| 31.08.2008 |
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| Greetings from radioland. I plan to spend more time here in the coming months and am well pleased to see the blog off to such a good start. I bring as tribute some audio material -- stuff culled from the sports report show I just hosted. This will become a tradition, I think... | ||||||||
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| 29.08.2008 |
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| Amidst all the brow-furrowing over Schalke's massacre in Madrid on Wednesday, it largely went unnoticed that German sides Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart were having some international success on Thursday. Both clubs dispatched obscure Eastern European opponents to win the Intertoto Cup, alias the UEFA Cup qualifications, or, as they known in German soccer fan slang, the doner-kebab competition. These low-level tournaments are reminiscent of a ride along the transit highway from West Germany to Berlin back before the fall of the Iron Curtain. The stadiums seem much more dimly lit than usual, the stands are largely deserted, and there are few visible signs of anyone making any money. Hertha's match -- against a Slovenian side called NK Interblock Ljubljana -- was in fact played out in a Communist relic of an arena. Madonna had already booked Berlin's Olympic Stadium, forcing a move into the city center and back through time that probably took a few soccer star egos down a peg or two. Of course, I had to attend. How could I, a fan willing to brave hour-long train rides to watch the mediocrity usually on display in the Olympic Stadium, refuse to do the same, when it was only three tram stops away and available for half-price? I got what I paid for. I had hardly settled into my Soviet-era, puke-orange plastic seat, when midfielder Patrick Ebert curled in a free kick from 30 meters to put Hertha up 3-nil on aggregate. It was effectively game, set and match -- after 90 seconds. The remaining 90-plus minutes were such that the home fans began imploring their team to run up the score or concede a goal or do pretty much anything other than what they were doing, which was sweet **** all. "Hey, you millionaires, how about working for your money like I do?" bellowed one frustrated spectator, before adding: "Okay, I’m on welfare, but it’s pretty much the same thing." The players on the pitch were unimpressed, continuing to concentrate on avoiding injury and marveling at their opponents' incompetence. So a few supporters took things into their own hands by getting into a fight. That was fun to watch. |
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| 28.08.2008 |
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| Oh dear… The debate on whether German soccer is good enough to challenge for the major European honors will no doubt start again in earnest today as Schalke 04 arrive back in Germany after being humiliated 4-0 in Madrid. Schalke, the German team which got the furthest in the competition last season by reaching the quarter-finals, were taken apart by Atletico in the Estadio Calderon on Wednesday night, bringing new coach Fred Rutten's Champions League adventure to a very premature close. Schalke's defeat and elimination will cost the club around 15 million euros ($22 million) in extra finance The other teams from the Bundesliga – Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen – face a potentially difficult group stage despite qualifying directly thanks to their superior league positions last season. Both teams, neither of which have set the competition alight in recent years, are in Pot Two for the draw which means that they will be drawn with one of the top seeds in the group stage. But looking at the clubs which make up the whole draw, none of them look like they will be a pushover for Bremen or Bayern, even the East European minnows. Schalke, of course, will not have these potentially difficult trips to the likes of Anorthosis Famagusta or Bate Borisov to contend with. They will have to be satisfied with revelling in the delusion that they can now fully focus on winning the Bundesliga without having to think "where the hell does CFR Cluj come from?" (Romania, if you’re wondering…and they were last season's league and cup double winners – so let's have some respect). No, Schalke gave up that right to consider themselves part of Europe's "elite" (which these days is a dubious title to hang on a competition which now features the third-placed teams from a myriad of leagues)by capitulating when the game in Madrid was there to be won. Atletico powered their way past the Royal Blues to win the tie a 4-1 aggregate. They lost 1-0 two weeks ago in Gelsenkirchen. Atletico have not reached the Champions League since 1997 and the capacity crowd celebrated wildly – and rightly so. It was a wonderful performance which left Schalke chasing shadows. "This was a really important night for us," said Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez. "The fans were wonderful, and they deserve this after all they have suffered in the past few years." Teenage idol Sergio Aguero pushed Atletico ahead in the 19th minute, deflecting in a cross-shot from Luis Perea after Schalke's Marcelo Bordon had cleared a Diego Forlan shot off the line. Seven minutes into the second half Forlan made it 2-0 for Atletico with a low left-foot drive. In the 63rd minute Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi failed to convert a centre from Heiko Westermann. From then on Schalke visibly lost confidence in their ability to save the tie. Seven minutes from time former Liverpool star and current Atletico supersub Luis Garcia made it 3-0, latching onto a pass from Aguero. Three minutes later - with the fans already celebrating - Christian Pander pulled down Simao Sabrosa for a penalty - and was sent off with a second yellow card. Maxi Rodriguez calmly put away the spot-kick - signaling it was time for the fiesta in Madrid to begin. It also signaled the beginning of yet another autopsy on the already desecrated corpse of Germany’s European hopes. |
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| 25.08.2008 |
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| We've just finished week two of the Bundesliga season and even after reviewing two week's worth of matches and reintroducing myself to the sides, I'm left wondering what team to support. I've ruled out my adopted hometown because they're playing in the Bundesliga's second division -- and probably will be for some time. No city in the entire state I live in has a team playing in the first division, so I don't feel any local alliances. As a player (half of a short lifetime ago) known for possessing more potential than actual skill, I have a hankering to support the Bundesliga's perennial bridesmaids and eight-time league runners-up, Schalke 04. Still, part of me isn't willing to make a life-defining decision like choosing what team to support on a whim, and I've decided I need some expert advice. I wanted answers from fan club heads at each of the teams on why their side is the best the Bundesliga has to offer. At least that's what I wanted until I spent hours picking through Arminia Bielefeld's list of nearly 100 fan clubs. A quick look at Bayern Munich's supposed 2,000 choices convinced me half a dozen seasons could start and end before I even knew who to address my questions to. Since the sheer number of fan clubs made it impossible for me to tell die-hard supporters from fair-weather fans, I asked the team's "fan liaison" to vie for my support. Each received the same message explaining my position as an American looking to gain a German's appreciation for soccer and asked them to tell me what makes their team particularly worthy of fanaticism. You can also play a role in deciding what jersey I add to my wardrobe by voting in an online survey. Stick around to see the responses and who gets my devotion. |
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| 24.08.2008 |
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| The story of the Bundesliga's second week must be the fact that a village team now heads the top league in Germany. Hoffenheim defeated fellow promoted side Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 to go top of the table as the only team with maximum points after two matches. This could change if Wolfsburg beat Bochum by a large margin in one of the Sunday games but as David Bowie once said, "Hoffenheim can be heroes…just for one day" (or something like that). It is more likely that this little team will continue to be heroes even if their early form peters out and they end up returning to a lower tier after this season. Having climbed up four divisions to reach the Bundesliga for the first time in their history and then sitting on the summit with two wins in their first two games in their debut season means that these players are already legends, whatever happens next. Vedad Ibisevic may not be the easiest name to say but his is the moniker stumbling from the mouths of commentators and fans alike after his third in two games gave the minnows a deserved winner and put him joint top of the scoring charts. While the people who wrote them off even before a ball was kicked may not be forced to eat massive amounts of humble pie while the officially named TSG 1899 Hoffenheim toast an improbable championship title in May, the team's initial showing means a little more respect is certainly due. Today's young side which is admired for its attractive and aggressive style has certainly been injected with a large amount of Bundesliga knowledge by their coach, the former Stuttgart, Hanover and Schalke 04 trainer Ralf Rangnick. Helped by the millions of German businessman Dietmar Hopp, who made a fortune developing computer software and headed the giant SAP group, Rangnick has bought in 21-year-old Brazilian Wellington Luis de Souza and midfielder Andreas Beck, also 21 and a former Stuttgart youth player. Hoffenheim's youthful and international squad also boasts 23-year-old striker Demba Ba from Senegal. They're hardly a bunch of shopkeepers and Sunday league pub players. Not everyone in Germany is pleased to see Hoffenheim's rapid rise to the upper echelons, and the club finds itself to often be the brunt of abuse from rival fans who feel the club is merely a rich man's toy. "Hoffenheim is not a project but more of a model," Rangnick said. "We are putting a lot of emphasize on youth. Today (against Moenchengladbach) we had an average age of 22.5. Our under-17 team has become German champions. Our motto is that we are not buying any players over the age of 25." It's this youthful desire which has set a blaze of ambition burning in the belly of this club. How Juergen Klinsmann must be hoping to get the same battling spirit and belief from his dazzling array of lavishly-paid superstars. The Bayern Munich coach can still claim that he has yet to lose a Bundesliga match since taking over at the Allianz Arena but the Bavarian giants have still to record their first league win under their new coach after laboring to another score draw on Saturday. The champions have yet to find their stride under Klinsi in this embryonic campaign and the loss of captain Mark van Bommel, sent off as Bayern had to come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund, could be a sign that a little frustration is already creeping into the psyche of the perennial winners. This result against Juergen Klopp's BVB follows a 2-2 draw at home to SV Hamburg in the opening game of the season. Even the return of Luca Toni and Turkey midfielder Hamit Altintop couldn't inspire the champions to an early flyer. In fact, it was BVB – who had dispensed with Bayer Leverkusen in a 3-2 win on the first day – who went ahead in the ninth minute when Polish midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski gave Michael Rensing in the Bayern goal no chance with a shot into the top corner from the edge of the area. Van Bommel was dismissed in the 23rd minute after being booked twice inside two minutes. The first yellow card came for a lunging tackle on Sebastian Kehl, and the second for a forearm check to the back of the head of Tamas Hajnal in another challenge. Bayern were able to rescue a point when new signing Tim Borowski netted from close range in the 75th minute following a corner headed down by Lucio for his first goal since joining from Werder Bremen. "We wanted to win, but we got the point playing with 10 men for over an hour and really deserved it," Klinsmann said. "We will take the point and get the three next Sunday (at home to Hertha Berlin)," he said. Klinsmann said he could not see clearly the incidents that led to the dismissal of van Bommel and did not want to comment. "I don't want to watch the action replay 10 times. It has happened and the team nevertheless reacted wonderfully," he said. "In the break we said we wanted to put them under pressure, and what the boys showed in the second 45 minutes was great." Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said the yellow cards to van Bommel were justified, saying the Dutch midfielder, who was dismissed twice last season, "lacks a bit of self-control." "He has to control himself because he is not only harming himself but also the team," the Kaiser said. Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said his side gave too many balls away in midfield, allowing Bayern back into the game. "In the end the team lacked bit of confidence in itself," he said Schalke 04 scored a late equalizer at Werder Bremen for a 1-1 draw between the two teams expected to provide the strongest title challenge to Bayern. Heiko Westermann got the equalizer for the Royal Blues with minutes left after German international Torsten Frings had given Werder a 64th minute lead. Bremen's new signing Claudio Pizarro started for the first time since rejoining the club from Chelsea, but it was Germany midfielder Frings who was on target with a 63rd minute goal following a low cross into the box from Mesut Ozil. It looked enough for victory but defender Westermann grabbed a lifeline for Schalke with five minutes remaining when he mopped up after keeper Tim Wiese could only parry a Benedikt Hoewedes header. Elsewhere, Hamburg continued their unbeaten start by snatching a last-minute 2-1 victory over Karlsruhe. The home side went ahead through an own goal by Karlsruhe's Tim Sebastian who screwed the ball into his own net in the 32nd minute to give Hamburg the lead. Karlsruhe were on equal terms in the 67th through Sebastian Freis but HSV’s Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen hit a close-range winner in the 90th. Goals in each half from new signing Patrick Helmes and Theofanis Gekas gave Bayer Leverkusen a first league win under new coach Bruno Labbadia at VfB Stuttgart. Poland striker Artur Wichniarek scored his third of the season as Arminia Bielefeld came from behind to a Marko Pantelic goal to draw 1-1 at Hertha Berlin. As well as Wolfsburg versus Bochum, Cologne and Frankfurt meet in Sunday's other match. |
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| 19.08.2008 |
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| It looks as though Mortitz Volz's time in the Premiership is coming to a close. According to the BBC, Fulham have accepted a bid from Championship side Ipswich Town for the German full-back. Our favorite former Germany Under-21 international appears to be on his way into the second tier after five years, 127 appearances and two goals with the Cottagers. The writing was on the wall for Volzy after he played only 12 games for Fulham last season and was not in the squad for the opening-day defeat at Hull. Ipswich manager Jim Magilton told his club's website: "We have made an offer to Fulham for Moritz Volz and it has been accepted." As someone who was born and bred in the rival Norfolk city of Norwich, I should be a little disgusted that Volzy is going to be a Tractor Boy. But considering I support Liverpool and Norwich are rubbish, I actually don't really care too much. It's a shame that Volzy won't be a top flight player anymore but at least the country air in Suffolk may make his bike ride to work more pleasant. He'll also be a lot closer to the sea if he wants to don his Baywatch outfit and strut the eastern shores in search of busty blondes to save. Unfortunately, there's more chance that he'll be saving small children from stalking sewage if he goes to some beaches in the region. Anyway - good luck Volzy. We'll keep an eye on your Championship exploits. |
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| 18.08.2008 |
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| Stuttgart, bidding to dislodge last season's Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich, got their campaign off to a solid start Sunday in winning 3-1 away at promoted Borussia Moenchengladbach. With Bayern held to a 2-2 home draw the previous day by old rivals Hamburg the stage was set for Armin Veh's side to take advantage and his side impressed in securing full points with goals from Thomas Hitzlsperger, Ciprian Marica and Mario Gomez, all before half-time. A Rob Friend consolation on the hour mark was of little cheer to Borussia fans, their club having struggled in recent years to revisit the halcyon days of the 1970s. Veh was delighted by the start to the campaign. "We saw really good football out there today, not least as Gladbach also played in an attacking vein (although) at 3-0 it was essentially all over," the Stuttgart coach concluded. In the other Sunday encounter, Eintracht Frankfurt slid to a 2-0 home loss to Hertha Berlin, who bagged the points with Brazilian Raffael and Patrick Ebert 61 on target either side of the break. On Saturday, Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund began the season with victories under new coaches. Dortmund under Juergen Klopp earned a 3-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen with Nelson Valdez (4th), Florian Kringe (36th) and Neven Subotic (49th) on his debut on target. New signing Patrick Helmes (21st) and Stefan Kiessling (83rd) scored for Leverkusen in a disappointing start for new coach Bruno Labbadia. Schalke's new Dutch coach Fred Rutten saw his team get off to a flying start with two quick goals in a 3-0 victory over Hanover in Gelsenkirchen. It puts Schalke joint level on top of the table with newly-promoted minnows Hoffenheim, who were 3-0 winners at Energie Cottbus, after the first Saturday of the league season. Schalke were without injured new signings striker Jefferson Farfan and midfielder Orlando Engelaar, but dominated from the start against Hanover. Defender Marcelo Bordon headed Schalke in front from a corner in the second minute and Kevin Kuranyi netted the second six minutes later after Bordon had again won the ball in the air from a corner. Kuranyi completed the drubbing by heading a third from a free-kick in the 64th minute to boost his chances of being picked by watching Germany coach Joachim Loew for Wednesday's friendly at home to Belgium. "I am pleased with my team that we are so good in form. We played well and got the ball forward quickly," Kuranyi said. "I hope we can continue this way. But we have just won the first game. It's a big step and an important one, but we mustn’t forget it's a long season and we can't underestimate any team." Newly-promoted Hoffenheim hit three goals to record a first Bundesliga win in the club's history. The village club, who have risen from the lower leagues with the help of multi-millionaire investor Dietmar Hopp, scored a first-ever Bundesliga goal through Vedad Ibisevic in the 17th minute at Energie Cottbus (see above). Senegalese striker Semba Ba, who had helped set up the goal, struck a second 10 minutes into the second half and the rout was completed by an Ibisevic header in the 76th. Meanwhile last season's runners up Werder Bremen had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Arminia Bielefeld. Sweden striker Markus Rosenberg twice put Bremen ahead with goals in the 60th and 80th minutes against Bielefeld but the home side hit back each time through Poland striker Artur Wichniarek in the 74th and 81st. Wolfsburg came from behind to beat newly-promoted Cologne 2-1. Milivoje Novakovic, last season's second-division top scorer, headed Cologne ahead in the 20th minute at Wolfsburg, but Felix Magath's side leveled three minutes after the break through Christian Gentner and struck a 78th-minute winner through new signing Zvjezdan Misimovic. Karlsruhe began with a 1-0 victory over Bochum, with Christian Eichner settling the affair in the 30th minute. The 2008/2009 Bundesliga season got underway Friday evening when SV Hamburg came from two goals down to hold title holders Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw and spoil Juergen Klinsmann's league debut with the Bavarians. Klinsmann conceded Hamburg were full value for the draw against a Bayern side still missing several leading players including the injured France midfielder Franck Ribery and striker Luca Toni. "We are still in the early phase and at the moment we are not in a position to put an opponent under pressure," Klinsmann said. "Our combination play isn't together yet but this will come automatically with improved fitness in the coming weeks. We have to improve from week to week." Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer told Premiere television Saturday that the club had to be satisfied with the single point in view of the long list of injuries. "A lot has been changed at the club for the good of the players and for the staff but we know it's of no use if the results don't come," he said. "However I think it was a good start because HSV (Hamburg) were lively, moved well and caused us a lot of problems, so a draw was a fair outcome. "The only negative thing was that we gave away a 2-0 lead." Hamburg coach Martin Jol was pleased with the performance and received a further boost Saturday when it was confirmed that Borussia Dortmund's want-away striker Mladen Petric is to join the club. Hamburg have agreed to pay a reported 4.5 million euros ($6.6 million) plus the Egyptian striker Mohamed Zidan for the Croatia international who will now pair up with fellow Croatia striker Ivica Olic. |
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| 17.08.2008 |
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| Germany’s Michael Ballack set up the first goal as Luiz Felipe Scolari's tenure as manager of Chelsea got off to the perfect start as his side sent out a message to the rest of the league Sunday with a highly impressive 4-0 victory over Portsmouth. It wasn't just that Chelsea won that was so striking: it was the style of the victory. This was an open, expressive Chelsea, with Mikel Jon Obi in a holding role, Ballack, Lampard and Deco arrayed in front of them and Joe Cole operating just off striker Nicolas Anelka. It was Joe Cole, rumored to be on his way out of the club, who scored the first goal of the Scolari regime, arcing his run cleverly to stay onside as he ran onto Ballack's precise stabbed through-ball. The second came on 26 minutes as full-back Jose Bosingwa sent in a deep cross, and with Portsmouth outnumbered at the back post and James horribly out of position, Deco returned the ball to the middle where Anelka nodded the ball over the line. Lampard, who signed a new five-year contract last week, added a third in first-half injury-time, converting from the penalty spot after Sylvain Distin was perhaps harshly determined to have handled Joe Cole's cross. A swerving 25-yarder from Deco embarrassed James in the final minute to make it 4-0. However, the game ended on a slightly sour note for Ballack as the Chelsea midfielder had to be substituted after taking a knock on his left foot. Following the injury, Ballack contacted Germany coach Joachim Loew to say he would not be fit to play in Wednesday's friendly match against Belgium in Nuremburg. On an even more bitter note, Fulham got off to the worst possible start when they newly-promoted Hull City came from behind to win a 2-1 in their first match in the top flight. Moritz Volz, however, could not be blamed as he was not even included in the squad. Hull were behind within eight minutes against Fulham, but goals from Geovanni and substitute Caleb Folan gave them the win on their Premier League debut, much to manager Phil Brown's delight. "The spirit of the football club was there for everybody to see," Brown said. "The fitness levels in the second half were incredible, as was the passion and the drive. The character was tremendous." The performance from Fulham was not. |
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| 16.08.2008 |
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| The Bundesliga's main schedule gets underway today after Bayern Munich and Hamburg hammered out a 2-2 draw in the Allianz Arena last night in the opening salvo of the season. Most Germans with an interest in soccer will either be readying themselves for journeys to the four corners of the land in support of their team or will have their eyes peeled for the results on TV screens and live tickers all over the nation. A few, however, will have other things on their minds. As well as hoping that this season will be more successful than last, Germany captain Michael Ballack may also be wondering where he is going to fit into new Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's plans for the London club's opening Premiership game against Portsmouth today -- and the rest of the season. Ballack proved his worth in the second half of last season as Chelsea pushed Manchester United hard to the last day in the title race, lost out in the Carling Cup Final and again came off second best to United in the final of the Champions League. The former Leverkusen and Bayern midfielder grew in stature and recaptured some of the form which persuaded club owner Roman Abromavich to pay him in excess of 150,000 euros a week as the season entered the latter stages. Unfortunately, and maybe a little unsurprisingly considering his blighted record, Ballack and Chelsea ended the campaign empty handed. The failure to win any silverware cost then coach Avram Grant his job. Again the deep pockets of Chelsea's patron and resident oligarch were ploughed with success in mind and Scolari soon rolled up with an armored car in tow to carry him and his wages back to his new Home Counties mansion where he would plan Chelsea's next attempt at world (soccer and commercial) domination. For Ballack, this may have set the cogs turning. How would he fit into the masterplan of a Brazilian coach with a remit from his billionaire employer to sign anyone he can get in a bid to snatch a clean sweep of trophies for the Stamford Bridge outfit? Doubts may have surfaced when Scolari made the Portuguese magician Deco his first signing. The little Brazilian-born midfielder was always Scolari's luxury item in his Portugal team; ever present like the Rolex on his coach's arm, dazzling and reliable in equal measure. Surely this son of Scolari would not be warming the bench? Ballack's concerns over the burgeoning Chelsea midfield were eased when Claude Makelele took his ageing legs back across the channel to play out his days in the role he made (and named) his own with Paris St. Germain. They would have dissipated further had Frank Lampard heralded the call of his father-figure Jose Mourinho to join him at Inter Milan. But even a surrogate family reunion can't compete with a new five-year deal in the same wage bracket as Ballack. Lampard stays and will collect around 150,000 euros a week for the privilege. With Lamps, Deco, Michael Essien (if Scolari doesn't waste his talents in a central defensive position this season), Jon Obi Mikel, Joe Cole, Flourent Malouda and Sean Wright-Phillips all fighting for midfield places, Ballack has the competition which every footballer claims makes them a better player. But where does Ballack fit in? Or does he fit at all? Essien, as he has proved in the past, is the ideal candidate to take over from Makelele as the shield for the defense while Mikel can also play that holding role in a five-man midfield. Given Ballack's propensity for aggressive forward play from the center, he may only have to worry about Scolari teaming Lampard with Deco in the middle of the field. With Deco conducting and Lampard operating behind a single striker (either Drogba, when fit, or Anelka), Ballack could be surplus to requirements at times in a five-man midfield. He won't trouble Cole, Malouda or Wright-Phillips in the battle for the wings so the Germany captain may have to get used to squad rotation. Should Abromavich sanction a world record transfer fee for AC Milan's Kaka – a young charge under Scolari when he was Brazil coach – then things could get increasingly more congested in Chelsea's midfield. This ridiculously ostentatious piece of fantasy football business is unlikely to be concluded until next season, giving Ballack a little more time to assess his future. Ballack has said that he wants to end his career at Chelsea. He may well achieve that – and on 150,000 euros a week he would be a fool not to stick it out. But however cynical we may all become about the state of soccer in terms of money and greed, despite what many think, players really only want to play. If they’re not playing, they’re not happy. If Ballack becomes a fifth – or sixth – wheel at Chelsea, who would bet against him finishing his career elsewhere in a team where he can play out his days with regular first team opportunities. DW-WORLD.DE's favorite Hasselhoff-loving, German player abroad also enters the Premiership fray once more this Saturday as Fulham take on newly promoted Hull City. However, if you take a glance over Volzy's often hilarious web site, you'll see he has a lot fewer worries than Herr Ballack despite being in a team which flirts with relegation on a yearly basis. The self-deprecating defender appears more concerned with mastering his new cook book than getting three points for Fulham. Volzy is a breath of fresh air in the often putrid atmosphere of modern soccer which is why we will continue to champion him and support him throughout this season, so keep your eyes open for our regularly updated "Volzy Watch" on Ballspiel. As for Saturday, Volzy will no doubt roll up at the stadium on his folding bike, give praise to the Hoff and begin another campaign of trying to keep the unfortunately nick-named Cottagers in the top flight. All power to yer boots, Mozzer! |
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| 15.08.2008 |
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| Jürgen Klinsmann will wake up in the morning to a warm Danish and frothy cappucino to find out it was all a nightmare. He'll swing himself out of his king-size bed, stretch in his cotton PJs before enjoying a leisurely frühstuck. He'll then grab the leash and go wandering along the golden sands with a happy retriever bounding in the surf and a light heart beating in his tanned, relaxed chest. Only in your dreams, Klinsi. The Bayern Munich coach has already had a number of rude awakenings since taking over at the German champions. A friendly thrashing at the hands of Borussia Dortmund was seen as an ironing-out of a few teething problems, with a team made up of mostly second-string players. The lucky escape in the German Cup against lowly Erfurt was a little more worrying. And while the opening day result -- a 2-2 home draw against Hamburg -- is hardly cause for drastic action or wild predictions of disaster, the fact that Klinsi's champions threw away a two-goal lead will lead to a bloody autopsy at the very least. When Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski put Bayern two up with 12 minutes gone, it looked as though the magic Klinsmann had worked with these two young stars at national level was going to replicate itself in the league. But as the game wore on, Bayern ran out of ideas, and then ran out of steam. Shorn of the attacking threat of the injured Luca Toni (this based on his devastating league form and not his no-show at Euro 2008), Klinsmann went with Poldi and Klose up front, again hoping to tap into that sunny summer of 2006. With the lively Schweini roaming at will, it was just like old times. However, Martin Jol's team had other ideas. Hamburg were facing the campaign opener without their own talisman but in the knowledge that they would not be expecting Rafa van der Vaart to return any time soon. The new Real Madrid star may have glanced at the rough and tumble going on at the Allianz Arena and afforded himself a wry smile, looking forward as he may well be to having acres of space to stroke the ball about in the white of the Spanish champions. Despite RVDV's absence, Hamburg still managed to dig deep to find the reserves that the Dutch star nearly always had to conjure up for them alone in times of need. Their bravery paid off. Ex-Bayern flop Paolo Guerrero put the finish to a nice team move on 25 minutes to worry the home side before Piotr Trochowski made sure Klinsmann will be tossing and turning in his home from Californian home this evening. One game doesn't end a title challenge, especially when it's the opening game but Klinsmann's honeymoon period looks set to end faster than a Boris Becker engagement. Juergen will have to start thrashing some lowly teams pretty sharpish if the marriage made in heaven is not going to turn out to be a loveless union. |
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| 12.08.2008 |
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| Apologies for starting this year's Bundesliga blog off with an entry based on ugly rumours (by which I mean allegations and not ex-British PM Tony Blair's ill-fated Stones-esque college band). Since Euro 2008 ended, I've been feeding my soccer hunger by trawling my favourite sites for any morsel of information that can keep me sated. Most of the time, this means teasing myself with half-truths and hearsay from the transfer gossip pages. After praising (enter the name of chosen deity here) for the end of the endless self-perpetuated fluff about Cristiano Ronaldo's on-off-on-finally-off move to Real Madrid, I stumbled in shock at the new flight of fantasy that had bubbled to the surface of the rumour mire: "AC Milan's Brazil star Kaka is set to join Chelsea before the end of August in a world-record 99 million-euro deal" (source: various newspapers, quoted by BBC Sport). Now, Kaka is more than a little bit good, I'm sure most of you will agree. The AC Milan and Brazil midfielder has put in some quite luminous performances for the rossoneri and the Selecao since making his senior debut for Sao Paulo in 2001. He has since helped Milan win a cabinet full of silverware and was a bit-part player in Brazil's 2002 World Cup win before starring in their 2005 Confederations Cup success. He won the European and World Player of the Year gongs in 2007, along with a glut of other individual prizes in a year where he dominated games and headlines alike. But let's put this in perspective and bring in Bayern Munich at this point – as this is a Bundesliga blog. Kaka is one man, albeit a very talented one. Bayern spent a rumoured 70 million euros on PLAYERS (plural) during the close season at the end of the 2006/2007 campaign. In that splurge, the Bavarian giants signed one of the world's most exciting young midfield talents in Franck Ribery, a prolific international striker and World Cup Golden Boot winner in Miroslav Klose, and a sought-after Italian hit-man by the name of Luca Toni. Throw in the likes of Turkish international Hamit Altintop, Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto, Germany stars of the future Marcell Jansen and Jan Schlaudraff, plus Argentinean midfielder Jose Ernesto Sosa and Bayern could be satisfied that good business had been done. However, after buying that lot, with the money Chelsea are rumoured to be ready to stump up for Kaka, you would still have change to pick up Real Madrid's Robinho for a tasty 25 million euros if you were feeling extravagant. Wave 99 million euros at the likes of VfL Bochum or FC Köln and their coaches would probably bin their current squads and buy new, and probably even better, ones. This is, as I pointed out at the start, just an ugly rumour at the moment. Ugly, because it suggests that the already cash-obsessed world of soccer could be ready to slip over the precipice of insanity on which it has been tottering for the last ten years. Ugly, because it suggests that if one club can harness that amount of money, few if any stand a chance of competing. Ugly, because if one player can cost the amount it took to turn a good but underperforming team into star-studded German champions then the gates to the world of soccer will soon resemble to many the gates of Hades. Abandon hope all ye who enter here. |
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