German Football 21/22 | Gladbach sign Farke

As the old German saying goes: Ha Ho He nur nach hause fahrn wir nicht.
 
Own goal - check
penalty conceded - check
red card - check

Now all we need is another patented Schwolow mistake to complete yet another round of Hertha Bingo...
 
So, apparently Robert Lewandowski is unhappy with Nagelsmann's style of play and tactical alignment and has raised his concerns against it.

FC Hollywood back at it again?

What do Bayern fans think about this topic in general?? The team looks kinda disjointed these days.

Some of the Bayern players who were good in the system before are showing their real colours these days....
 
So, apparently Robert Lewandowski is unhappy with Nagelsmann's style of play and tactical alignment and has raised his concerns against it.

FC Hollywood back at it again?

What do Bayern fans think about this topic in general?? The team looks kinda disjointed these days.

Some of the Bayern players who were good in the system before are showing their real colours these days....
Is he and has he? Can you provide some quotes with a source?
 


Andrich, Kruse, Friedrich, now Prömel and I would be surprised if Awoniyi stays beyond the summer as well. Three losses and 0-6 goals since Friedrich and Kruse left. I guess Union have now fully arrived in Bundesliga.

If Hertha manage to avoid relegation and play their cards right they might actually have a shot at being the bigger big city club for once.
 
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Andrich, Kruse, Friedrich, now Prömel and I would be surprised if Awoniyi stays beyond the summer as well. Three losses and 0-6 goals since Friedrich and Kruse left. I guess Union have now fully arrived in Bundesliga.

If Hertha manage to avoid relegation and play their cards right they might actually have a shot at being the bigger big city club for once.

They need to stop the bleeding soon. It will be extremely tough for them to stay in the battle for Europe, and without European competition they have too few games to justify their big squad. Maybe they also don't believe they can do it and start adjusting for that?

Almost everyone around them is in a much better shape right now, so this could get disappointing soon, though not dangerous, I think that ship has sailed.
 
They need to stop the bleeding soon. It will be extremely tough for them to stay in the battle for Europe, and without European competition they have too few games to justify their big squad. Maybe they also don't believe they can do it and start adjusting for that?

Almost everyone around them is in a much better shape right now, so this could get disappointing soon, though not dangerous, I think that ship has sailed.

This wasn't really a deliberate strategic decision on Union's part, Prömel, Friedrich and Kruse all decided to run down their contracts, so there was little the club could do about it (aside from cashing in on two of them at the last minute) and if they were to trim their squad they surely wouldn't start with their key players. I think the worrying part - from Union's perspective - is who they replaced those players with: Kruse with a 31 year old Paderborn player and Friedrich with Dominique Heintz, a 27 year old defender with question marks about whether he's actually able to play on a Bundesliga level.
 
This wasn't really a deliberate strategic decision on Union's part, Prömel, Friedrich and Kruse all decided to run down their contracts
When so many of your key players decide to leave while you seem to be quite comfortably on track to qualify for EL/ECL again then there is something wrong at the club or it is a deliberate decision to keep the contracts cheap and just hope that you find enough good players by just signing a lot.
 
Felix Zwayer is back officiating after his break (in 2nd BuLi on the weekend I think), and the Zeit has a long, detailed piece about the scandal and the remaining inconsistencies in Zwayer's account.

https://www.zeit.de/sport/2022-02/f...dal-robert-hoyzer-ante-sapina/komplettansicht

Sadly, it's only in German, I'll see if I can post a longer synopsis at some point.
The Zeit was the newspaper which broke the story in 2014, that Zwayer had internally and secretly been convicted by the DFB in 2006, with a 6 month ban counting as served due to his 'cooperation' during the internal proceedings, and then he was guarded by the DFB to have a steeply rising career in German refereeing.
The main inconsistency is that Zwayer claims to this day to have basically been largely innocent and univolved in manipulation, not having taken any money and only keeping silent for a short while, while both Hoyzer, the referee who manipulated the games, as well as the betting shop crook who instigated it, credibly testified that he took money and participated in the manipulation in at least one game. The Berlin district court that sentenced Hoyzer and Sapina to jail in 2005 accepted the version that their linesman, Zwayer, had been given 300€ by them, which Zwayer is now denying (not sure whether he denied it to the DFB internally back then).

If Zwayer is lying about this, and it seems plausible he is, it means that the DFB went unacceptably lenient on him back then; and puts in doubt the whole "he has paid his dues and now should be left alone" narrative of his career. The DFB, of course, is keeping mum and waiting for it to blow over again, though I'm sure they'll be ready to suddenly throw Zwayer under the bus if the topic doesn't stay under control.
 
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When so many of your key players decide to leave while you seem to be quite comfortably on track to qualify for EL/ECL again then there is something wrong at the club or it is a deliberate decision to keep the contracts cheap and just hope that you find enough good players by just signing a lot.

It's just money.. when clubs like Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg or Leverkusen come knocking there is no way to match their offer for a small club like Union, who don't have as big a stadium or following as them.
 
It's just money.. when clubs like Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg or Leverkusen come knocking there is no way to match their offer for a small club like Union, who don't have as big a stadium or following as them.


Such a shame for a club like Union Berlin that's been managed so well for decades despite being handicapped so much by their disadvantegous location.
 
Such a shame for a club like Union Berlin that's been managed so well for decades despite being handicapped so much by their disadvantegous location.

Oh yes, having a behemoth like Hertha on their front lawn would make life hard for anyone.
 


Losses by more than three goals and total games, Gladbach edition. Heck of a record for Hütter.
I saw the tweet, because Rene Maric liked it, make of that what you will.
 
It's just money.. when clubs like Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg or Leverkusen come knocking there is no way to match their offer for a small club like Union, who don't have as big a stadium or following as them.

It is not just Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg or Leverkusen. For some clubs in the league it is even a way to finance themselves. Kruse transfered for 5 million EURO - he would have been gone for free in July. That is actually a very good business. Every season with their budget is still a success if they stay up - they are on 34 points and 12 points ahead of the relegation spots.
 
Am a bit surprised that there's no discussion yet on Kicker's latest piece about Bayern...
They claim that Bayern is on the verge of switching its strategy and becoming a "selling club". According to them Bayern's wage structure makes it impossible to compete for world class players on the transfer market so they're supposedly looking to buy 20-22 year olds and then sell them once they reach their prime.
The squad should only hold about 14 top players and then rely on talented young players to fill the remaining spots.

It does sound a bit far-fetched but then again it's hard to tell how difficult the pandemic has made it to remain competitive.
 
I think the pandemic + Zahavi and similar agents demanding more and more from Bayern Munich has kind of forced their hand. They can't afford to pay over the top to keep Alaba, and they're already doing so for Neuer and Lewandowski. Then there's Süle, who's leaving for free (albeit under different circumstances).

Despite their massive commercial revenue, the pandemic has definitely affected their other revenue streams, and they probably don't want to inflate their player expenditure any further. This move should keep them competitive in the Bundesliga and even the CL, but they won't be pressured into paying large sums of money for their players or new players, anymore.
 
Am a bit surprised that there's no discussion yet on Kicker's latest piece about Bayern...
They claim that Bayern is on the verge of switching its strategy and becoming a "selling club". According to them Bayern's wage structure makes it impossible to compete for world class players on the transfer market so they're supposedly looking to buy 20-22 year olds and then sell them once they reach their prime.
The squad should only hold about 14 top players and then rely on talented young players to fill the remaining spots.

It does sound a bit far-fetched but then again it's hard to tell how difficult the pandemic has made it to remain competitive.

I wrote it a couple of days ago: I've been wondering how they will compensate for having to hand out huge contracts to their stars and even players like Coman and Gnabry popping up with €15m to €20m demands. But Kicker's article sounded a bit too dramatic to me. Bayern still have around the 5th highest wage bill in Europe? They are by now means poor. I could see them going for more youngsters in the future, because that's just very smart business financially and has already worked out very well with Davies, Kimmich or Musiala and maybe they will occasionally rather sell a player to avoid another Sülinhogate, but they won't turn into a "selling club" in the way this forum defines it.
 
@do.ob What do you think about Bellingham absolutely ripping into Schulz during yesterday's match?
 
@do.ob What do you think about Bellingham absolutely ripping into Schulz during yesterday's match?

I get his frustrations, the Schulz transfers has been a crippling bit of self sabotaging for Dortmund and he's already had a hand in their CL exit, but you just can't talk to your team mates like that, can you?
 
I get his frustrations, the Schulz transfers has been a crippling bit of self sabotaging for Dortmund and he's already had a hand in their CL exit, but you just can't talk to your team mates like that, can you?

I guess you can, but on the pitch and on live TV is probably the wrong time and place.
Feels like a bunch of Dortmund players really don't like each other. Am I overreacting or would you say that's accurate?
 
I guess you can, but on the pitch and on live TV is probably the wrong time and place.
Feels like a bunch of Dortmund players really don't like each other. Am I overreacting or would you say that's accurate?

A week or so ago it was reported that players were playing the blame game internally and given the way they have lost certain games it would surprise me if they weren't.
Haaland sometimes looks like a petulant kid, Hummels usually blames the team being naive or worse after losses and I guess he must have certain individuals in mind when saying this. But I haven't seen anything on the level of what Bellingham supposedly said.
 
I think the pandemic + Zahavi and similar agents demanding more and more from Bayern Munich has kind of forced their hand. They can't afford to pay over the top to keep Alaba, and they're already doing so for Neuer and Lewandowski. Then there's Süle, who's leaving for free (albeit under different circumstances).

Despite their massive commercial revenue, the pandemic has definitely affected their other revenue streams, and they probably don't want to inflate their player expenditure any further. This move should keep them competitive in the Bundesliga and even the CL, but they won't be pressured into paying large sums of money for their players or new players, anymore.
Totally get your point but....
They aren't really paying over the top for Lewy or Neuer whatsoever. Players of this quality or a player who scores 50 goals every year earns way more than what Lewy earns in elite clubs. If anything he's underpaid for his output according to the Football market.

I wrote it a couple of days ago: I've been wondering how they will compensate for having to hand out huge contracts to their stars and even players like Coman and Gnabry popping up with €15m to €20m demands. But Kicker's article sounded a bit too dramatic to me. Bayern still have around the 5th highest wage bill in Europe? They are by now means poor. I could see them going for more youngsters in the future, because that's just very smart business financially and has already worked out very well with Davies, Kimmich or Musiala and maybe they will occasionally rather sell a player to avoid another Sülinhogate, but they won't turn into a "selling club" in the way this forum defines it.
Maybe not a typical selling club but still not like it is currently. Bayern are supposed to be a tier 1 club alongside Real, Barca. Now they'll be below PSG, City, Chelsea, Juventus also it seems which should not be the case for a club of their stature, fan following and recent success.
 
A week or so ago it was reported that players were playing the blame game internally and given the way they have lost certain games it would surprise me if they weren't.
Haaland sometimes looks like a petulant kid, Hummels usually blames the team being naive or worse after losses and I guess he must have certain individuals in mind when saying this. But I haven't seen anything on the level of what Bellingham supposedly said.

I actually do not understand that not somebody of the established players interferes and gets him back into his place...
If Jamal Musiala (same age and similar talent) would have said that about a player in Bayern's squad I do not think that that would have come good with the established players...
 
I actually do not understand that not somebody of the established players interferes and gets him back into his place...
If Jamal Musiala (same age and similar talent) would have said that about a player in Bayern's squad I do not think that that would have come good with the established players...
I think Emre Can did just that?
 
I actually do not understand that not somebody of the established players interferes and gets him back into his place...
If Jamal Musiala (same age and similar talent) would have said that about a player in Bayern's squad I do not think that that would have come good with the established players...

I think Emre Can did just that?

I missed the incident yesterday and I haven't seen more than a small clip of it today, but regardless of whether or not someone adressed it on the pitch I think the important question is how they handle it internally.




Also:
Dortmund have started the vote for their 23/24 home jersey:
https://kit.bvb.de/en
Some relative fresh ideas among them, at least compared to your usual corporate design ideas. I wonder why there aren't more clubs doing it.
 
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Totally get your point but....
They aren't really paying over the top for Lewy or Neuer whatsoever. Players of this quality or a player who scores 50 goals every year earns way more than what Lewy earns in elite clubs. If anything he's underpaid for his output according to the Football market.
Definitely, that is the market rate for those players. I was just looking at this from Bayern Munich's perspective, and in the current situation, they've probably stretched their salary budget to its limit.
 
I think the problem with Lewandowski's wage is less that he's not "worth" it, but that it causes other players in the squad to up their demands as well.
 
I do not think that Lewy's wage is any problem in the team as his value everybody sees - same with players like Neuer, Müller or Kimmich who are clearly the leaders and have a big scorer output, too. The problem are the wages of others like Hernandez, now Coman or Sane.
 
I do not think that Lewy's wage is any problem in the team as his value everybody sees - same with players like Neuer, Müller or Kimmich who are clearly the leaders and have a big scorer output, too. The problem are the wages of others like Hernandez, now Coman or Sane.

But with Lewandowski's wage (let's call it "LE") is the point of orientation. Neuer for example probably has no intention of leaving Bayern over money, but he wants to earn say .9 LE, because that's where he sees himself in the hierarchy, so since Lewandowski is supposedly on €20-25m Neuer asks for €20m. If Bayern had Lewandowski on €20m, then Neuer would ask for say €18m and it's the same with every other player in the squad. Gnabry and Coman ask for €15m to €20m, because they see their worth as say .75 LE. It's perhaps clearest in the case of dear Sülinho, who left for Dortmund to earn the same or less than he would have at Bayern, because while €10m are €10m, being offered .4 LE feels a whole lot worse than being offered a whole RE.
 
But with Lewandowski's wage (let's call it "LE") is the point of orientation. Neuer for example probably has no intention of leaving Bayern over money, but he wants to earn say .9 LE, because that's where he sees himself in the hierarchy, so since Lewandowski is supposedly on €20-25m Neuer asks for €20m. If Bayern had Lewandowski on €20, then Neuer would ask for say €18m and it's the same with every other player in the squad. Gnabry and Coman ask for €15m to €20m, because they see their worth as say .75 LE. It's perhaps clearest in the case of dear Sülinho, who left for Dortmund to earn the same or less than he would have at Bayern, because while €10m are €10m, being offered .4 LE feels a whole lot worse than being offered a whole RE.
Nice calculation, appears to be spot on. Just for clarity, RE = Reus?
 
Another win tonight against Kiel :drool:

After years of mismanagement it finally feels like we are on the right track again with Mann (DoF) and Dabrowski (manager). Since Dabrowski took over we are the fifth best team in the league, after having to fear to even get relegated from the second league this just feels great.:D
 
Maybe not a typical selling club but still not like it is currently. Bayern are supposed to be a tier 1 club alongside Real, Barca. Now they'll be below PSG, City, Chelsea, Juventus also it seems which should not be the case for a club of their stature, fan following and recent success.

I dont think Bayern is behind Chelsea and Juve in being an attractive destination or ability in the market
 
But with Lewandowski's wage (let's call it "LE") is the point of orientation. Neuer for example probably has no intention of leaving Bayern over money, but he wants to earn say .9 LE, because that's where he sees himself in the hierarchy, so since Lewandowski is supposedly on €20-25m Neuer asks for €20m. If Bayern had Lewandowski on €20m, then Neuer would ask for say €18m and it's the same with every other player in the squad. Gnabry and Coman ask for €15m to €20m, because they see their worth as say .75 LE. It's perhaps clearest in the case of dear Sülinho, who left for Dortmund to earn the same or less than he would have at Bayern, because while €10m are €10m, being offered .4 LE feels a whole lot worse than being offered a whole RE.

Paying Sane Herandez that amount was the problem which led to the Coman situation, and Gnabry justifiably wants what Sane and Coman get.
The players probably wont have a problem with Lewy, Neuers wages they probably have a problem with Sane and Lucas
For example Messi wages in Barcelona wont be a standard since everyone knows no one is 0.5ME but Coutinho/ Dembele wages when he hasnt done a thing would have others asking for same
 
But with Lewandowski's wage (let's call it "LE") is the point of orientation. Neuer for example probably has no intention of leaving Bayern over money, but he wants to earn say .9 LE, because that's where he sees himself in the hierarchy, so since Lewandowski is supposedly on €20-25m Neuer asks for €20m. If Bayern had Lewandowski on €20m, then Neuer would ask for say €18m and it's the same with every other player in the squad. Gnabry and Coman ask for €15m to €20m, because they see their worth as say .75 LE. It's perhaps clearest in the case of dear Sülinho, who left for Dortmund to earn the same or less than he would have at Bayern, because while €10m are €10m, being offered .4 LE feels a whole lot worse than being offered a whole RE.

If the 11 starters up their wage by 5 million, will this be such a problem for Bayern? That's less than a 60 million transfer.
Bayern won't become a selling club but probably don't want or can't compete with the oil and state sponsored clubs. PSG offering Mbappe 1 Million Euro net is just insane.
If Bayern, who are debt free, can't compete anymore who will? I doubt Barcelona, Liverpool, Juventus or even Man United can go toe to toe with the likes of Man City, PSG, New Castle or Chelsea.
 
Bayern won't become a selling club
I feel like this discussion might be caused by the losses of Alaba and Süle for a free. Bayern is losing assets and probably they don't like it. I can imagine that they want to make sure in the future that such cases at least follow the Kroos example (getting at least a decent fee), and in that regard want to become good at selling players who want to leave.
 


A Schalke "masterclass" unfolding: looks like they have sat out their deal with Gazprom so long the league might now pay for them to get out of it. That didn't stop Schalke from getting credit internationally of course.
 
I get it you are a Dortmund fan. But this is still just wrong. They didnt sat out anything. Contracts exist for a Reason and im sure you know its not so easy to drop something like this without having a backup. We are talking about 9 Million and potential 15 if they get promoted