Bleacher Report - Articles by Guido

FIFA World Cup: How Are Things with the Dutch?

Guido — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:58:23 -0500

With World Cup fever drawing closer and closer and the draw taking place today (the draw of the World Cup’s group stage is not yet known when I’m writing this), people are speculating more and more about possible candidates for the most sought-after trophy in international football.

Since I am Dutch, allow me to speculate about the strengths and weaknesses of the Dutch national team, a side which has a respectable World Cup record to boast with, reaching two consecutive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978, but losing both finals to their respective host nations, West Germany and Argentina.

The Dutch are often amongst the crowd favorites, famous for their attractive and attacking style of football. At the peak of its success in the 1970s, the team was famous for its mastery of Total Football and was nicknamed Clockwork Orange for its precision passing.

The current team is less attack-oriented than the famous ‘70s generation, but is currently ranked third in the FIFA World Rankings, so still amongst the better sides in international football.

As for strengths and weaknesses, I will assess every line of the team in this article, commenting on the players we will most likely call up the World Cup and their strengths and weaknesses.

Goalkeepers

He used to be a familiar sight between the sticks for the national side, Manchester United goalie Edwin van der Sar. When he retired from international football after the 2006 European Championships, many pundits feared the national side would suffer from a keeper crisis.

Rest assured, there is no keeper crisis. Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg have proved himself a more than capable replacement of the old master. The former backup goalie of the national team has seized his opportunity and he’s played well during the qualifiers, conceding a mere three goals.

Add to this his reliable performances for Ajax this season, and the position of first goalkeeper is not a real problem for the Dutch. The position of backup goalie, however, is a reason for more concern.

Ideally, one would like a more experienced goalie as a backup. Should something happen to the first choice keeper, one would like an experienced keeper to step in. Someone with obvious quality but who won’t buckle under the pressure of suddenly having to step in at the highest level imaginable.

The Dutch don’t really have a seasoned reserve goalie. The current reserves Michel Vorm, Piet Velthuizen, and Kenneth Vermeer are all in their early 20s or mid-20s, whereas the older generation of Dutch goalies is in its mid-30s. FC Twente veteran Sander Boschker seems like the only real alternative if manager Bert van Marwijk wants to opt for a more seasoned backup.

On the other hand, who needs a reserve keeper? Most of the times, the keeper is the only player who isn’t rotated during a World Cup, so it’s a matter of minor concern really.

Defenders

Defence has traditionally been the Achilles heel of the Dutch sides. Whilst capable of producing class midfielders and forwards, the last truly great defender to come from the Netherlands was Jaap Stam and this was over a decade ago.

That’s not to say our defenders are awful. Players are Joris Mathijsen, André Ooijer, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Gregory van der Wiel, Edson Braafheid, and John Heitinga are all decent players, but none of them are really world class.

Some are too old by now (Ooijer, Van Bronckhorst), some are too young (Van der Wiel) and others have just shown they can’t reach a much higher level than the one they are currently active at (Heitinga, Mathijsen). Mind you, Van der Wiel could be become a classy wingback, but he is only 20-years old and only recently made his debut for the national team.

These are all decent players, as they have proven during the qualifying, but in these games, they were up against players like Chris Iwelumo, John Carew and Goran Pandev. They might not do so well against Alexandre Pato, Thierry Henry, David Villa, Fernando Torres, Lionel Messi, and Sergio Aguëro.

The lack of depth in this line is also a reason for concern. Van Bronckhorst and Ooijer are in their mid-30s and we really don’t have anyone to replace them with in case of an emergency.

Real Madrid’s Royston Drenthe and Ajax’ Urby Emmanuelson have been considered as replacements for Van Bronckhorst, but both players are better at their attacking roles going forward, neglecting their defensive responsibilities.

In the case of Ooijer, replacing him would mean calling up someone like Stuttgart’s Khalid Bouhlarouz or Valencia’s Hedwiges Maduro, both of whom are still struggling with their form, or the likes of Glenn Loovens and Roel Brouwers.

Some people would even go as far as claiming Chelsea’s 18-year-old Jeffrey Bruma would be a suitable candidate. Whilst the lad is obviously talented, he hasn’t even managed to break into the U21 on a regular basis....

All in all, the defence remains the Achilles heel of the team. A lot of decent players, but no outstanding ones. Should one or two of the older players get injured, this line lacks the depth to adequately replace them.

Midfielders

The Dutch midfield is rather sturdy and offers manager Van Marwijk with a plethora of options, both attacking and defensive.

For the defensive positions, he can opt for his son-in-law and Bayern München skipper Mark van Bommel, Manchester City’s Nigel de Jong, but also Ajax’ Demy de Zeeuw, PSV’s Orlando Engelaar, or AZ’s Stijn Schaars, and David Mendes da Silva.

For the attacking positions, he can call upon the likes of Internazionale’s Wesley Sneijder, Real Madrid’s Rafael van der Vaart or someone like PSV’s Ibrahim Afellay or Otman Bakkal. Even Arsenal’s Robin van Persie could be dropped into the attacking midfielder role if necessary.

The only real problem in midfield is that midfield general Rafael van der Vaart is currently benched at Real Madrid and this is clearly affecting his performances for the national side in a negative manner.

Van der Vaart is Van Marwijk’s ideal attacking midfielder, as he is preferred over Sneijder, but the manager has also stated that he will only field those players who regularly feature in their club team’s lineup, which is a cause for concern for Van der Vaart.

Forwards

The offence is traditionally the strongest line in any Dutch national side over the past decades and this team is no exception. The stars of the team are the forwards. Seasoned professionals such as Bayern München’s Arjen Robben, Arsenal’s Robin van Persie, AC Milan’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt are only a few of the options Van Marwijk has.

He could also opt for the Hamburger SV’s talented young winger Eljero Elia, whilst Liverpool’s Ryan Babel and FC Utrecht’s Ricky van Wolfswinkel are also very realistic options upfront. Even veteran forward Ruud van Nistelrooy announced he would be interested in participating if the manager would still have him.

A wealth of attacking talent, but these lads have two very different yet very annoying problems bothering them.

The first problem is their injury-proneness. Robben has already been dubbed “the Man of Glass” due to his frequent injuries and with Van Persie and Elia also out due to injury, it remains to be seen whether they are actually match fit by the time the World Cup starts.

The second problem is one we mentioned before, this being the lack of match experience for some of the players I mentioned. Babel and Huntelaar are not getting a lot of time on the pitch these days, which is hampering their form and might even be a ground for Van Marwijk to remove them from the team.

On paper, this is easily the best line of the team, but the failed experiment against Italy and Paraguay with Kuyt and the struggling Huntelaar upfront, Huntelaar who was clearly lacking match experience, has shown that the team will struggle when one or two of the better players are unavailable.

Conclusion

So what are the Dutch chances for the oncoming World Cup? As always, the Dutch will hold the dark horse role. If the team can keep it together, they can form a very real threat to any nation on the international podium.

The team has a strong midfield and an even stronger forward line, provided everyone remains match fit. Defence seems to be lacking a bit, but as Euro 2006 showed, you can also just out-gun the other teams, as the Dutch proved when they demolished the Italians and the French.

Depending on the final draw for the group stages, I believe the Dutch should be able to qualify for the second round and should always be considered as outsiders for the World Cup.

Koelner Crisis: What's Wrong With Podolski?

Guido — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:03:44 -0500

With the summer approaching, World Cup fever is starting to build up in every nation participating and even in most nations who aren’t competing for the most prestigious of international trophies.

As the tension is mounting, people are starting to discuss possible candidates who can represent their nation in its quest for eternal honour and glory. People will also discuss players who should be dropped from the current squad.

In Germany, the case of Lukas Podolski appears to be a reason for concern. The 24 year old FC Köln forward has been an important player for manager Joachim Löw, and he has been as prolific as ever for the national side.

In the domestic leagues however, his form has been less than breathtaking over the past few months. His team FC Köln is battling bravely against relegation and Die Geißböcke (the Billygoats) have one of the least productive forward lines in the league.

A mere seven goals were produced by the likes of Podolski, Novakovic, Maniche, Ishiaku and Petit. I’ll let that number sink in for a bit. Seven goals in fourteen games, that’s an average of 0.5 goals a game. Even red lantern Hertha BSC has scored more goals.

Podolski has so far managed to bag a single goal and contribute a single assist to his team’s cause. This lack of firepower is from the Kölner forward is odd since the lad is a proven goal-scorer.

During his first stint in Köln, he bagged 46 goals in 81 appearances, and he’s managed to score 37 goals in 69 international appearances for Germany. Only his tenure at Bayern was slightly less successful with a mere 15 goals in 72 appearances, but one must keep in mind that Podolski was usually a substitute player in München.

Either way, his recent lack of firepower has critics worried. Some are concerned that Podolski can’t bring what was expected to save Köln from relegation, others are worried that his poor domestic performances are eventually going to harm his performances for Die Mannschaft (the national team).

It has even come as far as FC Köln fans booing the entire team, including Podolski. For reference, Prinz Poldi, as he is called, is a product of the Köln youth academy and he has always been so popular that booing him would have been considered an act of sacrilege prior to this season.

With a single goal and a single assist to show after fourteen matches, the fans have every right to be a bit disappointed in the club’s 10 million summer-signing. They’ve paid about five million for a goal and five more million for a single assist, hardly a bargain-buy it would seem.

But can we really blame Podolski for his poor form at club level? He came in with a lack of match experience from his time at Bayern, where he found himself benched more often than he liked.

To add insult to injury, the fact that FC Köln manager Zvonimir Soldo is rotating him in the team is not really helping him improve his game. Soldo is not picking a definitive line up. Instead, he’s been using Poldi in various different positions, which is making it more difficult for him to gel with his new teammates.

So we have a lack of match experience and no time to gel with his teammates due to being fielded in various positions. This will inevitably lead to a lack of confidence, which is exactly what Podolski is showing right now.

An in-form, confident player will always demand the ball. He has a sort of aura around him which attracts passes from teammates, and if his teammates ignore him, he will shout at them or make a run towards the ball. An in-form player is hungry for the ball.

Podolski isn’t hungry for the ball. It’s true that some of his teammates are not providing him with the passes he so desperately wants, but he’s not making a real effort to improve this. Instead of demanding the ball or making a run, he sulks and stays put, a tell-tale sign for a player lacking confidence.

This again is evident whenever the former prodigy is on the pitch for FC Köln. His poor goal-scoring record is obvious, but at one point during the season, Poldi went over 500 minutes without even attempting a shot at goal. Pretty symptomatic for a forward, wouldn’t you agree?

So what’s next for Podolski? As long as he keeps performing for the national team and remains fit, he’s pretty much a certainty for the German national team. Whether or not Joachim Löw will actually field him in South Africa will depend on his form in the Bundesliga as well.

His Bundesliga form has been far from stellar so far, which is something Soldo should aim to fix. When in-form, Podolski is easily the best player in the Kölner squad and Soldo needs to massage his bruised confidence back to what it once was.

Give the lad a guaranteed spot in the line-up and use him in a single position, so he can actually gel with his teammates. They will learn how to interact with him and vice versa, something which can only improve the team as a whole.

With his confidence restored, Podolski should once again be able to prove he is one of the best forwards in the Bundesliga, which should make both the city of Köln and everyone who supports the German national team very relieved.

So Far, 2009-2010 Not Quite the Year of the Wolf for VfL Wolfsburg

Guido — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:17:00 -0500

In Chinese astrology, every year is named after an animal. There’s the year of the Rat, the year of the Tiger, and about a dozen more.

In the Bundesliga, last season was the year of the Wolf, as VfL Wolfsburg staged a successful coup d’état to upset the traditional superpowers to bring the title to Wolfsburg for the first time ever.

Under the inspirational leadership of Felix Magath and with some stellar performances by the magical Dreiecke (triangle) Edin Dzeko, Grafite, and Zvjezdan Misimovic, Wolfsburg blitzed the Bundesliga and sent the town of Wolfsburg and the fans into raptures.

Magath managed to mould a team that, when in full flow, play some breath-taking attacking football. Their 5-1 demolition of Bayern, with a brilliant back-heel goal by Grafite, stands out as one of the highlights of the season and helped in making the 2008-2009 season the year of the Wolf.

In the current season however, it seems that Wolfsburgs fortunes have changed. The team lies in eighth position in the Bundesliga, with 21 points from 13 games. Not a bad performance, but not quite the performance you’d expect from the reigning champions.

Looking at the Wolfsburg squad, not much has changed since last season. Most of the players who were off to greener pastures, had been rotational players. Italian international Cristian Zaccardo left for Parma but he only managed 14 appearances last season.

All the others who departed were rotational players at best.

Despite interest from the likes of AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and FC Bayern, the club managed to keep its star players. Edin Dzeko remained loyal to Die Wölfe (the wolves), as did his compatriots Grafite and Misimovic.

The club even went shopping for reinforcements, buying Danish international Thomas Kahlenberg from AJ Auxerre, Algerian international Karim Ziani from Olympique Marseille, and most notably securing the signing of Nigerian international Obafemi Martins from Premiership-relegated Newcastle United.

The only notable departure was the one on the side-lines, as manager Felix Magath jumped ship to join FC Schalke ’04 of Gelsenkirchen. Not a bad move it seems, as Die Wölfe seem unable to emulate last season's success.

Magath’s successor, former Stuttgart manager Armin Veh, basically has the same team to work with as Magath, plus a few extra reinforcements. So why isn’t the team playing as it was last year? What’s going on in Wolfsburg?

When we look at the team’s performances this year, we can see Die Wölfe have scored a staggering 25 goals so far, which means they average nearly two goals a game, one of the highest averages in the division.

The team has also conceded an incredible 23 goals, which is nearly the same average on conceded goals. For reference, the only teams in the Bundesliga who have conceded more goals are Hertha BSC, VfL Bochum, and SC Freiburg, all clubs battling against relegation.

These numbers would suggest the team is unbalanced. Whilst scoring a fair few goals, the team is also letting goals in far too easily, which would indicate an unbalanced team, especially in midfield.

In last weekend's fixture versus Nürnberg, this became painfully obvious. Wolfsburg created many chances, dominated the game and scored two goals. The home-side also went all-out in offence and neglected its defence, which resulted in three conceded goals, most on fast break-aways by the Nürnberg guests.

The gaps between the midfielders and defenders were shockingly big, a weakness Nürnberg were happy to exploit as their midfielders and wingers made surging runs into space to supply the forwards.

So what can Armin Veh do to fix this problem—as this is obviously a tactical problem and thus one the coach should tackle.

Wolfsburg's diamond midfield is proving very capable in offence, but the team is lacking defensively. Newcomer Thomas Kahlenberg for example is a great player when your team has the ball, but he lacks the defensive awareness to play an important role when his team is defending.

Veh has always stated he could fix this problem by moving Sascha Riether from defence into midfield, so why hasn’t he?

Basically, the Wolfsburg coach needs Riether at the back, because he has no other alternatives there. For a team which spent nearly 80 million on new players in the past few seasons and is backed by a multinational corporation such as Volkswagen, that’s quite shocking, as this proves the long-term vision from the technical director has failed.

Die Wölfe should look at buying another defender to take Riether’s place at the back during the January transfer window, so Veh can reinforce his midfield and create more balance in the squad.

The second thing he should do is make a choice between which forwards he intends to use. Neither of the three forwards Veh has used so far has been able to impress. Dzeko, Grafite, Martins—none of them has showed blistering form so far.

On the other hand, how could they when they get rotated a lot? This rotational system upfront seems to be undermining their confidence and thus their ability to decide games and score goals.

Veh should stop messing around and just make a decision. Three players, two positions. Take your pick and let these lads play for an extended period of time, allowing them to regain their confidence and form, allowing them to become the lethal goalscorers they were before.

If Veh can get the team changed around, there is still hope for Die Wölfe. Wolfsburg are trailing league leaders Leverkusen by a mere six points, so it’s not impossible to make 2009-2010 the second successive year of the Wolf.

Nov. 19, 1969: Pelé Enters the Annals of History

Guido — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:18:04 -0500

1969 was a memorable year in world history, as two cosmonauts transferred from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4 via a spacewalk while the two craft were docked together, the first time such a transfer took place.

Student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Richard Nixon succeeded Lyndon Johnson as the 37th President of the United States of America and the world watched in awe as Neil Armstrong took his historic and heroic first steps on the moon.

Compared to such events with a global impact, a football player scoring his 1,000th career goal might seem like a footnote in history, but the fact is that this was not just any footballer scoring any old goal, this was Pelé scoring his 1,000th.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, or Pelé as he is more commonly known, is one of the best and perhaps even the best football player to ever grace this planet's football pitches.

Blessed with speed, balance, control, power, and an uncanny ability to anticipate the movements of his opponents and teammates, he led both Brazil and the various clubs he played for to great heights, receiving much praise along the way for his gentleman-like behavior both on and off the pitch.

As a 17-year-old, he won the 1958 World Cup with Brazil, bagging two goals to defeat Sweden in the final. He later went on to win two more World Cups. He also led Brazilian club Santos to three national club championships, two South American championships, and the world club title in 1963.

In 1978, Pelé was given the International Peace Award and in 1993 he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Since retiring, he has acted as an international ambassador for his sport and has worked with the United Nations and UNICEF to promote peace and international reconciliation through friendly athletic competition.

As impressive as all these feats are, he is not the only footballer to have won that many trophies or received similar merits. He is, however, one of the few players who has scored over a 1,000 goals and unlike Romario and Arthur Friedenreich, his goal-scoring record is not considered dubious due to faulty record-keeping.

His 1,000th career goal was scored in the year 1969 and this “milésimo” kept an entire nation in its grip, as he would be the first player ever to officially reach this milestone in his career.

Pelé is 29-years-old on Nov. 19 1969, as his team Santos faces off against Rio de Janeiro based Vasco da Gama. The match takes places in the immense Maracanã, which is filled with over 65,000 spectators, who came not so much to cheer on their own team, but to see Pelé, O Rei, the King, score his 1,000th against their team.

Vasco however seemed intent not to go down in the history books as the team against which the living legend scores his 1,000th goal, as the team put in a lot of effort to prevent the milésimo from being scored. Their reluctance even went as far as a Vasco defender heading a ball past his own keeper, to prevent O Rei from scoring. [1]

Then, towards the end of the game, a through ball by Clodoaldo slices through the Vasco defence and puts Pelé through on goal. Vasco defender Fernando makes physical contact and O Rei falls inside the box. Referee Manoel Amaro de Lima does not hesitate and points towards the spot. Penalty.

An excited hush came over the stadium as people expected to watch history unfold in front of their eyes. Santos’ regular for the penalties, Rildo, was gestured by his captain Carlos Alberto to stay away. This was Pelé’s moment.

The only one who could stand between him and his milésimo was Vasco da Gama’s recently-purchased goalie, Argentine Edgardo “Gato” Andrada, a renowned penalty-killer who had kept several of Pelé’s efforts out earlier in the match, most notably diving backwards and tipping a chipped effort past the post.

An entire stadium holds its breath as one of the world’s greatest players ever starts jogging towards the ball. His right foot connected with the ball, sending it to the keeper’s left, but the Argentine had guessed the correct corner and lunged towards the ball at full stretch.

Andrada’s effort to save the penalty was valiant, but in vain, as the ball had been placed just outside his reach and it nestled into the back of the net. The goal sent an entire stadium, including O Rei himself, into raptures. Seeing the net bulge for the 1,000th time made Pelé run after the ball. He held it up and kissed it repeatedly, thanking the ball for everything it had brought him.

Though this moment is not as important an event in world history as Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon or Jan Palach’s brave protest against the invasion of Czechoslovakia, it remains part of the collective history of an entire nation.

Not a bad achievement for a “mere” sportsman.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcitzjlbQZw at 1.33

Aaron Hunt: A Lost Cause for England, but Future Asset For Premier League?

Guido — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:30:42 -0500

Aaron Hunt has started the season in an impressing fashion, bagging five goals in his last six games. The son of a German father and English mother, he was even considered by Capello to be a potential reinforcement for the English national side.

Whilst a call up for the Three Lions is out of the question after Hunt declared his willingness to represent Die Mannschaft (the German national side) instead, a transfer to the English Premiership is still on the cards. Hunt will be out of contract after the summer and Liverpool, Man Utd, and Chelsea have already declared an interest in the versatile player.

When a player has the Premiership’s finest gunning for his services, as well as national team manager Fabio Capello, you can be darn sure Aaron Hunt can be an asset to the Premiership and could have been an asset to the national team. The question I wish to answer for you is why. Why can Aaron Hunt be a credit to the Premiership and the national team?

Kampfgeist

First of all, there’s the mental side of things to consider. The English national side has always been known for its tendency to fight hard, but eventually just fall short in a tragically heroic fashion. Some call it losing their nerves, others attribute this to mental issues, but the fact remains some teams, like for example Germany and Italy, rarely suffer from this problem.

As Gary Lineker aptly phrased it once, “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.” The Germans just tend to keep going until the final whistle and their perseverance often pays off, as the team has the uncanny ability to snatch wins in the dying seconds of a game.

Being half German and having played in the Bundesliga for most of his career, Hunt shares this perseverance and combative spirit the Germans call “Kampfgeist”, which roughly translates as fighting spirit of combative spirit.

This season alone, Hunt has scored a few decisive goals in the last fifteen minutes of the game, most notably a brace against Nuernberg, which saw his club Werder Bremen come-back to 2-2 after being 2-0 down for the majority of the match.

The English national side could have used a player like Hunt, who just keeps going and has the tendency to be just in the right spot, even in the final seconds of a game. The same applies to any of the Premiership clubs I mentioned, they can all use a player who just keeps going and tends to score decisive goals.

Versatility

Next up, there’s the issue of which positions Hunt can play, as the 23-year-old is quite a versatile player. He has played in a multitude of positions over the past few seasons at Werder Bremen, and he has done so quite well. His performances upfront, in the centre of midfield and down the left flank as a winger have been good enough to get Capello interested anyway.

Hunt is naturally left footed, which could add more depth to the squad, in the process solving a recurring problem that has plagued the English national side for some time, namely its left flank. Joe Cole has been inconsistent in his performances when he has played. Steven Gerrard, whilst playing well on the left flank, is not quite as good as he is for Liverpool and is probably better suited for a more central role due to being a right footed player.

Regarding a transfer to the Premiership, any team can use a utility player like Hunt, who is capable of playing well in three different positions. Man Utd for example could use someone to cover for and ultimately replace Ryan Giggs, whereas Liverpool could use a proper striking partner for Fernando Torres or even a deep-lying midfielder to back up and provide for the Spaniard.

Consistency

Let’s also look at the consistency issue. Some players tend to drift in and out of form, playing superbly one week and rather poor the next. Hunt is more stable and consistent in his performances. He may not be as spectacular as some of the big(ger) names in world football, but he always manages to make a positive impression during a game.

His consistency was a reason for German national team manager Joachim Loew to add him to his latest line-up, claiming Hunt had "sehr konstant gespielt und mit guten Leistungen einen Schritt nach vorne gemacht", which basically praises his consistency and the progression he has made so far.[1]

Once again, which national team or club side wouldn’t want a player like that on their books? A skillful player who puts in consistently decent performances in a multitude of positions? Sounds like an ideal squad member to me…

Total package

When looking at his performances over the past few seasons, we can only conclude that Hunt is a pretty complete player, as one would expect from a player who can play in several positions on the pitch.[2][3][4]

Hunt has a reliable first touch, which helps him both upfront and as a winger. He is a technically skilled player, capable of dribbling past an opponent and creating space for himself. He has also shown on several occasions he has a good cross, which is a pre-requisite for a winger.

As stated before, Hunt also has the ability to score goals and equally important, he scores a nice variety of goals. He can fire a nice shot, he can head quite well and he has the poacher’s instinct to be in the right position inside the box, all important trademarks for an offence-minded player.

Regarding his physique, Hunt has shown on several occasions to be quite fast and difficult to muscle off the ball. He also possesses the stamina to work in midfield yet still be dangerous with surging runs forward.

Though he has suffered a few injuries over the past years, he probably has the physique needed to succeed in the Premiership, not to mention his other assets which would make him a quality member of any club’s squad and which would have made him an impact player for the English national side.

QP-ratio

The quality-price ratio is not, nor has it ever been, a factor of importance for the national side. However, potential Premiership buyers will love this aspect of Aaron Hunt and a potential transfer to the English Premiership.

As previously mentioned, Hunt’s contract with German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen is due to expire this summer and the versatile forward has not yet signed a new deal. That means that any club interested can either sign him during the January transfer window at a marked down price or wait another six months and sign him for free.

For this relatively cheap investment, a potential buyer would receive a fairly young player, neo-international to a respectable football nation, capable of playing in a multitude of positions, with the skill set to be an impact player and someone who would need little or no time to adapt to English culture, as he’s half English and still has family living in England.

So basically, when you consider the relatively low transfer sum, as a buying club, you’d be taking a very low risk. You’d get a talented player on a bargain deal, which means a good quality-price ratio, which is something all clubs love these days.

Conclusion

As you can see, Hunt could have offered a great deal to the English national side and would be able to offer a great deal to any Premier League side willing to invest in the German youngster.

The lad has the right character, the right physique, a developed skill set and offers some much needed versatility, all for a fairly low price. How could any team still be hesitating to make a bid for this bright prospect?

[1] http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/nationalelf/startseite/516809/artikel_Mit-Hunt-Mueller-und-Kiessling.html

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK1QgEap604

[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtqPexdH8AQ

[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlJSECJTWJw

Germans Say No to Takeovers in Football

Guido — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:03:12 -0500

In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the target) by another (the acquirer, or bidder). Over the past few years, we've seen a few of these takeovers in football. Malcolm Glazer and Manchester United spring to mind, as do Roman Abramovich and Chelsea and Liverpool's American owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

I'll not pass judgement on how these deals have turned out for the involved clubs, but instead, I will refer to Germany and the professional football in this country. You see, the Germans have come up with a rule to prevent takeovers in football.

In Germany, people believe the clubs should not be owned by one man or one company, to prevent the commercialization of the club and potential loss of the club’s identity. Regarding the commercialization of a club, just look at Manchester United, where ticket prizes have gone up by over 42 percent (12.3 percent, then 14 percent, then 11 percent [1]) since 2005.

Either way, in an effort to protect their clubs from takeover, the Germans have come up with the so-called “50+1” rule. This rule implies that one person can only hold shares by the size of 49 percent of a club. Because of this, a prospect club owner has no majority vote and cannot conduct the club operations, which tends to scare potential German Glazers or Abramovic’ off since the club board can always overrule them.

Hannover 96 boss Martin Kind recently proposed the abolition of the 50+1 rule, so that German clubs could bring in bigger sponsors and be able to compete internationally against English, Italian, and Spanish clubs, who can all bring in more money.

According to Kind and his followers, German clubs are not able to rival the financial power of other European clubs, most notably the English and Spanish ones. German clubs are unable to attract stars like Kaka or Cristiano Ronaldo and they are unable to compete with clubs from Spain and England in the Champions League because of this.

This proposal by Kind to abolish the 50+1 rule and effectively pave the way for private owners to take over a football club was vetoed by the German clubs themselves, with only two clubs voting in favor of the proposal. A successful abolition would have needed a two-third majority at the conventions of the DFL (Bundesliga) and the DFB (The German Football Association).

I’m curious to see what the future brings for German football. After all, ticket prizes are lower compared to England and percentage-wise, attendances are higher. On the other hand, the English clubs have the financial muscle to buy their way to success, which they have done over the past decade.

I wonder if the German approach to football will one day triumph over the more capitalistic English approach. I sure hope it does...

[1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Glazer#Manchester_United

FC Bayern Needs Rafael van der Vaart

Guido — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:04:08 -0500

The January transfer window is fast approaching. FC Bayern are no doubt planning to re-inforce the team in hopes to compete for the title this season. In my eyes, the Bavarians should opt to sign Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid during the next transfer window.

I’ll talk you through the pros and cons of signing Van der Vaart in this article.

Pro: Bayern Really Do Need a Playmaker in Midfield

Without their two stars Ribery and Robben, FC Bayern seems devoid of any and all creativity when going forward. Van Gaal’s 4-3-3 formation relies on creative wingers and a good playmaker.

The team has adapted to having no real playmaker, but when you eliminate one or both wingers from the equation, you are left with a rather average side.

This is something the coach should take responsibility for, but not entirely. Bayern did try to sign Werder’s Diego, who opted for Juventus instead. This leaves the side without a real playmaker, as the likes of Van Bommel, Müller and Schweinsteiger are unable to provide the required creative boost.

Pro: Van der Vaart Is Looking to Move Away

We can be quite clear on this subject. Van der Vaart does not hold a spot in Real’s starting lineup and barely gets any playing time. So far, Van der Vaart has played in six league games and a few cup ties, but he was a substitute in almost all of these games.

Dutch national team manager Bert van Marwijk has announced he will only take players to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa who play regularly at their club. Van der Vaart would definitely be interested in a move to a club with the stature of FC Bayern.

Pro: Van der Vaart Is Able to Effectively Play in a 4-3-3 Formation

FC Bayern boss Louis van Gaal is an adamant proponent of the Dutch style of football, in a 4-3-3 formation with wingers and a real playmaker in midfield. So far this season, he has given several players the chance to fill in the role of playmaker, but none have impressed.

Van der Vaart is a graduate of the famous Ajax youth academy, which is renowned for playing in a 4-3-3 formation. Van der Vaart has filled the playmaker role for Ajax and the Dutch national team in a 4-3-3 formation and he has done so quite well in the past.

Pro: Van der Vaart Has Played in Germany Before

Whenever a club brings in a new player, this newcomer generally has to adapt to his new surroundings, his new teammates, and his new club’s style of play. If this newcomer has never played in this specific country before, he might even experience a culture shock which means it takes longer for him to become an effective asset to the team.

Van der Vaart would probably need some time to adapt, but he has two aspects working in his favour. First of all, he’s Dutch. The difference in culture and way of life between Holland and Germany isn’t that big. Secondly, Van der Vaart has already spent three seasons at HSV, so he has played and lived in Germany before.

Pro: Van der Vaart Is a Big “Name” in Germany

FC Bayern fans like big names and famous players, as do most football fans. Van der Vaart is a big name, in Germany anyway. During his spell at HSV in Hamburg, he played 76 league games and scored an impressive 29 goals from midfield.

He was also considered one of the Bundesliga’s best playmakers at the time, alongside Werder’s Diego, someone who could carry the team with his intelligent passes and ability to score decisive goals in important matches. Surely, the fans would love such a signing.

Con: Van der Vaart is Dutch

Normally, nationally wouldn’t matter. In the case of Van Gaal, it might just make the difference between a successful signing and a multi-million euro flop. You see, Van Gaal formed a Dutch clique at Barcelona. He likes to surround himself with people who are familiar with his style and these people are often countrymen.

Now as long as the team keeps winning, no one minds. As soon as the team starts losing, people will point out that the large amount of foreign players as one of the causes, because they “don’t put in the effort a local lad who has a commitment towards the club would have.”

This happened to Van Gaal in Barcelona and it might happen to him again in Munich. He has brought in his old friend Andries Jonker as an assistant and various players from the Netherlands like Edson Braafheid, Arjen Robben and Dutch-based Danijel Pranjic.

When Van Gaal brings in Van der Vaart, he brings in yet another Dutch player. When success doesn’t come instantly, this will create further friction. This is one source of trouble Van Gaal should try to avoid, as he has enough trouble on his mind already.

Con: Van der Vaart is Lacking Match Rhythm

I’ll repeat myself here. Van der Vaart does not hold a spot in Real’s starting line-up and barely gets any playing time. So far, Van der Vaart has played in six league games and a few cup ties, but he was a substitute in almost all of these games.

This means he lacks the match rhythm a normal squad player would have. Even when he trains daily with stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka in Madrid, there’s a huge difference between a training session and a real, competitive match. He might take too long to adapt to his new club to be a real asset this season.

Conclusion

As you can see, I was able to come up with far more reasons why Bayern should sign Van der Vaart rather than why they shouldn’t.

He has the skills to be an instant-impact player for the struggling Bavarian side. He is able to play in the formation the coach desires to play. He is, or will be, looking for a transfer and he has played in Germany before.

The main downsides are his nationality and his lack of match rhythm. The nationality problem really shouldn’t be much of an issue when Bayern’s performances on the pitch start to pick up. Match rhythm is something Van der Vaart might be able to pick up soon enough, as his countryman Robben has done before him.

So all in all, I really do believe FC Bayern should sign Rafael van der Vaart. He is just the kind of player they need to give their entire team that boost required to make a serious title challenge.

Luca Toni Throws a Tantrum To Force a Transfer?

Guido — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:22:04 -0500

Luca Toni is renowned and feared in Europe as being one of Italy’s most prolific strikers ever. In his first season at Fiorentina, the prolific striker scored an incredible 31 goals, making him one of the most prolific Serie A strikers of all time (the most goals ever scored in a season being 35). The renowned Luca Toni however, is in danger of missing the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this summer.

Udinese’s Antonio di Natale, Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino, Genoa’s Raffaele Palladino, Sampdoria’s Giampaolo Pazzini, and Villareal’s Giuseppe Rossi have moved past Toni in the national team’s pecking order, as became evident when Marcello Lippi announced the Squaddra for the oncoming international fixtures versus Holland and Sweden.

The current season so far hasn’t been a fortuitous one for the 2006 World Cup gold medalist. After battling an achilles-tendon injury during pre-season and the initial stages of the new season, Toni has failed to re-claim his position as FC Bayern’s main striker.

Instead, his first matches after his injury were not played in Bayern’s impressive Olympiastadion, but for Bayern II in the Third Bundesliga, against opposition like Erzgebirge Aue and Jahn Regensburg. In the few games he played for the first team, he was usually a substitute and has so far failed to produce a goal. His last Bundesliga goal dates back to May 16, when he scored the winner against Hoffenheim.

His poor form and lack of recent first team action have endangered his position in the national team and it looks like Luca Toni is now panicking and trying to force his way back into the FC Bayern starting line-up.

That would to some extent explain his erratic behavior from last weekend, where he stormed out of the stadium after manager Louis van Gaal pulled him off the pitch at half-time during FC Bayern’s 1-1 draw with Schalke.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Italian’s actions will get him more playing time or if they will result in a forced early exit from Munich.

The latter option seems more likely, as Toni wants first team action to ensure he can travel alongside his national team comrades to South Africa for the oncoming World Cup. He would neither be the first nor the last international to force a transfer this way in a pre-World Cup season.

Hoeneß: "Lahm Will Regret This."

Guido — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:17:40 -0500

About six months ago, FC Bayern decided to remove manager Juergen Klinsmann from his position. After a brief intermezzo during which time the club was managed by Jupp Heynckes, the Bavarians appointed Dutchman Louis van Gaal as their new manager, hoping for better times.

These supposed better times have not quite started though. The word "crisis" is perhaps a bit strong to describe the current state of affairs at FC Bayern, but it's fact that both fans and the board are disappointed with the performances so far.

Qualification for the second round of the Champions League will be difficult and the team lies in eighth position in the German Bundesliga, already trailing league leaders Leverkusen by six points.

On top of these disappointing performances on the pitch, the club is already starting to live up to its nickname FC Hollywood, the club in constant turmoil.

The latest chapter in the Bayern-sage came Saturday, as German international Philipp Lahm criticized the clubs transfer policy right before Bayerns league game versus Schalke on Saturday, stating that "big clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United play in a certain style and they buy players who can play in this specific style."

Lahm continued and added that "FC Bayern did not have such a policy." According to him, the team is lacking a midfield captain, a play-maker, and someone to dictate play and create openings for team-mates.

The German wing-back specifically exempted current manager Louis van Gaal from blame and even complimenting the trainer. He stated on record that he "believed the team now had a manager who could better a squad, but who needs more time to do so."

Hardly surprising, the Bayern board meanwhile was not amused with Lahm's criticism. General manager Uli Hoeneß already stated that "Lahm should not have given this interview" and continued to add that "this matter will have consequences."

It’s unclear what these consequences will be, but there’s a decent chance Hoeneß will make Lahm regret his criticism of the club’s transfer policy. The general manager literally said in an interview with Sky "das er das bedauern wird," which literally means "he will regret this." One can only hope Hoeneß will not antagonize or suspend the wingback.

Bayern is already going through a difficult period with less-than-inspiring performances on the pitch and a manager under fire, the team could do without losing a valued first teamer.

Crisis at FC Bayern: Alarmstufe Rot for Louis Van Gaal?!

Guido — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:53:44 -0500

FC Bayern are also known as the FC Hollywood in Germany. The expectations from both the board and the fans are extremely high and the club and its players are constantly followed by the critical German press.

The fact that chairman Franz Beckenbauer writes his own column in the mighty tabloid “Bild” doesn’t help to create a more workable situation for the unfortunate FC Bayern managers, since chairman Franz is a living legend in Germany and doesn’t shy from criticizing his own manager and players.

Basically, FC Bayern is in a constant state of turmoil, or Alarmstufe Rot (Code Red).

The new season is underway and as more and more matches are being played, pressure starts to mount. Initially, the board and fans were pleased to have Dutchman Louis van Gaal at the helm of the club.

Van Gaal is without a doubt a successful coach and FC Bayern likes success. Van Gaal was introduced as a “Meistermacher,” someone who could lead the club to a new championship.

Looking at his honours at previous clubs, we can only conclude that Van Gaal boasts an impressive record, which includes national and international silverware with various clubs.

However, with Van Gaal’s start at FC Bayern being one of the worst in the past decades, people are starting to wonder if Van Gaal is the right man for the job at FC Bayern.

A plethora of reasons is being summed up to emphasize that the Dutch coach may not have been the right leader.

Let’s have a look at these reasons and whether they are valid points of criticism towards Van Gaal.

1. Tactical Chaos

Van Gaal has always been known as a manager who likes to stick to a certain formation and a certain line-up. This creates routines and patterns within a team, something a team can fall back on when the team isn’t playing as well as they could be.

So far, however, Van Gaal has been in control for 18 games and he has not yet sent out the same team twice in a row.

He varies in the formation and in the line-up, which is quite the opposite from what he usually does. For the position of left wing-back, for example, he has so far used Edson Braafheid, Danijel Pranjic and Philipp Lahm.

The same principle applies to the position of midfield playmaker, where no less than four players have been given the chance to fill the position so far.

In his defence though, the team has suffered quite a bit from injuries. When star players like Arjen Robben or Franck Ribery were injured, Van Gaal has often opted to move his playmaker to the wings to cover there.

So it isn’t entirely his fault the team changes a lot, even when all this changing around isn’t exactly helping the team.

2. Too many strikers

Imagine if you will the following strike-force. Luca Toni, the mighty Italian forward. Ivica Olic, a Croatian international who helped take down England not too long ago. Miroslav Klose, the German sniper.

On top of that, Bayern paid the hefty sum of 30 million to Stuttgart for German international Mario Gomez.

The club did sell former national prodigy Lukas Podolski, but this still leaves four top-notch forwards for basically a single position upfront, since neither of them (well, maybe Olic could play as a left winger…) can act as wingers in Van Gaal’s favourite 4-3-3 formation.

So what happens when you get four big names together in a squad and not everyone is playing? That’s right, egos start clashing and players start complaining.

Keeping in mind everyone would love to go the 2010 World Cup this summer, players are starting to complain. Not getting enough playing time means they risk being dropped from their nation’s World Cup squad.

This has even led to Italian international Luca Toni playing matches for FC Bayern Amateure (basically the reserve squad) in the Third Bundesliga.

3. Failed transfer-policy

So far, Bayern has spent millions on Mario Gomez, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Danijel Pranjic and Edson Braafheid. Neither of these have really lived up to their potential so far.

Gomez has to compete with three other top notch forwards for a spot upfront, whereas Tymoshchuk has been playing a fair few games so far, but only due to the absence of Mark van Bommel in midfield.

Pranjic and Braafheid meanwhile are considered to be poor signings by the always critical Münchener crowd. Both signings were recently booed of the pitch when FC Bayern played against Bordeaux in the Champions League.

Both signings were considered to be reinforcements for Bayern’s left flank and both of them are playing regularly, but both have failed to impress so far.

Meanwhile, FC Bayern desperately needed someone to help out on the right flank. Philipp Lahm is currently playing as a right back.

The German international can play on both wings, but his best position has always been the left wingback position, where his runs with the ball from the left flank and swift cut-ins towards the centre, where he could then shoot with his strong right foot, have been a potent weapon for both Bayern and Germany.

This makes the signing of two new left wingbacks, keeping Lahm in the right wingback position, not very logical. Bayern has courted Chelsea’s Jose Bosingwa this summer, but the deal never took off.

So how much of this is really Van Gaal’s fault and how much of this is the responsibility of the FC Bayern board? Van Gaal never asked for Mario Gomez or Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, so it would be unfair to attribute these failed signings to his reign.

Edson Braafheid and Danijel Pranjic however were signed because Van Gaal wanted to add them to his squad.

Both signings have failed to impress so far and basically were not really necessary to bolster the squad, since Bayern already have a competent left wingback in Philipp Lahm, whereas Andreas Görlitz could provide cover down the right.

4. Dependent on the star players

This hardly seems odd, since most teams rely on their star players to perform. Man Utd used to rely on Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona relies on Messi, Xavi and Iniesta and Chelsea relies on John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. FC Bayern relies heavily on Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben.

The difference between the aforementioned clubs and FC Bayern is that these clubs didn’t collapse entirely without their star players.

Even when Ronaldo wasn’t playing, Man Utd could still dominate a match and overpower an opponent. Without Ribery and Robben, FC Bayern seems powerless, devoid of all creativity going forward.

When the two wingers are active, Bayern can play a very attractive, attacking style of football. They proved this as they trounced reigning champions Wolfsburg 3-0 in Munich and when they played Juventus (0-0) in the Champions League.

Without these two stars, FC Bayern seems devoid of any and all creativity when going forward. Van Gaal’s 4-3-3 formation relies on creative wingers and a good playmaker.

The team has adapted to having no real playmaker, when you eliminate one or both wingers from the equation, you are left with a rather average side.

This is something the coach should take responsibility for, but not entirely. Bayern did try to sign Werder’s Diego, who opted for Juventus instead.

Bayern also made a pass on both Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid, but again missed out.

This isn’t entirely Van Gaal’s fault, but it seems odd he can offer no effective tactical alternative when one of his wingers goes missing. Taking both Robben’s and Ribery’s injury-proneness into account, this is a serious issue for the Dutch manager.

5. Sheer arrogance

Basically, Van Gaal is overly confident, up to the point where it begins to reek of sheer arrogance. His doctrine cannot fail and he preaches his doctrine to players, board, fans and pundits with an almost religious fervor, as if he were a teacher educating a class of dumb students.

That’s not really an issue, as long as Van Gaal and his team keep winning. You see, an old saying goes: “the winner is always right.” As long as he keeps winning, people will put up with him and his arrogant behaviour.

As soon as his team hits a streak of poor form, criticism will be harsher than usual. Van Gaal should know this, as he has experienced this before, especially at Barcelona.

His relationship with the Spanish press was almost legendary and even in Holland, he managed to antagonise the more liberal press with his behaviour.

Famous quotes of Van Gaal include phrases like “Am I that smart or are you just that dumb?” and “Do I believe Eric Gerets is the ideal man for the job? Of course not, they should hire me.”

Someone who is obviously unable to deal with the media takes one of the more high profile jobs in Germany, with a chairman who is a pundit for the countries biggest tabloid. Surely I don’t have to point out the problem here?

6. Dutch clique

Van Gaal did this before at Barcelona, he formed a Dutch clique. He brought in Dutch assistants (Andries Jonker, Frank Hoek) and many Dutch players (Patrick Kluivert, Philip Cocu, Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger, Ruud Hesp, Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer, Marc Overmars) or players he worked with before in Holland (Jari Litmanen). He likes to surround himself with people who are familiar with his style.

As said before, as long as the team keeps winning, no one minds. As soon as the team starts losing, people will point out that the large amount of foreign players is one of the causes, because they “don’t put in the effort a local lad who has a commitment towards the club would have.”

This has happened to Van Gaal in Barcelona and it looks to be happening to him again in Munich. He has brought in his old friend Andries Jonker as an assistant and various players from the Netherlands like Edson Braafheid, Arjen Robben and Dutch-based Danijel Pranjic.

There’s also a rumour circulating in Dutch newspapers that Van Gaal is trying to get Rafael van der Vaart to move to Bayern to further strengthen his team and the present Dutch clique. Since the Bayern squad lacks a proper playmaker and Van der Vaart is accustomed to playing in a 4-3-3 formation, it seems like a valid rumour.

It’s also a transfer that would further weaken Van Gaal’s position, in my opinion. Van der Vaart is a good player, but he has the same nationality as his coaches and a fair few members of the Bayern squad.

When success doesn’t come instantly, this will create further friction. This is one source of trouble Van Gaal should try to avoid, he should learn from his mistakes in the past instead of repeating his mistakes.

Conclusion

Trying to reach a conclusion after having looked at all these reasons is not an easy task. Sure, Van Gaal has made a few mistakes and he’s not an easy person to work with.

On the other hand, some of the club’s new signings were not his own so he cannot be held responsible for the trouble they have generated.

I do believe the Bayern board and fans should try some patience. Let Van Gaal build a new team for a season and if things go wrong during season 2, they have the right to complain.

The man is trying to re-build on the ashes left to him by his predecessors. He’s trying to impose a new style of play and he’s incorporating a few young and inexperienced players into his squad. Give him at least a full season to prove his worth before passing judgement.

Stefan Kiessling Gunning For Goals and a New Record

Guido — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:58:46 -0400

The current season appears to be one of potential records. Whilst Werder’s Peruvian goal-getter Claudio Pizarro is hunting for one record, Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling might gain another record this weekend.

The 25-year-old forward has scored a goal in every league game so far this season. If he scores during Leverkusen’s fixture versus Werder Bremen this weekend, he becomes the only player in the Bundesliga-history to score in six consecutive games straight from the start of the season.

Currently, Kiessling shares this record with several renowned names, for example Dimitar Berbatov, Fredi Bobic and Carsten Jancker, but another goal this weekend would mean he overtakes these renowned names.

Name	Season	Club
Dietmar Danner (GER)	1973 – 1974	Borussia Mönchengladbach
Fredi Bobic (GER)	1994 – 1995	VfB Stuttgart
Carsten Jancker (GER)	2000 – 2001	Bayern München
Dimitar Berbatov (BUL)	2005 - 2006	Bayer Leverkusen
Stefan Kiessling (GER)	2009 - 2010	Bayer Leverkusen

Kiessling embodies and leads Jupp Heynkes’ new Leverkusen team with his no-nonsense approach to the game and his lethal performances in front of goal. With four wins and a draw, Leverkusen shares the position atop the Bundesliga with HSV from Hamburg.

With his recent performances, the Leverkusen striker increases pressure on national team manager Joachim Löw to include him in the national team. Kiessling was not called up for the recent international fixtures versus South Africa and Azerbaijan, leading to the media and fans criticizing the manager.

Kiessling meanwhile hasn’t really changed his ways, he lets his boots do the talking for him. Well, maybe he has changed a little bit. He promised not to shave as long as he keeps scoring and his beard is growing every week.

Ze Roberto Transfer Scandal: Not the Bargain He Was Thought To Be?!

Guido — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:17:22 -0400

Brazilian samba-star Ze Roberto is considered to be one of the best midfielders in the Bundesliga. His amazing technique, brilliant vision and top stamina have made him one of the key players to HSV's excellent start to the new season, quickly becoming a fan favorite in the process.

The Brazilian was though to be a bargain-buy, as he was supposedly transfer-free after his contract with FC Bayern had expired, but the truth turned out quite differently. Apparently, Ze Roberto was under contract with Uruguayan side Nacional Montevideo, as their majority stock-holder Juan Figer owned the transfer rights to the Brazilian midfield-star.

Ze Roberto never moved transfer-free to Munich and Hamburg, as both teams had to pay considerable fees to Juan Figer and Nacional Montevideo. Bayern paid over 1 million to loan the Brazilian for two seasons and HSV paid up to 4 million to contract the 35-year old for the season.

Juan Figer is no stranger to controversial deals and shady transfer right constructions, as his investment company MJF Publicidade E Promocoes S/C Ltda represents the likes of Luis Figo (remember his Barcelona - Madrid deal?), Robinho, Julio Baptista and many other South Americans.

The question that remains is why HSV hasn't been honest about the money they have invested in their midfield-skipper. I personally suspect it has something to do with added expectations by the fans. Since HSV has already invested considerably into their squad, any more investments would be seen as a more serious title challenge and more pressure for the squad.

These have been HSV's investments so far:

Name	Transferred from	Transfersum
1. Eljero Elia (HOL)	FC Twente (HOL)	9 mil.
2. Marcus Berg (SWE)	FC Groningen (HOL)	8,9 mil.
3. David Rozehnal (BRA)	Lazio Roma (ITA)	5 mil.
4. Ze Roberto (BRA)	Nacional (URU)	4 mil.
5. Robert Tesche (GER)	Arminia Bielefeld (GER)	1 mil.

All these transfers take their total spending to a clean 27,9 mil., which would lead to more expectations from the fans. It looks like that little plot backfired, as the German media, Bild in particularly, are trying to create a scandal.

Either way, despite his age of 35, 4 million was a good deal for Ze Roberto, as he brings some much needed finesse and intelligence to the Hamburg-midfield, which has lacked these qualities since Rafael van der Vaart departed to Real Madrid.

Claudio Pizarro Is Gunning For Elber's Record

Guido — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:40:34 -0400

Claudio Pizarro, Werder Bremen's Peruvian goal-getter, has announced in an interview with Welt Am Sonntag that he will be gunning for the record of most goals scored by a foreign player in the German Bundesliga. He went on to declare that "this record meant a great deal to him."

Currently, the Peruvian striker is second in the list of the highest-scoring foreign players in the Bundesliga, trailing former Stuttgart and Bayern Munich forward Giovane Elber by a mere fourteen goals.

The current top 4 of the Bundesliga's all-time foreign goalscorers looks like this:

Name	Games played	Goals scored	Average
1. Giovane Elber (BRA)	260	133	0,51
2. Claudio Pizarro (PER)	258	119	0,46
3. Ailton (BRA)	219	106	0,48
4. Stephane Chapuisat (SWI)	228	106	0,46

Given his average of 0,46 goals a game, Pizarro should be able to beat Elber's record this season, provided he stays free of injuries or a serious loss of form. The 30 year old therefore appears destined to beat Elber's record.

As it happens, Pizarro is also the most prolific goalscorer currently playing in the Bundesliga, as he has scored the most Bundesliga goals of any forward currently active in Germany.

Name	Games played	Goals scored	Average
1. Claudio Pizarro (PER)	258	119	0,46
2. Miroslav Klose (GER)	264	117	0,44
3. Kevin Kuranyi (GER)	232	95	0,41
4. Oliver Neuville (GER)	325	91	0,28
5. Diego Klimowicz (ARG)	202	67	0,33

With a goals-to-games ratio like this and taking into account that he has three years remaining on his contract with Werder, it appears only a matter of time before the Peruvian, who was lovingly dubbed "Der Andesbomber" by FC Bayern fans, breaks the record set by Elber.

The Effects of Ramadan on Professional Footballers

Guido — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:12:15 -0400

Please note that this article is not about condemning a religion or its practices. Every person is able and should always be able to choose their own religion and follow its practices as their conscience guides them, as far as I'm concerned. I'm merely trying to establish a link between the fasting ritual and the supposed negative effects on professional footballers.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset.

Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality. Ramadan is a time for Muslims to fast for the sake of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual.

During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. As compared to solar calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving forward about ten days each year as it is a moving festival depending on the moon.

Ramadan was the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were claimed to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

Now this fasting, which basically means no eating and drinking from sunset until dawn, leads to some difficulties for Muslim footballers. I mean, let’s be honest here, playing an intensive football match on a professional level requires energy and players need to be on their best.

Many people seem to think that the Ramadan impacts the preparations of Muslim players in a negative manner though. Let’s take Internazionale’s Sulley Muntari as an example. The Ghanaian midfielder found himself substituted in one of his team’s matches after only half an hour, with coach Jose Mourinho claiming his performance had been poor because Muntari lacked energy due to his fast.

Muntari isn’t the only one with such a problem, as many Muslim football players encounter difficulties with their employers during the Ramadan. These players generally don’t seem to perform as well as they normally would have during a match.

I’m not just making this up, Mourinho’s substitution is just one of many examples. For example, PSV have always kept and still keep their Moroccan players on the bench if possible during Ramadan. Adil Ramzi in the past and Nordin Amrabat and Ibrahim Afellay in the present don’t play as much as they usually do.

Udinese midfielder Gokhan Inler takes it all a step further, as he doesn’t fast at all, because he feels this is detrimental to his performance.

Further evidence can be found when looking at the African Champions League, in which the teams with a predominantly Muslim squad all failed to beat the teams with mostly Christians in their squad. Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel drew at home with Nigerian Heartland, Nigerian-based Kano Pillars defeated Sudanese Al-Hilal and Zambian Zesco United grabbed a draw away to Sudan’s Al-Merreikh.

In light of these development, it should be interesting to see how the African World Cup Qualifiers this weekend unfold. Will the teams feel the impact of the Ramadan? The Egyptian FA seems to think so, as they announced their squad would have a break from fasting on the match day, as the Pharaohs face off against Ruanda this weekend.

With football becoming increasingly more about money, teams are determined to get the best out of their players. It leads to no surprise that several medical investigations were done regarding the effects of fasting on professional footballers. After some searching, I even found an article with such information on Goal.com.

The conclusions were not quite as I expected. I quote: "In other words, we can take three main points from this selection of recent studies: that, if controlled without optimization, fasting can have a negative effect (both perceived and actual) on some players; that there are ways to minimise the risk of decreased performance; and that regulating food and water intake during the non-fast hours is perhaps the biggest key to any successful strategy."

This basically means that clubs are not paying enough attention to their Muslim players. With the proper medical care and aid, they could have some of their star players performing as if nothing happened. That would make a big difference to some club teams, let alone of the difference it would make for certain nations.

So how is it that some of these multi-million clubs like for example Internazionale, haven't picked up on this? They spend millions and millions on every other aspect of medical care for their players, but they neglect an area like this one, which could potentially maximise the performances of a talented midfielder for a full month.

It seems that Real Madrid have taken this step already, as Lassana Diarra, Mahamadou Diarra, and Karim Benzema are all allowed to fast as club doctors have designed a special program to keep the players hydrated as training in the intense Spanish summer heat without being able to take on fluids can lead weakness and possibly to serious injury, while some level of weight loss is a normal feature of the fasting process.

This programme seems to be working as well, as two of the three aforementioned players played during Real's 3-2 win over Deportivo, with Lassana Diarra playing the full 90 minutes and scoring a spectacular goal.

It should be interesting to see if more clubs pick up on this trend of spending some extra money to take care of their Muslim stars. It could provide a necessary boost for some teams.

From Rags to Riches: Oumar Cissé

Guido — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:20:14 -0400

Secretly, everyone of us has dreamt about it. One moment, you're kicking a ball around with some friends, having a laugh and the next moment you're being dragged away by a scout from a professional team, who is offering you a contract to fulfill your ultimate boyhood dream: playing professional football.

These sort of things generally happen in children's books or movies, where a previously unknown boy is picked up on the street and whisked away to play his sport professionally, at which point he quickly becomes a superstar.

Sometimes, one of these fairy-tales becomes reality as Guinean Oumar Cissé experienced. During the summer, the 19 year old worked at a French camping, entertaining the guests and organizing sporting events for the children.

One day he encountered a Belgian man, with whom he had an animated conversation about football. During this conversation, Cissé mentions having played professionally at Clermont-Ferrand and Lokeren and having been a Guinean youth international, albeit briefly.

The Belgian turned out to be Yannick Asselman, the son of Patrick Asselman, who in turn is the manager of Belgian side FCV Dender. The club needed a defender and Asselman had become intrigued by Cissé's past, so when he returned from his holidays, he took Cissé with him to have a trial in Belgium.

The Guinean impressed during his trial and a friendly match and was offered a contract by the Belgian side. Being pulled off the camping you work for to play professional football, truly a story of from rags to riches.

The Hoekman Ruling: Potentially A New Bosman Ruling?

Guido — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:19:41 -0400

We have all heard of the infamous Bosman ruling of 1995, when the European Court of Justice made a decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association and direct effect of article 39 of the EC Treaty.

The case was an important decision on the free movement of labour and had a profound effect on the transfers of football players within the EU.

The case banned restrictions of foreign EU members within the national leagues and allowed professional football players in the European Union (EU) to move freely to another club at the end of their term of contract with their present team. The ruling was made in a consolidation of three separate legal cases, all involving Belgian player Jean-Marc Bosman.

As a consequence of this ruling, many footballers born outside of the EU now take advantage of EU naturalisation rules to obtain a passport of an EU member country(for example by investigating whether they had any European ancestors, or by meeting long term residency requirements), to enhance their chances of being employed across Europe. For example, many Brazilians have acquired Portuguese nationality, many Argentinians acquire Spanish or Italian nationality etc.

The Bosman ruling also prohibited domestic football leagues in EU member states, and also UEFA, from imposing quotas on foreign players to the extent that they discriminated against nationals of EU states. At that time, many leagues placed quotas restricting the number of non-nationals allowed on member teams.

Also, UEFA had a rule that prohibited teams in its competitions, namely the Champions League, Cup Winners' Cup, and UEFA Cup, from naming more than three "foreign" players in their match-day squads.

After the ruling quotas could still be imposed, but could only be used to restrict the number of non-EU players on each team.

As you can see, the case had a considerable impact in modern football. The Dutch ruling regarding Dutch former player Danny Hoekman could just have a comparable impact on the footballing world, as a Dutch court ruled that a club is now responsible for the actions of its players and any damages they may cause whilst at work.

Back in 1987, the left winger was a neo-international playing for Roda JC. Many considered him the natural successor of Robbie de Wit in the national team and he seemed a likely candidate to make the 1988 European Championships team of the Netherlands.

Before he ever got a chance to shine at the international stage however, his career was crippled by a reckless challenge by FC Utrecht goalie Jan-Willem van Ede. A challenge outside the box resulted in a serious knee injury for Hoekman, who suffered from damaged ligaments and menisci.

Hoekman was out of action for a year and a half and never really returned to his old form, and missed out on a transfer to clubs like Ajax, PSV, and Tottenham, all three of which had shown interest in negotiating a transfer deal around the time of the accident.

A disillusioned Hoekman took his case to court and back in 2002, he was awarded 12 million Euros as reparation payments by FC Utrecht, the club which had employed the goalie who crippled his career. Since a €12 million payment would surely have bankrupted the club, the case was settled and the club didn’t have to pay the full amount, but this case does create a precedent for today’s football.

Even if it is an older case, it creates a possibility for other players to do the same. On Monday I wrote about Axel Witsel breaking the leg of Marcin Wasilewski this weekend. There’s no reason why Wasilewski wouldn’t be able to do the same thing as Hoekman.

Witsel will be banned from playing football for 10 matches and why wouldn’t Wasilewski file a complaint against the club for lost income? It seems very unlikely he will ever return to the pitch as a professional player after such a horrific injury and he could lose out on several years of football and income.

Some people feel this is going too far, players starting law-suits against a club over injuries they sustained. After all, they are professional athletes and they take a chance every time they enter the pitch, right?

In my opinion, absurd tackles like this are not considered normal on a pitch and therefore the consequences of such a wild tackle should seriously be taken into consideration when such a complaint is filed. If you think about other areas of life, the damage you do is very much of quite critical importance in what happens to you.

For example, any driving offence tends to be more heavily punished if you injure/kill some one else. If one person drives dangerously and hits a tree, and one drives equally as dangerously and hits a person, should the punishment be the same? Is that not a difficulty at the heart of the “only a three-match/normal ban” argument?

If one guy goes over the top and gashes a leg, and another stamps it clean off, is that the same thing?

When a wild tackle and flagrant foul has consequences as serious as this, a Dutch court ruled that the club can be held accountable for the actions of their player. It will be interesting to see if a similar course of action is taken in the Witsel case, or anywhere else in Europe.

Ajax Signs Serbian Enfant Terrible Marko Pantelic

Guido — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:09:56 -0400

Ajax have bolstered their attack by signing Serbian journeyman striker Marko Pantelic. The 30-year-old forward was given the No. 9 jersey during his presentation in Amsterdam this afternoon, and is expected to play upfront with Ajax' Uruguayan skipper and prodigy Luis Suarez.

The forward was transfer-free after leaving Hertha BSC during the summer and was one of three new signings the Amsterdam club made today.

Kerlon joined on loan from Internazionale and Ze Eduardo joined on loan from Cruzeiro, but both are not expected to have the same impact on the club as Pantelic.

Unlike the other two signings, Pantelic is not a young and upcoming talent, but a seasoned professional. The Serbian forward made his debut in professional football at the age of 16 in Greece and has since then played in France, Switzerland, Serbia, Spain, Austria, and Germany.

Ajax bought themselves a flair player. Pantelic is a skilled technician, a player with superb dribbling skills, he is strong in the air, and he has that oh-so-important killer instinct all good forwards need.

Does that sound too good to be true?

I heard people saying this during his presentation and it made me suspicious. I wonder why he hadn't found a new club sooner if he could do all that...He's not that old and his wage demands weren't that excessive.

I mean, he'd been playing in the Bundesliga so he wouldn't be cheap, but surely he would not be demanding Ronaldo-esque figures to be deposited into his bank account.

I regularly try to watch the Sportschau and here are some things I noticed on top of the facts which were stated during his presentation.

Pantelic may be a skilled technician but he loves to showboat, which needlessly slows play down.

On top of that, he's a very selfish forward, one who only has eye for the goal. In its-self, this is an admirable trait for a player who is expected to score goals, but when a player completely ignores teammates in a better position to try a shot from a much more difficult angle, it means you're taking it a step too far as a striker.

Besides this behaviour on the pitch, Pantelic can be a bit of a bad boy off the pitch, clashing with managers, officials or just disappearing without a trace. Whilst playing for Yverdon in Switzerland, he once vanished three weeks without a trace [1], whilst he clashed with referees [2] and manager Lucien Favre at Hertha [3].

Whilst his qualities as a footballer are quite obvious, his flaws and weaknesses as a person are too.

It should be interesting to see whether or not Marko Pantelic manages to adapt to Ajax and his new teammates. Or should I say, it should be interesting to see whether or not Ajax and its squad manage to adapt to Marko Pantelic?

Sources

[1] http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/0,1518,372423,00.html

[2] https://www.11freunde.de/forum/6/1204966797

[3] http://www.welt.de/welt_print/article2653240/Pantelic-trifft-aber-Trainer-Favre-will-ihn-loswerden.html

Arjen Robben's Dream Debut Ideally Timed For Louis Van Gaal

Guido — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:03:14 -0400

After their worst start to the Bundesliga season in 43 years, pressure was mounting for Dutch manager Louis van Gaal and his FC Bayern. Add to this poor start on the pitch the whole possible Ribery transfer saga and some expectant comments from Hoeness and you once again understand why FC Bayern is dubbed FC Hollywood, the club in constant turmoil.

Robben's blitz-transfer to Bavaria seems to be just what the doctor ordered though, as Bayern impressed versus reigning German champions VfL Wolfsburg. Despite having trained only once with his new team-mates, Robben excelled in the second half and scored two goals to guide Bayern to a 3-0 win.

Whilst the fans are celebrating the 3-0 win and the excellent combination between Ribery and Robben on the flanks, the Bayern board and manager Louis van Gaal will have sighed with relief as the team desperately needed a win.

Bayern are always aiming for the title and their start to the season was quite frankly quite poor. Draws versus Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen and a loss away to newly-promoted Mainz had caused Bayern's worst start in 43 years, so pressure was already mounting.

This 3-0 win will give Van Gaal some breathing space plus some lessons to learn from. Robben's debut was impressive but there were other interesting developments taking place that had nothing to do with Robben or how he interacted with that other Bayern star, Franck Ribery.

Van Gaal sent the team out in a 4-3-3 formation for the first time this season, which shows the kind of football he intends to play and the style which made him famous at Ajax, Barcelona, and AZ Alkmaar.

Van Gaal also dropped goalkeeper Michael Rensing, who was always thought to be Oliver Kahn's natural successor. The young German proved to be unreliable between the sticks over the past few games and was replaced by the more seasoned reserve goalie Hans-Jorg Butt.

The more experienced goalie justified his coach's decision during the match, as he played a good game, keeping out dangerous efforts from Wolfsburg's Bosnian goal-getter Edin Dzeko to keep Bayern in the game at one point.

The last thing I noticed was the inclusion of two young German players in the starting line-up. Thomas Muller and Holger Badstuber are both products of the Bayern youth academy and they were both in the starting line-up, despite the presence of more renowned and established players.

It's another one of Van Gaal's traits, he's not afraid to give young players a chance to shine. If you're good enough, you're old enough and these two young lads seem to benefiting from that.

I'm happy to see Bayern win, as this gives Van Gaal more time to transform the club. When he's given a fair chance to build a new team, he could surprise people with his team's performances.

Bayern showed on Saturday that they are certainly capable of playing the kind of football Ajax and Barcelona once played.

Belgium In Shock After Golden Boy Axel Witsel Makes "Horror-Tackle"

Guido — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:59:17 -0400

Saturday, reigning Belgian champions Standard Liege faced off versus their main rivals Anderlecht. The match itself ended in a 1-1 draw, but afterwards, all discussions were focussed on other things rather than the result on the pitch.

Young Standard prodigy Axel Witsel broke the leg of Polish Anderlecht defender Marcin Wasilewski with a horrible charge. The brutal charge was punished with an instant red card, as the unfortunate Polish defender was carried off the pitch.

The Anderlecht medical staff announced the Polish defender broke his leg and will not be back until at least the winter, but it seems more likely that the defender will be out for the rest of the season and maybe even forever, as the 29-year-old's leg was horribly broken.

The Belgian FA have not yet responded to the awful tackle, but it seems very likely Witsel will receive a severe punishment. The golden boy of Belgian football, coveted by the likes of Man Utd during the summer, was announced the best player in the league last season—but he faces a much more grim future now, as one of the team sponsors has announced their disgust at the tackle.

The Belgian telecom company BASE, Standard Liege's main sponsor, complained to the Standard board during the game and voiced its disgust at the horrible tackle. The company stated that, "this kind of behaviour is not in line with the moral values BASE represents."

The sponsor promised to support Standard financially to make up for any losses, provided they severely punished young Witsel to "show him that such fouls do not belong in football, regardless of prior history or backgrounds between players and clubs."

BASE also requested a meeting with the clubs directors to discuss future steps in case incidents like this are repeated in the future.

Witsel, meanwhile, claims to be innocent. He is, according to his own words, "aware he broke the leg of his opponent, but there was no foul play involved. It wasn't intentional. I don't enter the pitch to break legs, that is not my style."

"I went in hard to protect myself," Witsel continued. "We both went for the ball and unfortunately, I hit him. That is unfortunate. I apologised to him several times already. I am really sorry. I am not a bad person. I don't go out and deliberately try to injure people. We'll see what the consequences will be, but I realise I might face a long suspension from football."

For those of you who are not squeamish, have a look at the tackle.

That's the facts. Now for my personal opinion.

My initial reaction was to cover my mouth and shout "OH S**T". I then noticed Witsel is actually closing his eyes as he lunges in. Maybe he's fortunate then, as he won't have the image of the horrible foul imprinted on his eyelids. He'll have to live with the screams ringing in his ears and the knowledge he may have ended the career of Wasilewski.

After those initial instinctive reactions, which I imagine everyone who has ever played football can imagine, I snapped back to reality. To be completely fair, it didn't look like an actually deliberate challenge. This of course doesn't justify the outcome of the tackle, so I do agree with a long sentence and a hefty fine.

In that light, I was pleasantly surprised with the pro-active attitude of the sponsor, who immediately condemned this action, despite the lad involved being the Golden Boy of Belgian football.

I do hope his club does everything within their power to guide, counsel and protect the lad from himself and the media when he is suspended, as he is still a young player and even when he did make a horrible challenge there, this doesn't make him a criminal.

It should be interesting to see how this situation develops in the future. I just hope for poor Marcin Wasilewski he will be able to pick up his career once and if he fully recovers.

For his own and Witsel's sake, I hope he does.

The Ultimate Football Quiz: Week Five

Guido — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:29:15 -0500

I know. It took me a while to get the new edition up and running. Six people entered teh last edition. These are the Week Four results.

Andrew McNair — 34 points

Alex Dimond — 27 points

Joe Ennis — 27 points

Danny Penza — 26 points

Maire Ofeire — 21 points

Joe Guarr — 16 points

These are the questions for Week Five.

Easy

1. Which national team is nicknamed the Azzurri?

2. Which club side is nicknamed the Blaugranas?

3. Which club side is nicknamed La Maquina Celeste?

4. Which Chilean striker is nicknamed Iván el Terrible?

5. Dimitar Berbatov played in Germany before moving to England. He plied his trade for a single German side. Which side?

Medium

6. Which goalkeeper performed the fabulous scorpion-kick at Wembley during an international fixture?

7. Arrigo Sacchi is a renowned Italian manager. He was employed by two non-Italian sides. Name both. You have to name both for the three points.

8. Which two brothers have been a dominant force for Croatie in the past decade?

9. Former Belgian international Marc Degryse has a decent reputation in the Netherlands and Belgium. He also played for one English side. Which one?

10. Former Belgian international Luc Nilis broke his leg in his debut match for Aston Villa. He collided with which goalie?

Hard

11. There are two clubs which lost five ECI-CL finals. One of them is Juventus. What is the other club?

12. Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole were a golden duo upfront for Manchester United. They played together at two other sides. Which sides? Name both sides for the full five points.

13. Filippo Inzaghi became Capocannoniere during the 1996-1997 season. He was active for which club at the time?

14. Which forward scored 274 goals in 537 games and is the Serie A's all-time top goal-scorer?

15. Which player was deemed EURO 2004's finest?

Good luck!

Ajax Breaking Away from Traditions?

Guido — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:58:12 -0500

When it comes to developing their own players, few teams can compete with Ajax Amsterdam. The Ajax youth academy is traditionally seen as one of the finest breeding ponds for young talents in Europe, if not the entire world.

The entire youth setup seems to bask in a mythic aura of producing world class youngsters. Just consider this list of players who came up through the Ajax ranks: Johan Cruijff, Johan Neeskens, Ruud Krol, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Ryan Babel, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, and Dennis Bergkamp.

Just forget the Manchester United youth team that scouted the likes of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, the Neville brothers, and Paul Scholes and never mind the Liverpool set-up that unearthed players of the calibre of Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, and Jamie Carragher.

When you're talking about a production line of real world class talent, it's all about Ajax's world-famous De Toekomst (which translates as 'the future') academy.

Ajax have a solid reason to pay so much attention to their fabulous academy, as the team is partly dependant on players from its own youth academy. The youth teams are trained in exactly the same way as the first team and these boys are therefore already accustomed to Ajax’s style of play.

Central within the club is the style of play (4-3-3), training, behaviour and house rules. Ajax strives to keep the way of playing football recognisable; attractive, offensive-minded, creative, fast, fair and preferably far away from their own goal in the opponents’ half.

It is an especially good thing at Ajax, where the same philosophy has held sway since the mid-1960’s. In formation terms, that translates into the attacking 4-3-3 system they evolved into the “total football” Ajax became renowned for.

The Ajax approach is much broader than just that though. It is an ideology that can be summed up in four letters: T.I.P.S., an acronym for Technique, Insight, Personality and Speed, which serves as the guiding principle for the academy's recruitment process.

This grand institute has produced many world class players over the years, players who have gone on to play for some of Europe’s finest club-sides. Even the drop-outs or players who aren’t quite world class have generally all had decent careers in professional football. A pedigree from the Ajax youth academy is generally a good way to start of a professional career.

In the wake of the Bosman ruling however, Ajax's academy has lost its role as the foremost provider of first-team players. The last ten years have also seen other Dutch clubs begin to catch up, but the capital outfit's methods remain unique and are still highly sought-after.

The wind of change is blowing however, as I’ve noticed a growing emphasis towards signing players and less towards recruiting and training players.

The most recent example has been the signing of Rob Wielaert. I’m not a big fan of signing Wielaert, as he lacks the ability and experience to play at the level Ajax is striving for and he probably lacks the potential to play at that level as well.

To be fair, even if he is not the type of defender Ajax really needs, they can put him to good use. He is not good enough for the level Ajax is striving for, but he is good enough for the level they are currently active at.

Still, it’s a waste of money considering the presence of another player for the exact same role. Last summer, Ajax signed Oleguer Presas Renom (or just Oleguer) for a hefty three million euros from Barcelona. At the time, that looked like a proper judgement call. A Spanish defender with loads of first team experience at the highest level in Spain and internationally.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond me, Oleguer has failed to impress this season. Perhaps he needs some time to re-adjust to a new climate and culture, I don’t know and quite frankly I don’t care.

Oleguer’s failure to impress so far would have been the ideal moment to give some of the youngsters from the famous academy a crack at first team football. An academy that has produced so many talents in the past will most likely still be able to turn out talents today.

The academy has produced decent enough defenders over the past years, such as Thomas Vermaelen and John Heitinga (currently active in Spain). I’m sure current players such as Gregory van der Wiel, Toby Alderweireld, Donovan Slijngard, and Daley Blind will prove capable of holding their own in defence as well.

Unfortunately, youngsters are not known for their consistency. A top side like Ajax needs a player it can rely on, someone who consistently performs at the same high level. Younger players are by nature more likely to have fluctuating form. A nine rating this week, a four rating next week.

As I said before in other articles, confidence can make or break a young talent. Young players should be given a fair chance for five or six matches at least. Young players should be protected from the sometimes scolding words of the media by their managers, in order to keep their confidence intact.

Doing all these things requires patience though and all your efforts may not be rewarded instantly. So instead of giving a youngster from their own, renowned academy, someone who knows the tactics and style of the team, someone who speaks the tongue of the nation, instead of giving someone like that a chance, it’s much easier to just sign a new and more experienced player who can be relied upon to perform on a more consistent level.

In doing just that, Ajax are breaking with their own tradition. Ajax used to be famous for having young players from its own academies break into first team and reach stardom.

A player wasn’t immediately dropped when he makes a mistake or plays badly. He is given a chance to redeem himself and play a series of matches in which he prove his worth.

Currently, many of the first team players are still home-grown players. I hope it stays that way. I hope that the club doesn't resort to signing the Wielaert's of this world to plug the gaps, but instead lives up to its tradition by giving promising youngsters a chance in the first team. In the end, it has always paid off.

Judging by the signing of for example Rob Wielaert, Kennedy Bakircioglu, Dennis Rommedahl and others, Ajax is apparently breaking with this old and honoured tradition by signing expensive and experienced newcomers to plug the gaps.

I know, it's just a few players and every club needs experience too, but these players are most likely going to block and hinder the progress of current youngsters and I fear that these players are the first of many more to follow. It’s a shame to see such an illustrious club breaking away from it’s roots and I hope this doesn't happen.

Ajax' Transfer Policy Lacks Ambition

Guido — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:18:57 -0500

It was just another transfer which was announced in the whole transfer-circus that is taking place these days. Ajax have announced the signing of FC Twente defender Rob Wielaert for an undisclosed fee.

Nothing odd about it, a top side signs a player from one of the other teams in the league. In my eyes, there’s more to this situation than meets the eye. This signing is showing a definite lack of ambition and possibly even long term vision.

Ajax are an ambitious team. They want to compete for the Dutch title every season and they want to perform well in Europe, which in their case means making it into the second round of the Champions League or the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

In order to reach these goals, you need talented players. Players capable of performing consistently well in Europe, players with the physical, mental and technical abilities of performing on the highest level possible in Europe.

Now if you ask me, Rob Wielaert is a decent defender. He’s strong in the air and has a proper pass. The man has vision and he can coach a defence. Those are his main strengths.

Ajax have signed him to act as coach in defence, someone with experience who can lead the defence and who can still mark his opponent out of a match at the highest level.

Now I’m sure Wielaert is an experienced and seasoned professional, that much is true, but when we look at the level of the club he has been active for, it becomes painfully obvious that he lacks the experience of playing regular football at a real top-club and therefore lacks the experience at the level Ajax is striving for.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, Wielaert is a decent defender, but not really a proper man-marker and certainly not one who can hold his own at the highest level, as became painfully obvious when FC Twente met Arsenal in the qualifiers for the Champions League.

His lack of marking skills at the highest level are probably due to the fact that he started his career as a wing-back at PSV, which is an entirely different role which demands a completely different skill-set.

This means Wielaert has a good pass and he has mastered the skill of moving forward to support the midfielders, but he is not a pure defender, he is not a killer in the back-line.

Basically, Ajax have signed an average defender, who is not really up to the standards of the level Ajax want to compete at and who has never played at the level Ajax is aiming for. Wielaert is not a top defender on the European stage and will never become a top defender at this stage in his career.

Signing him is showing a lack of ambition or at least living up to the ambitions and goals you have set for your club. Wielaert is, in my humble opinion, not capable of playing in the Champions League against renowned strikers.

So, if you intend to play at such a level, you should sign players who are capable of playing at such a level, even if you have to pay some extra money for them. Failing to do so is a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of fading ambition.

The club is not gunning for the best they can get with the money they have, they are settling for second best. There are better albeit more expensive alternatives available for the position for which Ajax have signed Rob Wielaert, such as Wielaert’s team-mate Douglas for example.

Settling for second best is a sign of weakness, which is not befitting for a club of stature, such as Ajax once was and is hoping to become. Ambition starts out in the board room and the Ajax board have made a signing which just states a lack of ambition.

Ancient history are the days in which Ajax attracted some of Europe's finest young talents, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristian Chivu, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and Maxwell. Even if they cost a bit more cash, they were regarded as investments in a better future, both financially (long term) and on the pitch.

If Ajax want to rebuild its status worldwide and regain its position as a top-side in Europe. In my humble opinion, they’re not showing this ambition by signing a player who simply lacks the experience, ability and potential at such a level.

Dynamo Berlin: Glory Turned Instantly to Despair and Shame

Guido — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:30:32 -0500

The East German Ministry for State Security (Staatssicherheit), better known as the “Stasi,” permeated every aspect of life for the hapless residents of the communist state for over four decades until the great German reunification.

In their heyday, the Stasi ran their own football team: Dynamo Berlin. The club was one of East Germany’s most successful clubs, but was never a popular one.

The story of Dynamo has mirrored the violent mood swings of eastern Germany in the past few decades. Glory turned instantly to despair, followed by failure, bankruptcy, and shame.

Things started out well enough for Dynamo. As football was the nation’s most popular sport, the Stasi decided it needed a successful football club to bolster its reputation and popularity with the masses. The army and other government bodies were doing the same, so why not the secret police?

Rather unsurprisingly if you take their ruthless style of monitoring the people into account, the Stasi employed slightly less ethical methods to achieve success. In fact, the fans of most other clubs greeted Dynamo in their home stadiums with chants about the “champions of cheating.”

Here's just a quick look at the various incidents surrounding Dynamo. If they were a goal down, a key member of the opposition team would often be mysteriously sent off for no perceivable offence. In other instances, injury time might be extended, until the equalizing goal materialized. The Stasi even forced players to sign for Dynamo.

All these antics made Dynamo Berlin an unstoppable force in GDR football. The club won the GDR title 10 years in a row between 1979-1988, a record not many clubs can boast about.

It also made them the most hated team in GDR football. It wasn’t just envy of the results Dynamo had achieved, but mostly anger about the way Dynamo had achieved them.

After the great German reunification, the ties to the Stasi were obviously cut, but the burden of history proved almost impossible to live down. With hardly any real fans, the club was not very interesting to sponsors and the club was struggling.

As other former GDR-clubs gloated, Dynamo was unable to impress, even at a lower level. The club kept crashing out whenever the club had a real shot at winning promotion to a higher division.

The lack of success eventually led to financial despair. The irony of a former representative of the GDR’s communist system not coming to terms properly with the capitalist system commonly used in the West is neither lost on me nor on many other football fans.

Ultimate Football Quiz: Week 4

Guido — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:47:22 -0500

Last week, only five people went through the trouble of hurting their brain and coming up with a set of answers. I’ll just put that down to the holidays and I’m hoping for 10 or more people to turn up this week. These are the results of Week Three.

Joe Ennis — 36 points

Nick Howson — 32 points

Warren Halley — 31 points

Maire Ofeire — 24 points

Joe Guarr — 20 points

These are the questions for Week Four.

Easy

1. Prato, Torino, Pisa, Ravenna, Venezia, Monaco, Juventus, Internazionale, AC Milan, Lazio Roma, Atalanta Bergamo, Fiorentina, Atlético Madrid. Which Italian striker played for all the above clubs?

2. There are currently four Italian players who have played for the national team active in the German Bundesliga. Luca Toni, Massimo Oddo, Andrea Barzagli and…?

3. AZ defender Ryan Donk was loaned to an English Premiership club. Which club was he loaned to?

4. Who was the oldest player ever to appear in the final of the European Championship?

5. Who captained the Spanish side during EURO 2008?

Medium

6. Which former international excelled during the ’90 World Cup, won the Bundesliga with Stuttgart in ’84 and ’92 and decided to move to Japan to play for Urawa Reds during the last days of his career?

7. Which former international won the World Cup in ’82, finished as third in ’90 and finished as runner-up in ’94. He was active as a player during all three tournaments.

8. What is the more commonly used name for Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite?

9. In the history of Dutch international football, there are two cases of twins who both played for the national team. Everyone knows the De Boer brothers Frank and Ronald, but which other twin-brothers am I referring to?

10. Which South African born player played his international games for Germany, excelled at Karlsruhe SC but flopped at Liverpool?

Hard

11. This son of a Turkish father started his career with Karlsruhe SC, but he ended up with FC Bayern and ended up playing 36 international games for Germany.

12. Who is the youngest player ever to don the shirt of AFC Ajax in a competitive match of the first team? (Note: I’m looking for a player, not for mascots…)

13. Barcelona lost the ’86 Europa Cup I final to Steaua Bucaresti. Barcelona fielded two non-Spanish players. Which foreign players did they field?

14. Spain played an international match against Iceland on the 8^th of September, 2007. All the Spanish players had the same name on the back of their shirt. Which name was this?

15. Which Honduran player is currently contracted by Internazionale, but is on loan to Benfica?

Good luck!

Darío Cvitanich: Have a Little Faith in Him

Guido — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:10:55 -0500

Ajax sold their star-striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to Real Madrid for 20 million euros a few weeks ago. The Galacticos are no doubt pleased, but in Amsterdam, trouble is brewing as it is unclear who will fill Huntelaar’s boots upfront.

The Amsterdam-based club are now linked to several strikers, but apparently Marcus Berg is at the top of the Ajax-shortlist. The Swedish FC Groningen striker has scored 13 goals in 15 appearances this season, after bagging 15 goals in 25 appearances last season.

He would most likely cost Ajax around 10 million euros, which is an utter waste of money if you ask me.

Ajax signed Huntelaar’s replacement last summer. During the summer, they paid Argentine side Banfield six-and-a-half million euros to sign the top goal-scorer of the Argentine league, Argentine-Croatian forward Darío Cvitanich.

The South American forward was meant to act as a stand-in for Huntelaar and didn’t get a lot of playing time this season. When he did play, he was unconvincing and the fans had already written him off as yet another failure.

That was a bit harsh on Darío. The Argentian was hampered by a hamstring injury and when he was fielded, he wasn’t fielded as a central forward but as an attacking midfielder or as a left winger. That is hardly a sign of confidence in your new signing.

It’s really not how a top club should nurture such talents and allow them to blossom. The problem with Ajax is simple: They are a Dutch top club. They have to win all the time, all season long. They haven’t won a title in a few years and the pressure is mounting.

There is a lot of pressure to perform there, and talents and foreign signings are not allowed to have an off-day or make a mistake, at risk of losing their spot in first team.

Young foreign players need confidence; they need to play a series of 10 or more games to build their own confidence and fine-tune their skills. Confidence can make or break a youngster.

Unfortunately, Ajax are dealing with high expectations by their own board and fans. They have to win, so they are more likely to choose a player that performs on a more constant level. They do field youngsters, but foreigners have a harder time breaking into first team because they have more difficulties adapting to the culture and style of play.

As I said before, confidence can make or break a young talent. When a player is given confidence, he can blossom.

The same applies to Cvitanich. Ajax have played three league games since the departure of Huntelaar. Due to a lack of alternatives, Cvitanich was allowed to start as a centre forward in all three. He has re-paid this act of confidence by bagging six goals in these three games.

Remarkable how a bit of confidence can improve a player’s performance, isn’t it?

But let’s get serious. Three games, six goals; that’s an impressive ratio for any striker. His total this season is now six goals in eight appearances, but he was only fielded as a central forward in three of these games, and he only had four starts this season.

It looks like Cvitanich is starting to blossom now that he is receiving a bit of confidence. It would be plain silly to invest heavily in a new striker who wants a spot in first team, and ruin Cvitanich’ brittle confidence in the process.

Red Devils' Offer for Cooperation Turned Down by SC Heerenveen

Guido — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 22:07:00 -0500

Reigning World Champions Manchester United have approached Dutch Eredivisie-side SC Heerenveen with an offer for cooperation, according to Frysian/Dutch newspaper Leeuwarder Courant.

Heerenveen-director Yme Kuiper declared in this article that "although the club is honoured to receive such an offer, they would like to continue alone down the path they have chosen."

The Frysians haven't slammed the door shut though, as Kuiper also stated that "contacts between the two clubs are good, and this may or may not lead to any form of cooperation in the near future."

I can understand both the offer the Red Devils have made and Heerenveen's reluctance to accept it. There are always two sides to a story.

Manchester is looking for partners on the European mainland because British work permit rules are hindering the club in signing players from certain countries, particularly South American countries.

In some European leagues, there are no such work permit rules, so youngsters can be bought, loaned to a club in such a league and left there to develop for a number of seasons.

An added bonus lies in the fact that Heerenveen has made a bit of a name in South America because of the spectacular development Brazilian goal-getter Afonso Alves has made during his spell at the club.

The current Middlesborough-striker bagged 45 goals in 39 games for the Frysians, including seven goals in a single match against Heracles Almelo.

Sounds peachy, doesn't it? A club would be getting potentially world class youngsters for free, so they can develop themselves at the club.

Well, there's also a down-side to the deal. Let's just take a look at one of the other sides Manchester United has strong links with, the Belgian side of Antwerp FC.

The Belgian team has received its fair share of talented youths on loan from Manchester, but most of them were around 18 or 19 years old, so they didn't really have an immediate impact in first team.

Fair enough, that's what talents do... At the same time they did start making any real impression in first team, these youths were recalled by the Red Devils for reserve squad duties back in Manchester.

I don't think these players will develop any faster from playing in reserves matches compared to playing actual first team football, even if the league standard is lower. Some things can only be learned by playing competitive football and I'm sorry to say this, but playing in the reserves is not the same as competitive football.

It's also rather harsh to recall players halfway through a season, especially when they have started to impress. A club is starting to rely and build on the presence of a certain player, only to see him recalled as soon as he starts doing well, which effectively forces the club to spend extra money on a replacement.

Last but not least, the feeder club has no say in which players are shipped their way, which makes any form of long term planning a bit difficult.

Imagine the horror when you've spent quite a bit on two new forwards, only to find out that your parent team is shipping two Brazilian U19 strikers to your club a few weeks before the new season starts...A waste of money, wouldn't you agree?

Heerenveen-director Kuiper agrees with me on this one. "Suppose we do agree to such a deal with Manchester United. The details of such a deal are very important. Will the parent-club be able to recall players halfway into a season?

"And what about a percentage of the profit when a player is sold? These are things that need to be worked out, but this development is an interesting one."

I agree with that last sentiment. It really is an interesting development and a testimony to the excellent reputation Dutch clubs have when it comes to nurturing young talents. But should a deal be struck, I really do hope Heerenveen make sure it's a beneficial deal for both clubs and not just for Manchester United.

Guido's 2008 Top Football Moments

Guido — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 01:30:46 -0500

2008 has been like an incredible, emotional roller-coaster-ride for me and that's just how it should be, as football is about passion, about emotions. Every single one of us has been part of that moment where an entire nation holds its breath, when social life stops for ninety minutes so everyone can be witness to that one thing we all understand. The sport is basically a common language understood by all. Some may say it’s just a game, I say football is about heroes and tribes, loyalty and devotion. To some people, football has become faith, a complete religion. They become ecstatic when they feel the fever of the crowd, and hear the roar of the faithful in the stands. Some of the footballing moments this year have been brilliant, lovely memories I want to cherish forever. A few brilliant achievements, who deserved to be remembered forever for all involved. Other moments have been equally emotional, but less brilliant, yet still deserving of a mention in this article. After all, football is about emotion, both positive and negative. Anyway, allow me to lead you through the year 2008 and the footballing memories and emotions that have lasted for me.

Begin Slideshow

The Christmas Truce of World War I; How Football Played a Small Role

Guido — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:06:00 -0500

If you are like me, you will probably have heard this phrase a lot in the news. "Christmas spirit, we need to have the Christmas spirit."

This got me thinking, just what is the Christmas spirit? I suppose there are a lot of potential answers to that question. To Scrooge the Christmas spirit was a ghost. To the liquor industry the Christmas spirit comes in a bottle. Some people feel that the Christmas spirit is somehow the truce that takes place in the family where nobody brings up the issues, the quarrels.

Everyone can offer his or her own interpretation to the theme, as I don't want to pretend to know what it means exactly. It's the whole truce-interpretation I found particularly interesting though.

Because at that point I remembered a story my history teacher had told us about ten or so years ago. It involved war, Christmas, a truce, and football. An unlikely story, which makes for an interesting tale.

World War I gave the world its first brush with efficient widespread death. More than 8.5 million people would lose their lives to the war. Troops used trench warfare, machine-guns, poisonous gas, tanks, and airplanes for the first time.

Despite this unlikely theatre of carnage and destruction, the Christmas-spirit proved very much alive. Pope Benedict XV had earlier made a plea for a Christmas Truce, which was ignored by the Allied command. The ordinary troops however decided to adhere to this plea.

As the troops on both sides received luxury goods such as tobacco, chocolate, pudding, and other tokens, they were swept away by the seasonal spirit.

German troops held up signs: "You no fight, we no fight." British troops responded with signs proclaiming "Merry Christmas." This Christmas turned out to be a memorable one.

In some places fighting continued, but this was unusual. In some areas, officers established truces. In others, rank-and-file soldiers established trust.

Some soldiers defied direct orders from their commanding officers and met up with enemies who were, for the moment, no longer their foes. In other cases, officers encouraged the truces, or at least didn't intervene.

Soldiers from both sides left their trenches to meet up in No Man's Land. At first, the truce was used to reclaim and bury the dead but eventually, people started talking, joking and eventually someone brought a football along.

With the truce in full swing up and down the line there were a number of recorded games of football, although these were really just kick-abouts rather than a structured match.

In the one recorded match, a British major claimed in a letter home that the Brits had lost 3-2 to their German counter-parts in the same sector.

For a moment, even if it was a brief one, there was peace on earth as both enemies had put their differences a-side for a moment to celebrate Christmas.

Alas, the hope of a lasting peace faded away into the gray sky of Flanders as both sides' artillery opened up the next day to start a new day with a bang. This marked the end of the Christmas Truce and the end of hope for quick peace, as the war dragged on for four years.

In the end, the seasonal attention to joy, peace, and goodwill did not prevail back then. Let's make sure it does this year. Put your differences a-side, even if it's just a day, so everyone can celebrate Christmas in peace.

Ultimate Football Quiz: Week Three

Guido — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:36:50 -0500

Last week, 13 people went through the trouble of hurting their brain and coming up with a set of answers. These are the results of Week Two.

Nick Howson – 39 points

Michael Griffin – 39 points

Andrew McNair – 36 points

Alex Stamp – 33 points

Salaar Arshad Shamsi – 33 points

Maire Ofeire – 31 points

Danny Penza – 30 points

Callum D’Souza – 28 points

Mark Syrett – 28 points

Anthony Sanchez – 23 points

Simon Williams – 20 points

Shyam Parthasarathi – 19 points

Joe Guarr – 2 points

These are the questions for Week Three.

Easy

1. Which club has won the most Scottish Premiership titles?

2. Spain knocked Italy out of EURO 2008 on penalties. Two Italians missed their spot-kick. One of them was Daniele de Rossi. Who was the other one?

3. Which city hosted the 2008 Champions League final?

4. Spain fielded only one dark-skinned international during EURO 2008. What is his name?

5. Who was the first Italian of African descent to ever play for the national team?

Medium

6. Which Greek player received the most yellow cards ever during European Championships matches? The player received six yellows, by the way.

7. During EURO 2008, all nations but one played in either Adidas, Nike, or Puma-kits. One nation played in Umbro-kits. Which nation?

8. Which car manufacturer will always be linked to Juventus?

9. Which current national manager is nicknamed “Jogi?”

10. During EURO 2008, only one of the Russian internationals played for a foreign club. Which international played for a foreign club? You get one point for correctly naming the international and an extra point for naming his club.

Hard

11. Argentina won the 2004 Olympics. As you know, every team is allowed to bring three dispensation-players to the Olympics. Which three players were brought in by the Argentines? Naming two out of three players will earn you three points, naming them all correctly will earn you the full five points.

12. During the 1998 World Cup, Denmark’s Ebbe Sand scored against Nigeria almost immediately after being brought on as a substitute. Whom did he replace?

13. Which British defender was arrested in 2007 for shoplifting a toilet seat?

14. France won the 1998 World Cup. In the final, the French fielded two players who were active in the French league at the time. Which two players am I referring to? You have to name both players to get any points.

15. The English Premiership has existed since 1992 in its current setup. Currently, there are three non-British players in the top 10 of the Premierships all-time top goal-scorers.

Which three players are this? Naming two out of three players will earn you three points, naming them all correctly will earn you the full five points.

Good luck!

Borussia Mönchengladbach Need to Turn Things Around, Again!

Guido — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 08:28:33 -0500

'Tis the season to be jolly, but not at Borussia-Park. Borussia Mönchengladbach are a club in crisis. The club is dead last in the German Bundesliga and co-trainer, former technical director, and former German international Christian Ziege announced his resignation from die Borussen last week. The struggling side are on the verge of another turn-around.

Still, this is business as usual in Mönchengladbach. The club has been in turmoil for several seasons. According to chairman Ralf Könings the club needs stability and continuity. The only continuity the club has had has been Könings' prolonged stay, but stability is yet to be seen at Gladbach.

"Baustelle Borussia," that's how the German papers have dubbed the club. The club is a construction site. Managers are coming and going, each of them has his own vision and his own set of players he wishes to use. None stay for long and Borussia are stuck with a large and unbalanced squad and no long-term vision.

This means the team morale is not very good. Players like Sasha Rösler, Soumaila Coulibaly, Sharbel Touma, Alexander Voigt, Marcel Ndjeng, Roel Brouwers, Christofer Heimeroth, and Sebastian Svärd are deemed surplus to requirements and are looking for new clubs. These players are unhappy and complaining. Not good for a club near the bottom.

Another example of poor long-term vision. New manager Hans Meyer has to save the team from relegation with a talented but awfully young squad. Players like Marko Marin, Alexander Baumjohann, and Michael Bradley are hot young stars, but they are now being forced into a role they are not yet ready for. You cannot expect them to carry the team and lead the team to safety.

Meyer has acknowledged this and aims to bolster the team with a few more experienced players. According to rumours, he's looking to bring in his former Nürnberg-protegé Tomáš Galásek, Dortmund-substitute Diego Klimowicz, and former Werder Bremen winger Paul Stalteri. Galásek can come in transfer-free from Czech Banik Ostrava, Stalteri is looking to move away from Tottenham Hotspur.

All three are undoubtedly experienced players. Galásek and Stalteri are both senior internationals for their respective nations and have played at top level clubs in respectable competitions, whereas Klimowicz is a seasoned pro who has scored his goals for clubs on the highest level in both Spain and Germany.

I do feel however that Gladbach are acting rash and irresponsible. Sure, these players have loads of experience. On the other hand, Galásek is getting pretty slow, which is not a good thing for a midfield captain. Stalteri has not seen any playing minutes at all White Hart Lane, so he's bound to lack rhythm. Klimowicz is a reserve player at Dortmund, so why would he be good enough for Gladbach?

Still, it could work. Let's not be too pessimistic. These guys have tons of experience and they could really tutor these youngsters and learn them the ropes of professional football in one of Europe's toughest leagues. The one condition is that these youngsters stay at the club.

This is where yet another problem begins to take form. Marko Marin is Germany's new "Wunderkind," a new prodigy. The young Serbian-German midfield-playmaker has been a revelation at Gladbach, despite his team's poor form. This has attracted interest from several other Bundesliga teams and he is expected to move away from the club.

The same goes for Alexander Baumjohann. Bayern München are looking for a back-up midfielder, as young Toni Kroos is not content with a spot as a back-up. Bayern's Paul Breitner has been spotted several times at Borussia-Park and it is rumoured that Bayern will wait until the end of the season to make an offer for Baumjohann, so they can sign him for free when his contract expires.

So all in all there's a pretty fair chance that the two biggest young assets will leave the club this season. That pretty much makes signing these veterans a short term solution. Sure, they may help save the club, but they don't represent any transfer value. They are not cheap as far as wages are concerned and the team can never recoup this spent money.

With Baumjohann probably leaving for free, this makes Borussia totally dependant on Marin for extra income. The club could also use Marin on the pitch, so this is another dilemma the club faces. The club needs money to sign reinforcements, yet the money is gone. The club could generate money by selling its last remaining young star, but that would hamper the team performance.

So yeah, Borussia Mönchengladbach are facing yet another turn-around. Another manager has come in to save the day and do things his way.

I wonder how it will turn out this time.