Angela breathes a sigh of relief…
By: Angela |
14 Comments
One of my most favorite, aside from Captain Dutch, will be remaining with Bayern for one more year. The Belgian Bull has agreed to stay on after being asked by the new coach.
Munich.
“I will stay at Bayern Munich next season, although nothing is ever certain in football. The coach, van Gaal, and the club have announced that they would like to have my services next season. I can not promise that I will not predict that I will go next season but what is certain is that I feel good in Munich.”
At least all is right in my football world. For now.
Trio Departure
By: Angela | 8 Comments
This summer FC Bayern are hoping to sale Tim Borowski, Christian Lell and Andreas Ottl in hopes of raising some money to make a bid for Chelsea full-back Jose Bosingwa.
“We are holding talks, but we still need the approval of Chelsea,” Rummenigge told Kicker magazine. “He is one of the best right full-backs around.”
I can’t say that I’m disappointed by the sale of Lell. I am not a fan and would’ve loved to see him leave Bayern long ago. He is dirty on the pitch more often than not and I won’t even go into what I think of him off the pitch.
In other news, there is a response on the Official Bayern Website about an article that ran in Sport BILD magazine dated 17 June 2009. In the article, it was printed that the supervisory board had decided that Franck Ribéry would be allowed to leave the club for an appropriate transfer fee and not obligated to remain at the club. This was an untrue story and the Board of Directors has responded by releasing some facts on the official site.
Category: Team NewsPre Season Info
By: Angela | 4 Comments
Although we haven’t been on break for long and yet it feels like forever, Bayern will be back in training on July 1. However, young Mr. Rensing has found it necessary to hit practice a little early in hopes of finding his way back inbetween the pipes for Bayern when the season kicks off. Rensing sat out for the last two months. He also has a minor injury to his finger, but is working on that through therapy and training. We’ll see how it all works out in the end, but you’ll have to forgive me for being skeptical.
Bayern’s pre-season schedule:
1 July: Training resumes
10 July: Friendly v Red Bull Salzburg (A)
11 July: Dream Game 2009: FCB v De rodn Waginga fan club
16-24 July: Training camp in Donaueschingen
18-19 July: T-Home Cup 2009 (in Gelsenkirchen)
21 July: Friendly v Stuttgarter Kickers (A)
24 July: Friendly v FC Köln (A)
25 July: Friendly v McFit Allstars (in Gelsenkirchen)
29-30 July: Audi Cup 2009 (Allianz Arena)
1-2 August: DFB Cup first round
7-9 August: Bundesliga Matchday 1
26 August: Friendly v Union Berlin (A)
Bayern Rundown
By: Angela | 9 Comments
01. Mario Gomez inks the deal to move to Bayern and subsequently ends his 829 minutes of goal-less game play. My guess is this was the weight being lifted off his shoulders and the promise of some kind of a future. I am still somewhat on the fence about this because I’m not sure exactly what it means for Mario. I’m not sure if he’ll play regularly or if he’ll sit on the bench as Podolski did. However, with the way Luca Toni has been playing as of late, I’d love to see Mario and Miro pair up as the starting strikers and see what they can accomplish together. Mario will come to the Säbener Strasse on July 1.
02. Unfotunately, Zé Roberto will be leaving Bayern. He and the team couldn’t come to terms on a new contract. Bayern had offered a one year extension, the same deal they gave to Captain Dutch, but Zé declined the offer.
03. Everyone knows Bayern are in serious need of a goalkeeper. The situation has been bleak and it’s clear that Rensing isn’t quite ready for the top spot at Bayern. Perhaps he could go somewhere else and get some experience, but whether it was inexperience or too much pressure of following the great Oliver Kahn, Rensing couldn’t get it done. In light of that, Bayern have set their sites on Schalke and Germany keeper Manuel Neuer.
04. Captain Dutch, Mark van Bommel, the object of all my affections, has helped lead his National Team to the World Cup games and also leads the rating of Dutch midfielders. van Bommel is the first of Bayern’s players to have his team in WC2010 after the Netherlands beat Iceland 2-1.
Van der Vaart now ranks 7th in the rating of Dutch midfielders, which is led by Bayern Munich’s Mark van Bommel. Van Bommel scored the winner against Iceland and earned 12.53 rating points to boost his tally to 138.05 points over all.
05. Daniel van Buyten is unhappy at Bayern and might actually want to leave.
“The people at Bayern have to make clear whether they still need me or whether I’m surplus to requirements. I feel like other players get way more chances to prove their worth. I’m sick of warming the bench and I’m ready to move on,” stated Van Buyten to Kicker.
There are rumors of Bayern being a little leary to let him go based on the fact that Franck Ribery wants him to stay. If he goes, it will make Ribery unhappy and rumor has it that they don’t want to make Ribery unhappy.
06. The possibility of Ribery being unhappy if van Buyten goes, leads me to the latest move for Bayern. Danijel Pranjic of Dutch top flight side SC Heerenveen has agreed to terms with Bayern, but the players team has not yet agreed 100%. So while a deal looks to be in place, it isn’t a done deal yet. If Bayern are able to get a deal with Pranjic he would join five others this season including Mario Gomez, Ivica Olic, Alexander Baumjohann, Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Andreas Görlitz. Görlitz is not a new signing, but he will be returning from a two-year loan to Karlsruhe.
All of the new things will happen under the new coach, Louis van Gaal.
“The most important transfer is the coach,” Germany international Philipp Lahm was quoted as saying in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The full-back is looking forward to working under Van Gaal. “He’s synonymous with a certain way of playing. I’m certain he’ll demand organisation and discipline, and give us clear tactical instructions,” Lahm said.
So here’s to a new season, new coaches, new players and hopefully a better played team.
Hrm.. really?
By: Angela | 40 Comments
The home 2009 jersey… Thoughts?
I still think the Captain looks good.. but then I’m blinded by the awesome smile and dimples. Yes, we all know, I’m very biased.
Category: Team Newsvan Gaal takes over team
By: Angela | 26 Comments
After much speculation, it has been confirmed by Bayern Munich that Dutchman, Louis van Gaal will take over as head coach for two years beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2011. He is expected to put ink on paper within the next few days.
The big dogs for Munich, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Uli Hoeneß and Karl Hopfner, left on Wednesday to speak with AZ Alkmaar’s President Dirk Scheringa, Toon Gerbrands and Marcel Brands to finalize the transition from their club to Munich. The agreement between the two clubs means that van Gaal will end his contract with AZ, which was scheduled to come to an end in 2010, a year earlier. They released him with no conditions. What are they getting in return? A friendly against Bayern in which they will not charge an appearance fee for.
I wonder if I can make it to the Netherlands in time to see Mark play at least one game in a Bayern shirt…
Bayern Munich - Borussia M’gladbach
By: Angela | 27 Comments
Today Bayern will take on M’gladbach without the likes of Franck Ribery and Tim Borowski. Both are serving a suspension this match. Captain Dutch is wearing a black arm band in honor of the folks that died during the the attempted attack on the Dutch Royal Family. Butt remains in goal. Schweinsteiger is back in the line-up as well after missing last week due to injury. This pleases me considering how solid he has been.
Ze Roberto sends in a nice cross and the lovely Captain Dutch has a nice header, but its sent over the bar. It is amazing to me how much ground Philipp Lahm covers in the course of the game. Bayern need someone to compliment him on the other side though.
Nine minutes in, Lukas Podolski takes on heck of a shot that just misses slightly wide. He gets a pat on the head from the Captain for a nice effort. Some time later he tries once more and just misses over the cross bar as well. He’s trying at least.
Demichelis is making a lot of mistakes. I think it’s time for him to sit on the bench for awhile until he can get it together. This is shamefully ridiculous. Christian Lell is very weak on the right side. I don’t understand why he continues to get playing time. I know that Oddo isn’t much better, but I’d take him over Lell any day.
Ze Roberto is overturned and a yellow card is issued to Roel Brouwers. First yellow of the day. Daems almost scored an own goal. Lucio almost makes a goal himself, but its off the goal post after the corner. Luck was on the side of M’gladbach this time.
Bastian Schweinsteiger puts Bayern in the lead as he scores goal number five of the season. Luca Toni puts a great cross over to Schweini who is able to capitalize and find the back of the box as he’s sliding on the pitch.
Jorg Butt gets ahold of a M’gladbach player and they are awarded a penalty. The skipper Filip Daems takes the shot and is able to score, bringing the game to a tie 1-1. Evidently even Captain Dutch doesn’t trust Lell on the right side as he’s playing a little farther up and on the right a little more often than he’s playing in the middle.
Hamit Altintop puts Bayern back in the lead, 2-1, with a gorgeous goal at 41:50. That shot was taken with much more confidence than I’ve seen him have as of late. Perhaps having his former coach around has been good for him.
In the second half, Massimo Oddo comes on Christian Lell. That is the only change at the half for either team. Podolski is taking a lot more chances this game than I’ve seen him take all season. Granted, they’re not finding the mark, but at least he’s giving it some effort which is more than I can say for most of the season.
Bayern have quite a few chances, but M’gladbach’s keeper is on spot and stops them from going in. Luca Toni was delivered a great shot from Ze Roberto, but once again he capitalize. It was an easy header that should’ve found the mark, but it didn’t. Massimo Oddo has a great run and puts the ball right through to Toni and he doesn’t follow through again. Oddo was clearly frustrated by that.
The team seems to be playing with a little more fire. There are still some critical tactical mistakes that need to be cleaned up, but they seem to have a little more of a spark today. Marko Marin comes on for Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker. He makes a corner and has an excellent delivery, but no one capitalizes on it. Bradley has a great header, but it sails just high over the bar.
Bayern also decide to make a switch and bring Thomas Muller on for Podolski. While they’re at it, M’gladbach makes the swith to Oliver Neuville in place of Tobias Levels. Bayern decides to make their last switch as well, bringing on Andreas Ottl for Hamit Altintop.
For the second time, Ze Roberto is taken down and a yellow is awarded to M’gladbach to Paul Staleri. He has to be helped off the pitch at that time and is being helped by the team doctors. Another yellow card is given to Karim Matmour, his fourth, for a foul against Mark van Bommel.
823 days after his last match as a manager, Jupp Heynckes takes Bayern to a victory against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Category: Team NewsBayern’s caretaker
By: Angela | 6 Comments
After the loss to Schalke, Jurgen Klinsmann is no longer employed at the Allianz Arena and has been sent off. Permanently. He has been sacked and the caretakers of the team, until the end of the season, have been appointed. Jupp Heynckes took the reigns and Hamit Altintop and Captain Dutch, Mark van Bommel were probably especially pleased. You may or may not be aware that Hamit came into the Bundesliga in 2003 at Schalke, instantly claiming a starting spot. Who was in charge then? Heynckes.
In 2004, van Bommel was Captain at PSV Eindhoven. However, Heynckes had tried to lure van Bommel over to Schalke then. The only reason he didn’t go; the deal fell through because of a transfer fee.
“He says exactly what he wants and doesn’t want. He puts things right and gees you up, he’s always clear in what he says. We like that,” said Van Bommel. Courtesy of his vast experience and “wonderful career” as a player and coach, Heynckes was a man “who knows how it works. You see it in the details. You sense his wealth of experience. We’re delighted to be working with Mr Heynckes,” the 32-year-old continued, describing the mood in the dressing room as “outstanding”.
Altintop agreed with his captain. “He expects the simple things like discipline and commitment.” The man who coached Real Madrid to Champions League glory in 1998 “has seen and done it all, so he really understands the situation we’re in.” And that, Hamit conceded, was precarious: “I think all the players have realised time’s almost up.”
So the Klinsmann era has come to an end with five games to go. The team seems very positive about their new caretaker and a bit of faith has been restored at the Allianz Arena. The question remains, is it enough time?
Bayern 0 - 1 Schalke
By: Angela | 18 Comments
With only six games left in the season Bayern take on Schalke 04. Captain Dutch, Mark van Bommel, says that Bayern absolutely has to win this game today. That losing isn’t an option. That may be easier said than done considering since the new coach arrived in Schalke, they have won three in a row.
Bayern kick off the match with some great passing. There was a nice back heel to Franck Ribery from Luca Toni. This is going to be a tough match so hopefully Bayern can pull it off. I’m not entirely sure they can if they continue to play the way have lately.
Krstajic receives the first yellow card of the match for pulling down Toni just before the fourth minute of the game. Manuel Neuer makes the save on the free kick. Greatpass by Pander, but it is stripped away by Lucio.
Ribery set up a nice shot for van Bommel which was a great shot, but it was blocked. Luca Toni was there as well, but didn’t make a shot. It was taken away by Schalke. Some great passes going on for both teams.
Demichelis loses the fight with one of Schalke’s players, but fortunately Andreas Ottl was in the right place and was able to clear the ball away, giving Schalke a corner kick. Halil Altintop makes a gorgeous goal that just slices through and finds the back of the net off a gorgeous header.
Ribery shoots a laser across the front of the goal line and no one is there to capitalize on it for Bayern. It shows once again what a step up he is from the other players.
Manuel Neuer is working for his money today. There was a lovely shot from Ribery, but he was denied as the keeper makes the stop once more. Ze Roberto had the ball and runs into a wall of Schalke players taking an elbow in the eye. He gets a free kick for Bayern. Sosa takes the shot and its just off the cross bar. Neuer is quite angry and pushes Kevin Kuranyi. Not entirely sure what that was about, but replays show that he may have ducked when Bayern took their shot.
van Bommel takes a shot to the face which puts Lell in a frenzy. Schalke is awarded a yellow for the gesture, but I missed the player. I’m not entirely sure Lell cared about his Captain or if he just looks for a reason to throw down, but he was ready to go either way.
Demichelis had the perfect opportunity to score, but can’t capitalize on it. Unbelievable that he missed that. It was probably the easiest chance Bayern have had to score all game. One minute of stoppage time is added to the first half. Neiter team does much of anything during that time and Schalke remain in the lead 1-0 at the end of the half.
Bayern make a change at the half and Lukas Podolski will replace Andreas Ottl. A fabulous shot from van Bommel once more, but nothing doing again. Neuer is making some truly tremendous saves. He is definitely man of the match on Schalke’s side.
Butt makes a great save and the rebound is cleared away by Demichelis. The ref is doing a great job today considering he’s really got his hands full. Both teams are quite physical this time. van Bommel plays a ball over to Sosa and Podlski pushes off one of the players which makes the whistle go and Schalke get the ball back momentarily.
Rafinha and Ribery are both shown the yellow card at 62 minutes. Things got quite physical and both cards were well deserved. van Bommel goes down in a heap. He and Jones have been going at it the whole match. Hamit Altintop comes on for Sosa at 68 minutes.
Jones gets a yellow/red for a foul against van Bommel. He clipped van Bommel up high around his knee and didn’t get any of he ball at all. Hopefully the Captain will be okay. I’m a little surprised by the lack of Schweinsteiger this match. He has been absolutely brilliant and absurdly consistent as of late. He definitely doesn’t warrant sitting on the bench.
Borowski comes on for Christian Lell. The one man advantage is lost when Franck Ribery foolishly shoves a Schalke player giving him a second yellow in the match which sends him off the pitch. van Bommel received a yellow and is arguing about it as usual. Though this time, I think he had a reason to argue because as he was going down it appeared that the other player came across him. At this point, he should just let the ref give him a yellow at the beginning of the match and get it out of the way since they tend to be a little harder on him. Jones was also a 17.. maybe its all in the number?
Lucio picks up what appears could be a good injury, but there are no substitutions left so he’ll have to stick it out. He came down on his ankle in an awkward manner with his leg hyper-extended so that could be something a little more serious. I hope not, but we’ll have to see what happens. Shortly after that, he’s run over by Neuer. Rough day for Lucio now. His injury appears to be a little more serious as he keeps asking to be taken off, but Bayern have already used their three substitutions so he’s going to have to stick it out a little longer.
The Blues have won their fourth game in a row with a 1-0 victory over Bayern.
Bayern 1 - 0 Bielefeld
By: Angela | 7 Comments
Bayern took on Arminia Bielefeld today with injuries to Rensing, Oddo, Podolski, Breno, Ze Roberto and Klose. Right away, Bastian Schweinsteiger nearly scores which also almost leads to an own goal, but it is kept out of Bielefeld’s goal.
Lucio made a tackle in which he appeared to hurt himself. Bayern seem to have stepped up their game a little bit, but I can’t actually tell if that’s because they stepped up their game or Bielefeld is just struggling so much this season that Bayern seem that much more superior. Given their dreadful play for the majority of the season, I would likely chalk it up to Bielefeld’s stuggle.
Ribery and Schweinsteiger had a great run, but there was a brilliant tackle by one of Bielefeld’s member’s and it was put away. Bielefeld take the ball to the net and Lucio has a great defensive play, but he is elbowed in the process so the ball is given to Bayern.
There was an incredibly great pass by Sosa, but once again Toni is unable to capitalize on a ball that should’ve been in the back of the net. Unproductive once more. What has happened to Toni this season? He can’t seem to finish much of anything.
Some great footwork by Captain Dutch and when the ball is taken back to the goal line by Bielefeld, there is an absolutely beautiful save by Jorg Butt. Demichelis gets knocked in the temple, but in all fairness he wasn’t exactly just standing around either. He was all over the other player. Luca Toni was taken down as well. At which point, the announcer talks about Toni being a great player, but he goes down if you frown at him. Sometimes the announcers are more entertaining than the game itself.
van Bommel draws a foul which gives Bayern a free kick. Ribery takes the free kick, but it is hit straight into the wall and Bielefeld takes the ball down the pitch. No goals by either side twenty two minutes in, but there has been plenty of action by both sides. At twenty four minutes, van Bommel draws a yellow card for a rather wicked foul. I’ll give the ref this one. It was the right thing to do. For whatever reason, Lucio decided to bump van Bommel off the ball and Mark didn’t look too pleased about it. He stood there for a moment with his hands on his hips before moving on. Someone needs to remind Lucio that they’re on the same team. And being that the team member you decided to bump off the ball is your Captain, you might want to rethink things like that. Not sure what that was all about.
There’s a lot of shoving and pushing going on in this match. By pretty much everyone on both sides. There is more talk that Klinsmann won’t be back next season, but nothing we haven’t heard already. The opinions on what he’s done since he came are split, but I think, my personal opinion, is that when you take a team, who commanded such presence last season, and not many changes have been made to that team and yet they weren’t top of the table once the entire season, something is not working right. And the only major change has been the coach so you have to wonder if it isn’t that.
Some great missed opportunities by Bayern nearing the end of the first half. Now that Bielefeld have stepped up their game, its hard to tell that these two teams are on completely opposite ends of the table. I don’t know if that’s saying something for Bielefeld or discouraging for Bayern.
The second half kicked off with no changes from either team. This half is a little slower than the first half, but its still a physical match. Lell makes a cross that is far wasted because no one was there so Bielefeld take it back, but pass it too long and it’s given to Butt to send back out.
Luca Toni is doing a lot of shoving and pushing. He should be careful since he’s already gotten a yellow card. Sosa is replaced by Hamit Altintop at 57 minutes. Bielefeld concede a corner with 60 minutes gone and its taken by Altintop. It was whistled down before his kick and Bollman was issued a yellow. Altintop retakes the corner. It was knocked out by Bielefeld and Bayern try a third time, but the clearance is poor and van Bommel gets the ball back, handing it over to Altintop who slides it across to Lucio who misses and hits the side of the net.
Bayern finally score with a goal by Luca Toni. A gorgeous header to find the back of the net and see a much deserved celebration. A little dance and a team mauling, especially by Captain Dutch. Bayern take the lead 1 -0 with 65 minutes gone.
A foul against Ribery warrants Lamey a yellow card. Bayern were given a free quick through the work of Ribery on another player an it wasn’t deserved, but I guess it happens more often than not. Demichelis is given a yellow at 68 minutes in which Lahm almost takes a ball to the face from the player that was fouled. Case of mistaken identity perhaps?
Good attack by Bielefeld, but nothing comes out of it and Butt covers the ball. Lucio is down on the sidelines with another injury. This time he’s been stepped on on the calf just above his ankle. Bielefeld’s keeper is one of the reason’s that Bayern has only scored one goal. He’s been great. On the flip side of that, so has Butt. Absolutely brilliant between the pipes this match. I haven’t a clue why he hasn’t been first choice all season.
Once more Bayern have a chance, but the keeper totally snuffs any chance they have. He quickly saves another and I’m telling you, this guy is putting on a show today. Bielefeld are lucky that the score is just 1-0 and it’s because their keeper is quite cat like in his flexibility.
Bayern seriously need a replacement for Lell. He is just plain terrible and the majority of his fouls are so completely ridiculous. And let’s face it, he doesn’t even stand in the same league as Lahm. At 82 minutes, Tim Borowski comes on for Bastian Schweinsteiger who has had another solid performance.
Altintop had a beautiful chance to score, but he goes over the bar on what should’ve been a very easy goal for him. Two minutes extra time was added at the end of the second half. Lucio is down again. He has taken an absolute beating this match. Luca Toni has two opportunities, but he’s unable to close the deal again. Without their keeper, Bielefeld surely would’ve been sunk a long time ago by a far worse score. Thomas Mueller was brought on for the final seconds in place of Luca Toni.
Bayern close with a 1-0 victory over Bielefeld. An interesting game to say the least.
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