Melbourne Victory’s Maxi Beister sees A-League as a challenge

Melbourne Victory’s German recruit Maxi Beister says coming to Australia is not about swallowing his pride.

New Melbourne Victory signing Max Beister at AAMI Park yesterday: ‘My first impression is very positive.’ Picture: George Salpigtidis

Maxi Beister has played in the Bundesliga and represented his country at three age levels. At 26, he would be regarded as having his best years of football ahead of him.

But the exciting German attacker says coming to a country like Australia is not about swallowing his pride.

On the contrary, Melbourne Victory’s newest recruit believes coming halfway around the world to a far less glamorous competition is going to be a challenge and a way to make him a better player.

“No, I don’t see it that way,” Beister, once regarded as one of the most promising players in Germany, said in his first media inquisition yesterday. “I was following (the A-League) for the last few years, honestly.

“For me, it was an easy decision, not like an adventure because I want to get better.

“The move for me is a real motivation because I know it is a league that is getting better and better every year.

“I was looking for a new experience. I chose Australia, and hopefully it becomes a good time. It’s a new culture for me, meeting new people and a completely new city.

“Right now I don’t know what I can expect, but I just want to try and do my best.”

Beister revealed that Socceroo Robbie Kruse, who has been playing in the Bundesliga since 2011 and was a teammate of the German when they were at Fortuna Dusseldorf in 2011-2012, had helped convince him to come to Australia.

“I spoke with Robbie Kruse and he gave me a lot of impressions about Australia, the A-League, the club and the people,” he said. “Everything was positive so it was not a hard decision.”

Beister, who is on a one-year deal from Mainz 05, was highly regarded back home having played more than 100 games in the league for Hamburger SV and Fortuna (loan) as well as representing Germany in the under-19s, 20s and 21s.

But an ACL injury in 2014 forced him to miss a good deal of football and he wasn’t helped when he suffered a mensical injury not long after he made it back on the field last year. He joined Mainz 05 but managed just one match.

Beister was reluctant to discuss what went wrong for him and forced him to look at a different ­direction with his football.

“We can talk a lot about my past but I want to focus on the future,” he said. “One injury and everything happened not how I wanted.

“But I will show everyone in Australia I can be a good player.”

A left-footer with exceptional speed and a good shot, Beister said he preferred to play out wide on the right or as a No 10, but as to playing as a striker, “I am not that guy”.

He was quick to shy away from any sort of comparison when it was suggested to him that “so you are not a Miroslav Klose” (German national team’s greatest goal­scorer).

“I love playing one on one, with speed inside and creating that situation shooting or assisting the striker,” he said.

“Or maybe I play like a No 10 and support the No 9 (striker). But I am not a typical striker. No, I am not a Klose.’’

Beister arrived in Melbourne only on Wednesday morning and had his first run with the Victory squad yesterday.

“My first impression is very positive,” he said. “It’s a good team. There are funny guys. I won’t have any problems to acclimatise.”