Bundesliga 2016/17

Bundesliga entere worst case mode: Bayern a pain to watch and no team in sight for miles and miles to capitalize. Which proves my point: Bayern dominance is 30% due to Bayern being Bayern and 70% due to everyone else being too feckin stupid to make it hard for Bayern being Bayern.

Fun Fact 1: On a Bundesliga evening, the Munich papers headline with news from the EPL:

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Fun Fact 2: same paper reports a new rumour for who will be Bayerns new sport director after Lahm told Hoeness he wouldn't be their front man: It will be (drumrolls) - Olli Kahn.

Thast rumour currently is an l'Equipe exclusive for now. Everyone knows they are the insiders to be taken serious in all things FCBayern...
 
Just watched Leverkusen vs Frankfurt. Chicharito got a brace and scored an awesome goal for his 2nd to cap off some great buildup play in around the 63rd minute.
 
Oh well ... figures that Kahn is chosen as the puppet for Hoeneß.
The fans love(d) him. He has a bachelors or master or something in economics and I think he even did all of the German coaches stuff.
But bugger me, if Kahn wouldn't simply be Director of Football at Bayern by the grace of Hoeneß and do/say whatever Hoeneß tells him to despite all the blustering he would do.

But I guess, as all Hoeneß seems to want from the DOF is empty bluster about Bayern being awesome and the other teams in the Bundesliga not deserving to lace the shoes of the Bayern players, Kahn will be a perfect fit.
Afterall, the actual business of running Bayern should all be in the hands of Hoeneß as it used to be in the good old days.

I'm seriously annoyed about the power plays from Hoeneß.
It just really seems to me that the man who helped put Bayern on the map has become the biggest enemy for the club's continued growth. :(
 
I don't think Hoeneß is an enemy to the club's continued growth. Let's not forget that the treble was still heavily influenced by some of his decisions, that were initially heavily criticised by the 'Hoeneß holds us back' voices, like his backing of the players against van Gaal and his heavy influence to kick him out while Rummenigge and Nerlinger back then defended van Gaal and tried to keep him as the coach. Followed by Hoeneß getting his wish to bring back his best friend Heynckes, which the same voices also called our downfall, predicting that he's an outdated coach who would destroy the positive development van Gaal had started.

Hoeneß shouldn't have too much power, actually he shouldn't be back in a position of power at all. But at times it feels (at least to me) as if his idiocy is still needed to keep the club a bit close to its identity and local fanbase.

I just wish we'd have a few former players, who weren't complete idiots whenever they open their mouth. With Kahn, there's of course all hope lost. But considering how much I dislike many of Lahm's postmatch interviews, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be much better.
 
What about Paul Breitner? He'd certainly be an entertaining choice.
 
do.ob said:
What about Paul Breitner? He'd certainly be an entertaining choice.
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I know you're not serious about it, but it's still worth mentioning. He's the worst. He trumps Rummenigge and Hoeneß when it comes to arrogance and ignorance and his choice of words to voice his opinion is probably on Trump's level. Thank god, Breitner hasn't found his way on twitter yet.
 
I will never forgive Paul Breitner for the shit he talked before the CL semi 2014 against Real. Never. Ever.
 
What about Sagnol? I didn't really follow his work in france, but I always got the impression, that he is quite capable. Additionally we still have Reschke, who can help with scouting/transfers. I also wouldn't mind if Van Buyten would work somewhere in our club (not as DoF, but maybe in a supporting role)
 
PedroMendez said:
What about Sagnol? I didn't really follow his work in france, but I always got the impression, that he is quite capable. Additionally we still have Reschke, who can help with scouting/transfers. I also wouldn't mind if Van Buyten would work somewhere in our club (not as DoF, but maybe in a supporting role)
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I always hoped that van Bommel would return to the club in some role. Think he'd be an excellent DoF.
 
What a weird weekend. All the teams from 2nd to 7th in the league have lost their matches.
 
Balu said:
I don't think Hoeneß is an enemy to the club's continued growth. Let's not forget that the treble was still heavily influenced by some of his decisions, that were initially heavily criticised by the 'Hoeneß holds us back' voices, like his backing of the players against van Gaal and his heavy influence to kick him out while Rummenigge and Nerlinger back then defended van Gaal and tried to keep him as the coach. Followed by Hoeneß getting his wish to bring back his best friend Heynckes, which the same voices also called our downfall, predicting that he's an outdated coach who would destroy the positive development van Gaal had started.

Hoeneß shouldn't have too much power, actually he shouldn't be back in a position of power at all. But at times it feels (at least to me) as if his idiocy is still needed to keep the club a bit close to its identity and local fanbase.

I just wish we'd have a few former players, who weren't complete idiots whenever they open their mouth. With Kahn, there's of course all hope lost. But considering how much I dislike many of Lahm's postmatch interviews, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be much better.
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Despite the fact that I can't stand Lahm's post match interviews either I am convinced that he would be a very good director of football.
It's true that all Lahm ever says are empty phrases, but that just shows that he always has himself under control.
It never seems like he gets emotional or flustered after playing football, even after the most nerve-wracking of games.
He is always calm, collected and calculated. It's boring as hell for the fans and media, yeah - but the coach has to love it.
And I do think that being calm, calculated and rational is a very good quality for a director of football.

But the main part why I would love Lahm as a director of football is that his actions as a player speak for themselves.

He had goals for his career, always stuck to his principles and made the smart choice(s).
One of his "principles" is to go out on top and not play until the fans and club are sick of you, so they have to get rid of the formerly great player who can't let go.
He's also rutheless if he sees a chance to reach one of his goals/thinks one of his goals might be threatened or if someone goes against one of his principles/ideals/the way he thinks things should be done in football.
You can see this in the way he basically did the dirty work for Löw to get rid of Ballack before the 2010 World Cup.
Löw didn't have the cojones to just tell Ballack he's holding back the team after his unfortunate injury and it was time for the German team to move on from him to build a new team with the talented new generation of players.
So Lahm did what needed to be done and didn't shy away from "nasty" methods to get and keep what he wanted.
The result: He became and stayed the captain of the German national team - one of his goals for his career reached.

He also knows when to call it quits and make the smart, rational (football) decisions without letting emotions cloud his judgement.
So he called it quits after winning the world cup with the national team, is going to end his career as a player while he's still at the top of his game and didn't take the offer as director of football when his demands weren't met.
The last one has been very smart, too by the way.

Lahm saw the way Nerlinger was treated/never taken seriously ("Lehrlinger") as just the director of football.
He also saw how in contrast to that Sammer was taken seriously as director of football plus executive board member for Bayern.
The only logical conclusion form that is that you have to be an executive boarder member too, if you want to have a shot at implementing your ideas, in case they are not shared by the big two/three (Hoeneß, Rummenigge and Hopfner). Otherwise you'll just end up being their messenger boy.

All of that being said, I'm convinced that Lahm will return as a functionary for Bayern and it would be great to have Van Bommel at the club in another role, too.
As to Hoeneß - I just wish he would have stuck with his role as the "head of youth development".
Bayern could seriously use his expertise/experience in that area, as the results have been dire for the past couple of years since Alaba made it to the first team.
I also agree that having Hoeneß around in the role of the sage old master is beneficial for Bayern.
It's just that his word would always carry weight at Bayern no matter his position in the club and I didn't want him back in the day to day buisness controlling the whole club as an absolute monarch.
 
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I for one don't trust Hoeneß the slightest bit and think he should be kept as far away from the club as possible. In my eyes, the guy is a real threat to the continued success of the club.
 
Leverkusen finally found some form. If they continue to play like that, they might actually make top 4 again. The CL tie against Atletico is also pretty interesting. They were the better team 2 years ago and should have gone through, but fecked it up in the penalty shootout. I wonder if they actually have a chance to go through this time.
 
Balu said:
Leverkusen finally found some form. If they continue to play like that, they might actually make top 4 again. The CL tie against Atletico is also pretty interesting. They were the better team 2 years ago and should have gone through, but fecked it up in the penalty shootout. I wonder if they actually have a chance to go through this time.
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It should be an interesting one, on one side you have Leverkusen's quick and offensive game and on the other, Atleti's rough defending and counter. Gotta say Bellarabi's return from injury, Chico's recent form sponsored by his new gf and specially Julian Brandt who is becoming a cracking player have done wonders for Leverkusen this last couple of games. If those 3 players perform as they've been doing lately they might avoid the usual Leverkusen bottle fiasco.
 
I personally think that Philipp Lahm should try to become a coach. He is very intelligent player (the most intelligent in the words of Guardiola) so his knowledge of the game should be used. Guy's a born leader and i can see him to become a very good coach.
 
PepG said:
I personally think that Philipp Lahm should try to become a coach. He is very intelligent player (the most intelligent in the words of Guardiola) so his knowledge of the game should be used. Guy's a born leader and i can see him to become a very good coach.
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He made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to coach and is more interested in the business part of the game. He also said during Guardiola's time as coach at Bayern, that he just doesn't want to live and breath football 24/7 like Guardiola does. It really makes sense that Lahm doesn't want that, he always said that he wants to spend time with his family and that was a big part of why he retired so early from the nationalteam. I'm sure the workload is still huge if you're the director of football at a club like Bayern, but it's nothing compared to being the coach/manager.
 
DanBorja said:
It should be an interesting one, on one side you have Leverkusen's quick and offensive game and on the other, Atleti's rough defending and counter. Gotta say Bellarabi's return from injury, Chico's recent form sponsored by his new gf and specially Kai Havertz who is becoming a cracking player have done wonders for Leverkusen this last couple of games. If those 3 players perform as they've been doing lately they might avoid the usual Leverkusen bottle fiasco.
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Fixed that for you. Seen the lad last week for the first time, and holy cow, color me impressed. Pulling off two MOTM performances within 8 days as a 17yr old is quite something.
I should really start to pay more attention to our underage NTs, as I did know nothing of him before.
 
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FEATURE | A busy winter window for Bundesliga clubs
Although quiet in comparison to other European leagues, the German market has seen one of the busiest winter transfer windows to date. With 42 incoming transfers and 60 outgoing, Bundesliga clubs have spent €100 million this window, whilst creating an income of €81m. At the same stage last season, top flight German clubs spent as little as €52m. But why?

First of all, obviously there’s not as much money as there is in the Premier League. Secondly, clubs in Germany like to get their business done early. This saying goes for summer windows too. Ideally, sporting directors aim to get their ‘bigger’ deals in prior to the season start in August. Very rarely does a deadline day see lots of movement, as shown last night.

Bayern Munich didn’t bring in a single player over the winter. Other than talk of making Kingsley Coman’s loan move a permanent one, there hadn’t been much talk of any arrivals at the Allianz Arena.

VfL Wolfsburg spent the most money, but it was justified. They waved goodbye to Julian Draxler who joined Ligue 1 champions Paris-Saint Germain after becoming increasingly unhappy – whilst they used that money to sign Yunus Malli, Riechedly Bazoer and Paul-Georges Ntep, whilst Askhan Dejagah also returned on a free. Despite four signings who can arguably make a case for the first team, Wolfsburg made €13.5m profit in the winter window.

Another club that made moves was Schalke 04. Daniel Caliguiri, Guido Burgstaller and Holger Badstuber all arrived. But for spending just €4m, sporting director Christian Heidel has once again worked wonders to get bargains.

The busiest club on deadline day was bottom club SV Darmstadt 98. Of course, they need to make signings to stay up, but with a minimal budget, there’s no doubt that Torsten Frings has improved his squad.

Darmstadt signed the experienced Hamit Altintop on a free transfer after his contract with Galatasaray was dissolved, whilst Patrick Banggaard and Wilson Kamavuaka also arrived on deadline day. After their 6-1 drubbing against 1. FC Köln, Frings made it clear that if players didn’t give 100% in training, then they’d be gone. Florian Jungwirth joined MLS side San Jose Earthquakes whilst Victor Obinna also departed on deadline day. For Darmstadt fans, they can be sure these new signings will do their best to keep their team afloat.

Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen arguably got the signing of the winter window. Leon Bailey joined the club from KRC Genk in a €13.5m deal, although this is likely to increase through incentives. Roger Schmidt is getting a player whose directness with the ball can cause teams to back off, and with four goals in six appearances for Genk in the Europa League this season, there’s no doubt Bailey has the potential to become of the best players at just 19-year-old.

Other noticeable deals include 1. FSV Mainz 05 bringing in Robin Quaison and Bojan to replace the outgoing Malli, whilst Borussia Mönchengladbach shored up their defence with the signing of Timothée Kolodziejczak for €7.5m. Neven Subotic departed Borussia Dortmund for Köln on an initial loan deal, whilst Thomas Tuchel’s side brought in Sweden international Aleksander Isak, who has been tipped to reach the heights of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Finally, Hamburger SV have made deals that have perhaps gone under the radar. Sitting in 17th, they needed to shore up their defence, which they have done so. Kyriakos Papadopoulos joined on a loan deal until the end of the season whilst Mergim Mavraj – who played every minute for Köln in the Hinrunde – joined for just €1.8m. Vital at this stage in the season. Lastly, HSV brought in Walace from Gremio for €9.2m, but after spending big on Brazilians such as Douglas Santos and Cleber.

All figures taken from transfermarkt.de.
 
Balu said:
He made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to coach and is more interested in the business part of the game. He also said during Guardiola's time as coach at Bayern, that he just doesn't want to live and breath football 24/7 like Guardiola does. It really makes sense that Lahm doesn't want that, he always said that he wants to spend time with his family and that was a big part of why he retired so early from the nationalteam. I'm sure the workload is still huge if you're the director of football at a club like Bayern, but it's nothing compared to being the coach/manager.
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And coaching usually means that you are open for moving to other places because of the job. That is something Lahm for sure does not want.
 
Wathing the Dortmund game and I'm seeing very little quality. How is the Bayern match?
 
Frankfurt in big trouble, down to 10 men losing 1-0 and lost both of their CBs (one to injury and the other was red carded). All of this in the first half.
 
Eila said:
Frankfurt in big trouble, down to 10 men losing 1-0 and lost both of their CBs (one to injury and the other was red carded). All of this in the first half.
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Expected. They shouldn't be placed as high as they are right now. There is not much quality that separates them from the bottom teams.
 
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