Bayern Blah.
By: Angela | August 28th, 2008Jansen has been sold to Hamburg. I am not amused. And in his place we’re getting right-back Massimo Oddo joins FCB on a one-year loan from AC Milan. What? I seriously don’t know what the heck they’re thinking these days. So as it stands currently, Marcell Jansen has been sold (stupid), Lukas Podolski really wants out (forced to stay) and they’re threatening to take the armband away from van Bommel. I’m this close to going on strike. Angela is not amused.
Champions League Group Stage Draw:
Group A: FC Chelsea, AS Roma, Girondins Bordeaux, CFR Cluj
Group B: FC Internazionale di Milano, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos Athens, Anorthosis Famagusta
Group C: FC Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, FC Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk
Group D: Liverpool FC, PSV Eindhoven, Olympique Marseille, Atlético Madrid
Group E: Manchester United, FC Villarreal, Celtic Glasgow, Aalborg BK
Group F: Olympique Lyonnais, FC Bayern München, Steaua Bucharest, AC Fiorentina
Group G: Arsenal FC, FC Porto, Fenerbahce Istanbul, Dynamo Kyiv
Group H: Real Madrid CF, Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg, Bate Borisov
It’s not all doom and gloom like Group H say, but if Bayern can’t pull out of this I’ll be highly embarassed.
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Here’s how you have to look at the Jansen transfer: Probably the main reason he was acquired in the first place was to have a replacement for Lahm, because last summer the board must have felt unsure whether they would get Lahm re-signed. It was a relative surprise that Lahm signed the long term extension that he did, given the rumors that persisted beforehand (I remember our discussion here on that matter well). So, if you are philosophically committed to keeping Lahm on the left, Jansen becomes expendable. And just in case you were thinking of Jansen as a solution at right back, let’s not forget the 2nd leg against Zenit–that was enough to permanently forget about that idea.
Oddo is a response to the Sagnol and Altintop injuries. I think if Sagnol was healthy, they wouldn’t have made this move. But Christian Lell is in over his head, and they needed an experienced, stabilizing force at the back, and that’s what Oddo will provide. It’s not a long term solution, but it gives Lell a little more time to develop, or it gives Bayern a little more time to figure out who they want at right back long term.
Angela, I’ll make you a bet right now: Barring any injury, I will predict that Podolski will be the leading goal scorer in Group F at the end of the group stage. Not sure what the wager should be, but we’ll figure it out!
Hey, no one put a gun to his head and told him he had to sign a 4 year contract. He’s going to be fine in this system. Van Bommel just needs to show “real” leadership in the next few weeks. When Rummenigge can’t even find a way to defend your actions, you know you’ve crossed a line.
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United States
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Yea, I’m not that surprised by the Jansen transfer for the reasons Luke has eloquently stated. Not sure I’ll buy Podolski leading the scoring in Group F. Lyon and Fiorentina love the counter attack are will probably let us possess and come at them; a situation bad for Podolski. Steaua is a weaker team that is going to look for the 0-0 draw or goal off a set piece/counter. I’d put my money on Benzema or Mutu topping the goal tally. But i’m still optimistic. This is not a very difficult group and I really think we should win it.
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Luke: I don’t have a problem with Podolski most days. His heart isn’t in Bayern. He’s said so himself and that’s fine. I just don’t agree with making a player stay when they have expressed a clear desire to leave. I felt the same way when Klose wanted to leave Bremen. I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do. A player forced to stay in a situation that they’re not happy in won’t be as productive as they could be. And I think that Lukas has proven that. He’s good when he wants to be, but could be SO much better. Curious what the wager on that bet would be Luke.
Shane: I agree with you on the deal with Podolski. It’s not his favorite style of play.
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Angela, Uli Hoeness is not one happy man when commenting on the Podolski situation – http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,3033_4065396,00.html He’s annoyed with all those rumours of Podolski back to his former club.
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Lyon will be Bayern’s biggest challenge in that group, i remember Lyon beating Real Madrid 3-0 while only having 30% of the possession. Every Bayern player will have to fight to get back the ball as soon as its lost. Bayern’s games against Lyon will be a measuring stick as to how far they can go in Europe. Fiorentina’s defense is not as strong as it was last season and they are one of the more attacking Italian sides, so Bayern will have a good chance beating them home and away. Steaua Bucharest will be the “must beat by as many goal’s as possible team”, all the other teams in the group will use them to prop up their goal difference. Jansen leaving illustrates that Klinsmann has a lot to learn as a coach at the very least Squad rotation is essential in order to do well domestically and in the champions league, Jansen would have been a perfect player to rotate into the squad for domestic matches to give Ribery and Lahm rest. Instead Klinsmann alienated Jansen and downplayed his talent and usefulness to the team. after the transfer Jansen said he was disappointed with Klinsmann and i suspect he wont be the only Bayern player to feel like that. Oddo is well past his prime and might not be able to out compete for the starting rightback spot.
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Diana: Podolski has expressed his wish to leave the club. Several times. That didn’t change when Klinsmann came on board. In fact, he expressed a stronger desire to leave Bayern because he felt it was best for his family and their new son. He thought Bayern understood. Evidently, they didn’t. I wouldn’t blame him one bit if he left. I don’t like it when any team forces an unhappy player to stay with them. It doesn’t make them turn in their best performance.
John: I agree completely about Jansen. I am sad to see him leave Bayern because he is an excellent player and he could’ve had a fabulous career at Bayern, but Klinsmann just made a bad decision in not utilizing him and letting him go. I wish Jansen much success outside of Bayern.
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I also agree with you, Angela. Actually, it does break my heart sometimes on the state he is in.
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I was quite disappointed when I read that Jansen left. I felt that he held his own quite well, unlike Lell, he knows what he is doing. He is a young rising star who starts on the national team. SO much talk of FCB having the nickname FC Deutchland. They had the greatest majority of DFB starters. Why they can’t keep players is lost to me.
It concernes me that things have not clicked like last year. Klinsman deserves a change but I expected that he would just be building on last year’s success with a few tweaks here and there. FOr the most part, in my opinion after last season, the team should be “gelled” by now. Bring in new faces and there’ll be short hiccups but overall, I expected wins straight out with the occasional hiccup like Cottbus last year.
Just my $.02
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jocamryn: I agree really. Watching the team under Klinsmann is like watching a team that has been dismantled and thrown together without ever having played together. New philosophies, sure. New style of play, sure. But they shouldn’t have as much problem playing together as they seem to.
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To be honest, I’m quite glad that Jansen was sold. He shows potential but he is way too clumsy. He tries to dribble to much and plays like a winger without having the ability of a winger. He’s a poor leftback compared to Lahm. Oddo is a great player, her played regularly for Ac Milan and he has got the attacking flair on the right flank that we need. We can’t rely on sagnol and altintop at the moment because of their injuries and Lahm plays better on the left side. I still don’t know abobut Van Bommel but he’s only been captain for 3 weeks so we’ll see how he does. But I think that we do need to strengthen the squad a bit more and the rumors about Timoshuk and Berbatov are sounding very good at the moment.
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They will pull out of this group and they will win the champions league. GO BAYERN!
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I can’t pretend I’m not disappointed by a transfer season where we spent more time talking about who we were looking at rather than actually getting them. So many transfers that would have been clutch just ended up not happening. I wonder if there’s something in the cards for January?
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I bet Podolski will be very happy if he just gets a chance to play. It angers me that with the poor form Miro has shown since last January, he still starts over Lukas. Lukas was better in Euro 2008, better in the game they both played vs Hamburg and better in the world cup qualifier vs Liechtenstein. See if he is still unhappy if he gets the playing time he wants (and deserves).
About the slow start… We are missing Ribery, and the new system Klinsmann has installed is radically different then last year. They showed very positive signs of ‘getting it’ versus Hertha. Bayern does have a roster with the starters and the depth to compete for the Champions League title if they continue to improve which I am sure they will.
Anyway, no worries, there will be another Bundesliga title and a deep run in the CL, just watch.
I was also sad to see Jansen go …
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The problem is that Lukas is good when Lukas wants to be. When Bayern play against teams that are close to his heart, or more specifically Cologne, he doesn’t give his best. It’s clear that he doesn’t want to be at Bayern. He wants to be back in Cologne where the team and the fans revolve around him. And he also has family there. I have never agreed with any team, one that I support or not, forcing a player to stay simply because they don’t want to let them go.
I am looking forward to Ribery’s return.
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bayern.should.buy.Ibisevic.rather.than.having.donovan.on.loan….and.Gourcuff,when,ZeRoberto.leaves….GonzaloRodriquez.if.VanBuyten.leave.and..we.need.another.ribery.too.to.strengthen.bayern..Oddo.we.should.sign.him.he.fit.well.with.bayern.and..a.left.fullback.if.lahm.injured…
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