So perhaps this is where we should be.

Two giants of German football locking horns for the title.

Bayern Munich have won 5 of the last 9 championships. Magath has won 3 of the last 5, is responsible for 2 of Bayern’s 5 and even led Stuttgart to 2nd in the past decade. Bayern win because the are supposed to win. Magath sides win because they are the best conditioned. One is the biggest club in Germany and the fourth biggest club in the world. The other is probably the best manager in the world outside of Alex Ferguson and Fabio Capello. So will Magath win his 3rd championship with 3 teams? Or will the Bavarian giants do what they so often do?

A weekend of upsets led us to this titillating finish, with Schalke now just two points behind Bayern in second. With Bayer Leverkusen losing to Nuremburg 2–3 to record their first lossof the campaign, the reality of that record being predicated on too many draws is hitting them squarely now. While any non-partisan might have help hope for the Werkself to throw off the shackles of their bridesmaid mentality to win their first title, the gravity of history seems to have sunk the young squad. Even trainer Juup Heynckes has hinted at such today.

Meanwhile, Bayern forgot that Cologne are absolutely pants just like Lukas Podolski forgot that he is a farce. Most surprisingly, a crowd that so easily turns on its team decided to play 12th man for the first time in ages. The result was possibly the biggest surprise of the 2nd half of the season as Cologne pulled themselves six points clear of the drop with a 1–1 draw.

It could be that the deciding factor in this year’s title could be the Champions League as Van Gaal will be forced to tinker with the superior squad, as he did Saturday in anticipation of their mid-week trip to Florence, as long as they last in Europe.

Despite the talk being about Magath, we should start noticing that a very good collection of players (many still remain from the 2007 runner-up season) has started to play like a team rather than individuals. Despite losing captain Bordon, they went to Frankfurt and soundly beat the surprise team of the campaign 4–1, using four different goal scorers. For once the air of inevitability with regards to Schalke isn’t about what the won’t do but what they can do. People are starting to believe that Schalke can win this title, and as Bayern Munich can attest, the most important factor in any campaign can often be how you and your opponents regard you. The truth is that many games are won before the ball is kicked and Schalke via Magath will start to win games solely on the mystique of their manager.

Perhaps it all comes down to Saturday the 3rd of April when Bayern travel to Gelsenkirchen to face the Royal Blues. And maybe more for Bayern than Schalke, because Schalke will only continue to get stronger. They’re due for a winning streak. Bayern seem to be tailing off of one. And with a decent chance in Europe, Bayern have more on their plates than the Royal Blues. Anything less than a win out west could be costly for Bayern.

So sit back and enjoy. Typically the best seasons happen when Bayern are weak, but we might get a title run worthy of 2007 Stuttgart or 2009 Wolfsburg with Bayern being very strong.

Deloitte’s new Money League is up and Germany have added a club to the top 20.

Top 20 + Revenue
1. Real Madrid €401.4m (1st last year)
2. Barcelona €365.9m (3rd)
3. Man Utd €327.0m (2nd)
4. Bayern Munich €289.5m (4th @ €295.3m)
5. Arsenal €263.0m (6th)
6. Chelsea €242.3m (5th)
7. Liverpool €217.0m (7th)
8. Juventus €203.2m (11th)
9. Internazionale €196.5m (10th)
10. AC Milan €196.5m (8th)
11. Hamburg €146.4m (15th @ €127.9m)
12. Roma €146.4m (9th)
13. Lyon €139.6m (12th)
14. Marseille €133.2m (16th)
15. Tottenham Hotspur €132.7m (14th)
16. Schalke 04 €124.5m (13th @ €148.4m)
17. Werder Bremen €114.7m (unranked)
18. Borussia Dortmund €103.5m (unranked)
19. Man City €102.2m (20th)
20. Newcastle United €101.0m (17th)

Stuttgart dropped out, but Werder Bremen replaced them on the strength of their UEFA Cup final.

Meanwhile Dortmund seems to have put all of their financial woes behind them and joined the top 20. For one of Germany’s biggest clubs, it seems unnatural that they were absent for so long.

So with five of the top 20 clubs, Germany takes over sole second having passed Italy. Meanwhile Bayern held strong at the fourth spot, but lost ground to the top 3. Whereas last year, they were right on Barcelona’s tail; Bayern held position but Barca moved to second and United dropped to third, although Bayern Munich lost revenue and fell behind 3rd place by an additional €22 million. Granted, it was to the two finalists from last year’s Champions League. However it does show how finishing well in the premier competition can effect a club’s bottom line.

The interesting aspect to this is that Germany are 2 behind England in total teams on the table. However Newcastle, who currently hold 20th, will drop out next year due to being in the second division of English football.

Meanwhile, Stuttgart, who dropped out, but are still hovering near the cutoff, have a strong Champions League this year to possibly propel them back into the mix next year, which could see Germany equal England at 6 each. However, Bordeaux or Olympiacos, both hefty clubs could see themselves in the top 20 with a good Champions League run. Valencia or Benfica, who have both been in the top 20 within the past four years might return with a run to the finals of the Europa League.

See last years rankings here.

I was approached by a reader who wanted contact information for Uli Hesse-Litchtenberger. I have to apologize to that reader. I don’t feel comfortable either giving out such information or even asking the favor of the talent that has been kind enough to talk to me. I can only suggest that if you wish to contact them, you should try to access them via their papers. I have been very fortunate to be granted access to some really great writers and don’t want to do anything to upset the apple cart.

That being said, I was happy to pass the question along to Uli. He agreed that I could post the conversation to the blog, but he didn’t want it to be a piece, as he felt he would need to do more research. I hope you will find that as funny and awe-inspiring as I did when you read just how much Uli wrote on the subject, off the cuff. He really is amazing.

The subject is Schalke 04 and the financial crisis that they face.

Dear Uli,
I got a question from a reader who is worried about the future of Schalke. It’s an interesting question, as I don’t think a club can go bankrupt. But maybe I am wrong. If you have a moment could you read the poster’s original e-mail and explain if it is possible for a club to go bankrupt.

During research for an article last year, I though that there seemed to be safeguards against such an event. I do know a club can be sent to a lower league for bad finances like 1860 were in the 80’s, but bankruptcy seems unlikely.

Thanks in advance.

Sir — I just finished reading your interview with Herr Hesse-Lichtenberger, and it dawned on me that he may be able to answer a question for me. I’m trying to gather some insight on bankruptcy procedures for football clubs in Germany. I am an english speaker living in Germany with basic knowledge of the language, but I’ve been unable to find anything out about the processes and procedures that may surround Schalke 04 in the future.

Well, that’s easy to answer … and yet very hard.

First, of course a club can go bankrupt. SC Jülich 1910, for instance, a club that won the German amateur championship three years running (1969–1971), went bankrupt in 1997.

Or let’s take clubs you’ll be familiar with. The legendary Bundesliga whipping boys SC Tasmania 1900 went bankrupt in 1973. And VfB Leipzig even went bankrupt twice! (The club survived the first insolvency, in 1999, because the creditors accepted the debt restructuring. The second insolvency, in 2004, killed VfB, because this time the creditors decided to dissolve the club.)

The problem — and this is what makes your question so hard to answer — is what happens when and if a club goes bankrupt. After all, the vast majority of our clubs are still public clubs, not privately owned businesses, which makes liability (in the legal sense of accountability) an issue. And even those clubs that seem to be businesses are, well, unusual businesses.

When we say Bayern Munich, for instance, what we actually mean is Bayern Munich Ltd, the professional football division. It is a business that is privately owned. But it is owned by Bayern Munich, the public parent club.

But to keep this as simple as possible under the circumstances, the answer should probably read something like this:

Yes, clubs can go bankrupt and it does happen from time to time, though there are sports where this happens more often than it does in football (ice hockey, for instance). But your reader mustn’t fret. Because what usually happens when clubs go bankrupt is this: they will be formed anew under a slightly different name. Which is why there is a club called SC Jülich 1910/97 (for: founded 1910, re-founded 1997) and another one called SV Tasmania Gropiusstadt 73.

So clubs are usually like Rocky. They always come back.

Cheers,
Uli

Thank you so much for your answer. As usual, your lack of details is glaring

As a followup, what are the chances that Schalke could go bankrupt or could then be relegated. I know they are low on cash, but I would have never thought it could be this bad. I know with Dortmund, they spent Champions League money and they dropped out before the group phase, which pushed them into a critical phase. Is this a similar situation, where having a bad season last year and not making the UCL really crushed the bottom line? Schalke seemed to spend all their money under Fred Rotten, because I’ve spent more on football than Magath has this season. So was it just last year or an accumulative affect, because I know they have a decent sponsorship with Gazprom.

Hi Christopher,

First, yesterday’s mail. Well, feel free to publish it, as long as you make clear that it’s an e-mail reply to a question. (If it was a proper article, I’d have to do a lot more research because the topic is pretty complicated.)

And that — being complicated, I mean — also holds true for the situation at Schalke. Since the club, in contrast to Dortmund, has not issued shares and is not listed on the stock market, it is not required to open its books to the public. So even those journalists who currently cover the affair and claim to be in the know can really only make guesses.

As far as I understand matters such as this one, Schalke’s problem is not that the club has such large debts. There was (and is, I guess) a good plan with regard to how to pay back the loans. It must have been a good plan, otherwise Schechter & Co. Ltd., the investment bank, and the creditors wouldn’t have agreed to it.

(I guess that part of the plan was qualifying for Europe on a regular basis, which means that you have to have a good squad, which is why Schalke then put most of their sponsorship money — from Adidas and Gazprom — into the squad. Which then underperformed. That’s also what got Dortmund into trouble all those years ago.)

The problem seems to be liquidity, meaning having enough money readily available to cover the running costs and such things. (You can be technically very rich and still run into liquidity problems, of course, if you need cash pronto.) The sponsorship deals are of no help, because that money is already spent or tied up somewhere.

But, again: these are all guesses and no one outside the club knows how severe the problems really are.

As regards the question about Schalke being relegated, that — sorry, but I said it’s a complicated topic — depends on a number of things. If the club was dissolved and then founded again, the senior football team would — under normal circumstances — have to start at the very bottom of the pyramid, in lowest amateur football. If the DFL (German Football League) decides that Schalke is so financially unstable that the club must have been less than honest in presenting its documents when it applied for a license for professional football (which clubs have to do every year, usually around March), the DFL could revoke Schalke’s license. Which would mean automatic relegation to non-professional football.

(Theoretically, that should be the fourth division, now that the 3. Liga has become a professional league, but since there are Bundesliga clubs’ reserve sides in the 3. Liga, Schalke would in all likelihood be relegated to this league.)

(In the summer of 1982, 1860 Munich — then a top club in the Second Bundesliga — were denied a license for professional football and the team was demoted to the Bayernliga, back then the third flight.)

The DFL could also deduct Schalke points for financial irregularities or for covering things up (in April 2008, the DFL sentenced second-division Koblenz to a deduction of eight points because the club had failed to present some crucial contracts when it applied for a professional license.).

So, the situation is far from clear and there are a lot of possible scenarios.

Cheers,
Uli

Lindsey Dean of GolTV was kind enough to speak with me about the Bundesliga.   Those of us in America will know Lindsey as the voice of Hallo Bundesliga, the league’s review show on GolTV.  Lindsey is originally from Maine and grew up in New England; however, he enrolled at the University of Copenhagen in 1977 at the age of 19. He spend a year in Denmark and during that time he played for a small Danish side by the name L.I.F. Allerød/Lillerod (now Allerød FK), which has produced Peter Løvenkrands and Danish womens national team player Bettina Falk .  While Lindsey has a varied background in sports broadcasting having done almost every sport imaginable (including suffering through the painful pre-Belechick era of the Patriots), he isn’t some American who stumbled into the Bundesliga because there was a paycheck.  Lindsey has a pedigree.

1977 was a golden year for Borussia Mönchengladbach, who won their third straight title that year, and also met Liverpool in a memorable final of the European Cup.  One of the star players of that side was the Dane Allan Simonsen, who won the European Player of the Year and Lindsey watched this magical season in Denmark, where every Gladbach game was aired and watched religiously.  This was his introduction to the Bundesliga.

When he returned, he kept up with the Bundesliga the way so many of that generation did, by watching Soccer Made in America with Toby Charles.  I asked him if it’s in anyway odd to him that he would become the modern version of Mr. Charles.  He was humbly unwilling to compare himself to Toby Charles, but he did fondly remember the man that brought America the Bundesliga for so long.  He remembered his eloquence with words and could even recount a time when Toby said “Dusseldorf Dogs were wagging their tales in delight.”   I asked him if we was ever tempted to use the phrase “that shot was high, wide and not very handsome” which he enjoyed, although I don’t think I convinced him to use it.  But while Toby Charles would help shape the style of his commentary, he was quick to note that he grew up in a golden era of sportscasters. His influences include the likes of Johnny Most, Jim Karvellas, Gil Santos and Marty Glickman.

The next subject in our conversation was how he got started at GolTV.  At the time, he was working as an associate attorney at a South Florida law firm. However, he really felt unsatisfied by the work. He returned to sports broadcasting, (having done a plethora of work in New England prior to his move to Florida for law school),  as the P.A. announcer for the NHL’s Florida Panthers, and also as the radio/internet voice of the defunct Miami Fusion of MLS.  After the Fusion folded, Phil Schoen called him to tell him that someone was starting a soccer channel in Miami.  Dean auditioned and has been with GolTV ever since.   Besides his work on Hallo Bundesliga, Lindsey is both a play-by-play and color analyst commentator for various GolTV matches. As we talked about the start of GolTV, we realized that the Bundesliga owes a big bit of gratitude in the states to the Miami Fusion, where Ray, Phil and Lindsey were once all employed.

I asked him about his preparation for the weekly show and he gave me the breakdown of the week.  He is obviously privy to the matches he does commentary for, of course, but he has the full library of games at his disposal.  By Sunday he is reading game reports and summaries.  By Monday he has the DFL’s productions package and makes notes on each match.  Tuesday, he looks for news and finalizes his script.  The last minute check is invaluable as so much can happen from Sunday to Tuesday afternoon.  With U.S. players like Steve Cherundolo and Michael Bradley, as well as Canadians Paul Stalteri and Rob Friend, Lindsey keeps a close eye on the North American players in the league, and tries to include information about their appearances and status. For example, because of the situation with Landon Donovan and H1N1, Steve Cherundolo and Michael Bradley were quarantined by their respective clubs.  By the time he enters the studio, it usually takes him from an hour and a half to two hours to voice the show,  due in part to the preparation completed in the 48 hours leading up to the show’s final production.

I asked him about his expectations for this year.  He doesn’t see the season as a one-horse race (and I did this interview before the last two Bayern debacles).  While he feels that Bayern have a plethora of talent , he mentions the lack of a top class goalkeeper as one issue, and he also wonders about how well new signings like Mario Gomez will perform.   He feels that Wolfsburg are quite capable of repeating, due to having a very balanced squad, with a strong defense, a good central midfield pairing and great flank play to complement Grafite and Dzeko.  He, like Andy Brassel, brought up Ziani as a signing to look out for.

He feels that it will be more difficult for Hoffenheim this season,  as they will not be able to surprise anyone like they did in the first half of last season.  He thought that the challenge for them would be tactically, in that their opponents are now much better prepared for Hoffenheim’s intense attacking play.  Finally, he feels that, although it’s very early, it appears that Felix Magath has already made big improvements at Schalke, similar to how he began to improve things at Wolfsburg.  But for Magath, the job is a bit easier this time around, as Schalke already had the makings of a good team.  He could see them as dark horses.

Mostly he was looking forward to the season as the Bundesliga is so high-scoring and full of attacking play.   He says that one of reasons why the Bundesliga has so much scoring is the number of big, strong strikers, who are typically very hard to defend for a full 90 minutes.  (Don’t tell the EPL).  And he said something that I felt needed a quote as it was quite a great insight by Lindsey, “the mentality of attacking play comes in part from some of the philosophies of legendary players as far back as the 70’s, some of whom manage clubs and work to keep that attacking mentality.”  That a deserving place to end this piece, don’t you think?

With this weeks 4–0 drubbing of England u21s by the German u21s, Die Mannschaft completed a hat-trick of youth level European Championships (winning the u17, u19, and u21 tournaments). Such success indicates that the future of the Bundesliga is bright, and that while the Serie A begins a period of decline, the Premier League is used as a scapegoat for the failures of the English national team, and La Liga devolves into a 2 horse race, the Bundesliga is poised to regain its place amongst the top 3 leagues in Europe.

It is difficult to overlook the fact that in this past Euro Under 21 Championship, held in Sweden,   the German youth outplayed Spain’s young stars, out-‘Italianed’ the Italian team, and obliterated a promising England team. To be sure, the German team did not always appear dominant, as they had to work through difficult periods in the games against Finland, England (during the group stage), and Italy, however these difficult periods provided an excellent opportunity for this next generation of German national team players to gain experience doing what many pundits claim the German team does best: finding a way to win.  In nearly every area of the park the German team showed a level of maturity greater than that of their opponents – a maturity that only comes from playing in first-team matches in a top flight league. A quick look manager Horst Hrubesch’s squad from the Match day 1 squad against Spain shows that every member of the starting XI had racked up ample first team action during the last Bundesliga campaign. Such thorough top-flight first team experience was hard to come by in teams like Italy, Spain, and England– all stemming from the fact that the Bundesliga is a league in which promising youth players are given excellent opportunities to prove themselves.

Of course, this recent domination of youth competitions by Germany would have been impossible without the complete revamp of the German youth structure after the debacles of the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championships. The combination of training centers run by the 36 1.Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga clubs and the DFB organized Stützpunkte, regional training centers, have helped cultivate and develop a sizable amount of young talent within Germany.  While many of the names now breaking through at youth levels for Germany may not have typical German surnames, one cannot doubt their loyalty and desire to wear the famous White-on-black kits, nor their ability to play the German way.

With the core of the current German squad aging, Senior National boss Joachim Loew will undoubtedly be looking to add fresh faces to the senior set up following next summer’s world cup in South Africa. The championship winning squad of this past week is where you’ll find the future of the German squad moving towards Euro 2012 and beyond.

While Rene Adler, Germany’s current number 1 between the posts has both youth and ability, Schalke’s Manuel Neuer is certain to contest for the starting spot. A goalkeeper with Champions League experience, Neuer showed a level of maturity and composure that his counterparts lacked. Nowhere was this disparity in experience and maturity more apparent than in the final against England. While England goalkeeper Scott Loach made several critical errors, and looked uncomfortable all night, Neuer was the model of composure between the posts. Admittedly, Loach was the backup goalkeeper for the England squad, but the mere fact that starting keeper Joe Hart missed the final due to a silly, avoidable booking only adds to the argument of immaturity.

In defense, Germany looked stellar all tournament. The German defense pulled shutouts in 4 of their 5 games in Sweden, allowing only 1 goal off a set piece in the group match against England. The fulcrum of this impregnable defense was young Schalke centerback Benedikt Howedes. Howedes got quite a bit of playing time during this past campaign due to rampant injury problems at the Veltins Arena. One of the few symbols of youth in speed in an aging Schalke defense, Howedes is now a prime candidate to replace the aging and inconsistent Christoph Metzelder as a partner for Per Mertesacker in the central defense of the senior squad.  Along with his partner Jerome Boateng of Hamburg, (though himself used to playing more on the outside at the Nordbank-Arena) proved a team capable innenverteidiger.

On the flanks of the defense Hoffenheim’s Andreas Beck and Werder Bremen’s Sebastian Boenisch (note to the English commentators from Sky sports, his name is pronounced ‘Bo-nish’ not ‘Boz-nitch’) dealt with the threats from the likes of Theo Walcott, James Milner, and Sebastian Giovinco, as well as tormented opposition defenses with their effective forward runs. Nowhere was this trend more on display than with Beck’s wonder goal against Italy in the Semi-final . This pair gained their experience and effectiveness from successful domestic campaigns at their respective clubs. Hoffenheim’s rise to competitiveness at the top of the table undoubtedly gave Beck the confidence to deal with the likes of Theo Walcott. Meanwhile, Sebastian Boenisch certainly found both the confidence and maturity to hold his own in the final from the fact that it was his third cup final in a little over a month, having previously appeared in both the finals of the UEFA Cup and DFB Pokal for club side Werder Bremen.

Although the confident and capable nature of the goalkeeper and defense certainly proved the foundation for German success, the cutting edge was found in the Midfield. For all intents and purposes, Horst Hrubesch was effectively playing with 5 midfielders. Anchoring the midfield was Stuttgart player, and Germany under 21 captain Sami Khedira. Khedira did an excellent job of absorbing the attacks of the opposition as well as initiating attacks from the critical role linking defense and midfield. On the right flank, Gonzalo Castro of Bayer Leverkusen showed the timing and pace to cut through opposition defenses with this slashing runs, netting goals in both games against England. The star of the German midfield in this tournament, however was Mesut Ozil.

Schalke fans should certainly be proud of the performances put in by Manuel Neuer and Benedikt Howedes, they should be absolutely infuriated with their club for letting a talent the likes of Mesut Ozil go to rival Werder Bremen. The young attacking midfielder came into his own this past season, albeit in the shadow of talismanic number 10 Diego.  Many were rightfully critical of Ozil when he seemed to fold under the pressure of playing without Diego during the UEFA Cup final against Shaktar Donestk, however the young number 11 from Werder Bremen has done much to put such criticisms to rest since then, scoring the winning goal in the cup final against Leverkusen (ironically, off an excellent pass from Diego), as well as being the creative spark in the German midfield during this past tournament.  By his own admission, Ozil prefers to set up his teammates rather than score himself, but the somewhat fortuitous goal against England in the final shows that Ozil is developing in this regard, as he seems to be learning the age old truth that “you gotta shoot to score.” Ozil will have a chance to prove himself capable of performing consistently at the highest level this next season for Werder Bremen with the departure of Diego to Juventus. Fans of Die Mannschaft will undoubtedly be eager to see if he continues to progress.

The position of striker is perhaps one place where this German team needs to improve. Ashkan Dejagah of Wolfsburg, was played out of position as a striker by manager Horst Hrubesch. While MSV Duisburg front man Sandro Wagner scored two excellent goals against England in the final, it remains to be seen whether or not he is senior team material. With the likes of Miroslav Klose aging, Lukas Poldolski’s career stagnating, and Mario Gomez still unable to find top form with the national team, the German team is still looking for a cadre of strikers for the next generation. There is certainly hope to be had in Patrick Helmes, who is himself still young. If Helmes can find his feet at the national team level, and Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez can begin firing on all cylinders, the German national team will be well set for strikers for several years to come, and the current drought of youth team strikers can be surmounted.

It remains to be seen if any of the stars of the German Under 21 victory in Sweden 2009 will break into Loew’s team for South Africa 2010, it is certain that Germany will not want for quality players heading into Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014. With the likes of Metzelder, Friedrich, Frings, Ballack, and Klose all entering the final acts of their national team careers, it is a safe bet to say that the talents of Howedes, Beck, Khedira, Ozil, Marin, and Kroos will be there to fill their places. The future is bright for the German National team. A future made all the brighter by the fact that the Bundesliga provides an environment and opportunity for young, talented players to ply their trade in a top flight league that is highly competitive in regards to title-challengers.  As other leagues in Europe face identity crises or a lack of competitive youth, the Bundesliga continues to bring in larger profits by the year both on and off the field.

RheinEnergieStadion

I used the stats feature at ESPN Soccernet to calcluate the clubs with the best attendances. Out of the top 20 attendances in Europe, Germany had 9 clubs. This post is to equip you with a tool to help promote our great league. Because, while we are in a slump in the Champions League and don’t make all the news with £80 million transfers, we have the most competitive league, the funnest league and the best attended league in the world. And we’ll get a team back to the final of the UCL.

There are so many glorious clubs in Europe, yet half of the teams in the Bundesliga (from grand to average) inhabit the best attendance list. Bayern, Dortmund, Schalke, HSV, Hertha, Koln, Stuttgart and Frankfurt beat out the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Roma, PSV, Ajax, Galatasary and Porto.

Spain, England and Italy will make claims to being the greatest league in Europe. And if you base it solely on recent Champions League performances, they have some validity. However, since 2000 Valencia, Juventus, Liverpool and Chelsea have all made the Champions League finals from these leagues. Yet none of these storied teams couldn’t outdraw Eintracht Frankfurt last year. That’s right: Eintracht Frankfurt!

And while I do recognize that stadium issues prohibit some clubs from doing better, the fact that they can’t get their act together to build a stadium just shows that Germany is the best run league out there. In the time it took Liverpool to create fancy sketches, Hoffenheim built a stadium.

Below is a table of the top 20 clubs, attendance-wise. I’ve noted the position in their league in relation to attendance (note that only England could get a third team in the list) as well as the clubs final position. Note that while other countries figures seem closely related to how well a club is doing (kudos to Newcastle United fans), Germany had 3 teams in this list that were in the bottom half of the table. So the next time somebody disparages our grand league or tries to tell you that there is only one big team in Germany, trot out these numbers.

Following a busy season, Raphael Honigstein of The Guardian and Footbo was kind enough to talk with me and address a few questions I had about the end of the season and the start to the silly season.

Which player(s) surprised you the most this season? 

a) Misimovic. We knew he could play football, but not that well, nor that consistently. He became, alongside  Diego, the best central midfielder in the Bundesliga. Quite a step-up.
 
b) Grafite. Looked a little slow and ponderous in front of goal last season. Different story this time around. (probably only half the player without Misimovic and Dzeko)

c) Trochowski. In the Misimovic-mould of nearly-men in recent years, now a good reason to leave Schweinsteiger on the bench at the World Cup. 

Who was the most important player to his team?

Maybe Mario Gomez. He really carried the side, especially in the second half of the season, with his goals. 

We seem to becoming a league based on streaks: Stuttgart 2007; Hoffenheim — Hertha — Wolfsburg this year. Which was more impressive: Stuttgart’s run two years ago, Hoffenheim’s start this year or Wolfsburg’s finish?

I’d say Hoffenheim’s and Wolfsburg’s runs were equally impressive on the face of it, but then Wolfsburg had a semi-decent first half, too, and timed theirs much better. I think winning 14 out of 17 games in 2009 is unbelievably good.

All three promotion sides survived. Of the 3, who looks most likely to suffer a sophomore slump?

Michael Frontzeck has already taken two teams down, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he got Gladbach relegated as well. Köln’s chances will depend on who they can get as manager. Hoffe will be okay.

We lost our last East German team. What do you think East German football needs to do to make itself competitive?

Actually, Union Berlin are going strong and things are happening at Leipzig. I don’t think anything in particular needs to change. You just need a few good men with good ideas and little bit of money.

It seems that Magath has some concerns with Schalke: aged backline and a unbalanced squad. How long do you think it will take for Magath to get Schalke contending?

That really is one of the most interesting questions for next season. Rumors are that Schalke have very little money to spend, so he won’t be able to transform the team instantly over two seasons the way he did with VfL. He will surely get them fitter. But can this squad actually play decent football? I’m not sure.

It’s a question I asked the last time we talked. With Wolfsburg retaining the “gaffer” system and Schalke now being the second club to employ it, is there any chance of more teams adopting the style? Or do you see Armin Veh folding under the pressure of both jobs only to see Wolfsburg return to the Sports Director method sooner rather than later?

I remember talking to you about that a year ago. I must admit I’m very surprised that the Bundesliga has gone down that route. Of course, success breeds copycats and Magath at Wolfsburg is getting copied. Managers have become more confident to ask for wider powers. It seems like it will be the trend for the next few years, as even Bayern are giving van Gaal more power than Klinsmann ever had. But you are right, these things can be cyclical. The first club who fires their manager and finds itself with 20 players they don’t want will think very carefully about the whole system again. 

Why is Hertha’s Lucien Favre making noise about leaving?  It would seem that Hertha’s upside is still considerably large.

He was flattered by the attention from Bayern and HSV and used it politically. His threat to walk was really a clever ultimatum: he forced Hertha to choose between him and Dieter Hoeness. Hoeness was fired two days ago. 

Do you know why Christophe Daum suddenly left?

Money. And the chance to win titles and play internationally. In his own mind, Daum is on a par with Mourinho et al, so helping Köln to another mid-table finish had limited appeal for him. 

Last year, we saw the emergence of some new young managers in Jurgen Klöpp and Bruno Labbadia. Both were fairly successful in their first campaign at the top level.  Why then do you think so many managerial changes so far involve a merry-go-round approach rather than trying to find new blood like Dortmund and Bayer 04 did last year?

Klopp was fairly established before Borussia went for him but it’s true: the Bundesliga seems to have become quite risk-averse. Better the devil you know — it’s a consequence of the Klinsmann debacle, probably. 

With the team that Bayern seems to be building this summer: Van Gaal, Prajnic, Gomez, Olic, Boumjohann, as well as Sneijder, Tymochuck and Pandev likely; It feels like a team, regardless of Ribery’s impending departure, that on-paper are good enough to win Europe.  Do you think that we could see our first German team making a serious run at the UCL since 2002?

Hmm, I don’t know. Gomez for Toni doesn’t really change that much. I like Olic as a defensive forward (copyright Jonathan Wilson). Tymoschuk should have been bought four years ago. Baumjohann won’t feature much. Prajnic and Braafheid will be interesting although it’s never easy to evaluate the true strength of Eredivisie stars. I don’t think Pandev is really in the mix at all. Now, if they could somehow keep Ribery, they might really have a chance. But that’s highly unlikely. And Van Gaal is the first real big ego-manager at Bayern. That poses just as many risks as opportunities. I think this could go either way. Remember what happened when they put together the “White Ballet” in 2002/03 with Ballack, Ze Roberto, etc? Out in the groups stages. 

Will they end up with Adler, Neuer or other?

The word on the street is that Adler’s back isn’t quite up to it.  Neuer might yet happen. Schalke need money to pacify Magath. 

Aside from Ribery and Diego, which player seems most destined for foriegn shores this summer?

Dzeko to Milan is more than a rumour. Barnetta wants out and might be able to find a middle-class EPL team. Petric is keen to make more money, possibly in Spain.

Germany have been one of the most successful nations in the UEFA cup‘s history, with German clubs having won six cups during the competitions history. The first German team to reach the final of the UEFA Cup were Borussia Mönchengladbach, in 1973. At the time, the final was held in two legs, with the team being beaten 3 — 0 by Liverpool at the first (away) leg, and 2 — 0 on the second (home leg). Two years later, the team became the first German team to win the competition, in the 1975 finals. The first leg was played at home, which was a 0–0 draw. In the second leg, at Diekman Stadion, the team beat the Netherlands‘ Twente 5 — 1. The team continued their early success in the competition by also becoming the first team to win the UEFA cup twice, in 1979. The first leg, against Red Star Belgrade at Stadion Crvena Zvezda, the team drew 1 — 1, and won the second leg at home, scoring the only goal of the game.

The following year, German teams were responsible for the first final of the competition to feature two clubs from the same nation. Borussia Mönchengladbach reached the final again, playing against Eintracht Frankfurt. The first game of the final, played at Mönchengladbach, the home team won 3 — 2. The second game, at Frankfurt, was won 1 — 0 by the home team. This resulted in an even aggregate, with a victory for Eintracht Frankfurt, on away goals. Hamburg reached the finals in 1982, squaring up against IFK Göteborg of Sweden. The German team lost both games, being defeated 1 — 0 at home in the first game, and 3 — 0 in the second game. It was not until 1986 that another German team would reach the final, with Köln being unsuccessful against Real Madrid. Despite winning the second (home) match 2 — 0, they had lost the first one 5 — 1, and so lost on aggregate.

Three more German teams reached the finals during the ‘dual final‘ era — Bayer Leverkusen in 1988, VfB Stuttgart in 1989, Borussia Dortmund in 1994, Bayern Munich in 1996 and Schalke 04, in 1997. Of these, the German side was victorious in 1988, 1996 and 1997, marking a very successful period for German second tier European football. Starting with the 1998 season, the format of the final has changed to just have one game, played at a ‘neutral‘ stadium. In this time, German teams have been less successful than previously, having reached the final only twice: Borussia Dortmund in 2002 (losing to Feyenoord), and Werder Bremen in 2009 (beaten 2 — 1 by Shakhtar Donetsk after extra time). If you‘re thinking of betting on European football, then having an idea of the history of teams in relevant tournaments can be a good way of assessing how good UEFA cup odds actually are.

9:30 ET Schalke 04 VS TSG Hoffenheim
9:30 ET Bayern Munich VS VfB Stuttgart
9:30 ET VfL Wolfsburg VS Werder Bremen
9:30 ET Arminia Bielefeld VS Hannover 96
9:30 ET Energie Cottbus VS Bayer Leverkusen
9:30 ET FC Cologne VS VfL Bochum
9:30 ET Karlsruhe VS Hertha Berlin
9:30 ET Borussia Monchengladbach VS Borussia Dortmund
9:30 ET Eintracht Frankfurt VS Hamburg SV

The Meisterschaft will hinge on Wolfsburg, whom only need a draw at home to Werder Bremen, who wouldn’t been keen on helping Bayern Munich in the first place. Bremen also have the DFB Pokal final in a few days, so are likely to rest key (and tired) players after Wednesday’s heartbreaking loss to Shaktar. Wolfsburg, whom many predicted to fold after the news of Magath’s departure, look sharp again after two drubbings of Dortmund and Hannover.

Bayern could technically win the league with a Wolfsburg draw and nine goal victory over the visiting Swabians. But knowing that this is unlikely, Bayern are resigned to securing the automatic Champions League spot, which a draw would secure.

Unfortunately, they host the team that sits second in the second half form table. A win for the Swabians would secure them 2nd and could send Bayern Munich to the Europa League. Current form aside, Markus Babbel’s men need a victory to ensure Champions League next year with Hertha hot on their trail, so it is squeaky bum time for the Bavarian giants.

Hertha Berlin sit fourth at the moment, but a win away to lowly Karsruhe, who could still make it to the relegation/promotion match with a win, puts the Capital side in next year’s Champions League regardless of the outcome of Bayern-Stuttgart. Anything less and they will finish the day where they started.

The final Euopean battle comes down to Dortmund and Hamburg for the last Europa League spot. Sitting even on points, Dortmund posses a commanding goal difference. Dortmund visit Gladbach, who need a victory to ensure survival. Hamburg visit Eintracht who are already safe. Dortmund is the hotter side, so they have the upperhand, but a draw could see their late surge all for naught if Hamburg can overcome their late season doldrums.

In the relegation battle, all four teams host games this final weekend. Gladbach host Dortmund as was mentioned and Karlsruhe host Hertha Berlin. The other two teams attempting to avoid the drop are Cottbus, who host Leverkusen. Leverkusen also have the DFB Pokal next week and will rest some players ahead of their showdown with Werder Bremen. Arminia host Hannover in the final relegation game. With Artur Wichniarek back from injury, the could make the great escape considering their opponent.

Cologne host Bochum and Schake host Hoffenheim in the only matches without repercussions to the season.

GolTV will be showing a simulcast of the Bayern-Stuttgart, Wolfsburg-Werder matches along with a post game(s) victory show starting at 11:30 AM.

Meanwhile there is little drama in the Zweite where only a Nuremburg win coupled with a Mainz loss could see Nuremburg gain automatic promotion and Mainz in the playoff game, instead of the other way round. Meanwhile three teams fight to avoid the relegation game on the other end of the table, and all three are on the road. Rostock visits Wehen, Frankfurt visits St. Pauli and Osnabruck visit Duisburg. A win would secure any of these three, separated by two points, safety. If comes down to draws, Rostock have the upper hand with superior goal difference and a relegated foe. Freiburg is guaranteed of coming up and Ingolstadt and Wehen are heading down to the new 3. Bundeliga.

Wolfsburg has issued an official statement saying that Felix Magath will leave the club on June 30th of this year. Magath is bound for Schalke as has been rumored all week, although we still await confirmation from the Gelsenkirchen side.

While many claims have been made by the press about Magath’s salary demands, it wasn’t the salary as much as the recession that caused this move. Volkswagon, like all car makers, are facing tough times and are being forced to lay off workers. With a tightening of the belt at the renowned car maker, it wasn’t possible for VW to eliminate jobs and then pay large sums for football players. That’s unfortunate when you have the only English-style gaffer in the league and he has a transfer policy that would put Harry Redknapp to shame. While in charge of the Wolves for only two seasons, Magath has amassed 30+ transactions in what is essentially 18 months. While there is no arguing with his method and one can see he has an eye for talent (Gentner, Dzeko, Grafite, Misomivic), his ability to continue tweaking his team was done.

With rumors that Grafite and Dzeko were being lined up by uber-rich Zenit and Arsenal, respectively, it seems there may have been some truth to these links as the club were seeking to cash in. Magath realizing that he wouldn’t be able to significantly alter his club in its first campaign in the Champions League, decided to move on to a club where transfers wouldn’t be an issue. The salary was just a shot across the bow to set this series of events in motion.

Schalke, and not Bayern, will be the big spenders this summer. Can Magath do for them, what he has done for Wolfsburg? I imagine so.