Hollerbach's Geisterspielwurst - Bundesliga 20/21

[ursus arctos]

Bild reported it this morning, and they tend to be right about such things

[treibeis]

Bild reported it this morning, and they tend to be right about such things

Correct.

Xabi Alonso will be the next Moenchengladbach coach.

And will be sacked on January 17th 2022.

[Janik]

Expensive? Lewandowski's back-up man is Teutonia 05's finest, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, who, I read somewhere, has never had a transfer fee paid for him.

Very nice bloke, Choupo-Moting. Good manners.

But if Lewandowski wasn't there, it wouldn't be Choupo-Moting as first choice. There would be some other expensive signing there leading the line, with Eric-Maxim warming the bench. Who would that other line leader be? Well, that is a pointless hypothetical as Lewandowski was signed and has been outstanding, so Bayern never had to give what other directions they might have gone in any consideration.

[danielmak]

Correct.

Xabi Alonso will be the next Moenchengladbach coach.

And will be sacked on January 17th 2022.

No. He'll be pinched by Dortmund in Summer 2023 unless Dortmund looks to a new outlet now that Mainz is done and the second ex-Gladbach manager has been hired.

[G-Man]

Going for the assistant coach of a good but wildly successful Spanish side is an interesting gamble.

Talking of Gladbach, the more I see of Christoph Kramer (and read his column in 11 Freunde), the more I like the guy. Intelligent, outspoken, sensible, self-aware, funny.... He'll be a fantastic pundit one day.

[imp]

Embattled Bosz gets the boot from Bayer.

[G-Man]

And to fill in, they think Hannes Wolf is a better option? Oh well, let IG Farben Leverkusen do whatever they like (except, maybe, poach youth players from their neighbours). From Voller's undignified rant about Bosz, it sounds like the coach had lost the dressing room and the management of the club.

[G-Man]

Meanwhile, a pretty frightening story has emerged about Koln defender Sebastiaan Bornauw, who in February was going to be operated on to remove a benign tumour on his spine. Minimally invasive routine procedure. Except: he had an allergjc reaction to the anaesthesia, causing his temperature to raise by one degree a minute. He had to be put into a 24-hour medically-induced coma. A follow-up op went well.

"20 years ago, there'd have been a 90% chance that I would have died," Bornauw says. Twenty years ago, people of my age may need reminding, isn't 1975. It's after the "election" of George W. Bush.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Leave Brandt alone, will you, you pair of fucking bullies. He scored a 30-yarder last week. What more do you want?

Brandt reminds me of a young Aaron Hunt. Every year, you'd be saying, "No, right, he'll play out this season and then, next season, he's going to explode." And then, before you know where you are and what's what, he's in his mid-thirties and playing for a fallen giant in the second division.

When Juergen klopp is explaining that he's happy with the players suggested to him by his scouting network, the example he cites is that he wanted to buy julien Brandt, but his scouts and analytics guys told him, "there's this guy called Mo Salah and we reckon he's probably a better bet."

[danielmak]

Somewhere upthread when Bayer was about to play Dortmund someone was talking some trash about Dortmund firing Bosz and Bayer being in a better position. I'm sure Bosz has improved in someway with each coaching job, but he was hired by Dortmund because he got Ajax deep into the CL (?? - maybe Europa final) and yet his Ajax side was so poor defensively that they almost let a massive first leg lead slip away against Schalke. Dortmund hired him and it was the same song and dance: Dortmund could score 4 goals but give up 3, which eventually became Dortmund scoring 3 and giving up 4. I only watched Leverkusen when they played Dortmund so I have no idea if he learned that defending is important, but he was horrible with Dortmund.

[Amor de Cosmos]

This Saturday the Unspeakables will play the even more Unspeakables to see if this remains Championship remains a contest. If Leipzig win they'll be a single point behind Bayern. If BM win it's pretty much done and dusted. Should be a good one. Also some interesting inside stuff. Like how will "Supamecano" play against his future employers? Especially Lewandowski.

[ursus arctos]

Lewandowski is injured

[Amor de Cosmos]

Ooo good!

Not that he's injured, but that he won't be playing.

I think Davies might be suspended too.

[ursus arctos]

Yes

https://twitter.com/raecomm/status/1378029109075451905

[Amor de Cosmos]

RB will miss the first three on their list, Angelino perhaps a bit less than the others.

[G-Man]

I'd rather have Bayern win another meaningless title than Leipzig's concept being validated with a Meisterschaft.

[Janik]

Amateur hour as a rip in one of the Leipzig nets is repaired with tie-wraps; kick-off was delayed by a couple of minutes dealing with the issue. BB&F will be disappointed to hear that Manuel Neuer’s proposed solution, tying the gap up with his towel, was rejected by the Assistant Ref.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Disappointing match (and result.) A scrambly affair which never really settled down and didn't flatter either team.

[danielmak]

Neither Dortmund nor Eintracht Frankfurt looked good at the back, but Dortmund were worse. Game ended 1-2. The amount of goals should have been much higher.

[G-Man]

I hope Union tank Hertha today. In fact, selfish reasons aside, I'd be really glad to see Union as the only top-flight team from Berlin.

[Sporting]

I hope Union tank Hertha today. In fact, selfish reasons aside, I'd be really glad to see Union as the only top-flight team from Berlin.

Whivh current Bundesliga teams do you like?

[G-Man]

Oh, more than half.

Loathe: RasenBollocks Leipzig, Bayern, Leverkusen

Don't wish well: Gladbach, Hertha BSC, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg... plus Stuttgart who veer between this category and the next.

Meh: Frankfurt (though I currently admire them), Augsburg, Mainz, Bielefeld

Like: Union, Freiburg, Werder, Schalke (unless any of them are relegation rivals, in which case, "Don't Wish Well")

And then there's Dortmund, whom I have frequently admired and invested my hope in as an alternative to Bayern. I'm pleased for them if they do well, and I find it amusing when they don't. In the CL, they are the one German team I always hope will do well.

And my antipathy towards Gladbach is predicated solely on old rivalries. I actually think they're a great club with good ethics and a decent man as manager.

[Sporting]

Can I guess that out of random clubs in the second division you would like Kiel and St Pauli, dislike Hamburg and find Hannover meh?

[Sporting]

Don't wish well: ,,, Wolfsburg..

But they are very green:

https://www.sportpositiveleagues.com/bl-2021-english/

[Stumpy Pepys]

Teutonia 05 sounds like a football club from Tatort

Yes, FC Teutonia Muenchen, who are based near the Olympiapark. Also Wacker Muenchen, for whom Dietmar Hamann played.