Is there hope?
By: Angela | July 30th, 2009
The caption read: Bayern Munich captain Mark van Bommel holds the trophy…..
Does this mean that my Captain Dutch loving heart has hope that he may retain the Captaincy after all? I may be in denial… but I like it there. 
And Daniel scored the winning penalty… It was a good day for my boys. 
Category: Team News
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Well, that was a lot of fun. You’ve gotta question the wisdom of doing these tournaments on back to back days though, because there were a lot of heavy legs, even with all the player rotation. It reminded me a lot of the Ligapokal final from 2 years ago (I think), against Schalke–we scored an early goal though that time, and it was a pretty sluggish ride after.
I came away more impressed with Braafheid. I don’t know how much of an offensive contribution he’s going to make, but I like the way he challenges, and he does not make me nervous. Breno, on the other hand, does not seem ready for prime time. It was a little painful to see Giggs getting to ball after ball ahead of him/over him. Tymoschuk was better today, but I still think he’s going to need some time to adjust. I’m sure there will be criticism of Gomez, but Man U pretty much moved everyone deep and let Bayern dominate the midfield play, without giving chances. Baumjohann has a ways to go as a playmaker, and he didn’t have much creativity against this set. I thought Sosa again played at a good pace when he came in, but the strikers were completely pooped by then. Görlitz showed very little, and his deep offensive pushes were very weak.
I hope that Michael Rensing saw today as bigger than it really was. If he can go forward with the confidence that he can outmatch Van Der Saar in Elfmeters, that will really go a long way in restoring his confidence. He’s got to be the starter going into the season, based on the displays in this tournament, although I still wouldn’t be all that confident with him.
So, onto Sinsheim for the Pokal, with one trophy already in the case. All the Audi execs can be happy, and the boys can rest for a couple days.
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United States
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van Bommel keeping the captaincy depends on how much Tymoschuk is played because he and van Bommel play the same position and when Tymoschuk plays on the right bayerns offense stagnates and van gaal ants a captain that will always start.
the game today was a huge improvement over the Milan game yesterday… but it still looks as if Bayern will be a defend and counter team this season, at least unlike the Milan game Bayern pushed up the field when they saw that Man U would not drawn forward. and they switched from feeding Gomez with long balls and high crosses to using through passes and it worked better but Gomez is looking as if he is vastly overrated as his finishing is poor and he struggles with any sort of defensive pressure, Bayern should have lead 2 nil at the half but Gomez was really struggling. Baumjohann played well and provided a lot of creativity that was missing in the previous match. Braafheid plays more like a defensve midfielder than a wing back and never even attempted to cross the ball the whole game, no wonder van gaal is now pressing for a new wide defender and Pranjic plays more like a left back than a winger and is another offensive liability, I find it strange that van gaal brought in such defensive specialist players when he is known for his coaching of attacking teams. Bayerns crossing is another thing that needs to greatly improve it did not matter who was crossing from the right it always turned out to be a bad cross and Bayern struggled a lot especially in the second half with the physical play of Man U which is a serious problem, all the big champions league teams are very physical. Demichelis was good in defense and so was Breno who distributed the ball well out of the defense and Rensing had a few good saves and looked confident. Altintop played well when he came on but its a shame he isn’t a pass first type player. over all van gaal is doing a good job of using players strengths and giving playing time to youngsters.
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United States -
Quick thoughts on last two days:
1. No idea who our keeper is going to be now. I felt that Butt was solid and I think he still is, but that was an incredibly bad game against Milan. For the first time this transfer season I’m in favor of throwing 25 mil plus for Neuer. Who knows, maybe Rensing will turn it on after the PK shootout, but i’m not optimistic.
2. Biggest decision for LvG is the MvB and Tymo situation. Tymo cannot play on the right and that thought needs to end. Tymo is an amazing DM though, except MvB has upped his game and has been playing well at DM. There’s is only one man for the job and it should be Tymo but MvB is one of the only people who can be captain. Klose or Lahm are only other options. As well as MvB has been playing lately i’d rather see Tymo at DM with Altintop on the right and Lahm with the band.
3. Mueller could be really great in the future at #10 spot or forward. Hopefully, management nurtures him better than they have done with Kroos.
4. The team proved they don’t need Ribery. I’ll be happy when the whole saga is over and Ribery is still at Bayern for the season, but it is nice to know we have the players to do fine without him.
5. Is it LvG or are these guys fighting for their spots or did they work very hard in the small off-season? B/c Altintop looks awesome, Piggy great, Sosa excellent. Maybe I’m getting false expectations because AC Milan is just that bad, but our midfield has been great and they rocked Man Utd in the 1st half until they got tired later on. Pranjic has also been exactly what I was hoping for: a solid LM and LB. Lots of midfield depth this year and I wish we could fit everyone into the starting XI. I’m hoping for on the 1st league match:
Ribery
Pranjic —– —— Altintop
Tymo6. Other random player remarks:
Braafheid: Solid. Looked a little lost at times moving forward or when to make probing runs but that will come later. So far pretty pleased with the signing.Baumjohann: Ok, but Mueller and Sosa are better. Fine though as a youth depth player and could have a great future.
Gorlitz: About what I expected. Meh.
Badstuder/Van Buyten: Looked composed and solid. Going to have to see a lot more games to make me a permanent believer though.
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United States -
@Shane: LvG has spent a lot of time working on the players in training and the small off season. He has spent a lot of time working on their strengths as well as weaknesses and I think the fact that no one – absolutely no one – is guaranteed a starting spot, unlike previous years, has made them step up their game and take it a little more seriously since any one of them could be sitting on the bench any time.
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United States -
Well, the fact that every time vB’s played, he’s been the captain suggests that might be the case when the season starts.
I think all Gomez needs is a couple of goals to open the floodgates. His situation right now is not unlike Klose two seasons ago.
Tymo made some good passes, but he was drifting towards the middle every now and then. It was obvious he was being wasted on the right. Midfield looks in good shape and I think the creativity will come once the players start getting comfortable with each other.
I still have concerns about the central defence, not necessarily based on what I’ve seen, but in general, which is probably a question that will only be answered as the season rolls on. And Rensing, it will be good if he does not take his place for granted and plays out of his skin. Hopefully the shootout instills some confidence.
If anything, LvG might have instilled confidence in the depth of the squad, a few fringe players – could this be a precursor to some sort of rotation policy?
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United States -
Hmmm, well my little midfield design didn’t come out well, but hopefully it still made sense.
Rensing had some pretty arrogant remarks after the Man Utd game. He definitely has a strong personality, almost reminds me of Kahn, but not in a good way. A little cocky for having 1 decent game in a pre-season friendly.
Ribery with very professional comments that indicate he has realized he will be at Bayern this year and is completely dedicated to the team. Let’s hope he gets fit and healthy soon.
I’m guessing he won’t be ready for the 1st game of the season though, so I wonder who gets the start in his place. I’m hoping for Sosa but would also be fine with Mueller.
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United States -
I don’t know Luke, I was pretty happy with how Breno played versus Man U. Was a lot better than Barca and Wolfsburg last year, that’s for sure. I couldn’t have been much happier with how everyone on defense played. This is going to be a long year if we don’t cough cough get a goalie!
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United States
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