As the Ribéry turns..
By: Luke | August 17th, 2009Cue the soap opera organ strains. It was a 3-ring Ribéry circus at the Säbener Strasse on Monday.
Aïe!
Of short term concern, Ribéry had to leave the training ground early on with an apparent groin strain. He will not be available for the scheduled friendly in Görlitz (hometown of Michael Ballack) tomorrow. While I could be really cynical and state that Franck just doesn’t want to make a trip to Saxony, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. The training staff do not believe the injury will impede his ability to play this weekend.
Who’s the Boss?
A long-term and more concerning issue is the public debate erupting between Ribéry and van Gaal over how the French playmaker will be used. Ribéry told Sportsbild that he feels his strength is to play on the left, rather than atop LVG’s diamond. Complicating matters was a somewhat restrained (for once) endorsement of Ribéry’s viewpoint in the same publication by Franz Beckenbauer. Over the summer, we had a lot of discussion at the Bayern Offside about how LVG would handle a challenge to his authority, generally ending with the conclusion that, as it has always been, it will be my way or the highway with LVG. The question is, can LVG afford to keep Ribéry off the field as a show of authority? How far is Ribéry willing to go within the context of a match to prove his point? One of these guys is going to be here next season and one isn’t– given that, whose side would you take?
Whaaaaaaaaaaa?
Finally, this classic quote from Ribery:
“I never said I wanted to move to Real Madrid. If I did, I would have said so publicly,”
Tags: 1. Bundesliga, FC Bayern Munich, Franck Ribéry, Franz Beckenbauer, Injuries, Interviews, Louis van Gaal, Michael Ballack, Players, Real Madrid, Team News, transfers
Category: 
Comments | Add your comment
-
Inter fan chipping in with a few things I’ve picked up on LVG:
1) according to his book (from back in the Ajax days) he loves to be challenged by players, and loves dialogue within his group. However, his biggest problem is when players take their grievances to a public forum, which he believes is “asking for trouble.”
2) He does his best work outside of the transfer market. This is a polite way of saying he spent a whole lot of money at Barça and didn’t meet much success.
This means if you guys get a whole lot of cash from whoever in Europe (maybe us?) I’m betting LVG won’t necessarily spend it well. Good luck keeping Fhraaank
Posted from
United States
-
You have to have faith in the manager and what he is trying to do otherwise a player becomes bigger than the club and problems are created.
Posted from
United States -
We still won’t know if it is a full blown confrontation if Ribery is on the bench against Mainz because the coach could say Frank hasn’t fully recovered from the muscle strain. I’m going to wait until after the Mainz game to try to form an opinion on how things are shaping up.
I think it’s going to be a tight win for Bayern – 3 points, but still some cause for concern.
Posted from
United States -
Ribery should give it a chance. To do otherwise would invite criticism not of the coach, where it might properly lay, but with him.
When he decides to be a prima donna and do what he wants, he pushes the team out of shape. Last year, when he took the left, all attacks went up the left side, making it easy for the opposing team to shut down our attack by taking care of him. We need a more balanced attack.
Posted from
United States -
A little off topic, but GOLTV is finally airing a Bayern game this Saturday. As well, if anyone is looking to watch the friendly against Gorlitz, here’s a link:
http://www.footballclubonline.com/ch1.html
Posted from
Canada -
The one thing you have to admit though… Reading summer transfer rumors is like getting your news from the the National Enquirer. Every now and then they may get a story right, but the chances are not great.
I see the next rumor now… Ribery wants to stay left because Kaka plays in the center!
I think it would be awesome to see him in the center. I’m sure after a little resistance he will see how much more bank he can get when his contract runs out if he puts up huge numbers, and much easier to do it from the center.
Posted from
United States -
Christophe Dugarry was a great International and World Champion French Player …He was under the disastrous Barca period of LVG….He almost never play….was benched all along….we saw the result…Dixit Christophe …LVG was the most pretentious individual he never met…..How stupid it is to put Ribery in the middle !!! just because of being stubborn…..A team that works it’s all about great coaching and how mayonnaise will rise….I think Bayern made a big mistake hiring this Ego Maniac…Ribery is a really really good player..I rate him as good as Ronaldo and messi and ahead of Kaka…just because he is not advantage with his look…does not diminish his huge talent…
Posted from
United States -
Can’t agree with you on Messi, Dom. I think Franck is better than Ronoldo though. I’ve never really had high regard for Ronoldo as the best thing he does is flops on the field and fakes hurt until he gets what he wants… Can’t stand those types of players. Messi is the one player I would not give up for any reason or any amount of money though. There is not a single player in the world I would trade him for. Ribery is close, but he has proven so brittle the past few years. I know it’s not really his fault, but it would be nice to see him available to play an entire season.
To all those who want Ribery to play in that friendly… I wish they’d leave even more first teamers back. Nothing good can come of it. Hoffenheim lost Ibisevic in a friendly last year, just before the second half of the season and it basically ended their shot at contending for a birth in European play.
To all those commenting about LVG’s stubborness… Him, Uli, and the Kaiser are going to have fun when they all disagree.
@b-52 haha nice try… First of all, Inter would NEVER spend that amount of money on a player, and I think we’ll keep our little man. Though LVG most likely has some input, there is no question that Uli still has the final say on all player aquisitions.
Posted from
United States -
Juliet, your comments were well said, couldn’t have put it any better!
Posted from
Australia -
Whilst I have my reservations about Ribery being an effective number ten, the lack of viable options within the squad leave Van Gaal with few alternatives. Bayern need to either buy the requisite players to play the diamond formation, or they need to develop a new tactic more suitable for the payers they already have. I would even have tried a 4-3-3 in pre-season with Ribery on the left and Olic on the right, it might have been good to have a plan B.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
….assuming Ribery had been fit in pre-season
Posted from
United Kingdom -
I agree with you Inselaffe and also Roger…….. Van Gaal was awful with Barcelona, this ego maniac will create a lot of problems with Bayern…Don’t ask Christophe Dugarry and many others…
Posted from
United States
Leave a Reply
If you have not commented here before, please take a moment to peruse ourCommenting Guidelines.
Home 
