speed of sound?" About the intensity of media scrutiny surrounding football? About the role of old-school team leaders in the mold of Oliver Kahn or Stefan Effenberg compared to today's stars like Mario Götze or Thomas Müller?

Kick off! puts the new millennium under a microscope with the help of Jürgen Klopp and Michael Ballack.