FC Bayern 2011

Uli gives Real an ultimatum. There are 9 days left for Real to pay €80m for Ribéry or else he's staying in Munich for another season.

Basta.

http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/bayern/2009/07/07/franck-ribery/acht-tage-ultimatum-an-real-madrid.html

De Guzman wrote:
Understand your fear, Van Gaal & Bayern could be a dangerous combination.

I won't have a problem with Bayern doing well in Europe, that would actually be good and important for the league as a whole. And to be perfectly honest, it has to be expected from the richest German club that hoards most of the best German talent. It should be their goal.

But knowing that no other Bundesliga club can outspend Bayern, the only chance other clubs have is to simply have a better concept, to be 'sharper' and more professional you could say, than them. And it's exactly this 'niche' that seems to be gone now.

However, let us not forget that no Dutch coach has ever won the league. Van Gaal's chances are probably the best ever, simply because he works for Bayern, where the chances are highest. Still, in contrast to what many people may think about the Bundesliga, winning it isn't easy. Especially these days, when you have 7-8 clubs that could realistically be expected to win the league.

Yep. Apart from that this will be his first Bundesliga season. So far van Gaal only worked in Holland and Spain where a different kind of tactics are required. Have to see what he comes up with for the Bundesliga. could be brilliant could be a disaster.

Van Gaal believes that the Bayern squad is too big, and wants to get rid of 5 players.

http://www.sportbild.de/sportbild/generated/article/fussball/2009/07/09/13175700000.html

Lahm played right full back, didn't he?

Bayern are still looking for a quality RB.

http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/news/29528/fc-bayern-weiter-ausschau-nach-rechtsverteidiger.html

If they find one, Lahm very likely is going to play on the left, since he is a guaranteed starter. He can play well on both sides, but so far, his strongest matches have actually been on the left side. And his left foot really isn't too shabby either, he can cross pretty well with the left now.

Van Gaal wants to play a diamond 4-4-2, the Werder system. He intends to play Ribery in the "hole" behind the strikers. Thing is, Ribery is rather lazy defensively, so he needed a player of Lahm's caliber behind him when he played on the LM in the double-pivot 4-4-2 of the last few years. That's what Real and others should keep in mind when they want to sign him and play him on the wings - you need a truly strong fullback as cover.

In the diamond behind the strikers, his lack of defensive effort won't be that much of a problem. Van Gaal played Tymoshuk on the wing position btw., and Van Bommel on the #6. IMHO, it should be the other way around, since Van Bommel is more of a #8, and not really a world beater defensively. If it was up to me, he wouldn't even start, but he is the 'captain'.

Sold Lucio

Kicker saying fees is 8 m.
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/b...rtikel/511496/

Good deal for me, now to either give players like Breno chances or snap up young exciting defenders like Sakho.

Makes selling Hummels a poor decision though, we could have easily kept him.

Tymoschuk met his idol Lothar Matthäus. He is a huge fan of Lothar and had been wearing his original Germany captains armband for years.

http://www.sportbild.de/sportbild/generated/article/fussball/2009/07/18/13223200000.html

blutgraetsche wrote:Bayern are still looking for a quality RB.

http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/news/29528/fc-bayern-weiter-ausschau-nach-rechtsverteidiger.html

If they find one, Lahm very likely is going to play on the left, since he is a guaranteed starter. He can play well on both sides, but so far, his strongest matches have actually been on the left side. And his left foot really isn't too shabby either, he can cross pretty well with the left now.

Because he mainly played on the left.

His crossing with his right foot is still far better. Supply is key for strikers like Toni & Gomez. 'isn't too shabby' & 'pretty well' isn't good enough if you want to win trophees.

Ze Roberto: "Bayern will regret selling Lucio"

http://www.spox.com/de/sport/fussball/bundesliga/0907/Artikel/ze-roberto-bayern-werden-lucio-verkauf-bereuen-beckenbauer-ribery.html

He also believes that Ribery is most effective when he plays on the wing, "Franck doesn't like the centre" (-> Van Gaal intends to play Ribery on the #10 in a diamond midfield, in the centre behind the strikers). And Bayern have too many strikers he reckons, this will cause some serious conflict.

Trochowski: "Bayern are stupid to let Ze Roberto move to us"

http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/hsv/2009/07/20/hsv-star-trochowski/die-bayern-sind-dumm.html

Die Bayern im Oma-Tempo

http://www.abendzeitung.de/sport/fc_bayern/121033

Seems like Van Gaal is not exactly satisfied with his compatriot Edson Braafheid so far.

Van Gaal: "Was machen Sie da? Unglaublich! Unglaublich! Unglaublich!"

http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/bayern/2009/07/24/edson-braafheid/packt-er-es-unter-louis-van-gaal.html

The irony is that Bayern only signed Braafheid because Van Gaal asked them to, he was his own choice.

That's how van Gaal treats everybody. He's never happy as you should already know.

But apparently, he is seriously thinking about playing Lahm on the left again (which makes sense IMHO), after Braafheid being rather disappointing throughout the preparation, and Rummenigge repeatedly said publically that Bayern are still interested in signing a RB.

Lahm-Pranjic might be OK tho? Wouldn't mind seeing him back on the right again for a while, still think that's poss the best international solution too. I'll let Guz argue the rest.

Christian Ulmen wants to become Bayern's "12er Mann" with his new creation "Frerk Ohm".

http://www.11freunde.de/bundesligen/122090

Christian Ulmen is the fucking DISCO SHIT

http://www.myspass.de/de/ulmentv/voneich/reiseberatung/index.html?id=19143

The reactions of the other guys in that video are really priceless....

Mario Gomez interview:

http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/0,1518,638088,00.html

Anyone watching the "Poldi welcome match" (Köln vs. Bayern) on RTL? Looks pretty interesting so far actually, rather pacy and aggressive for a friendly.

Müller looks quality whenever I watch him play. You really have a gem in your ranks, hopefully he'll get some playing time under Van Gaal.

Gomez scores, good buildup by Klose in particular. Altintop loooks very good btw.

Maybe Gomez and Klose can finally become an effective partnership not just for Bayern, but for the national team also.

Bayern are in control of the match and playing well, but if there is a weakness, it's clearly the left side of the defence, that's where most of the more dangerous attacks of Köln come from. Braafheid really needs to improve to become starter material for Bayern IMHO.

Van Gaal replaced most of the team for the second half. Köln with no changes so far.

Christian Lell plays btw....

Hows Scorch playing?

He isn't.

Schorch was total shit in his first (friendly) match for Köln btw. He was responsible for both goals Köln conceded against a lower tier club.

But they are patient in Köln.

Schweinsteiger scores a header after a corner, just a few minutes after he came on the pitch. 2-0.

Köln - Bayern 0-2 FT

Bayern clearly dominated the match, even with their reserves, played well. Bayern seemed tactically very disciplined, good and precise passing, aggressive pressing. Van Gaal's influence is already obvious.