Bundesliga review

[BayernMan]

Pep said Gustavo wasnt fit and he didnt have enough midfield options to play Lahm as a RB...

 

[bayern blade]

And tomorrow is another match. I cannot predict how the formation will be then. I do not know why Contento, Thiago and Gustavo were not even on the bench today - Thiago got at hit at the Supercup but I do not know if he is out tomorrow, too. But Lahm will not play there again tomorrow as Rafinha has played 90 minutes.

I think Pep just wanted to show Thiago who is boss, Contento imo is not good enough, Gustavo had a slight injury as far as I know (he seemed happy enough with the situation on Sky last night).

 

[Maldeika]

Pep said Gustavo wasnt fit and he didnt have enough midfield options to play Lahm as a RB...

I thought that to play Lahm was fully understandable. Playing e.g. Kroos and Müller in front of a Schweinsteiger, that is just on his way to full fitness and with a new defense can work - but it is not the most stable thing in the world and it can backfire - as it did with an unexperienced Thiago in the Supercup. Kroos ain't really defensive minded and is not the fastest on his way back to the own penalty area - and Müller is often in rotation with the front four and then others would have to take over - that does not always function...

But I missed Müller in the first half a lot as this are the matches were you need somebody additional inside the box that creates chaos in the opponent's defense.

 

[Rhineland]

German Cup (1st round)

Osnabrück (3. Liga) - Erzgebirge Aue (2. Liga) 3:0
Heidenheim (3. Liga) - 1860 Munich (2. Liga) 3:4 a. pen.
Leipzig (3. Liga) - Augsburg (1. Bundesliga) 0:2

No easy predictions for cup matches, but I don't expect any upsets today, the best bets might be on the following matches, though I don't really see them

Fortuna Cologne (Reg.L West/4. Liga) - Mainz (1. Bundesliga)
Trier (Reg.L SouthWest/4. Liga) - Cologne (2.Liga) or
Karlsruhe (2. LIga) - Wolfsburg (1. Bundesliga)

Sunday with
Saarbrücken (3. Liga) - Bremen (1. Bundesliga) and
Darmstadt (3. Liga) - Mönchengladbach (1. Bundesliga)

 

[bayern blade]

Mario Götze in full training from yesterday.

Emre Can joins Leverkusen from Bayern, we have a buy back clause though.

 

[bayern-flo2]

For german readers.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/fanszene-beim-fc-bayern-vorbild-barcelona-1.1737896" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/fansze ... -1.1737896</a>

 

[bayern blade]

For german readers.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/fanszene-beim-fc-bayern-vorbild-barcelona-1.1737896" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/fansze ... -1.1737896</a>

Bayern sent a letter to all of us giving us the opportunity to vote on free entry to the blocks in question (even if your ticket was for another block). Presumably the ultras lost.
I sympathise to a certain extent, it IS far more difficult now to get a ticket than it was in my younger days in the Olympiastadion südkurve with SK 73, (ah the nostalgia), but that's the way it is. These days there are far more fans than places, you have to see it from the club's perspective too.
I'm in block 115 and in all honesty the atmosphere from 112 and 113 was never all that good anyway. Bayern are like anyone else, the atmosphere at away games is much better.

 

[bayern-flo2]

For german readers.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/fanszene-beim-fc-bayern-vorbild-barcelona-1.1737896" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/fansze ... -1.1737896</a>

Bayern sent a letter to all of us giving us the opportunity to vote on free entry to the blocks in question (even if your ticket was for another block). Presumably the ultras lost.
I sympathise to a certain extent, it IS far more difficult now to get a ticket than it was in my younger days in the Olympiastadion südkurve with SK 73, (ah the nostalgia), but that's the way it is. These days there are far more fans than places, you have to see it from the club's perspective too.
I'm in block 115 and in all honesty the atmosphere from 112 and 113 was never all that good anyway. Bayern are like anyone else, the atmosphere at away games is much better.

You simply don't get it ;-) It's no Ultra-thing!
The guy mentioned in the article (Stefan) is anything else but not a Ultra! I'm also not a Ultra!

As you mentioned they sent a letter to vote...
It said in german:
"Somit könnte jeder Inhaber eines gültigen Tickets für die Blöcke 109 bis 117 seinen Block nach Zutritt zur Allianz Arena nach dem Prinzip "First come first serve" solange selbst wählen, bis die jeweilige Blockbefüllungsgrenze erreicht wurde. Ist ein Block, zum Beispiel Block 112/113, mit 2.100 Fans belegt, ist ein weiterer Zutritt nicht mehr möglich.
Ohne Zweifel sprechen einige Argumente für eine freie Blockwahl - gleichzeitig möchten wir aber nicht versäumen, Sie auf möglich Folgen (für Sie persönlich) hingewiesen zu haben:
- Verlust des Anspruchs auf einen bestimmten Block bei nationalen Spielen, bei erreichter Blockbefüllungsgrenze
- ggf. kein Wiedereinlass nach kurzfristigem Verlassen (wie z.B.: Toilettengang, Getränke holen) eines bereits betretenen Blocks, etc.;"

I'll try to translate it and keep it simple... it's german...
Some information before:
At the Olympic Stadium there were about 10-11.000 seasons tickets on the standing terraces in the southern part of the stadium. Before moving to the new Allianz Arena the fans of Bayern tried to convince the board, without effect, what the needs of supporting fans are. (@Ruhr: I think your club listened to the supporters) At this time the board has been to Argentina to scout a certain player... and they were fascinated by the argentinian style of supporting from both sides of the stadium...
Ok... On the one hand we don't have such number of die-hard-fans and on the other hand most of those fans would be banned from stadium if they would act like the ones in Argentina.
So, the board ignored the fans and separated them into northern and southern stand, while each stand itself is separated into 3 sectors. e.g. southern stand in the lower stand is divided into sectors 109-111, 112/113 and 114-117, while the people who want to support the team (we are talking about a ridiculous number of 2.000 people) try to get into sector 112/113, even if there tickets are outside this sector or not even in the standing sector.
There are safety regulations (which are absolutely respected by fans; safety is the most important thing!) and these regulations in sector 112/113 have never ever been exceeded! Not even close!!!
But the club started a system to control the access at the Champions League matches. The die-hard-fans boycotted this shit. Me too! I went to the upper tier of the stadium to join my friends who normally stand in my section but couldn't stand there as their tickets are located in other sectors.
In the Olympic stadium that has been no problem! If a block has reached the limit, it has been closed and you had to join other sectors. No problem at all!
What's the problem to use the same system at the Allianz Arena?!?
Now they've even installed entrance gates for all sectors in the lower southern stand, so they could even solve this problem technically... If you want to get a beer or take a piss, you exit the sector and your access authorisation is blocked for 10 minutes... After 10 minutes another people can access the sector. No big thing and what we thought of...

But here's what the club wrote:
"So every ticketholder in sector 109-117 could choose his sector according to 'firstcome first serve' until the safety limit for the sector has not been reached. If a sector, e.g. sector 112/113 with a capacity of 2.100 is exceeded, you're not allowed and won't be able to enter this sector.

Without doubts there are several arguments (Bayern-flo2s-note: not mentioned in the letter at all) for a free choice of the sector you'd like standing in, but we would like to notice several arguments against this issue which might effect you:
- you won't be able to enter several sectors if safety issues won't allow further entrance to these sectors (Bayern-flo2s-note: OK! Like at the Olympic Stadium; you just have to move your ass earlier to the ground)
- if you leave your sector (in order to get something to drink or take a piss) you might not be able to get back in this sector (Bayern-flos2-note: You could handle those issues easily and allow those people to get back in their sectors for a certain time; we're talking about IT-facilities already installed)"

While reading this letter I knew what kind of answer the board liked and looking at certain fans (who are absolutely not effected by such issues as they are not in sectors 112/113) I also knew what the result would be like. What's your vote, Blade?

The atmosphere at away games will certainly also decrease. Now they canceled away season tickets for international games and german cup games. The rest will follow. People are fed up! And these were the ones who made atmosphere.
And if someone complains about the lack of atmosphere: Open your fucking mouth!!! We're not here for entertaining, you suckers!

Right now I'm so fed up with this fucking board and the supercup-final in Prague will probably be my last game.
After 30th of August all my love and support will be at FC Bayern II. And I will be waiting to the day when customers complaining about the lack of atmosphere or when the fucking Allianz Arena won't be sold out! And then I want the responsible guys to suck dick!

And by the way: You have a season ticket and you live in lower saxony. How much games do you attend and how many games you sell to viagogo?

 

[George Hannah]

In the tradition of meaty pasted posts on this thread here's one from the Guardian

Pep Guardiola's golden image already tarnished at Bayern Munich
Accusations about the deal for Thiago Alcântara have triggered scepticism over Bayern Munich's new manager Pep Guardiola

Raphael Honigstein
The Observer, Saturday 3 August 2013 20.00 BST

Pep Guardiola
Bayern Munich's new coach has had his motives criticised and motives questioned before a ball has been kicked in anger.
Bayern Munich have hardly played a game that did not end with some suit thrusting a trophy into their hands underneath a ticker-tape shower in recent months. On Thursday night, last season's European champions, German league and cup winners were at it again, horsing around in front of an advertising board, the Audi Cup in hand.

The 2-1 win over Manchester City at the Allianz Arena bestowed another, altogether tinier treble of three friendly titles on the team and their new manager, Pep Guardiola, but the 42-year-old was on the defensive in the subsequent TV interview with the local broadcaster. Are you – despite the team's problems – optimistic for the new season, asked the reporter. "Of course, the manager has to be optimistic," Guardiola said, smiling in the kind of grey checked shirt that's ubiquitous in Brooklyn hipster dives, much less so on Bundesliga coaching benches.

Soon after, the interview was cut short. Guardiola was speaking well in German and cutting a very genial figure, but he was not nearly saying enough. His totally nuance-free sentences were too crude, maybe willfully so, to provide any meaningful insight into his thoughts about tactics and personnel.

Five weeks into his new job in Bavaria, the public perception of him has shifted. The early fawning of club officials, players and the media over the Bundesliga's most high-profile recruit has noticeably given way to more scepticism. The opening salvo in this backlash was fired in a strong-worded op-ed piece by the broadsheet Süddeutsche Zeitung that criticised the "shameless financial sleaze" of Guardiola's €21m (£18.2m)signing of the Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcântara – the 22-year-old is represented by the manager's brother, Pere – and his "public account settling" with his former club over the alleged breakdown in his relationship with Tito Vilanova: "It doesn't fit the image of the noble sideline gentleman that many sports media are enthusiastically painting."

More importantly, Guardiola's obsessive attention to detail in training – "I've never had a manager who changed so many things," said striker Claudio Pizarro, 34 – and experimental lineups that have verged on the capricious, with right-back Philipp Lahm being drafted into central midfield and target man Mario Mandzukic toiling fruitlessly on either wing, have only succeeded in upsetting the ultra-smooth running of last year's win machine. "Pep Guardiola turns the most successful team in the history of Bayern Munich on its head," read a dispatch by Der Spiegel from the Bayern training camp in Italy. "The club's bosses are impressed by his enthusiasm – but also worried whether everything will turn out all right."

In some quarters, the tactical alterations under the new regime have been overstated, to be sure. All the indications are that Guardiola will stick with Bayern's basic post-2009 blueprint of a possession-based, attacking side with two attacking full-backs, a three-man central midfield, two wingers and one – or no – central forwards. But even relatively subtle tweaks, such as his preference for one holding midfielder instead of two and his toying with the strikerless formation that worked so devastatingly well for his Barça can have wide-reaching consequences in a squad as finely tuned as Bayern's.

The former Reds coach Ottmar Hitzfeld once said that Bayern were "a sensitive construct, like a Ferrari motor – every small thing has to be correct". And he wasn't only referring to on-the-pitch matters. At Bayern, a club where disgruntled players can always find a sympathetic journalist's microphone to voice their grievances, maintaining a psychological equilibrium is probably even more important than striking the right balance between attack and defence.

Last season, Guardiola's predecessor, Jupp Heynckes, had mastered the art of keeping everyone in line. But the 68-year-old's case was greatly helped by the team's utter devotion and focus on improving on the three painful runners-up places in 2011-12. As treble winners, the patience of those left behind for Pep could now be wearing thin more quickly, especially in light of the arrival of two more big names in Mario Götze, bought for €37m from Borussia Dortmund, and Thiago, who is in danger of being seen as the teacher's pet.

Signing Spain's Under-21 captain has put immediate pressure on the established midfield duo of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javier Martínez. The latter will have to get used to life as a centre-back, while the former, a key figure and fans' favourite, has featured intermittently in the starting lineups. The 29-year-old has only just returned to fitness after an ankle injury but Thiago's outings as the sole holding midfielder in many games was seen as ominous for his chances.

"I'm not quite sure [of his plans for me]," admitted Schweinsteiger. The sporting director, Matthias Sammer, was forced to intervene on his behalf. "Anyone who questions Bastian Schweinsteiger is lacking respect," said the 45-year-old. That was ostensibly a comment on media reports that doubted the veracity of his election to Germany's player of the year - it turned out that Kicker magazine had botched the process and that only 92 out of 3,700 possible votes had come in for him as the winner - but could also be read as a warning to Pep.

Mandzukic, the scorer of Bayern's opener in the 2-1 Champions League win over Dortmund at Wembley, has had an even more difficult time. The Croat scored two goals in two games at the Audi Cup but cast angry glances at Guardiola, who had left him out of the starting lineup on both occasions. The chairman of the executive board, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, feels that this kind of reaction is to be expected. "You won't find a Bayern player who's happy to be on the bench," he said. But he, too, knows that Pep could probably do a better job explaining his decisions to his charges.

"The sense of unease is palpable," wrote the local tabloid Abendzeitung. Keeping the dressing-room temperature at agreeable levels will be the new man's most difficult task, but the team have proved remarkably resilient to his constant changes. Twelve out of 13 friendlies were comfortably won.

The one exception has somewhat blighted the whole pre-season, however. A 4-2 defeat by Dortmund in the hotly contested German Supercup brought fears that Guardiola's fervour for free-flowing football will come at the cost of defensive stability – and with it, unwanted comparisons with the former Bayern coach Louis van Gaal. The Dutchman, Guardiola's mentor at Barça, reigned for one-and-a half seasons that were marked by an unsustainable cavalier approach. The second half against Dortmund echoed those dark days, as Bayern lost their shape completely in midfield. "I noticed that everyone seemed to be occupying a different position," said Thomas Müller, wryly.

A much more composed performance against City – and Guardiola choosing a comparatively orthodox team that looked suspiciously like his best XI, with Schweinsteiger back installed in his favourite role ahead of the back-four – went some way to allaying the worst doubts before the season's first competitive games, on Monday, away to fourth-tier BSV Rehden in the DFB Cup, and on Friday at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga opener.

"We know it'll take time," said the captain, Lahm, Guardiola's staunchest ally over the past few weeks. But Arjen Robben hinted that some players are yet to be convinced that the changes will improve a team that has just had an unimprovable season. "You don't have to make football more complicated than it really is," said the Dutchman, quite suggestively.

 

[bayern blade]

You simply don't get it ;-) It's no Ultra-thing!
The guy mentioned in the article (Stefan) is anything else but not a Ultra! I'm also not a Ultra!

As you mentioned they sent a letter to vote...
It said in german:
"Somit könnte jeder Inhaber eines gültigen Tickets für die Blöcke 109 bis 117 seinen Block nach Zutritt zur Allianz Arena nach dem Prinzip "First come first serve" solange selbst wählen, bis die jeweilige Blockbefüllungsgrenze erreicht wurde. Ist ein Block, zum Beispiel Block 112/113, mit 2.100 Fans belegt, ist ein weiterer Zutritt nicht mehr möglich.
Ohne Zweifel sprechen einige Argumente für eine freie Blockwahl - gleichzeitig möchten wir aber nicht versäumen, Sie auf möglich Folgen (für Sie persönlich) hingewiesen zu haben:
- Verlust des Anspruchs auf einen bestimmten Block bei nationalen Spielen, bei erreichter Blockbefüllungsgrenze
- ggf. kein Wiedereinlass nach kurzfristigem Verlassen (wie z.B.: Toilettengang, Getränke holen) eines bereits betretenen Blocks, etc.;"

I'll try to translate it and keep it simple... it's german...
Some information before:
At the Olympic Stadium there were about 10-11.000 seasons tickets on the standing terraces in the southern part of the stadium. Before moving to the new Allianz Arena the fans of Bayern tried to convince the board, without effect, what the needs of supporting fans are. (@Ruhr: I think your club listened to the supporters) At this time the board has been to Argentina to scout a certain player... and they were fascinated by the argentinian style of supporting from both sides of the stadium...
Ok... On the one hand we don't have such number of die-hard-fans and on the other hand most of those fans would be banned from stadium if they would act like the ones in Argentina.
So, the board ignored the fans and separated them into northern and southern stand, while each stand itself is separated into 3 sectors. e.g. southern stand in the lower stand is divided into sectors 109-111, 112/113 and 114-117, while the people who want to support the team (we are talking about a ridiculous number of 2.000 people) try to get into sector 112/113, even if there tickets are outside this sector or not even in the standing sector.
There are safety regulations (which are absolutely respected by fans; safety is the most important thing!) and these regulations in sector 112/113 have never ever been exceeded! Not even close!!!
But the club started a system to control the access at the Champions League matches. The die-hard-fans boycotted this shit. Me too! I went to the upper tier of the stadium to join my friends who normally stand in my section but couldn't stand there as their tickets are located in other sectors.
In the Olympic stadium that has been no problem! If a block has reached the limit, it has been closed and you had to join other sectors. No problem at all!
What's the problem to use the same system at the Allianz Arena?!?
Now they've even installed entrance gates for all sectors in the lower southern stand, so they could even solve this problem technically... If you want to get a beer or take a piss, you exit the sector and your access authorisation is blocked for 10 minutes... After 10 minutes another people can access the sector. No big thing and what we thought of...

But here's what the club wrote:
"So every ticketholder in sector 109-117 could choose his sector according to 'firstcome first serve' until the safety limit for the sector has not been reached. If a sector, e.g. sector 112/113 with a capacity of 2.100 is exceeded, you're not allowed and won't be able to enter this sector.

Without doubts there are several arguments (Bayern-flo2s-note: not mentioned in the letter at all) for a free choice of the sector you'd like standing in, but we would like to notice several arguments against this issue which might effect you:
- you won't be able to enter several sectors if safety issues won't allow further entrance to these sectors (Bayern-flo2s-note: OK! Like at the Olympic Stadium; you just have to move your ass earlier to the ground)
- if you leave your sector (in order to get something to drink or take a piss) you might not be able to get back in this sector (Bayern-flos2-note: You could handle those issues easily and allow those people to get back in their sectors for a certain time; we're talking about IT-facilities already installed)"

While reading this letter I knew what kind of answer the board liked and looking at certain fans (who are absolutely not effected by such issues as they are not in sectors 112/113) I also knew what the result would be like. What's your vote, Blade?

The atmosphere at away games will certainly also decrease. Now they canceled away season tickets for international games and german cup games. The rest will follow. People are fed up! And these were the ones who made atmosphere.
And if someone complains about the lack of atmosphere: Open your fucking mouth!!! We're not here for entertaining, you suckers!

Right now I'm so fed up with this fucking board and the supercup-final in Prague will probably be my last game.
After 30th of August all my love and support will be at FC Bayern II. And I will be waiting to the day when customers complaining about the lack of atmosphere or when the fucking Allianz Arena won't be sold out! And then I want the responsible guys to suck dick!

And by the way: You have a season ticket and you live in lower saxony. How much games do you attend and how many games you sell to viagogo?

A - Yes my mistake, I worded it badly. I wasn't meaning to have a go at Ultras or anyone else by saying that.

B - Well you may be surprised here but I voted for the old system, ie first come first serve.
I have no problem moving to another block if I arrive late, we did that at most games in the Olympiastadion where, if you didn't arrive early, it was impossible to get into the central blocks until half time.

C - I have to work at least two weekends a month but I get to Munich as often as I can, about half the home games and as many away games as I can manage.
I can't get to the Gladbach game as although I have the weekend off I'm working Friday til six and it's a Friday evening game, the second home game I'm working (Nürnberg) but I'll be at the third game (Hannover), I've already got the train tickets.
Of course when I lived in Landshut I never missed a home game but these days with work and the ridiculous price of train tickets that is unfortunately no longer possible.