National players during the anthem: Marco Reus, Mario Götze, Holger Badstuber and Ilkay Gündogan (from left) on March 25, 2015.
Copyright: imago/Sportfoto Rudel
Small field World Cup, expert jobs and author debut. Christoph Kramer (33) has a lot to do even without professional football.
It was one of the emotional highlights of the year for Borussia Mönchengladbach. The departure of the 2014 world champion in the summer also means the end of Kramer’s professional career. But the media-savvy person has by no means disappeared from the public eye.
Kramer has to put up with criticism – “I find it strange”
Kramer is currently playing for the German national team at the small-field World Cup, so he has by no means given up football. His first book is due to be published in the spring and he recently sat in on the coaching bench at the DFB as an intern.
However, his most publicly effective job remains that of a TV expert at football events. The 33-year-old is sometimes on the sidelines in the Champions League, sometimes he is sitting in the studio at ZDF. Everyone has long liked how the Solingen man presents himself.
In an interview with the broadcaster “Sport1Former national player Holger Badstuber (35) criticized him for the content of Kramer’s contributions on live TV.
Badstuber, who can count a total of 31 senior international matches (one goal) as well as 166 Bundesliga games for Bayern, Schalke and VfB Stuttgart on his resume, particularly credits Kramer for his ingratiating manner.
When asked how the former central defender feels about ex-professionals who work as TV experts after their careers – especially Christoph Kramer – Badstuber replied: “Christoph Kramer is very popular. But is it more important to be popular or to express your opinion without following other people’s opinions? If players are still active but are also experts, I find that difficult. I found this double standard strange.”
Kramer, who is actually considered one of the most popular experts in German-speaking countries, is not exactly known for putting his sporting finger in the wound or for constantly spouting off controversial opinions. However, the ex-foal has often had to listen to criticism from Gladbach circles about having already worked in this field during his active career.
Whenever things weren’t going well for VfL, some parts of the Borussia supporters were dissatisfied with Kramer’s extra-professional employment on television. Understandably, he could not be denied a certain bias due to his active contract situation.
But now the eloquent Kramer doesn’t care about this criticism. It doesn’t look like the footballer will sign a professional contract again in the near future. The double standards mentioned by Badstuber are no longer an argument – and only Kramer himself can counter the criticism of pandering. He still has plenty of opportunities for that.
