Franck Ribery, Louis Van Gaal May No Longer Be a Part of FCB Come January

"FC Hollywood" is an absolutely appropriate name for Bayern. Some newspapers are suggesting that Bayern are prepared to sell Franck Ribery at a low a cost as £30 million.

During the summer, Bayern had made it absolutely clear that not even Real Madrid was going to get their hands on the French superstar by slapping an £80 million price tag on him. Ribery had played a big part in Bayern's seasons under Ottmar Hitzfeld and Jurgen Klinsmann.

Ribery is currently injured and has spent a very small amount of time on the field this season. When he has been on the pitch, he has done extremely well and was a big factor in Bayern's win over Wolfsburg and their draw against Juventus.

Louis Van Gaal had wanted to employ Ribery in the role behind the striker in a 4-3-3 formation. Ribery had however disobeyed the coach during the matches and shifted to the wings. Van Gaal decided not to force Ribery into playing in an unfamiliar role and allowed him to continue on the wings.

I personally find it quite surprising that Bayern would want to let go of Ribery considering that a major factor behind their downfall this season is the absence of Ribery's magic.

If Ribery's departure is a disturbing news for Bayern supporters, then the next piece of news will make them feel even worse. Van Gaal is already Bayern's coach this year.

Uli Hoeness and Franz Beckenbauer stated in unison that head coach Louis Van Gaal has until December to turn the club's fortunes around:

''We have lost two points but our game was a marked improvement compared to Bordeaux. I believe that we can continue working in peace and quiet until Christmas and then we will sit down and ask ourselves where we are. We are not going to discuss the position of the coach in public.'' (Uli Hoeness)

The last line of the statement is rather ironic. Uli Hoeness discussed Van Gaal's position with the public by indirectly announcing that Van Gaal will get sacked if he fails to turn the club's fortunes around.

The second line of the interview is ironic as well. There is never any peace or quiet at FCB. Who knows that better than Hoeness himself?