Comments on: Angela breathes a sigh of relief…

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:08:49 +0000

Hey guys, I sensed some doubt about Edson Braafheid, who is firstly a LB but can play CB. But I can tell you he has been one of the absolute best defenders in Eredivisie for the last 2 seasons and, at that, the most consistent and impressive. To me more impressive than Heitinga who went to Atletico for 10 million. So the way I see it, you got a quality leftback for a bargain price.

By: Angela

Angela — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:08:00 +0000

@A Kap: I think that MvB will have opportunity. He’s played under van Gaal and van Gaal like his style. And Mark is perfectly okay with not being captain if that’s the case. I’m getting ready to post an article that is an interview with him. It was a good read.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:38:10 +0000

FC Bayern vs. Red Bull Salzburg. Well, I really only saw the 2nd half. Don’t worry gang, you didn’t miss much. Breno getting his pocket picked by 2nd rate Austrian does not inspire confidence. I don’t think LVG’s opinion of Altintop will have improved either. And it’s just downright awkward to see Borowski out there. To be fair, it was a little early in the summer to have this type of match (meaning not against a 7th division team from Niederbayern or something), and it kind of showed in Mario Gomez’s post-game interview, where he seemed to struggle to muster any enthusiasm, and stressed that the players were still getting to know each other. Not much to take away from this one, so time to bash some village teams to feel a little better about ourselves.

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:23:35 +0000

Man City have put in a 7 million Euro bid for Lucio. I think we could at least get that into double digits.

LvG has stated that MvB will be the captain through pre-season, but has also said that whoever is captain must be starting every game. If MvB is going to start and play a lot then LvG will keep him captain for sure as he respects his leadership skills a lot.

By: A Kap

A Kap — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:25:48 +0000

Seems like Ribery has come out and buried the hatchet. As for Lucio, I’d like to see him come back from his holiday before bothering about the chatter.

And when it comes to der Kapitaen, the only people likely to be guaranteed a spot would be Klose, Lahm, maybe Micho, and Ribery. MvB might have to slug it out with Tymoschuk (nailed it!!!) depending on the formation, so he just might not be nominated. Klose and Lahm have led the Nationalelf, so they might be frontrunners. Will be an interesting fight. Just my two cents.

By: Angela

Angela — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:23:28 +0000

Chiming in late here, but Ribery seems to pull this crap every year. Last year there rumors of his departure too. I would hate to see him go, but I don’t know what to believe when I read stuff about him. Sometimes I think that maybe he said oh it’d be nice to play there someday and the media runs with it and puts everyone in a tizzy. I haven’t got a clue, but it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

There isn’t a decision who will be Captain for this season either, but one can rest assured my poor heart will be broken if it’s not Captain Dutch.

I’m ready for Lucio to see some bench time. Until he starts performing for Bayern, he doesn’t need to play. He may not be as verbal as Podolski was, but he’s complaining about the new coach already.

Training has started and all the new kids have settled in. Mark even brought one to town (yes I know which one, but I can’t spell him). It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:25:08 +0000

Well that Real deal and variants on it doesn’t sound too bad. Maybe a little more cash, but we already have a Dutch coach so why not two good Dutch players and a lot less drama for the season. Ribery obviously wants to go.

Anyway the whole midfield would probably be reconfigured and Bayern would be playing a Dutch system – and that is probably why second to money it was rejected. Although Metzelder is as solid as any of the centers Bayern has now – maybe less versatile than Lucio.

We shall see and the first few games do look nasty.

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:40:13 +0000

LvG has told Lahm he wants to “fulfill his wish to play RB.” A lot of ways to take that and we won’t know what that means for a while now. The Lucio drama is surprising to me. Really, hard to say what happened behind closed doors but Lucio is pissed or else he sees this as his last chance to engineer a move to somewhere larger. If Lucio goes our defense is doomed. Demi/Van Buyten central defense? I want to puke. Although, probably Braafheid would play in the middle.

The ribery business will be interesting. Latest is Real Madrid offered 25 million, Sneijder, VdV and an un-named third player (rumored to be Metzelder) which was declined. Most fans seem to be turning their noses at this as a pathetic offer. Now we have Ribery missing a couple training sessions with a reported “blister due to new shoes.” Mmmmmkay. Fans seem to want 65 million minimum for Ribery but Real Madrid does not seem to have the money after buying Benzema and Ribery has effectively shut down a bidding war by stating it is “Real Madrid or nothing.”

Well, I don’t think a 65 million offer will be coming, but assuming it did and we took it; what do we do with the money?

- 20ish on Neuer
- 15-20ish on Bosingwa
- And we use the rest on a creative midfielder, except who is out there to spend that on besides young, project players? Perhaps we do spend it on project players and I’d be fine with that, but if we want a ready to go creative midfielder who could realistically come to Bayern for ~15-20 million then the best available is back to Real Madrid for Sneijder or Robben or VdV. And that’s why I think you really have to consider the cash + Sneijder/VdV offer.

In the end the actions of LvG lately have left me very pumped for the coming season. I like his style and how he is getting to know all the players intimately. He also will not take prima dona’s and has already hinted that if Ribery intends to act like one then there will be consequences. Bottomline: I trust in LvG to craft a really strong Bayern team.

Last bit of news is that our first couple matches of the year are a doozy:

1. Away Hoffenheim
2. Home Bremen
3. Away Mainz
4. Home Wolfsburg
5. Away Dortmund

By: A Kap

A Kap — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:35:20 +0000

That’s true with other situations as well. Rumors have Boro going to either Villa or back to Werder. Ottl seems content to warm the bench, and Lell will only be sent off if a right back is signed.

I guess, since there are 2 months still left for wheelings and dealings, a lot could still happen, and Bayern is known for trying to keep things quiet.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:16:19 +0000

It seems hard to get good info on the Bosingwa thing, it’s so on and off. Hopefully Roman can get the Zhirkov thing done, so he can turn his attention to this.