From this distance, I have never warmed to the persona of Michael Ballack. Not the same kind of German as our Bert. He's always come across as someone who carried a lot of non-footy baggage, and particularly an enormous suitcase filled with lemons. His contribution to CFC and the national team has always been over-rated, and it doesn't surprise me that something like this comes out of the Ballack camp. Pity he couldn't be more positive and make the assessment that the success of the German team was down to having the all-embracing characteristics it had, but essentially because of his absence.