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.

With some back to back wins, Bayern have moved up the table to reach third in the table. This puts them just behind Leverkusen and top of the table Hoffenheim.

Bayern face off with AC Fiorentina in the Champions League on Wednesday, but have to do so without the likes of Luca Toni. Unfortunately Luca’s recovery isn’t going as planned so he will miss the away trip to Fiorentina. Klinsmann says that “Luca is continuing to receive intensive treatment from the medical unit. We hope to see him back in the team as soon as possible.”

Things are looking up for the lovely Miroslav Klose. On Saturday, The first day of the eleventh month, Klose and company took on Armenia Bielfeld and he scored his 111th goal. Scoring his 111th goal means that the student has become the teacher. Klose is now ranked above current Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann. One could argue that Klinsmann managed his 110 goals in 221 games while Klose scored his 111th goal in 246 games. The fact remains, a record is a record and Klose now sits 33rd while Klinsmann sits 34th.

Lukas Podolski is once again evaluating his future. He will look, once more, at leaving Bayern in the winter break. Currently, I feel very sorry for him. He has the ability to be a world class footballer, but the stars are never aligned for him. With Luca Toni injured, many of us thought that Poldi would’ve been the first choice striker, but he was once again benched this past weekend. Despite his discontent, Klinsmann praised his player for taking it in stride and stepping up when he came on at the half during the last match; “He reacted in a very professional manner. He showed the kind of reaction a coach wants to see.” Podolski scored a penalty kick for Bayern.

Of his future in Bayern, Poldi said “It is quite normal and justified for me to consider my future in the winter break. I’ll have to consider everything in the coming weeks and months.” Who can blame him? The bigger story isn’t being told, but one can’t argue with the reasons for which Poldi really wants to leave. He is trying his hardest to get his message heard, unfortunately no one is listening. Poor love.

Lastly, on the rumor mill is that Bayern are looking to acquire another defender in the form of AC Milan’s Daniele Bonera. One thing that concerns me about this rumor is that Bayern are in need of a defender at the moment, but it’s a waste to leave the big beautiful Belgian van Buyten on the bench all the time while Lucio and Demichelis continually screw up. I have been very disappointed in Demichelis as of late and that’s unusual. Lucio however continues to screw up and I don’t see anyone trying to take him out of the game which is incredibly disappointing. Why aren’t they using Breno? Why isn’t van Buyten being played? I would like to give Klinsmann a stern talking to on a few points lately.

In a perfect world, Klinsmann would start my favorites (van Bommel, van Buyten & Oddo) all the time and Lucio would be forever benched. But alas, we don’t live in a world where I get to make the starting line up!

Some months ago, the team lost Hamit Altintop due to injury. Six months ago he was recovering from a surgery and similar problems occurred. Now, the first bit of good news comes. He is back on track and working his way towards recovery. Altintop has started swimming session and his right foot is handling it all well.

“I’m already in a position to work on my legs and upper body, so that once it comes to running again, I won’t be too far behind,” he added. “It’s getting better and I’m on the right track.”

As for a January comeback, Altintop says he will talk it over with the doctors and coaches, but for now he’s going to only take it one day at a time.

And as if that weren’t enough, Ottmar Hitzfeld thinks Bayern will get back on top despite their rocky start. I wonder if he’s watching the same team. I don’t think top is actually something that should even be discussed this point. How about just winning a game first?

One more time we’re going to hear from Podolski. He’s yet again expressing is desire to leave the club. Why am I not surprised? While he says he’s fully focused on Bayern in one breath, the next is him saying that he will consider leaving in the January transfer window. He also says that it’s better for him in the National team because Jogi Loew believes in his talent as much as he does before again expressing a desire to leave Bayern but still saying he’s completely committed to Bayern. I think someone needs to talk to him about what committed means. It doesn’t really mean whining and crying about sitting on the bench. Which brings me to the next part about Miroslav Klose saying that Mark is an exemplary leader and how even now when he’s benched he doesn’t complain. I wonder if that was directed at anyone.

On the Ze Roberto front, there are heavy rumors starting (since my post about his leaving Bayern) that he will indeed be making an MLS move and the front runner in his acquisition is FC Dallas. I will keep you all posted on whatever I find out.

Franck Ribery was crowned Player of The Year with 37.3% of the votes while teammate Luca Toni came in second with 19.3% of the votes. Diego, Rene Adler and Oliver Kahn rounde out the group.

Even Oliver Kahn is worried about his former team. He has said that he’s surprised by the form of the team since it is not a team going through renovation and it is, in fact, the same team that won the double last season. Looks like Oli is thinking the same thing as all of us. And the quote that made me an even bigger fan: “A captain cannot do the job he should do when he is sitting on the bench,” said van Bommel’s successor. “Mark has been undermined.” Oli, you make my heart swell. I’m sure that was just a dig at Klinsmann since he doesn’t like him, but as the girl that is a big MvB lover, I will take anyone that wants to stand up for my guy.

And despite all the doom and gloom, the Bayern hierarchy have guaranteed Klinsmann a job until at least the end of the season.

02. Oliver Kahn is not happy that Klinsmann showed up at the game yesterday. He doesn’t think it’s right that a coach, who is not their coach yet, came to a game to watch a team he will be coaching next year. What? Wait, does that even sound right? Evidently, there is still a big rift between Klinsmann and Kahn. He called Klinsmann’s move unclassy. I don’t see anything wrong with an upcoming coach watching his upcoming team play a game, especially when he was already there on business, but maybe I am seeing things unclearly.

03. Daniel van Buyten is picking up serious steam in the transfer rumor mill. This time it’s Aston Villa. They have been doing some scouting and are looking to bring the Belgian on board. Rumor has it they will offer somewhere around 4 mill for him, but I don’t know if Bayern will let him go. They had offers in the winter transfer window that they declined due to money. Also, Klinsmann would like for him to stay, so we’ll see what happens in the future.

04. Congrats to the offisde being named one of the top 50 most powerful blogs. Congrats to all of the writers, the creators and all of our readers for making this the spot to be for all the football/soccer news. I am glad to be part of the Offside community. And I’m glad to have all of you here with me.

05. Lastly, if you’d like to be a part of the Offside crew, there are blogs that are in need of filling. They are currently looking for someone to blog about these teams:
Bayer Leverkusen
Zenit St. Petersburg
Rangers
Sporting Lisbon
Getafe
PSV Eindhoven
If you’re interested send an email to Daryl daryl [at] theoffside [dot] com, or you can get in touch with Ian if you have any questions at uefa [at] theoffside [dot] com.

Much love to all of you out there in Cyberspace!

Bayern have denied the link to Polish keeper Boruc. They say there is no truth in the matter and have even responded by saying that Michael Rensing is their number one once Kahn goes.

“We have assured him that he is our number one. That assurance remains. Therefore everything else is just not an issue”

I agree that Rensing deserves a chance to go for the number one spot, but I don’t think it should be handed to him. We will also need a brilliant back up goalie and someone with a lot more game experience to help pull him through and to continue teaching him.

And that’s about all I have now, but here you get me, in my new jersey, sent from a friend of mine in Germany, hand signed by my favorite guy (even if everyone else hates him, I love him), the one and only, Mark van Bommel. What he wrote: Für Angie: mark van Bommel. And this is the first autograph that I have from him in which I can actually read Bommel… Color me happy.

And last but not least, Happy Easter everyone!

Kahn has said that this years defense is the best ever at Bayern. And speaking of Kahn, he also thinks that Ribery could be compared to Zidane.

In the summer they will bring on one or two players, let a few go, but definitely won’t be getting rid of Franck Ribery.

I think that’s it for now.

Highlights from the match:

0-0 Bayern Munich vs. MSV Duisburg Highlights – MyVideo

Mark van Bommel is looking for a return to Holland and the Oranje after Marco van Basten steps down. He would love to play for his National side again, but only if the coach wants him.

I think everyone knows by now that Willy Sagnol is not happy with his place at Bayern and is looking to leave the club. Bayern have said they will let him go if he really wants to go. Rumors say that he and Hitzfeld just don’t get along. Speculation is that he’ll go to Manchester United.

Now I’m bringing a question to you, my readers. Speculation is high on what is going to happen with young Mr. Podolski. What do you think should happen? Should he stay or go?
My response:
I’m a big fan of Lukas’. In fact, in the world of Bayern, my favorites are van Bommel and Podolski, among others, but van Bommel and Podolski are tops for me. Sadly, I think it would be in Lukas’ best interest to leave Bayern. It seems like no matter what he tries he just can’t find his place. He works really hard, he gives a pretty decent effort when he’s on the pitch, but no matter, he can’t pull it off. It’s as though fate has stepped in to say ‘no this isn’t where you belong’ and has stopped him from achieving much at Bayern. We all know he’s a better footballer than this. That is evident every time he steps on the pitch for the National side. Why is it that when he plays for the National side he is brilliant, but when he is thrown on the pitch for Bayern, it doesn’t work? I would hate to see him leave Bayern, but I wish he could play like we all know he can. For whatever reason, he can’t seem to find that Podolski class for his team.