FCB - General Talk/News

[Munchen Minded]

Hopefully the battle for places will keep things going all season long in all possible trophy categories. The big motivator is having a new coach, everyone will be out to please -- look at what Hitzfeld brought in his first couple of seasons in charge.

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Sagnol fit again, Toni still out

With a week to go until their DFB Cup encounter at 3rd Division Rot-Weiß Erfurt, FC Bayern's injury concerns are gradually easing.

With the exception of reserve keeper Thomas Kraft and Olympics-bound José Sosa and Breno, the entire squad was present, if not in action, for the first training session since their return from Japan.

Among those going through coach Jürgen Klinsmann's programme on Saturday was defender Willy Sagnol, who missed the 4-2 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds with an achilles problem.

Toni struggling

New signings Hans Jörg Butt (tight muscle) and Tim Borowski (strained knee ligament) only took part in light training as did Luca Toni, who still has a niggling calf muscle problem.

Franck Ribéry will meanwhile have to wait a few weeks yet to return to the fold, following the successful removal of the support pins in his ankle on Thursday. Sporting director Uli Hoeneß reckons with the midfielder being back in action by "the end of August or early September...Franck can recover from these things relatively quickly - he's more of a flyweight than a heavyweight."

Bundesliga - Die offizielle Webseite

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Bundesliga Season Preview: Bayern Munich

With the start of a very exciting Bundesliga season upon us, Goal.com previews two teams daily as a part of our build-up. First up are defending champions Bayern Munich.

A new era is dawning at the Allianz Arena with Jürgen Klinsmann coming in to replace Ottmar Hitzfeld. The ‘General’ instantly created a successful team last season and the question on everybody’s lips is whether Klinsmann will be able to take the club forward and onto European glory.

Same Again?

The pressures and expectations on the Bayern Munich coach are always massive and that has always been the case. However, the pressure on new trainer Jürgen Klinsmann will be that little bit more acute given the success of last season and the doubts as to his credentials to take over one of the biggest club sides in the world.

The club spent close on €70 million last summer to bring the Bundesliga title back to Bayern after the failures of the previous season under Felix Magath. Not qualifying for the Champions League was a huge blow to the ego of the Bayern Munich hierarchy and European success was also high on the agenda last season.

That they failed to win the Uefa Cup was seen by many of the more fervent Bayern fans as a failure, and European glory will be high on the list of priorities for the coming campaign.

So the season’s objectives for new trainer Jürgen Klinsmann are clear: defend the Bundesliga title playing attacking, entertaining football, win the German Cup if at all possible, and win the Champions League. A tall order no doubt, but then as mentioned, the pressures and expectations at the club are always sky high.

Klinsmann’s unveiling as the successor to Ottmar Hitzfeld took a lot of people by surprise and with no club coaching experience the doubters were out straight away questioning whether he would be able to repeat the success he enjoyed while in charge of the German national side.

He does have a superb squad at his disposal which has seen just two signings this summer in midfielder Tim Borowski and reserve keeper Hans-Jörg Butt. Michael Rensing will start in goal with the unenviable task of filling the void left by the retirement of Bayern legend Oliver Kahn. Rensing has never let Bayern down whenever he has played and indeed has the impressive record of never having finished on the losing side in 23 Bundesliga appearances.

Bayern’s defence was extremely miserly last season with just 21 goals conceded. Brazilian Breno will be looking to put the pressure on centre back pairing Lucio and Martin Demichelis, who was outstanding last term. There are also plenty of options in the full back positions with Willy Sagnol set to play more of a role and the impressive Christian Lell looking to challenge Lahm and Jansen.

Tim Borowski will add to the centre of midfield, but his versatility will be useful elsewhere. Mark van Bommel and Zé Roberto will occupy the defensive roles with the others given the tasks of getting forward to support the forwards. Bastian Schweinsteiger (the subject of much transfer speculation) will be looking to prove himself once and for all, while youngster Toni Kroos will want to make the step up after impressing so much when involved last season.

Player of the season Franck Ribéry will miss the first few weeks of the season as he looks to recover from the injury he suffered at Euro 2008, but he will be itching to return and terrorise defenders. People may be more aware of what to expect from the Frenchman, but that won’t make it any easier to stop him.

Argentine Jose Ernesto Sosa had a difficult and rather disappointing first season at the club, and he too will be looking to get things going under new trainer Jürgen Klinsmann, while based on last season’s performances, Turk Hamit Altintop should again see plenty of action.

The Lukas Podolski saga has dragged on all summer, but finally it seems that Klinsmann has convinced him to stay at the Allianz Arena and battle against Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose for a place in attack. It certainly looks like Klinsmann will rotate the front two a little more than Hitzfeld did last season, so it is up to Podolski to take his chance when given it (something he didn’t always do last year).

Despite a disappointing Euro 2008, Luca Toni should once again enjoy himself in the Bundesliga, but Miro Klose will be the one to be most wary of the threat posed by Podolski after his poor second half of the season. One young player to watch out for could be striker Thomas Müller, who may get a little action this season after impressing in pre-season.

Coach: Jürgen Klinsmann

Stadium: Allianz Arena (69,000)

2007/08 Position: 1st

2007/08 Record: P-34 W-22 D-10 L-2 F-68 A-21 Pts-76

Players In: Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Hans-Jörg Butt (Benfica)

Players Out: Sandro Wagner (Duisburg), Jan Schlaudraff (Hannover), Oliver Kahn (retired), Stefan Celozzi (Karlsruhe)

Possible-Line-Up: Rensing- Jansen, Demichelis, Lucio, Lahm- van Bommel, Zé Roberto, Schweinsteiger, Ribéry- Toni, Klose or Podolski

Prognosis

Bayern once again start as favourites for the Bundesliga title. You could argue that their squad is even stronger than last season now that it is has played together for a year. A new goalkeeper lines up behind a very strong defence, but Rensing is a talented keeper in his own right and shouldn’t be thought of as the weak link.

There are doubts too over Jürgen Klinsmann, but expect to see him celebrating his first German league title as a trainer come May next year. The question just remains as to how far they can go in the Champions League.

Prediction: 1st

Goal.com - Editorial - Bundesliga Season Preview: Bayern Munich

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20'000 Watch Bayern Train

With less than three days to go until the start of the new season, Bayern Munich fans left no doubt as to how up for it they are by turning up en masse to a public training session on Tuesday afternoon.

Upwards of 20,000 fans were on hand at the Allianz Arena to show their support according to the club's official website, giving the players a real shot in the arm ahead of the official Bundesliga curtain-raiser against Hamburger SV on Friday night.

“It’s an amazing atmosphere, unbelievable,” enthused new boss Juergen Klinsmann, in front of a heaping stand of exceptionally dedicated supporters.

The fans also got a chance to cheer on Italian goal-hero Luca Toni, who made a timely return to training from a calf injury.

“We’ll bring Luca back step by step,” stressed Klinsmann, hinting that the 31-year-old will not be risked against HSV - at least not from the start.

The new boss went on to acknowledge that it has been a "bumpy" pre-season, and that they are still working on ironing out tactical issues which were evident during the too close for comfort Cup victory against third division Erfurt.

“The different departments were far too far away from one another," he acknowledged. "A chain reaction of mistakes led to all three of Erfurt’s goals.“

Goal.com - Bayern Munich - 20'000 Watch Bayern Train

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*- Bayern invited to the State Chancellary

A great honor for FC Bayern. The team, along with the coaches and managers, have been invited for a visit at the Bavarian State Chancellary on Saturday morning. Bavaria's Prime Minister Guenther Beckstein will be the master record for the Double last season excel. They will be congratulated by Bavarian primeminister Günther Beckstein for the successful last season.


*- Ribéry and Hitzfeld recieve awards

Under a great applause of 69.000 spectators at the Allianz Arena, FC Bayern superstar Franck Ribéry and former legendary coach Ottmar Hitzfeld were honoured on Friday night.

Both of them recieved the awards they won as the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively, before the kick-off of the new Bundesliga season opening match.


*- 200th goal from penalty kick

Flat into the bottom right corner, so he saw the 200th goal of FC Bayern from penalty kick. Lukas Podolski scored for 2:0 from penalty kick in the opening match of the new Bundesliga season against Hamburg.

No other Bundesliga club has scored so many goals as FC Bayern from penalties. Also, no other club has been awarded so many penalties as FC Bayern: 255.


(Translated by me from FC Bayern)

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Mrs Lucio's bean soup under threat at Bayern

Not content with installing Buddha statues, creating a library and introducing language lessons and yoga sessions at the training ground, German champions Bayern Munich are now planning to get the players' wives top fit in the kitchen.

As part of Bayern's "holistic" approach under new coach Juergen Klinsmann, the wives will be offered cooking courses to ensure the club's international stars get a balanced diet.

"I've absolutely nothing against Mrs Lucio's bean soup but the nutrition should be well balanced," club general manager Uli Hoeness said Thursday in a reference to the club's Brazilian defender Lucio.

Hoeness, the son of a butcher and owner of a sausage factory in Nuremberg, said at a sponsoring event at a dairy in the Bavarian town of Freising that it was important for Bayern players to have an all-round feeling of well-being.

Klinsmann wants not only to improve the players' physical fitness but make them more nutritionally aware, with the help of wives and girlfriends, he said.

"They are expressly invited to drop in any time to our performance centre," Hoeness said.

The 56-year-old former Bayern player and West German international admitted that diet had not exactly been a priority in his playing days.

"It's hard to believe now that we ate brawn at 11 o'clock in the morning and still won," he said.

Bayern's healthy approach could even extend to the fans. Along with beer and soft drinks, it might be an idea to offer milk at the Allianz Arena.

"Bayern always stood for 'no limits.' I personally would have nothing against it," Hoeness said.

Mrs Lucio's bean soup under threat at Bayern


As much as the new training centre, new training methods, new modern technology, big staff and whatever Klinsmann brought look/sound very interesting, they doesn't seem to be helping anything, eh?

[Vargas_4]

I dunno about the milk thing.

But i agree that eating right will help them increase their energies.

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Ribéry And Toni Out - A Blessing In Disguise?

Could the Loss of Luca Toni and Franck Ribéry be a blessing in disguise for Bayern Munich? Clark Whitney thinks so because now the lesser lights of the Allianz-Arena have had a chance to show their worth...

When Franck Ribéry was carried off the pitch on a stretcher in the 7th minute of France’s 2-0 Euro group stage loss to Italy, Bayern Munich fans collectively held their breath. Fortunately, what at first appeared to be a horrible injury ended up sidelining Ribéry for just 3 months. However, the bad news continued to roll in for Bayern fans, as prolific hit man Luca Toni sustained a mild calf strain during the preseason. Ahead of Bayern’s season opener at home against Hamburger SV, there were serious questions as to whether or not the Bayern offense would be able to produce. Having scored twice in the opening minutes, Bayern proved fully adept when it came to scoring, although their defense let them down in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. With Toni set to feature in Saturday’s match away to Dortmund and Ribéry likely to return within 3 weeks, Bayern fans haven’t long to wait before they see two of last season’s greatest stars back on the pitch. And yet, after last Friday’s offensive performance, it seemed as though Bayern hardly missed their superstars. Could it be that the absence Toni and Ribéry was in fact a blessing in disguise for the Bavarians? There is much evidence to the affirmative.

Just two years ago saw the departure of talismanic playmaker Michael Ballack from Säbener Strasse 51. In Ballack’s place was left a massive void that the rest of his former team could not fill as Bayern failed to qualify for the Champions’ League for the first time since 1995. After touting Julio dos Santos as Ballack’s replacement only to see the Paraguayan midfielder play just five times for Bayern, manager Uli Hoeneß realized his mistake: he had allowed Bayern to become too dependent on one player who simply was irreplaceable. Having learned his lesson, Hoeneß pledged to never allow Bayern to become too reliant on the contribution of one player. And yet, last season saw Bayern return to their old ways, although they had two stars that did all the offensive work. Last year, Toni and Ribéry combined for 35 of Bayern’s 68 Bundesliga goals and provided a combined 12 assists. It thus does not come as a surprise that, when Bayern were without the creativity of Ribéry, their offense was often uninspired and stagnant. The records will show that, in the 6 Bundesliga matches Bayern played without Ribéry, Bayern were able to stay on par with their average of two goals per match. However, Toni featured in four of these matches and was the scorer of five goals in this short time period. In fact, Toni’s goals during the absence of Ribéry often resulted from outstanding individual effort rather than good teamwork and creative play.

In limited play this season thus far, the Bayern attackers have been particularly prolific in spite of the absence of Toni and Ribéry: after their four-goal performance in the DfB Cup against Erfurt, Bayern managed two goals in their Bundesliga opener against Hamburg. The draw at Dortmund, while disappointing, produced another goal at a tough arena.

What’s more, Bayern have been fast in transition and active in their attacking third, creating more probable scoring opportunities instead of lofting hopeful balls into the penalty area as they often did last year. Instead of attacking up the flanks and sending crosses into the box, Klinsmann’s Bayern sees wide players move inward as they approach the penalty area, leaving far more options: wingers can dribble into the box, cross into the box, lay the ball off to a fullback, shoot, or pass to the center for a 1-2 through-ball. With all of these options available, defenses are less likely to foresee a developing play. The end result is that, in order to score goals, Bayern do not require an amazing Toni header or Ribéry beating four or more defenders: instead, they are able to manufacture goals with the use of nearly any of their players.

The apparent ability of Bayern’s offense to cope without their superstars is an enormous breakthrough. Many fans have been disappointed with their team having conceded three goals to a 3rd division team (Erfurt) and for having wasted an early 2-0 lead against Hamburg, but that is not the fault of Bayern’s offense. Instead, repeated blunders by right back Christian Lell, combined with the lack of Martin Demichelis (injury) to partner Lucio in central defense have been huge setbacks. Indeed, it is not the lack of Toni and Ribéry that is hurting Bayern at the moment: rather, it is the lack of defenders Willy Sagnol, Marcell Jansen and Martin Demichelis that is keeping Bayern off their best form.

Goal.com - Editorial - Ribéry And Toni Out - A Blessing In Disguise?

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Sport Bild claims to know the bonuses that Bayern players get.

Every player gets:

- Around 250.000 euros for winning the Bundesliga title.
- Around 50.000 euros for winning the DFB-Pokal (Cup).
- Around 5.000 euros for a win, if Bayern is first in the table.
- Around 3.000 euros for a win, if Bayern is second to fifth in the table.