He didn't like midfield either: “Midfield wasn't right for me, back then there was still a team covering. I didn't like the fact that someone was running after me for 90 minutes and hitting my knuckles.” For Franz, it was clear that he needed a combination of offensive and defensive tasks.

The position of the “Liberos” existed even before Franz, but only in the classic form of a free player who secured behind the defense when a striker escaped. But a Libero who advanced into midfield when in possession of the ball and acted as a playmaker was Franz's invention.

The role worked like this: Without a direct opponent, he could act freely — backwards to close gaps and bring dangerous situations under control, or forwards when the right moment came to initiate attacks. On the defensive, he usually avoided direct duels and instead exerted pressure by skillfully occupying the room. Particularly important and a great strength of Franz was the ability to identify acute weak points in the opponent as well as in his own team and to immediately make the right decision. After winning the ball, he was able to pick up speed immediately and provide his teammates with precise passes.

The Libero's position always included a stopper who secured his freedoms. Werner Olk and later Katsche Schwarzenbeck took on this role.

Franz always wanted to play in this position, and from the 1966/67 season he finally had the backing of his coach Tschik Cajkovski. He once said: “If I have this Beckenbauer, I have tactics.” From then on, Franz became the heart of the team: He organized the defensive and initiated the attacks at the same time. The Maier—Beckenbauer—Müller axis developed into Bavarians' recipe for success.

In the second Bundesliga season, it wasn't enough to achieve great success, the team only finished sixth in the end. But on May 31, 1967, they brought the European Cup Winners' Cup to Munich.

The team was also able to win the DFB-Pokal again this season in the final against Hamburger SV.

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