For the fans of the Teutonic way of life

What a dilemma for me My local club Preußen Münster will play against Bochum in the first round of the DFB-Cup

What's with the ?? You don't seem to like that way so much...


Just enjoy it!

The fish doll and I are very much looking forward to the start of the Bundesliga!

I'm not sure if anyone but me and LaPalma watch Bundesliga on a regular basis, but if you get the chance - do it! It's a good league with some very exciting players to watch.

I don't necessarily have a favourite team in the league, but picked Stuttgart a couple of years ago as the 'team to follow' because they had pretty red jerseys and their mascot is an alligator. Assuming Mario Gomez stays put (and he's a lot better than his Euro performance would lead one to believe), they've got a pretty strong team. I'll be very curious to see how Jens Lehmann does in goal for them next year.

His name is Fritzl A friend of mine used to live in Stuttgart and he's a huge fan of course. Always pictured Fritzl when he was younger.

Stuttgart have a good team once again and I'm really curious about some of their new players. First of all Martin Lanig who joined them from 2nd Bundesliga side Greuther Fürth. A player who's characteristics are very similar to Michael Ballacks.
Schalke on the other hand invested some real money this time as they bought Jefferson Farfan from PSV (10 million) and Orlando Engelaar from Twente (8 million). If they want to win the Bundesliga they need to score much more goals. Their defense is really good but they lack some scorers upfront. Besides the mediocre Kuranyi. Maybe Farfan is just the guy they need.

No need to say that Bayern are the strong favorites for the title again. All eyes will be on Jürgen Klinsmann when they start their campaign. He's behaving like a revolutionary once again (after his spell at the Nationalmannschaft). He demanded new training facilities a huge coaching staff etc. What Klinsi wants Klinsi gets. Maybe his authoritarian coaching style is what Bayern needs to be one of Europes top teams again...As much as I dislike Bayern I'm afraid Klinsi is one of the most talented coaches of his generation. Still hope they fail big

Bochum invested huge money as well...for our means of course which iks 4 million for some new players. I hope Austrian international Christian Fuchs is worth the money as well as the returnees Paul Freier and Vahid Hashemian (we're vital players when we finished 5th in 2004). But all in all the primary goal should be to avoid relegation once again. Oh, they're going to be two interesting friendlies in July when Valencia and Porto come to Bochum.

Yay for Fritzl!

Is there any news on the state of HSV this seaon, La Palma? Are they keeping VDV after all?

I'm very curious to see what FC Volkswagen does (aka, VFL Wolfsburg). They've been active on the transfer market and have bought a good number of players.

Also, new to the Bundesliga this coming season is 1899 Hoffenheim, who've shot up into the first league. There's a good bit of buzz about them too (they're owned by the cofounder of the SAP software firm).

Friendlies with Valencia and Porto? Fun! Are you going to go?

I have a close friend who follows Bayern, so I get to watch some games when he is around ...


I like the football thats played in Germany, the long balls, the wingers the discipline ...

You guys are ****ed...

No, seriously he did good with you guys... It was after he joined Bayern and then Hanover that he totally messed up.

VdV? We'll know on the 1st of August.
Wolfsburg bought some good players, yeah. Felix Magath really knows what he's doing. They strengthened the defense by buying Zaccardo and Barzagli and for the midfield they secured Zvjezdan Misimovic. With this squad they need to qualify for the UEFA Cup again if not the CL.
Hoffenheim have been remarkably quiet on the market so far. After spending 30 million on new players last year (despite only playing in the 2nd Bundesliga..) they only purchased one player worth mentioning so far which is Stuttgart young wing back Andreas Beck. Talented guy. But I'm convinced if there is an opportunity "Onkel Hopp" (aka Dietmar Hopp, co founder of SAP , multi billionaire and club patron) will spalsh some cash.
And yes...I wanna see one of those friendlies. Also the Glasgow rangers are coming to my home town. Should be interesting.


If you like discipline you should follow Bayern next season. Cause Klinsmann likes discipline as well. Probably more than any other coach of his generation.


I hope that we didn't get him because of sentimental reasons. I wanna hear that helicopter sound again when he scores

Oh Vahid transfers to Bochum?IMO he is every thing but a good striker,just his headers skill is good.and how old is he?35?

I think Setanta won extra coverage for the upcoming seasons - and we already had the live Friday night game + Cup games anyways, so I should get to see more of it this season.

I'll follow Bochum for LaPalma and Stuttgart for Der Hammer!

You should talk better of him...after all you two guys are namesakes.

I talk bad about him?
Yup we have same name

I like Schalke04 in Bundesliga

Not really. But I think Hash can do some more than use his lethal header skills.

Pinning this one so it's with the other league topics.

Rather sad news: Hamburg and Juan Pablo Sorin have parted ways by mutual consent. Sorin joined Hamburg 2 seasons ago but has only played a handful of games due to a string of injuries.

Wow, he couldn't have played often, I didn't even know he was there. Great player at Villarreal.

VERY bad news for Schalke 04. Manuel Neuer broke his leg during a friendly against Erkenschwick. He'll be out for several months.

Also many Bundesliga teams have problems with the nomination of several players for the Olympic games. Especially Schalke since Rafinha (Who's in Dungas squad) threatened Schalke to leave the club if he wouldn't get the permission to play there. But it's still unlikely that they let him leave as they play the CL qualifiers in August. Bremen have problems with Diego.
Bayern allows Breno to play for Brazil but Lucio and Demichelis have to stay.

Ow. Poor Schalke. That really is awful news. Guess we'll get to see if their #2 keeper is any good (although! If they need another keepr, Milan has some of those for sale!).

There's real tension between clubs and national federations about who's being released to play in the Olympics. In Italy, the rule seems to be that players under the age of 23 are released while those over 23 are not (the thought being that it's a tournament essentially for U23s). Spain seems mostly to be doing the same thing. Is Rafinha under 23? Not sure how old he is. (btw, there's a news story in the Italian press about Fiorentina being interested in him. thing is, they're only letting ONE of their kids - Montolivo - go).

Well...as far as I know no one really knows when a player has to be released. But the general opinion in Germany is that the club CAN forbid the players to play at the Olympics as it's not a FIFA tournament.
But since Rafinha (22) and Diego (23) could still play for Brazils under 21 squad it's an unclear situation...

Some other news:

- Ivan Klasnic apparently signed a for FC Nantes.
- Sami Khedira renewed his contract with Stuttgart till 2011.
- Rumors are linking Rafael Sobis with a move to Hoffenheim. Betis seem to want 8 million for him.

Most likely. I've expected such activities by Hoffenheim.

What's Wolfsburg doing, now that they have a good defense? Any new striker?

LaPalma, what do you think of Jürgen Klopp as new BVB manager? I personally disliked him at Mainz. He just was...irritating.

I don't think Wolfsburg needs to strengthen it's attack. They already have a very good striker in Grafite and very talented one in Edin Dzeko although it was rumored that Magaths wanted Quagliarella and/or di Natale. They don't need them IMO as they have, besides their solid strikers, two very good goalscoring midfielders in Marcelinho and Misimovic. But you never know. They have the money and Magath is always looking out for some good additions.
Klopp might be the most popular coach (he really knows how to interact with the media and yes...he really is funny. Plus he's a very popular TV expert at the German TV) in Germany and I think he's a good one too. He's a good tactician and is desperate to establish some kinda team spirit at Dortmund. Something they lacked since Ottmar Hitzfeld. I read some things about the way he works at Dortmund....he could do something good there. There's one very important goal he already achieved...the fans love him (unlike Thomas Doll).

Mh, Doll was disliked, I know. But what about Matthias Sammer? Remember his time at BVB as coach? He made a real team with Kohler, Reuter, Wörns, Dede, Koller, Rošicky, Amoroso...ahh...does were the days when Dortmund could take it with Bayern and Bayer and actually had the money. But later it turend out that...well, it was a miscalculation.

And good transfer news for Dortmund? I think Klopp has to deal with many real bad players or mistaken signings. Nelson Valdez, Buckley, etc. At least they got rid of Armedick.

Amedick has already been sold (wise decision). Buckley will most likely end up playing for Bielefeld next season.
Sammers team was very very good...of course. But as you said they spent a lot of money back then and are (as you know) in huge dept because of that era now. Koller and Rosicky had be sold, Kohler and Reuter retired years ago, Amoroso turned out to be a huge flop after one season...only Dede is left. And of course he's the most popular era among Dortmund fans. He gave the club a lot and still does.

Interesting snippet in the news today. Team captain Fernando Meira is leaving VfB Stuttgart. The announcement that he's 'going on to a new adventure' is up on Stuttgart's website, but the location of this new adventure hasn't been made public. Speculation has him possibly going to Galatasaray or maybe making a return to Benfica. It's a loss for Stuttgart. (I like Meira; would love to see him at Benfica).

It was obvious he'd leave after Armin Veh dropped him as captain and replaced him with Hitz. Meira wanted to leave for Juve last year. Stuttgart said no back then but promised that he'd be allowed to leave this season if he wants to and there are good offers.

Also very interesting...Rafinha didn't show up at Schalkes training camp today and will play for Brazil at the Olympics albeit Schalke forbid him too. Stupid moron...he should be banned for the Olympics. And if I were Schalke coach Rutten I would let him enjoy a nice season on the stands.

Stuttgart didn't waste their time finding a Meira replacement. Today, they signed Khalid Boulahrouz from Chelsea (he'd been on loan in Spain last year).

I'm hoping it'll be a good move. the Cannibal did well in the Bundesliga when he was at HSV and he played well for the Dutch NT during the Euros under exceptionally difficult personal circumstances.

Great respect for him after the Euro's....by all accounts had a very good season at Sevilla and considering he cost almost £10m when Chelsea bought him a good buy at £4m

and he's well accustomed to the bundesliga, he's best season were with hamburg.

Bayern is getting completely pwned by Dortmund in the German Supercup. It's Dortmund 2 - 0 Bayern in the 37th. Apart from Ribery, Bayern is playing a mostly full-strength team too (including Lucio, Sagnol, Van Bommel , Schweinsteiger, Klose, and Toni) .

The supercup ended Borussia Dortmund 2 - 1 Bayern. Surprising result, but a good one for Dortmund!

Jürgen Klopp already did a great job at Dortmund. The new CB partnership of the young talents Subotic (21) and Hummels (20) looked very promising. Much better than hte old guard of Wörns (35) and Kovac (34) last season. Dortmund played some typical Klopp football. Very passionated, very motivated and with much effort when they're not in possesion. Kloppo seems to have a vision of the kinda football he wants to play in Dortmund...unlike his predecessor Thomas Doll. I'm scared they might surpass Bochum next year
Jürgen Klinsmann on the other hand has still a lot of work to do. Poldi and Schweini were back to their usual, useless, selves. It's a phenomena. When they play for the NT they're close to being world class. But as soon as they wear the Bayern jersey.... Also Miro Klose already assured his nominations for the biggest miss of the season. Couldn't belive my eyes when he didn't hit the back of the open net from 2 metres...
Klinsmanns 3-5-2 system with young Toni Kroos as classic playmaker was interesting though. I'm very thrilled to see how he'll do next season.

Well done Dortmund!

LOL @ Klinsmann!

So, Bayern are playing Koln in a friendly today.

Mark Van Bommel is wearing the captain's armband.

Let me guess: You're not Bommel's biggest fan, are you, Ten? I'm neutral when it comes to the guy, there are, of course, far worse players to dislike out there.

What...how can you say something like that? How...
It's Mark van Bommel we're talking about...I mean...VAN BOMMEL!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, okay. He's a good player. Admittedly, I haven't seen much of the guy due to the fact that I can't spare much of my time for watching games other than Serie A. That's why I said neutral. In fact, the only fresh memory I have of him are his two late goals in the quarter finals of the CL. Sorry about that.

My New Years Resolution: Need to take time off to catch up with world football.

He's my least favorite player in the world. He sucks and he is disgusting.

Oh dear. Is he that bad? What has he done to deserve your least favorite player tag, ahead of the likes of countless other individuals?

He made nasty comments about Milan after losing to us in the CL when he was at PSV. He is a sore loser, dirty and disloyal.

Ah, thanks, Max. Will need to look them up, what he said. Either way, if one is a sore loser, he doesn't deserve to win. Simple as that. Gotta get low before one touches the highs. Some people just don't understand.

Well said

Here's some news for those who are interested.

- Cologne signed Petit from Benfica today. Ridiculous Cologne transfer as usual. They obviously suffer from megalomania. besides that Petit isn't as good as he used to be. Hope they'll go back to the 2nd Bundesliga next year

- It seems as if Rafael van der Vaart will stay in Hamburg for another year especially as Hamburg is not willing to sell for a fee under 20 million Euro and Madrids offer being around 6 million.

- The euphoria in Dortmund seems to be huge (again) with Jürgen Klopp as new coach. They sold over 40.000 season tickets.

- Schalke and Bremen are waiting for the decision of the CAS concerning Diegos and Rafinhas Olympic adventure.

- It seems as if Jens Lehmann refuses to retire from international football. However Jogi Löw wants to speak with him after his holidays. I think he'll drop Lehmann for Adler or Enke.

Rafael van der Vaart is going to leave Hamburg He signed a five year contract at Real Madrid, the transfer fee seems to be around 15 million Euro. Too bad...always enjoyed to watch him in the Bundesliga. Also Hamburg are doomed now. Without VdV they're a team filled with mediocrity.

Oh, dear. I kind of enjoyed watching Hamburg play.

Well, a Hamburg already without VdV put 3 past the Zebras yesterday. They were plenty entertaining.

(And again Olic impressed me.)

Olic needs to learn how to finish. He missed so many chances at the tournement - I know he scored 2 in the last minute, but that was more to do with who was in goal, he won't come up against somebody that bad every week. He was also poor in front of goal at the Euro's, even though I thought he had a great tournement.

That was just a pre-season friendly...They would have never had a chance if it would have been competitive match. If one wants o know how important VdV is to Hamburg you just have to take a look at the 06/07 season. After VdV couldN#t play most of the matches during the first half of the season due to injures and suspension Hamburg found themselves in the relegation zone! After he came back they fought their way up and finished 7th in the end.
I'm not saying they're useless without him, but unless they purchase a very good new AM they're not even going to make an UEFA Cup spot.

So, Bayern are playing the cugini in a preseason friendly. Toni and Ribery are out for Bayern - as is poor Willy Sagnol, who's had ANOTHER injury (operation on his achilles tendon) that's likely to keep him out for months. There are defensive absences for the cugini (Cambiasso is playing as a CB) and Adriano is playing lone hitman (with Figo and Mancini on the wings).

Luis Figo and Mark Van Bommel are - from the Italiand and German text commentary - renewing their old friendship from the 2006 World Cup. They haven't quite come to blows but there've been a couple of trademark nasty Van Bommel tackles followed by some not-so-friendly looks (at least that's what I'm making of the commentary). A pity this one's not televised here, sounds like it's entertaining.

* Mark van Bommel has been appointed as Bayern new captain today. A reason more to dislike them both. Besides that van Bommel is the first foreign player who'll permanently perform as captain of Bayern.

* Franck Ribery has, unsurprisingly, won the election for the German "Player of the year" award. Ballack came in second.

* The first round of the domestic cup the "DFB Pokal" started yesterday. Cologne won against a team of SV Niederauerbach. Not a huge surprise. The other games will be played between today and Sunday. my personal highlight is going to be the match between Bochum and Preußen Münster, my hometown club, this evening. What a luxury it is that the Preußenstadium is only 5 minutes away from where I live