The commute between his California home and Germany can take up to 12 hours, yet Juergen Klinsmann considers it quality time – office time.

“My flight is my office day – and there is no telephone to disturb you,” the Germany coach said last weekend after flying in from Los Angeles on one of his regular trips.

After landing in Frankfurt, Klinsmann wheeled in his bags, shook the hands of a few reporters waiting for him in a conference room, answered questions for an hour then headed to a Bundesliga game.

“I spend most of the time on the flight working on my laptop,” said the former World Cup winner and star forward, still a bundle of energy in jeans and a casual sweater.

Two days later, he would be on another long-haul flight, this one taking his team on a tour of Asia.

Klinsmann’s decision to keep his home in the United States while guiding the team through the 2006 World Cup in Germany was met with some skepticism. It wasn’t the only novelty he brought with him when he took the job four months ago.

“It’s important for me to have my peace and to keep some distance,” Klinsmann said of his home, where he lives with his American wife and their two children. “Sometimes you have a better view from outside.”

There are other coaches with similar arrangements, such as Zico, a Brazilian who is in charge of Japan, Klinsmann has pointed out.

After ending his 11-year international career as a player following the 1998 World Cup, Klinsmann became a partner in a sports marketing consultancy in the United States. He also worked as technical adviser to the Los Angeles Galaxy, a Major League Soccer team.

Although he has a coaching diploma but little coaching experience, Klinsmann draws on the experience of playing in all major leagues in Europe, apart from the Spanish. He’s also learned under top coaches, including Arsene Wenger, now in charge of Arsenal.

“As a player, I couldn’t understand some of his moves at all. Now, they make perfect sense,” Klinsmann said.

After reaching the 2002 World Cup final, Germany failed to pass the group stage at Euro 2004, prompting the resignation of Rudi Voeller.

Klinsmann has rejuvenated the team, bringing in new players and abandoning Voeller’s defensive style for a more offensive, quicker-paced game. The change has resulted in a 3-1-0 record, the only draw coming against World Cup champions Brazil.

“When the setback come, we’ll deal with them, but as long as it doesn’t happen, we won’t talk about it. We want to win every game.”

Klinsmann surrounded himself with a staff of three – manager Oliver Bierhoff, who takes care of logistics and other day-to-day business; assistant coach Joachim Loew, who works with players and help develop game plans; and goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke.

“It’s important to work as a team, I couldn’t do it alone,” Klinsmann said. “I have little coaching experience, that’s why I need a team.”

Koepke replaced Sepp Maier, whom Klinsmann fired after Maier spoke out in favour of Oliver Kahn as the No. 1 goalkeeper. One of Klinsmann’s first moves was to strip Kahn of the captaincy, and he has alternated between Kahn and his back-up Jens Lehmann.

Klinsmann also brought in American fitness trainers and hired a sports psychologist to be with the team.

Many of his ideas have roots in American sports, and some DFB officials may have wondered what could Germany, three-time World Cup champions, learn from the United States, where soccer is a fringe sport.

“We explained every move and there was no problem. Our arguments were convincing,” Klinsmann said.

As a player – he scored 47 goals in 108 games for Germany – Klinsmann wasn’t a friend of long training camps and rigid schedules. As expected, he has given his players more freedom.