Tag Archives: Bundesliga Fantasy Game

Could Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland be the next Lionel Messi?

Posted on by
Reply

The talk around Erling Haaland has been so electric if as to ignite fire around just how good he is, and his recent transfer to German team Borussia Dortmund has only added to his lure.

Haaland was at it again at the weekend as he scored two goals in Dortmund’s 5-0 win over Union Berlin. Haaland has already scored 7 goals in just 3 league games for the Bundesliga side and has started in the best possible way.

His pace and vision have been exciting and pundits have praised him. In his last 25 games including playing in Austria last season he has scored 35 goals and one has to be reminded that he only 19. In that respect he looks just as exciting and thrilling as he French international Kylian Mbappe.

Talking of Mbappe Dortmund have been drawn to play PSG in the Champions League and the two players will come together in what should be a mouthwatering 2 legged affair. Normally Haaland would have been cup tied coming to Dortmund in January but UEFA changed the winter transfer rules last summer allowing a further three players to be eligible to be included in a Champions League squad.

Everyone is in agreement that Haaland could be the future star of football and that means he is going to be compared to the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. In fact with these two greats getting older the next generation needs to come along and Haaland alongside Mbappe are looking like the players to do just that.

The Norwegian national side will also be excited and if they beat Serbia in the qualifiers they could face a play off game to qualify for Euro 2020. Could it be that one day Haaland leads out Norway into a major tournament final just like Ronaldo did for Portugal? Who knows.

The first objective for Haaland will be the Bundesliga title. Bayern Munich have returned to the top displacing RB Leipzig and they have 42 points. Leipzig have 41 and Dortmund are very close behind on 39. Dortmund have been in superb form and have won their last 3 games in a row scoring an incredible 15 goals in those three games. Bayern’s biggest threat looks like being their old rival Dortmund who they beat of course in the 2013 Champions League final. Could Haaland be the final key in Dortmund’s quest for a first league title since 2012, Bayern are going for their 8th in a row.

Haaland has been so impressive already that if he scored 2 more goals he will already be joint 4th in the top goalscorers this season. The brilliant veteran Robert Lewandowski holds first again with 22. All eyes will be on German football now, well at least it would have peaked the interest of some football fans who will want to follow Haaland’s progress.

 

 

How RB Leipzig have divided German football and rose to the top

Posted on by
Reply

Ten years ago RB Leipzig were not even called RB Leipzig and were in the fifth tier of German football. It took a good six years to rise to the Bundesliga under the owner ship of the energy drinks company Red Bull and the team have not looked back.

The club owner Oliver Mintzlaff who is also head of Red Bull global soccer have done amazing stuff since it was determined that the tiny team from the east of Germany could play with the best teams in the country. It was going to take investment and time of course and that patience seems to have paid off.

It hasn’t come easy though, whilst setbacks are normal the club were not welcomed by certain teams. The rules of ownership in Germany differs from other countries and RB Leipzig were seen as not following traditional German football rules and that irked clubs and fans alike. There was even one time four seasons ago when Borussia Dortmund fans boycotted their away game with Leipzig and there have been numerous protests since then.

Has anything got better? Well in general it has and the club have been run like a smooth machine. It hasn’t been a vanity project either and the owners seem intent on making the club successful not just in Germany but in the Champions League, though the main goal is dethroning the mighty Bayern Munich.

This is something that the club are currently doing. RB Leipzig are top of the Bundesliga standings with 40 points from 18 games and they are four points ahead of Bayern. The other threat to their title are Borussia Monchengladbach who have 35 points. Borussia Dortmund are down to 33 points and are seven points behind.

Leipzig have done well and even been runners up in the Bundesliga in 2016/17, and qualified for the Champions League on two occasions. So what is the strategy behind the clubs success and can they finally start winning trophies?

One strategy was the club signing players who were 24 and under and trying to keep a very youthful squad. The club have not spent big on players but spent money on acquiring young talent though it was important to bring in established Timo Werner in recent times.

They haven’t won major trophies yet though they have made big splashes already. As seasons pass perhaps more respect will be given to the club, and maybe some of the fans who protested against them actually wouldn’t mind if they beat off Bayern Munich to win their first league title.

 

Are Bayern Munich focusing more on the Champions League than the Bundesliga?

Posted on by
Reply

Bayern Munich and winning the Bundesliga seemingly goes hand in hand but this has been a difficult season for the German champions who have sacked Niko Kovac this season after a slow start.

His replacement has been Hans-Dieter Flick who made an immediate improvement where the club climbed from 4th and are now in 2nd place and from his first 11 games, Flick has won 9 of them. His win rate is an astounding 81%, and that has proven fans and pundits alike in Germany wrong. Indeed when Flick was appointed there was a surprise because he hasn’t managed a club side since Hoffenheim back in 2005.

So what was Flick doing in that 14 year gap? Well he was the assistant for the German national team which of course included winning the World Cup in 2014, so he has hardly been on an extended holiday.

Currently Bayern are four points behind surprise league leaders RB Leipzig and it seems only a matter of time before Bayern eclipse them, or will they?

There have been quite a few stories circulating in the German media that Bayern much like Manchester City in the Premier League want to focus more this season on winning the Champions League. Bayern have not captured Europe’s greatest prize since 2013 and there is a feeling in doing so the club will reestablish themselves as one of Europe’s great teams. That they are is always questionable to an impressionable youth one that now has less and less attention spans. Perhaps they don’t see past Real Madrid and Barcelona and Bayern will want to remind everyone of their status.

The German giants have of course advanced to the knockout stages of the competition and in their two group stage matches put 10 goals past Tottenham who also managed to qualify for the last 16.

Bayern will play Chelsea in the knock out rounds which, of course, will be a repeat of the 2012 final when Chelsea scrapped through on penalties. The league of course will be important for the club but the situation as it stands is that Flick can’t really lose. He has come in to pick up the pieces and a deep run in cups and maintaining 2nd place even if they don’t win the league shouldn’t affect his job this year.

The rallying cry has been led by Philippe Coutinho who said: “We want to do our best, survive the next round and win the Champions League at the end of course. I think we have the quality.”

So if Bayern drop more points in the league which could happen once the Champions League starts up again in a months time, don’t be surprised, there is a focus and it is not on the league title this year.

 

 

Why Arsene Wenger needs one more managerial job and why that club should be Bayern Munich

Posted on by
Reply

Arsene Wenger will of course go down as one of the great managers of the modern game, but the way in which he left it with his time at Arsenal was on a sour note, a feeling of is that it? And Wenger deserves more, he owes it to himself.

The highly respected Frenchman has been without a job since the summer of 2018. He needed time away from football and that made sense. He’s made trips abroad, been invited to football gatherings and looks like he is genuinely enjoying life. But even at 70 in every interview he has had he has always maintained that he misses the game, and that he would love to coach again. And yet as the time passes by it looks inevitable that he never will. Well it did up until Bayern Munich sacked Niko Kovac, suddenly for Wenger there is an opening.

If reports are to be believed Bayern have now approached Wenger and made him their number 1 choice. Wenger himself has said that he would be interested, so surely it is just a matter of time? Wenger would be thrust into a very competitive Bundesliga season and of course Bayern are in the Champions League.

Not many managers out there have such loyalty as Wenger and his one worry returning as manager would be having to face his former club and the one he will always be remembered for coaching, Arsenal. Bayern does not represent that problem and it is unlikely the teams would meet in Europe, with Arsenal being in the Europa League and Bayern in the Champion League. The only way would be if Bayern were to finish 3rd in their Champions League group and that doesn’t look like happening anytime soon.

Wenger usually so secretive has spoken freely about what could happen and has been in contact with the club in the last few days. He has confirmed that brief talks have commenced and that more will follow next week. If all things go well Wenger could be the new manager of Bayern by the end of the month.

However there is still that feeling that Wenger wants to keep old memories and that his love for Arsenal would be tarnished if he didn’t make his time with the Gunners his final job in football. He needs to distance himself from that because he will be remembered as a great manager but we also tend to remember a manager’s final days in the game too. With Bayern he has a realistic chance of ending his glorious career on a high, and he needs to do everything he can to get that job.

 

Sleeping giant Bayern Munich are planning for dominance next season

Posted on by
Reply

Uli-Hoeness-Bayern-Hand(1)

The season in Germany is of course not over but it has been an awkward one for the giants of the country Bayern Munich.

Usually dominant in the Bundesliga Bayern simply haven’t had it all their own way this season and have had to play second fiddle to Borussia Dortmund for most of it. True as they go into this weekend Bayern are on top, but that’s only on goal difference. Either Dortmund or Bayern will win the league this season and that looks like it will go right down to the wire.

Bayern’s Champions League exit at the hands of Liverpool underlined that the team needs refreshing. Stars such as Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, loyal servants are too old and they will need to be moved on in the summer. Nico Kovac the young Croatian manager has been under intense pressure this season with even Arsene Wenger linked to the job. Truth is Kovac has inherited an aging team who at times haven’t always been hungry for success.

The good news for Bayern is that club President Uli Hoeness has promised that the club will spend big in the summer, and he’s not lying. Indeed Bayern have already splashed the cash with the confirmation of Lucas Hernandez for an incredible £68m. Hernandez will join from Atletico Madrid in July and be ready for next season.

It does appear that Hoeness who has been famous in the past for tightening  the clubs purse strings is putting his mouth where the money is and delivering on his promise and Bayern fans will be excited to hear what he had to say. Hoeness recently said: “If only you knew (the names) we have lined up for next season. We can’t make announcements right now. Everyone here would go mad and we still have goals to reach in the current campaign. We’ve saved. We’re well prepared for the summer. Our director of sport (Hasan Salihamidzic) has it all under control.”

Exciting times look to be around the corner for Bayern who have not won the Champions League since 2013, and since the rebranding took place in 1993 have only won the competition twice despite appearing in numerous finals. But also the current domestic season has not been good enough even if they win it, because just being able to win it is very un Bayern like. Think, for example, PSG winning Ligue 1 on the last day of the season.

Bayern mean business and it will be interesting if they will be able to attract the players they want. With Real Madrid reportedly having a huge spending package this summer it could turn into quite a transfer tussle between the two teams this summer- whoever is selling will benefit.

Niko Kovac’s job looks safe at Bayern Munich after shaky start

Posted on by
Reply

image(1)

Niko Kovac looked like he was out of his depth for much of this Bundesliga season with German giants Bayern Munich. But the Croatian seems to have turned things around at the club after Bayern went on a five game winning run before the traditional Christmas break in Germany.

In the process after being as low as 5th this season Bayern have roared back and are just six points behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund. The league does not start again until January 18th.

It has been quite a rollercoaster few months for Kovac with the pressure meter constantly at 10, but the club have responded and it is thought that club directors are more than happy with Bayern’s performances. This is bad news for Arsene Wenger, with the former Arsenal manager having been linked to the club. Jose Mourinho was directly linked also after he was sacked from Manchester United last month.

If anything Kovac has bought himself some time and it seems with Champions League qualification also in his back pocket that he won’t be sacked this season at least.

Kovac has had much to say about the campaign claiming that teams around Bayern have improved and this has been a much tougher season than the last one. Kovac said Bayern’s official website. “I feel we’re the Bayern from the start of the season again, that we’ve restored our ease and confidence – and that the lads are fired up to give it everything and put up a fierce fight against Borussia Dortmund. It was a half year with many facets, very emotional, and certainly not boring. We had many good periods but also had to weather difficult ones. However, taken altogether we’re on a good track, and at the end of the day our conclusion to the six months is positive.”

Kovac continued, “Of course we wished for a good start. We worked very hard for it during pre-season. We dominated the matches. The lads wanted to assert themselves after the arrival of a new coach. The performances in training and in matches were correspondingly strong.”

With Bayern pulling three points clear of 3rd place Borussia Monchengladbach it seems that the league has turned into a two horse race and at least it will be an exciting finish in Germany this season. As for Kovac if Bayern do not win the league his job does look like being in the balance, because 2nd just isn’t good enough for a club like Bayern.

Still after a difficult start at least Kovac has won the first round and is looking good to steer Bayern to silverware this season, against for some, all the odds.

Should Bayern Munich make a move for Arsene Wenger?

Posted on by
Reply

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (1) (1)

You could be forgiven for having to look at the current standings in the German Bundesliga and take a double look and what you see. Bayern Munich, the great Bayern Munich are not in first place, but their not even 2nd or at a push in third. No try 5th place.

It has been a stunning start to this German league campaign for the Bavarians but not for the right reasons. Under new coach Niko Kovac the side are experiencing one of the most difficult seasons in recent memory. They are 9 points behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund and have only won 50% of their games so far in the league and have not won a game for their past 3 encounters.

Kovac is under serious pressure with many fans and pundits believing that he is a good coach but is simply out of his depth at such a club as Bayern. Kovac got the job mostly through leading Eintract Frankfurt to the DFB Pokal Cup last season. He does have a win rate of 63% this season which would be good for most clubs, but with Bayern you have to be aiming for closer to 70%.

So could Kovac lose his job. To be honest it is surprising he hasn’t already. If he was coach at Real Madrid or Barcelona it would be almost certain that he would have. But Bayern have given him the luxury of some time. And yet surely this form can’t go on too much longer without it costing him his job.

There have been rumours circulating that a one Arsene Wenger could take over at the club. Some media are against it, seeing Wenger as a has been and yesterday’s man, but Bayern do have a tendency to bring in older coaches, like Ottmar Hitzfeld and more recently Jupp Heynckes. Bayern see coaches through years of experience and even Kovac had 9 before joining the club.

Wenger himself has spoken out, not directly about Bayern but by saying that he will return to a managerial position and that his hopes are to do so by the beginning of 2019. He seems very adamant on that which is a surprise, does he know something that we do not? Wenger surely would not coach a team that isn’t a recognised top 4 of 3 club in a major league and would love nothing more than to finish his career on a high with trophies. In that respect Bayern and Wenger could be the perfect match.

 

Are Bayern Munich in crisis?

Posted on by
Reply

It looked to have been a mere blimp in Bayern Munich’s season but picking up just one Bundesliga point from an available nine has raised questions around the Säbener Straße. A 1-1 draw against Bavarian rivals FC Augsburg was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Hertha Berlin and a 3-0 hammering against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday evening.

Just one goal in three games isn’t your typical Bayern Munich. This is an elite European club that has won six consecutive Bundesliga titles and if things don’t change imminently, there could be real problems ahead. Continue reading →

Marco Reus talks Jadon Sancho and Borussia Dortmund’s season

Posted on by
Reply

Reus

Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus has praised the development of 18-year-old Jadon Sancho and 20-year-old Jacob Bruun Larsen as the Bundesliga leaders look to keep their lead ahead of Saturday’s visit of Augsburg.

Reus spoke to Bundesliga.com following Borussia Dortmund’s 3-0 win against Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco in the Champions League on Wednesday night after a slow start. Continue reading →