Tag Archives: Bundesliga Fantasy

Were Bayern Munich justified in sacking Kovac?

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With the dust settling and the anger and frustrations dissipated somewhat the question remains were Bayern Munich justified in sacking Niko Kovac?

Kovac was sacked at the beginning of the month after Bayern lost 5-1 at Eintract Frankfurt. This is a result that Bayern were simply not used too and it was a terrible one, but was there too much knee jerk reaction to it? After all even in defeat Bayern were just 4 points from the top of the league.

Partly the problem seems to have been the clubs position at the time which took them down to 4th. Fourth place and Bayern have a bad relationship the two simply do not go hand in hand. Let’s face it Bayern have not really trusted Kovac either. Had an experienced coach been in charge of the club that position would have been looked on back and forth to the manager, Bayern would have swallowed some pride and got on with it. In sacking Kovac who has little experience the decision would have been a much easier one.

When Kovac was sacked Bayern had won 50% of their games and lost 2 matches. The damning fact for the club was that they had won 18 points from a possible 30, continue that trend and the club would be lucky to qualify for the Champions League.

Since Kovac was sacked Bayern have won 2 games in the Champions League and Bundesliga under Hans-Dieter Flick. The most impressive was beating rivals Borussia Dortmund 4-0. That could well tell us that Kovac had lost the dressing room, if so then Bayern had little choice but to sack him.

The problem though is what were Bayern expecting when they recruited him? And it seemed from the beginning that the moment Kovac had put pen to paper and signed his contract it was the moment that Bayern woke up and thought what have we done?

Kovac’s first season did look like it would turn into a nightmare but he got fully into his job and turned it around and Bayern won the league and the cup double and he became the first person in Germany to win the double as a player and then as a coach. His win rate of 69% was also excellent.

And yet here we are and Kovac is out at Bayern after such a glorious time. All in all Kovac’s sacking seems like a very harsh decision, but at the very top of the game that is how it is now. His full time replacement may not even be needed until next summer as Flick is doing such a fine job. As for Kovac he needs to chin up because he has a bright future ahead of him.

 

Germany’s latest woes in the UEFA Nations League should spell the end for Joachim Low

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Germany, the great international side that are usually compared to the very greatest footballing nations in the history of football have been relegated in the UEFA Nations League.

What this means is that the team cannot win the next edition of the new international cup set up by UEFA. This is all by and large and the competition is still under scrutiny as to whether nations are really taking this seriously. After all it isn’t the World Cup or European Championships and feels like glorified friendlies. Still whichever way you look at it relegation means you are not getting results and this has been a quite woeful year for the Germans so accustomed to winning.

But when will the finger point to coach Joachim Low. Low has been in charge of the national side for an incredible 12 years- surely his tenure is up now? In that time he has won the ultimate prize- the World Cup in 2014 as Germany became the first ever European side to win it in South America when that edition was held in Brazil.

Many expected Low’s time was up this summer when Germany exited the World Cup in Russia at the group stages. It was the first time in 80 years that Germany had done so and pardon the pun was a new low for the national side. His sacking seemed inevitable and yet the German FA gave Low the choice- he remained in the hot seat.

Low has done fantastically well for the national side, reaching the European Championship final in 2008 and making the latter stages of major competitions but surely now is the time to walk.  Since the World Cup things have hardly improved for Low with just 2 wins from 5 games and now failure in the Nations League.

What Germany need now is another strong character in order to qualify for Euro 2020 which shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Low has actually done very little wrong in his time with the national side and him stepping down should just be an occurrence of time, and he has certainly had his. It would be a major surprise if the FA do not take action and let him go if he doesn’t want to.

If anything Low who is almost 60 needs to give others a chance and there are a lot of ex German players now that are reaching that age where they would like to give the national team a decent shot. Change is needed because if not the great German side may just stagnate, something that we couldn’t see coming in a generation. Low’s time is up.

 

Can Thilo Kehrer plug the holes in defence for PSG?

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Thilo-Kehrer-180816-Unveiled-PSG-1050PSG manager Unai Emery struggled to string words together when asked to justify the shambolic defensive performance by his unit at the Camp Nou against hosts Barcelona. Brazilian attacker Neymar ran rings around the defence leading the Spanish giants to the next round on the back of a 6-1 win in the 2nd leg with the Parisians blowing a 4 goal lead.

The Spanish manager finally painstakingly mustered together a statement to the media, describing the debacle as a major consequence of lack of composure under pressure and a paucity of experience.

‘In the last few minutes we lost everything we had worked so hard for, and there’s no explanation for what happened in the final minutes, it was all or nothing. There can be no excuses, we did not play in the first half. After winning 4-0 in the first leg this is very difficult to accept, but we have no choice. You learn from negative experiences in the future and this is a very negative experience for the players, for me and for the staff.’

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Batshuayi wisely postponing decision on club future

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Batshuayi

While Michy Batshuayi’s decision to join Borussia Dortmund on loan in January was the perfect catalyst for him to gain some valuable minutes and showcase his qualities, the Belgian forward isn’t yet willing to commit to a future with the German club. Continue reading →

Spell on the bench might be necessary phase for Christian Pulisic

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He’s hailed as the footballing superstar America has waited a lifetime for. And with good reason. Christian Pulisic isn’t just an exciting talent by American standards, but by global standards too. Still a teenager, the Hershey-native has become one of Borussia Dortmund’s most important players. Well, that was until a few weeks ago.

Christian-Pulisic

At present, Pulisic finds himself something of a peripheral figure at the Westfalenstadion. Against Augsburg at the weekend, the 19-year-old was afforded just 13 minutes off game time off the bench. Before that, he was hooked after an hour against Atalanta in the Europa League, and was on the bench against Borussia Monchengladbach the game before that.

“[My form is] not the best it’s been but I’m working hard, trying to help the team everywhere I can,” Pulisic said after his last appearance against Augsburg. “But I just have to stay positive, keep going and things will turn around.” There is a lot of pressure heaped on the shoulders of the young American, but he must remain pragmatic and keep in mind that he is still only young. Continue reading →

Could Robert Lewandowski have pushed himself more at Bayern Munich?

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It’s one of German football’s worst kept secrets that Robert Lewandowski has always had his eye on one last move. The Polish striker has defined an era for Bayern Munich, scoring 97 times in just 119 appearances in three-and-a-half seasons for the Bavarians, but speculation over a switch to Real Madrid has bubbled away for years.

Rumours continue to swirl over Lewandowski’s future, with recent reports claiming Bayern Munich are preparing themselves for the striker’s departure at the end of the season. Now 29 years old, the Pole seems to be pushing through the transfer he has wanted for quite some time. Lewandowski has even switched agents, becoming a client of Pina Zahavi, in order to give himself a better chance of sealing a move to Real Madrid. Continue reading →

The Five Best Fantasy Football Games

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Okay, so the market is being flooded with fantasy football games (fantasy soccer games is what I mean). While NFL, NBA and other American fantasy games are dominated by the big boys, the world of fantasy football is populated by a number of smaller players. Below is my highly biased list of my favorite football fantasy games. They are in no particular order but are all really fun to play. Continue reading →

Football Fantasy Games

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Are you ready to go beyond just reading about your favorite football players? Are you ready to manage your own fantasy football team? Now you can with our football fantasy games!

Main Photo 2016-17 Single Leagues

You can play our multi-league fantasy game that lets you select players from 6 leagues. Imagine having Cristiano Ronaldo, Gianluigi Buffon, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on your unique team!

With our single league fantasy football games, you can manage your fantasy football team and compete against other fans of the same league. Continue reading →