FCB - Transfer Talk

[Oliver_Kahn]

Reaction to Friday’s Champions League draw:

Felix Magath: “That’s an incredibly tough draw. The record books show us struggling in Madrid, and them struggling in Munich. Real weren’t especially impressive in their group, but we shouldn’t forget that new coach Fabio Capello only arrived in the summer. I’ve watched Real Madrid get better and better as the season has gone on. They’re the only team in Spain who’ve beaten Barcelona. I’m sure Real will be even stronger come February.”

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness has confirmed that the Bundesliga champions have offered Alemannia Aachen striker Jan Schlaudraff a contract.

The 23-year-old, who can leave the Tivoli Stadium for €1.2million (£810,000) at the end of the season, has been a revelation for the Bundesliga new boys so far this term and is high on the shopping list of several top teams.

"He has received an offer from Bayern Munich. Now it's up to him to decide what he wants to do," Hoeness said on German television at the weekend, before denying that Schlaudraff might struggle to hold down a regular place in the club's star-studded starting line up.

"We are convinced that he would also have a good chance of playing with us," he added.

Current Bundesliga leaders Werder Bremen are also keen on gaining the German international's services next season, and sport director Klaus Allofs wasted no time in countering Hoeness's remarks.

"Bayern are, of course, always able to make the best offer as far as money is concerned, but we all know that money isn't everything," said Allofs.

Schlaudraff is expected to make a decision on his future within the coming weeks.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?...or+Schlaudraff

[Oliver_Kahn]

I think Toni isn't on Bayern's wish list anymore.

[D-Kin]

I think they've realised he isn't worth the money.

[Oliver_Kahn]

1.2m for Schlaudraff is a very nice deal.

Toni is world class, but if Bayern keep the money we can invest in a new atacking midfielder

[D-Kin]

Schlaudraff is much younger than Toni as well.

[Oliver_Kahn]

He is also a German internacional.

[D-Kin]

Yeah, the fans will appreciate that.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bayern lost to Aachen 4-2 and are out of the Cup.

Can we finally fire this moron ?

[Oliver_Kahn]

Reaction to Alemannia Aachen v Bayern

Felix Magath: "We lost the game right at the start. We're out, because we failed to take three golden opportunities in the first ten minutes. We appeared to be well on top, but that was only in terms of chances and not goals. We had a false sense of security, we thought we had it under control, so we made mistakes and went behind. We've been knocked out and wecan't defend the trophy any more, but these things happen. We've lost to a battling Alemannia side. It was a typical Cup tie, a great game for the fans. My team played well in the second half, they were almost rewarded for a huge effort."

[Oliver_Kahn]

German football has shut up shop for the Christmas holiday and winter break, but before Felix Magath set off on a well-deserved vacation, the Bayern head coach sat down with FCB.tv for an extensive year-end interview. The 53-year-old drew broadly positive conclusions from developments in 2006, and looked forward confidently to the New Year. fcbayern.de summarises Magath's key statements.

Felix Magath on…

…the midweek German Cup exit:
"I'm really still rather perplexed. We weren't knocked out because we played badly or below our potential, it was a fantastic, typical Cup performance. The team took it to the limit in the second half, and there haven't been many games so far this season where we've had that many clear-cut openings. I think the tabloids were totally wrong to call it a dismal display. A neutral watching the match would have loved every minute. The fact is that Alemannia Aachen are a fully—fledged Bundesliga club, and it's hardly unknown for a top flight club to knock the holders out of the Cup."

…the Champions League campaign:
"We're extremely satisfied with our performance in the Champions League group stage. In fact, we can reasonably classify the last match against Inter Milan as a victory, as we only conceded the equaliser in stoppage time. We were in complete control otherwise. So we finished with three wins and three draws, and most importantly, we went through to the next round as group winners, meaning that although we've drawn the ultimate challenge in the shape of Real Madrid, we enjoy the advantage of playing the return here at the Allianz Arena, and I'm extremely confident that this advantage will be enough for us to knock Real out of the competition."

…meeting Real Madrid in the first knockout round:
It's a tough draw, but also a fantastic draw, because we won't necessarily have the advantage of playing the second leg at home in the quarter-finals. But it's an advantage we do have now, so I'd rather play tough opponents in this tie. Here at Bayern Munich, we're not in the business of hoping to be drawn against a so-called weaker team such as OSC Lille for example, getting into the quarters and then being knocked out."

…the first half of the Bundesliga campaign:
"I'd say our form steadily improved. We were good in our last match in Mainz, the 4-0 scoreline was our best result so far this season, and I think you could see something good starting to come together. We've come on in a positive sense. After mid-season training in January, I'm confident we'll pick up where we've just left off, we'll play more fluent football and create more chances, and we'll convert more of those chances into goals. Overall, we've been very poor at taking our clear-cut chances in the first half of the season, or at least a lot worse than in previous years, and it's cost us a few points."

…mid-season training:
"Our troubled pre-season period, coupled with the extra burden of the World Cup in July, definitely caused all the significant problems we've had up to now, in my opinion. Now, we'll spend a full three-week period with all the players together at last, so we can try a few things out. I'm convinced we'll hit on a formation that plays a great deal better than we have so far."

…his summary of the season so far:
"Putting the Cup to one side, I'd say I'm completely satisfied. Despite a difficult first half of the campaign we're only three points off Bremen in the league, and we won our Champions League group without losing a game. That's a strong record, and leaves us extremely well-placed for the second half of the season."

[Oliver_Kahn]

Joel, any rumors concerning Toni ?

[D-Kin]

Nope, everything's gone quiet.

He's been banging the goals in though, maybe he'll stay after all.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bayern signed Schlaudraff, so we'll probably try to find players for other positions

[D-Kin]

Yeah, it's starting to look that way.