#7 Franck Ribéry

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Originally Posted by kaiserzizu

I want us to be without Ribery for Bremen, HSV and Shalke. It's time the team learned the hard way that they are overreliant on him. Perhaps a bad result in this string of games will give them the reality check they need and spur a change. It should also motivate the rest of the team to work harder and not play so predictable from thereon.

I get what you mean, but yet, saying this isn't smart at all.

It's true that it's better for us not to be dependant on Ribéry or any individual.

But Ribéry is such an important player, and it would be a major blow to see him out for three weeks, as it's being reported. So many crucial fixtures in the upcoming three weeks. We just need him.

In further grim news, Franck Ribéry will be sidelined for “at least three weeks,“ according to France coach Raymond Domenech.

The Bayern superstar sustained a hamstring injury in Bayern’s 2-1 win away to Hansa Rostock last Friday, and was ruled out of his country’s midweek friendly against Spain after an MRI scan carried out by the France medical staff.

The midfielder returned to Munich from the French training base in Clairefontaine near Paris on Tuesday, where he immediately reported for treatment from FCB chief medical officer Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt.

“We can’t yet say how long he’ll be out,” Hitzfeld announced, “we’ll do everything we can to get him fit as soon as possible.“

Should the initial diagnosis by the France medical team prove correct, Ribéry would miss a number of critical fixtures for his club. Over the next three weeks, Bayern face Bundesliga showdowns with their title rivals from Bremen and Hamburg, and a two-legged UEFA Cup tie against FC Aberdeen.

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Sidelined by injury - Ribéry ruled out of Sunday showdown

Sunday sees the Allianz Arena host the biggest match of the Bundesliga season so far, when leaders Bayern entertain closest pursuers Werder Bremen. The Reds lead the standings by three points following the northerners’ shock home defeat last weekend, so a Munich victory would represent “a minor milestone“ on the way to the title, Ottmar Hitzfeld declared.

However, the Bayern coach is without one of his undisputed stars for the match which means so much to both sides. Franck Ribery is “definitely out“ of the game with a stubborn hamstring problem, Hitzfeld confirmed after Wednesday training at the Säbener Strasse.

Hitzfeld has yet to decide how to cover for the loss of the French midfielder, who is reporting for treatment on a daily basis but cannot train at all at the present time. No date has been set for Ribéry’s return, and he is already rated doubtful for Bayern’s UEFA Cup trip to Scottish Premier League outfit Aberdeen just four days after the Bremen clash.

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Franck Ribéry is hoping to make his return from injury against Aberdeen in the Uefa Cup.

The French star is currently sidelined for three weeks and hopes to make the second leg of their European tie on 21st February.

“I believe I will be fit to play on that date,” said Ribéry when asked if he would return before the end of the month.

“I don’t feel good, I am angry not to be playing.”

Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld is hopeful his side will cope without their brilliant Frenchman.

“Of course it makes us weaker when Franck isn’t on the field,” he said.

Ribéry targets comeback in Aberdeen « Bayern Lounge

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A few weeks into Franck Ribery’s spell as a Bayern player, local media were already hailing the gifted Frenchman as the club’s new Kaiser. The Emperor has now officially been crowned after the summer signing from Olympique Marseille scored a runaway victory in our poll to find the best Bayern player of the first half of the season.

The 24-year-old midfielder garnered a record 68.8 percent of the votes cast, finishing streets ahead of Luca Toni (9.0 percent) and Zé Roberto (5.3 percent). The reasons for the runaway success are clear enough, as the France winger has transformed the Bavarians’ attacking game since his arrival. “He was the best player in the first half of term,“ Ottmar Hitzfeld agreed. The number seven’s trickery and skill were a major factor in the Reds occupying top spot at the midway point in the league campaign.

Superb start

Ribéry became an instant crowd favourite, not merely for his range of prodigious skill on the ball, but for his unstinting efforts on behalf of the team. In 16 Bundesliga appearances to date, the midfielder chalked up seven scorer points (4 goals, 3 assists), with five appearances and five assists in the UEFA Cup and one run-out and an assist in the German Cup. Munich loyalists voted him Player of the Month in August and November, and he was named French Player of the Year in his home country last December.

“It’s been a good first six months. My family and I have settled well in Munich,” Ribéry himself reports, content with both his professional and private life: his second daughter Shahinez was born in January. “It could be a great year, with Bayern in the league, the Cup and the UEFA Cup, and with France at the Euro. In fact, with a bit of luck, it could be a truly fantastic year,“ he declares, looking forward to a starring role for club and country.

T-Home presents the Bayern Top Ten in the first half of term:
1. Ribéry 68.8 %
2. Toni 9.0 %
3. Zé Roberto 5.3 %
4. Klose 4.6 %
5. Demichelis 2.8 %
6. Lell 2.2 %
7. Kroos 1.4 %
8. Kahn 1.3 %
9. Van Bommel 1.1 %
10. Lucio 0.6 %

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No-risk policy - Ribéry still doubtful for Aberdeen clash

Forty-eight hours ahead of the UEFA Cup Round of 32 return against Aberdeen, superstar winger Franck Ribéry remains a doubtful starter for Bayern. The French international, sidelined for ten days so far with a torn hamstring, was unable to resume the squad programme on Tuesday and appears increasingly unlikely to face the Dons at the Allianz Arena on Thursday evening.

“It’ll be a very, very close-run thing,” Bayern assistant coach Michael Henke informed fcbayern.de. Ribéry spent Tuesday morning working out under the supervision of fitness coach Thomas Wilhelmi, but a return to the team programme has been ruled out until Wednesday afternoon at the earliest. “We’re not prepared to take any risks,” Henke continued.

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"Bayern has a broad squad. You've just been running for 70 minutes and then they bring in Ribéry, that could be deadly for any team." - Vincent Kompany, Hamburg defender.

Bayern were 1-0 down against Hamburg, and Hitzfeld brought in Ribéry one minute after conceding.

Five minutes into the game, the mighty Ribéry assisted for the 1-1 equaliser.

But that's not all he did. Our game tempo, and everything changed when Ribéry came in.

Maybe his absence has not been noticed much in our recent positive results, but he's irreplacable. He's undoubtely very important for us. It's great to have him back. I've missed him.

Franck Ribéry cut a high-spirited and cheerful figure at Monday training. The Frenchman, out for three weeks with a stretched hamstring, came through a 30-minute substitute appearance against Hamburg unscathed, a run-out which would do him the world of good, according to Oliver Kahn. “He’ll need two or three matches to get back into the swing of things,” the captain said. Ribéry is likely to take the next step towards recovering peak form against the Lions on Wednesday.

[Munchen Minded]

Yep -- Ribery looks like he had a nice rest and break from things and is now back with a vengeance. I hope he stays fit and pushes us all the way to success!

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By way of crowning a scintillating second-half cameo, Franck Ribéry rounded off a rousing European evening for Bayern in Anderlecht with a glorious 20-metre free-kick brilliantly curled into the corner formed by post and bar, a flash of footballing precision and genius which had even the Belgian fans on their feet and applauding.

After coming on as a half-time sub, Ribery initiated many of Bayern’s flowing counter-attacks and provided the assists for Podolski and Klose, before opening his UEFA Cup account with the 86th-minute set-piece. Quite apart from being a thing of beauty, the sublime curler also proved a nice little earner for the France superstar.

“Before he took the free-kick, I said to Franck: 100 Euro for you if you score – 100 Euro to me if you don’t. I thought it would be easy money,” revealed Mark van Bommel, settling his lost wager aboard the team bus on the way to Brussels airport. “Franck’s recent efforts in training have all gone over the fence. I’d have taken on the bet in the circumstances,” joked Oliver Kahn the following day.

Ribéry was visibly delighted by his goal, dashing to the bench and embracing coach Hitzfeld and manager Uli Hoeneß with outstretched arms. “He was completely euphoric and said something about winning a bet,” a grinning Hitzfeld related on Friday.

[Munchen Minded]

^Ribery is the absolute master of football. I am glad that they only played him for half of the game, as not to wear him down before the Karlsruhe game, and yet it didn't take him any time at all to make a huge impact.

[Vargas_4]

Following a much-needed win over Karlsruhe, Bayern Munich icon Oliver Kahn has compared in-form team-mate and goal-scorer on the night Franck Ribery to former World Player of the Year and French legend Zinedine Zidane...

Ribery has been in absolutely devastating form for the German giants since signing from Marseille this summer, and though not quite in the goals to the extent of a Cristiano Ronaldo, his simmering performances are threatening to take him to such heights.

So often during Bayern's season he has provided crucial goals and assists and even when without such end product has proved one of the most menacing and dangerous players on the pitch.

Speaking to Die Welt, goalkeeper Oliver Kahn paid young Franck the ultimate compliment when suggesting he could be compared to Zinedine Zidane.

Though Ribery is fast, dynamic and plays down the wing while Zidane mesmerised as the maestro in the middle of the park during his days, Kahn believes the finesse of Ribery's technique and the way in which he can control the pace of the game earn him the comparison with the man dubbed by many as the best footballer since Diego Maradona.

“We can compare him to Zidane,” declared Kahn. “Because of his technique and of the rhythm he brings during the games and all the things he does on the pitch.”

For Ribery to reach Zidane-like heights, Bayern's revolution will need to see them not only qualify for this season's Champion's League — which looks a near-certainty after last season's calamitous failure — but also compete until the latter stages and win the competition, as the side have been noted for doing throughout their history.

Nevertheless, Die Bundesliga often fails to match up to the likes of the Premier League, La Liga or even a currently dwindling Serie A and Die Roten will be praying that the winger doesn't depart for the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona or Arsenal, who were interested in the player before his move to Germany.

Goal.com - Bayern Munich - Kahn Hails 'Zidane-Like' Ribery

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Uli Hoeneß on the importance of Franck Ribéry:

“The team looks for Franck a lot, because they know something will happen when he’s on the ball. We’ll need some balance soon, more play down the right and through the middle. But we mustn’t complain as long as he keeps it up. His pace with the ball at his feet is incredible. He’s going at top speed, but he can still accelerate and keep control of the ball. And not just a couple of times per half, it’s six, seven or eight times. The others work very hard for him, because we don’t expect him to defend much. Franck benefits from our willingness to support him.“

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Uli Hoeneß on Ribéry’s future, given his contract with FCB until 2011:

“The oil magnates can try what they want but we won’t sell the player. It doesn’t even come into question.“

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Ex-German international and current TV pundit Günter Netzer has hailed Franck Ribéry as the greatest star in the Bundesliga.

The Frenchman was already highly regarded internationally thanks to his displays at the 2006 World Cup and has taken to the Bundesliga like a duck to water following his big money move from Marseille to Bayern.

Ribéry's displays for the Rekordmeister have left former Borussia Mönchengladbach and Real Madrid star Netzer in no doubt as to his superiority.

"Ribéry embodies the pure love of the game," Netzer wrote in Bild of the Frenchman's tricks and skill. "You can see he's enjoying almost every second of the action, he's a spectacle to behold.

"But that alone would only be good enough for a football circus," he continued. "But no, this Ribéry fellow has got that all important quality for football - he's effective. He wants to get into the box, he keeps an eye out for team mates and he wants to score goals. This mixture of effectiveness and skill makes Ribéry a wonderful football artist. I'll be honest - I didn't expect it," Netzer added of Ribéry's instant success in Germany.

The left-sided midfielder netted again at the weekend as Bayern beat Karlsruhe 2-0 and stretched their lead at the top to seven points.

Goal.com - Bayern Munich - Netzer: Ribéry Is The Greatest

[Munchen Minded]

I am glad to see comments from Hoeness that state they would never sell Ribery. If Bayern want to win the CL, then they need to be holding onto players like Ribery. In fact, I would give whatever Ribery wanted in terms of a contract.

[Eric]

Ribéry ist begeistert, wie man ihn empfangen hat. „Tatsächlich bin ich in München von Anfang an mit einer Wärme aufgenommen worden, wie ich es selten zuvor erlebt habe. Das hat mir so gutgetan, dass ich es sofort auf dem Feld zurückgeben konnte. Dieses Geliebtwerden ist mir sehr, sehr wichtig. Aus dieser Liebe ziehe ich meine Kraft und mein Selbstvertrauen, sie macht mich stark."
Der Franzose verrät, dass er sich vorstellen kann, beim FC Bayern in den Ruhestand zu gehen - wie sein Vorgänger mit der Trikot-Nummer sieben, Mehmet Scholl. „Ich genieße hier jeden Moment und fühle mich glücklich", sagt Ribéry.

Wie Luca Toni hofft Ribéry bei einer Qualifiaktion für die Champions League auf Verstärkungen. „Wenn wir diese Messlatte geschafft haben, denke ich schon, dass wir noch ein paar neue Spieler zur Verstärkung bekommen."

I just have to translate this one. I totally love it. Ribery interview with sportbild

Ribery is enthusiastic how he was elcomed at Bayern. "I've been recieved in Munich with such a warmth and friendliness like I've never witnessed b4. I liked that so much that i instantly could pay it back on the pitch. THis feeling of being welcome and loved is very very important to me. From this love i pull my strenght and confidence. It makes me strong."
The fernchman also said he could very well see himself retire at Bayren Munich - just like the former number 7 at bayern: Mehmet scholl. "I enjoy every second here and am very happy" said ribery.

Like Luca TOni he is hoping for some reinforcements for next season in the champions league:" if we manage that I think we also should get in a few more players to make us even stronger."