

Photo: Sunset
By: Jan |
Frankfurt’s Marco Russ and Maik Franz celebrate after the match against Bochum (2-1).
(Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Weekly Dose 30.10.09
By: Jan |I pulled a Jupp Heynckes this week and thus the following links will have to make do for the moment.
- Louis van Gaal is not a god. He’s a jazz singer. (YouTube)
- Football’s winning formula revealed: give the ball to the other team and lose all your challenges. (Ballspiel)
- Mainz 05 are starting to build a global fanbase. Current fan count: 1. (The Adventures of Peter James)
- Of Cevapčići and other famous Balkan imports in Germany. (The Outsiders’ Edge)
- Stuttgart hit rock bottom. (Guardian)
- Stuttgart hit rock bottom harder. (Some People are on the Pitch)
Separated at Birth: Per Mertesacker and Mesut Özil and the Playmobil Giraffe and Zookeeper
By: Jan |
Champions/Europa League Matchday 3: It Takes Two
By: Jan |2 Blackouts. Stuttgart continued to show signs of life in their game against Sevilla and they continued to produce stupid defensive lapses, which continually cost them the games. Two such mistakes, coupled with the referee missing an offside position helped Sevilla to a comfortable 3-1 victory.
2 Own Goals. When Bordeaux’s Ciani picked up where Freiburg’s Cha Du-Ri left off during the weekend, I had the feeling, that Bayern might have finally shrugged off all the bad karma, that had plagued them during the Klinsmann season and replaced it with an updated version of Bayern Dusel, in which Bayern don’t even need to score the goals themselves anymore. I was quite wrong with that assumption. Hamit Altintop returned the favor with another own goal, which by that time already put Bordeaux in the lead.*
2 Red Cards. Before Bordeaux took the lead, but after the French champions had equalized, Thomas Müller picked up his second yellow for a late tackle. With Bayern reduced to ten men, there was a small chance for an excuse for some of their poor play in that game, but unfortunately they had already played just as bad with 11 man, so Müller’s red wasn’t just unnecessary, it couldn’t even serve as a scapegoat. Daniel van Buyten eventually capped off a miserable night for Bayern, when he picked up a straight red for a last ditch tackle, which also resulted in Bordeaux’s second penalty.
2 Penalties. The first one was awarded following a foul by Butt, who made up for his mistake with a good save. He then channeled his inner Tim Wiese and saved the second penalty as well. Bayern eventually lost 2-1, still leaving them with a chance to win the head-to-head against Bordeaux when the teams meet next in the Allianz Arena.
Read the rest of this entry »
Showreel: Zé Roberto (HSV)
By: Jan |
Mark van Bommel signed a one year extension on his Bayern Munich contract last season. He had asked for two years. Bayern answered by referring to a club policy of giving players over 30 only one year extensions. At that time Martin Jol came sniffing around and rumors emerged that Hamburg might be willing to give van Bommel that extra season. Hamburg were out of luck in this case, but would soon be handed a second chance to get their hands on an even better player. Zé Roberto wasn’t willing to retire just yet and he wasn’t willing to let Bayern talk him into that one year extension, when he felt he had at least two more good seasons in him. Hamburg probably didn’t need this video, chronicling Zé Roberto’s extensive body of work for Bayern last season, to make their minds up. Maybe Bayern fans need it to reminisce.
Weekly Dose 21.10.09
By: Jan |- The merits and shortcomings of football’s hire and fire practices. (Deutsche Welle)
- The merits and shortcomings of a controlled offense. (Guardian)
- The merits of Werder Bremen and the shortcomings of Bayer Leverkusen. (Some People are on the Pitch)
- The merits of having millers as ancestors. (ESPN Soccernet)
- The shortcomings of publishing an interview with Thomas Schaaf that has been recorded months earlier. (uefa.com)
Goals Galore: 6 + 9 Vintage Borussia Mönchengladbach Goals
By: Jan |
Vintage, in this context, means 1970s and brilliant. Borussia Mönchengladbach were the league’s most dominant club during that decade and won a then record five Bundesliga titles. Moreover they were also the ambassadors of style, with inspirational midfield and attacking talent in players like Jupp Heynckes, Günter Netzer (Ballon d’Or runner up 1972) or Allan Simonsen (Ballon d’Or 1977). The Foals’ dynamic football attracted the young Arsene Wenger, who hopped into his Citroen 2CV (maybe – I just like the image) and drove across the French-German border to watch in awe and take notes. Read the rest of this entry »
One of These Players is not Like the Others
By: Jan |
One of these players just doesn’t belong. Can you tell which player is not like the others?
Quote: Ten Beers
By: Jan |“It is a fairy tale that I ban everything. I only ban things that are hurting the team. But when someone comes to me and says he needs ten beers to score a goal, then I lecture him about the risks of alcohol consumption and give him ten beers.”
Schalke’s coach Felix Magath in an interview with Welt Online.
via: Königsblog





