Mario Gomez Appreciation Post

I could write a match wrap-up (we won, but it definitely wasn't pretty at times, but at least it can no longer be said about us this season that if the other team strikes first, we lose!), but I'd rather just take a moment to thank the universe, God, the Lords of Kobol, etc, for Mario Gomez.

Not to diminish anyone else's contribution today, but I feel like Mario deserves some love. He's always getting picked on and I just want to say that I never expected to love him as much as I do, but he's pretty brilliant. So here's to Mario! May the cannon ever be yours!

Thank god for Robbery!

Thanks to great performances from Arjen Robben (two goals on PKs) and Franck Ribery (a brace for him, too), we are back where we belong: the top of the table! What did we learn from this week's match?

*Toni Kroos has really stepped up in the absence of Bastian Schweinsteiger (who, btw, may be back to face Cologne later this month, just before the Christmas break!) and is helping to direct the flow of the match, even when he's playing more forward in the number ten spot. With Alaba playing out of position next to Gustavo in DM (you'll remember that Tymo was (unfairly) handed a three-match ban for a challenge and thus had to miss today's match), Kroos has proved he can be both an offensive threat (his shots from distance are really something) and a defensive roadblock. In short, he's apparently learned from Basti the secret to being everywhere on the pitch at once. I'm pretty sure I actually saw him dissolve and re-form on the other side of a couple of defenders today (Leo Messi, you're not the only one with superpowers!).

*Thomas Muller gets fouled an awful lot, but you'd think that teams would realize that fouling Muller in the box is a very bad idea. In the past few years, Bayern has scored more than a few goals off of PKs awarded because of fouls on Thomas. The commentator on ESPN3 commented that he's "enthusiastic" and he always has a "cheeky grin" on his face. To that, I say: If you look up "overenthusiastic" in a German dictionary, there will be a picture of Thomas Muller, grinning like a maniac. But he really does take one for the team more often than most and he had some awesome chances today, too. And his ability to play both on the wing and in the ten spot give us a lot of versatility.

*Why is it that teams get away with certain things against us (really? It's now okay to INTENTIONALLY ELBOW a player from the opposing team, Pizarro?)? I hate chippy football, regardless of who is doing it, but stuff like that is just ridiculous. You don't get to elbow Badstuber in the chest because you feel like it.

*I'm sure there will be all sorts of people talking badly about Mario Gomez because he didn't score today. But he was onside and the call was bad. And he then let Franck take the following shot, giving Franck the brace. Want a German lesson? "Das war nicht Abseits." Now you can all yell "That was not offsides!" at the linesman with me. And I love that, after the match, Mario was talking to the linesman, explaining how he had stayed onside.

We head to England on Wednesday to take on Manchester City. Good news is that we've already qualified for the elimination stage of the Champions League and, if we beat City, they will be out of European competition for the year. Our boys on the German NT got their draw for the European Championships next summer and we're in the "Group of Death" (to give you an idea, Brooks Peck over at Dirty Tackle gave the group four Mario Balotellis, which is a pretty scary idea) with Netherlands, Denmark, and Portugal. The good news is that Germany plays better when challenged (anyone else remember that loss to Serbia in the World Cup?) and it means that we'll get to watch Basti run circles around Cristiano Ronaldo early in the tournament! It also means action from Arjen Robben and former skipper Mark van Bommel in the group stage. Olic and Pranjic will be facing Ireland, Italy, and reigning champs Spain in their group. And Ribery and Tymo will face off when France and Ukraine join England and Sweden in Group D.

We'll see you back here on Wednesday post-Man City!

Time to dust off those blogging shoes....

Hey everyone, remember me? It's been awhile, but I come bearing gifts.

In the last week, we have seen the return of Arjen Robben, suffered a defeat against Borussia Dortmund, and qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League thanks to the three men you see in the picture to the right. Things will only get crazier from here on out. We have important games against Werder Bremen and Stuttgart swiftly approaching, the (meaningless) game against Manchester City, which Toni Kroos insists we won't just "roll over" (though I would gladly roll over for Herr Kroos) and the possibility of us drawing Manchester United in the early stages of the Round of 16. To this I say, tut tut and may FC Basel steal away any chances of the satanic club from qualifying!

Where was I going with this? I'm not sure. So we lost 0-1 to Borussia Dortmund, which kind of sucked. But revenge reared it's ugly head in the form of Thomas Vermaelen yesterday in BVB's game against Arsenal. Sven Bender is out for the rest of 2011 with a broken face. Number of times I watched the lesser Bender twin get completely Verminated: 7. Götze came off early as well, but I don't care enough to be informed to be quite honest. Should be interesting for the Ruhrpott Scum Derby this Saturday. Draw or Die! We're 2 points ahead of BVB and Gladbach, 3 or so ahead of Schalke and we face a relegation-zone team on Sunday. BRING IT ON. Wir holen die Meisterschaft und den Europacup und den Pokaaaaal den holen wir noch einmaaaaaaal. Clap clap clap clap.

We've had to deal with the loss of Schweinsteiger (who, by the way, can drive a car again), but I feel we've coped nicely. Tymo is suspended in the league so I believe a Gustavo-Alaba partnership will be our answer for the games against Mainz and Bremen. Or we can all petition for the use of Kroos there. Or our underrated Croatian superstar, Danijel Pranjic. (I sense my co-bloggers clutching at their hearts). By the way, if you google Croatian Superstar, one of the results is Pope Benedict XVI.

This is where I talk about how Ribery is in the form of his life, Robben wants to stay in Munich ("Ich möchte am allerliebsten in München bleiben."), Marco Reus would look better in red dancing to 'Ai Se Eu Te Pego,' Schalke sucks, and today is Thanksgiving. Fill in the blanks yourself, it's turkey time!

(I couldn't find pictures of any Bavarian turkeys. Funny how I just found pictures of Hamit Altintop. So I shall leave you with Papa Bayern serving himself some wurst.)

oh, uh?

as far as blogging consistency goes, I bear a rather strong resemblance to the sort of stereotypical absent parental figure that would create great issues for a whiny television character. I hope none of you are getting a complex.

I apologize for my absence - senior year and GREs have eaten up both my time and my sanity, and yet onwards I march.

I think we're all going a little stir crazy during the international break, as per usual. I can't speak to the Germany vs Ukraine match, on account of the fact that I didn't watch it, but I've been told that the Bayern players who were there put on the strongest showing on the pitch. Yes, allow that smug, arrogant, uniquely Bavarian feeling to wash over you, my friends.

But wait! It's not over! A recap of what you might want to watch tomorrow:

Ukraine vs Austria (2 PM EST)
Germany vs Holland (2:45 PM EST)
France vs Belgium (3 PM EST)

as for myself, I shall be either a) taking a nap and hoarding precious amounts of sleep or b) watching the United States vs Slovenia.

have a good week, Bayern fans!

German phrases you never wanted to learn...

Schluesselbeinbruch: clavicle fracture (or, if you want to piss Chary off, collarbone break).

Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably already know that Bastian Schweinsteiger fractured his clavicle in the 50th minute of yesterday's CL match against Napoli. He'll be in the hospital until tomorrow and in two weeks, he'll be allowed to start jogging and work his way back to training. He's expected to be out at least 6 weeks and likely will not play again this calendar year.

Clearly, this is a blow to the team and to all of us, but mostly, I'm heartbroken for him. He lives and breathes the team and it's clear that it's harder on him to be out and not playing than it is for us to miss him. And I think it's fair to say that, if something goes terribly wrong in the next few weeks, he'll be hard on himself. But we can all hope for quick and uncomplicated healing.

As for the rest of the match...the first 45 minutes were not bad at all. Mario Gomez scored a(nother) hat trick and passed Michael Ballack to become the all-time German scoring leader in the Champion's League (well deserved, Mario!). We had some moments of flair and brilliance (I'm starting to wonder if Toni and Franck and Basti are able to bi- and tri-locate sometimes).

And then the second half started and things went...not well. Let's be honest: it was a disaster on many levels. Holger should not have been sent off. The ref...yeah. I'm not even going to go there.

All said, we won, we top the group, and it puts us in good position to win the group and make the Round of 16. This weekend, we take on Augsburg. I, for one, am hoping that Toni Kroos will take Basti's spot as playmaker in DM. I have faith in Toni.

Mia san Bayern, mia san mia. AUF GEHT'S BAYERN!

Congratulations!

The team here at FC Hollywood would like to congratulate Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Müller on their FIFA Ballon D'or shortlist nominations! Well deserved, gentlemen!

VOTE VOTE VOTE

Hey everyone! Becky is entered in the How Far Would You Go contest on World Soccer Shop. She is such a dedicated fan of Bayern that she is currently writing her dissertation on the theology of soccer and Bayern Munich. It’s time to assemble the Bayern coalition and vote for our girl! Click here to vote!

Thanks guys! <3

fc bayern münchen vs. manchester city match report

I'm going to keep this brief as I run a very serious risk of just dissolving into caps locking insanity and off key renditions of "Tage voller Sonne."

• 930 minutes without conceding a goal.


• Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger were world class, period, end of.


• both Müller and Kroos were a bit neutralized today but still held their own in a way, given their relative inexperience


• Philipp Lahm is one fast dude. Dzeko apparently discovered the only way to stop him, which is full on lay on top of him and hope that he doesn't find a way to get up again.


• slow and steady wins the race. we're showing patience and that more than anything gives me hope for the shiny trophy at the end of the rainbow


• Mario Gomez now has 50 goals in the last 47 games for Bayern. Effective.


• 

fc bayern münchen vs. bayer leverkusen match report

first things first. a very happy oktoberfest to all and sundry. my parents have been cruelly regaling their trips to the wies'n to me via phone but for those of you who are actually lucky enough to be in munich right now, enjoy! drink up! try not to get sick on the Hackerbrücke platform!

seriously, don't, it's gross.

ummmm. but I digress. how about that match, eh?

important points of note:

• Manuel Neuer has now gone roughly 820 minutes without conceding a goal (someone feel free to fact check me on that if you know the exact number). a credit to his immense talent as a goalkeeper, as well as how well our defense has been clicking.


• Daniel van Buyten may have his flaws but this season, he's shown again and again why it's good to keep him around. that was a helluva goal from the Belgian Bull. I hope it made Louis van Gaal choke on his words, wherever he may be.


• oh sweet beautiful squad rotation.


• it's always nice to see Arjen Robben back on the pitch. it's even nicer to see him score as if he'd never been away at all. the man is a wonder to watch, truly.


• Mario Gomez looked good but I'm glad we decided to rest him. Manchester City will definitely be our biggest test of the season, and we want our Torero fit and fighting.


• Franck Ribery, ladies and gentlemen. There's nothing I can say that can accurately describe how well he's been playing lately. If you had told me a year ago, I might not have believed that he'd be in such good form.


• thoughts, kiddos?

this blogger has a human geography exam straight through the Manchester City match (I know, I KNOW, it pains me) so I wish you all fun watching it while I quietly freak out to myself in ignorant silence.

Wir sind Bayern.

Our first order of business is to suggest that all Bayern players, from this point forward, be kept in bubble wrap at all times. This includes during matches. That is to say, Mario Gomez (groin) and Daniel van Buyten (Achilles) both picked up knocks during today's CL match against Villarreal and are doubtful for Saturday's contest against Schalke in Gelsenkirchen. But, in the words of our amazing kapitan, Wir sind Bayern (We are Bayern).

Anyway, today's match was fast-paced, intense, and all-around pretty darned awesome. Toni Kroos (side note: best thing about a German stream? They don't call him Tony Cruise.) scored his first CL goal and Rafinha scored his first goal for Bayern. What did we learn from today's match?

-Our boys can play a fast-paced 90 minutes in ridiculous heat and come out on top.
-With one exception (thank goodness Manu's body can apparently stop shots without him having the foggiest clue where the ball is), our defense is looking much more solid. And it's awesome that both fullbacks are getting in on the attack.
-Petersen fits well as a lone striker in the 4-2-3-1. It's nice to have a viable option with Gomez and Olic both out.
-Franck Ribery is REALLY happy LVG is gone and he's playing incredibly well. His assist on Toni's goal was pretty amazing, considering he wasn't looking.
-The German word for "no-look pass" is apparently nolookpass (I'm just assuming that they put it all into one word, as that's how new words are created in German). Either that or the German commentator I was listening to was making things up.

And, because it's pretty awesome: Bayern's kept a clean sheet for all but one match so far this season and they've conceded just one goal (to Gladbach in the Bundesliga opener). Not a bad start!

As we all know, Sunday we head to Gelsenkirchen and I, for one, will be sending happy thoughts and prayers that it's a clean (and safe!) match for all participants and that folks won't be too horrible to Neuer. And, you know, that Bayern wins.

So, how about that scoreline?

For a second week in a row, we'll be atop the table (because I'm kind of assuming that there's no way that Schalke can make up the 11 points difference in our goal differential tomorrow). And what a convincing win it was!

While Manu Neuer rescued kittens and drank beer in pubs, the rest of the team spent the afternoon pretty much decimating Freiburg in every position, at every moment. As a Bayern fan, it was nice to get up at the crack of dawn and be able to just really enjoy a match, rather than spending the match yelling at my computer in frustration. For Freiburg fans, well...it could have been worse.

So a few highlights:

*Mario Gomez appears to not only want to remain the top goal scorer in the league, but to overtake a certain hat trick record. If you're keeping track, that's two in the last two matches. Glad to see he was fully fit and has no linger effects from the injury that kept him out of international duty. Mario was also the first Bayern player to score four goals in a match since Rumme himself.

*Ribery was great today. He was creative, he seemed at several points to have developed a Messi-like ability to dissolve and re-form on the other side of defenders, and he was helping create chances for others.

*Bastian Schweinsteiger. Need I say more? If you look over the stats of the game (or if you spoke enough German to laugh at the fact that today's commentator was REALLY fond of statistics), Basti was, in a word, dominant. And I know I'm not the only one who loved seeing him with the armband.

*Nils Petersen scored his first goal for Bayern in an official match! Yay Nils! And what a goal it was!

Other than a lack of Tymo, today's performance was pretty much flawless. Which puts us in good shape as we head to Spain this week to play Villareal in our first Champions League group match. That match will be on Wednesday at 2:45pm EDT. If you can't catch the match on Wednesday, Fox Soccer will be showing it at 2:00pm EDT on Wednesday 15 September.

And Robben has been ruled out of Wednesday's match. Seriously, at this point, I'm starting to think we should all just assume he's out for a match and the club should only announce if he's actually fit to play. But in all honesty, he's still young and I hope they let him heal FULLY and COMPLETELY before he's allowed anywhere near a pitch. Between his glass bones and Ivica's tissue paper tendons, we really need to be careful with them.

Oh, and don't forget that we're away at Schalke on Saturday. Should be a good match! I, for one, am hoping for a birthday present in the form of a trouncing on Bayern's part.

Player Appreciation Post: Anatoliy Tymoshchuk

As a blog team, we've decided to begin doing posts whereby we express our love and dedication and undying devotion to our favorite Bayern players. And there was immediate consensus that none other than Tymo should be the first subject of our adoration. One quick note on format: You'll see our Blogger handle next to the pieces we've written, as this is a collaborative effort. And thus, we now present our first lovefest...

Bex: Where do I even start with Tymo? He's a defensive midfielder that can play centre back more convincingly than some centre backs can. He's a leader on and off the pitch, his tackling makes Mark Van Bommel smile, and he's pretty much a ninja (because you never see him coming). Add to that the fact that he's scored several of the last goals for Ukraine (and serves as team captain) and he's pretty much the epitome of awesome. Plus, his interactions with his fans make it clear that he's a nice guy who loves what he does and appreciates his fans. He fought to stay in Munich under he-who-shall-not-be-named and we're sure glad he did!

Charyse: I have a confession to make: I can't remember the last time I've actually seen a Bayern match, actually sat down and watched it what with school, moving and exams, so it has seemed a bit disingenuous for me to contribute to this blog regularly. Now that it is a perfectly fine weekend for me to enjoy the boys in red, they've all gone off to International Duty (which is fine and all but honestly I'd rather have them all back in one piece).

Anyway that confession aside, it is time to extol the virtues of Tymo. What more can one ask of a player? Dedicated, hard working and a clean tackler (CLEAN TACKLES!), I'm glad he's at Bayern AND he is glad to be there too, spending the most time with fans and all. A+, good sir. A+

how i feel about international duty in a nutshell

but all the same, Germany is the first team to officially qualify for Euros, so that's exciting all around. three cheers for Deutschland, etc etc. how did you all find the match?

in other Bayern international news: Ukraine lost to Uruguay 2:3, which does nothing to change my belief that Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is the Chuck Norris of football. Ribery's France defeated Albania 2:1. Both Neuer and Schweinsteiger will be out against Poland in Germany's upcoming friendly, which may be the least of problems with that match.

We'll be keeping an eye on the remaining international matches but when all is said and done, I'll be counting down the days until we get Bayern matches again.

Recent thoughts

Since I (accidentally) slept through the match yesterday, I can't bring you a match post, but here are my thoughts from this week.

*Rotation works. Having depth at different positions means that we're able to rest players and, you know, win matches. Of course, injuries have caused some of our rotation, but I really like that Heynckes is making an effort to keep players more or less in their preferred positions while still getting lots of them in there.

*Injuries suck. Robben is made of glass, Olic is apparently made of tissue paper, and Gomez' calf strain was worse than expected as he's now bowed out of the Euro qualifies with the German NT. Hopefully, the two weeks off will help both Robben and Gomez to be fit by the time league play resumes.

*Speaking of the international break, lots of Bayern players will be playing for their NTs in the next few weeks. Schweinsteiger, Mueller, Badstuber, Kroos, Neuer, Boateng, and Lahm will all be playing for Germany. Van Buyten will be on duty for Belgium, Tymo will be captaining Ukraine, and Alaba will be playing against his teammates when Germany and Austria play on Friday.

But I think the most important thing to note is that the fun is back and our guys seem to be enjoying themselves a lot. Not only off the pitch (see the hilarious interviews Mario and Basti recently gave where they discuss each others' fashion proclivities...and thanks to Mario for confirming what we all had thought: Sarah saved Basti from a life of bad fashion choices), but also on. Today, they played against TSV Paehl, the local team for which Simon Mueller, brother of Thomas, plays. They won by 21 goals (TSV Paehl scored one) and while Mueller only got one, Petersen scored 7. Even Contento got in on the scoring. But watching the highlight video, it's clear that the match was a lot of fun. Having qualified for the Champions League (and yeah, we're in the group of death, but we play our best against good teams), our guys seem to be playing well and enjoying it. So that makes me one very happy fan indeed.

Hair we go

Thursday was the draw for the group stages of this years Champions League. With Bayern being Bayern, and in such an important year, of course we landed in the GROUP OF DEATH.

In case you've been living under a rock, or swamped with homework, we were drawn in to Group A with:

Manchester City
Villarreal
Napoli

Yikes. Personally, the one I'm the most knowledgeable on his Manchester City. Everyone is saying we should be afraid of them. They made some massive signings in the past few transfer windows - Dzeko, Aguero, Nasri, Balotelli - the list can and probably will continue on and on and on through the next transfer window as well. Now, should we fear them? Maybe not. The thing with MCFC, they're trying to push together huge star names with no real sense of direction. On top of that, their defense does not match the talent on their offense. Kind of sounds like Bayern just a few short months ago, no? This will be their downfall. MCFC don't have that great of a track record when it comes to multiple competitions at a time. They did win the FA cup last season, but they have faced defeats from lower sides following big wins against Manchester United. So what does Bayern have to do? Try to get as many goals as possible at Allianz and send in as many reinforcements as possible when playing in Manchester.

My preferred line up: Neuer; Rafinha - Boateng - Badstuber - Lahm; Gustavo - Schweinsteiger; Robben - Müller - Ribery; Gomez.

Undoubtedly our strongest starting XI. But why Gustavo over Tymo? Gustavo proved against Inter and then again against Barcelona that he's incredibly motivated against these stronger sides. His performance against Inter, along with Kraft and Robben, was key to our success in the first leg. He is that strong defensive force needed when facing Aguero, Nasri and co. Not to throw any shade on Tymo, of course. They're both interchangeable and of comparable talent - but I personally believe Gustavo gives us that defensive edge needed when aiming to keep a clean sheet.

I'm not as familiar with Villarreal or Napoli, but they are both really strong sides. Obviously, they're in the Champions League. Bottom line, we need to be on our A-game going in to the group stages. I believe we can see through it. It wouldn't be a typical season without ups and downs. This group gives us a challenge and the platform to prepare ourselves for the "stronger sides" - Barcelona, Manchester United, etc. It's time to prove our worth on the international stage.

I have a few comments to bring up on our squad, though I'll save it for another time as school started this week and I'm exhausted. We may be done with the transfer market for the summer, but that doesn't mean I'm not already planning for winter when we reach the knockout stages. :)

Heal quickly, Ivica!

Some bad news out of Munich today, fans. Ivica Olic, who made his comeback yesterday and scored a goal, has been injured. He has a partial tendon tear in his left hip area and is out for 6-8 weeks of forced rest, according to the club. We here at FC Hollywood hope that Ivica heals completely and is able to re-join the team as soon (and safely!) as possible.

FC Bayern München vs Hamburger SV Match Report

There's no other way around it. A scoreline like today's can leave you beyond giddy and unable to talk of anything other than Bayern for hours afterwards, wrapped up in a haze of pure football joy. However, when one has delusions of grandeur and blogdom, one must take a step back and look at things as they were. With a 5:0 scoreline, the question usually becomes, was it Bayern's game to win or HSV's game to lose?

I'm inclined to say that it was a bit of both. I thought HSV looked fairly good during the pre-season but they're clearly a case of too much restructuring leaving them right back where they started - hapless and disorganized.

However, and this was a sticking point with me after the mid-week CL match, Bayern showed themselves to be every bit as aggressive as they need to be going forward. We already we know we can maintain possession, gold stars all around for possession football, but today we showed the doubters that yes, we still actually know what to do with it. Will this stand up against a tougher, better organized opponent? FC Zürich is hardly that but if we capitalize on the sort of chances that we failed to take advantage of in the first leg, I will be feeling much better about the future.

A few matters of note:

→ How did we all feel seeing Olic on the pitch and scoring again? I, for one, have missed that sight dearly.

→ Rafinha has clicked remarkably well with the team very fast. His enthusiasm is admirable - it's nice to see a new player clearly love being here as much as he does.

→ did anyone else find watching Manuel Neuer to be something of a comedy show today? He was wandering around with absolutely nothing to do, it was hysterical. I think at one point he was actually pacing in circles.

Bayern v. Borussia Monchengladbach: Match Report

I suppose I should begin with a disclaimer: this will not be one of those doom and gloom, "Oh no! We're all damned!" posts. It's the first match of the season, for goodness sake, and we still have 33 days left to play. So, keeping that in mind, let's look at Match Day 1. If, at any time, you find yourself hyperventilating, please remember to breathe.

Let's get the bad things out of the way first.
-The goal happened, in large part, because Neuer was way off his line. That's not to say that our back line was flawless, but in reality, we only conceded one goal. But Neuer makes me (and others, too, I'm sure) nervous when he comes off the line like that. Thus, I have a remedy. First, Manu, watch this clip from Happy Gilmore.

Then, every time you feel like leaving your box, hear the goal saying to you, "This is your home. Are you too good for you home?" and DON'T LEAVE THE BOX when there are a bunch of players from other teams advancing on you. There. That's taken care of.

-Missed chances. Also known as a serious lack of finishing. Again, it's the first match of the season, we've had several new players in, our Starting XI isn't exactly set in stone, we've dealt with injuries, and so I don't find it surprising that we had some issues settling down and finding the back of the net. It's frustrating when commentators keep saying things like, "Bayern certainly look the most likely to score" and we don't manage to do it, but I'm not concerned that this will be continue to be a big issue. We have a lot of guys who can score, including several of our defenders. It'll happen.

-Short corners. I understand the reasoning behind them, especially when you don't have the height advantage in the box, but seriously, they clearly don't work. Rafinha, who otherwise had a good game, had trouble shortening his crosses in off the short corners and we missed several chances because the crosses in were better suited to a corner than to a pass from a short corner. Plus, it reminds me entirely too much of Barcelona and that's not really something I like having to say about Bayern.

Those were the big issues. So now onto the slightly brighter spots...
-Nils Petersen. From the minute he stepped onto the pitch, his energy brought the tempo up and Bayern had its first real chances of the second half.
-Arjen Robben. I know that some people think that he was crap in this match because he wasn't scoring or racing down a wing in a blaze of glory, but that's not fair. He was everywhere. He was playing on both wings, he was defending, and he often had three or four white shirts on him. And he managed to not get injured!
-Our tackling. Maybe it's the spirit of Mark van Bommel, but there were lots of solid tackles and steals. We've got some bite in us (Luis Gustavo, I'm looking in your direction. If someone goes down because of you, it's because there was a reason). If we can be that tenacious going forward, we'll be in good shape.

All in all, it wasn't what we had hoped for, but it's definitely not the end of the world. We can take what we learned and move on. And now, in a slightly un-related note, I'd like to propose that Bayern hold a seminar in pronunciation for all announcers. It would make it ever so much easier. And it might make some of the players feel better, since they wouldn't be called things incorrectly. Because, really, Lew-ees isn't that hard. It's not Lou-iss.

It's time!

In a few short hours, Bayern will open the regular season at home versus Borussia Monchengladbach. And by all signs, things look good for our boys.

Reports coming out of Sabener Strasse say that both Robben and Ribery are fit (but likely only one (probably Robben) will start) and that both our number one and two keepers are recovered from their flu and are fit to play (it should be noted that, yesterday, I might have suggested that we change our name to FC Murphy's Law...but hopefully, that's just my pessimistic side talking). If you look at this, you'll see that they both looked absolutely horrible on Friday. So it's good that they're feeling better. And that we have four keepers in total, just in case.

If you're in the United States, the match will air live on ESPN3 and on ESPN Deportes. In the UK, it'll be on ESPN UK and elsewhere in Europe, it'll be on Eurosport 2. We'll have a match report here after things wrap up.

And, looking ahead to our next match in the Pokal, we'll be taking on FC Ingolstadt 04. More details to come as we approach the match.

And now, I leave you all with happy thoughts for a great kick off to the season! After all, Stuttgart beat Schalke by three goals, so it's already off to a good start! Mia san Mia! Auf Geht's Bayern!

Are the days of Neuer backlash over?

Probably not completely, but to make up for my long absence I offer you all a bit of ~exclusive info.
Okay, not exclusive. But after months of pining over it, and conveniently having a friend visit the motherland, I was set in my path to have Neuer's jersey by the opening weekend of the BuLi season. UNFORTUNATELY, it's sold out for the next 3 weeks.

Bad news for me, good news for Neuer? I'm already picturing a sea of small children running around in his jersey.

Bless.

And we're off!

First things first: a VERY happy birthday to Bastian Schweinsteiger, who turns 27 today. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Basti! And thanks to Holger Badstuber's Facebook for this photo that says more than I can about why they're so fabulous.

Oh, and we had a match today. And we won. As Mario Gomez said in his blog today, "The cup has its own laws." The first round of the DFB Pokal claimed four Bundesliga teams (Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, SC Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen) and so today's match wasn't something we could take for granted. And, luckily, we didn't.

Our first two goals came off of penalty kicks, both earned by Thomas Muller taking quite the beating in the box (seriously, it was starting to seem like they were intentionally picking on him at points). Mario "Super Mario Goalmez" Gomez scored the first one and the birthday boy scored the second. And our third goal came off of what one fan described as "THE MOST THOMAS GOAL TO EVER THOMAS." Seriously, it was SO him and brilliant.

All in all, it was a strong showing and means that we'll be confident as we open the season on Sunday against Monchengladbach (which will be on ESPN3, for our readers in the US). Our back line showed up and played, Toni Kroos has yet again proved that he's going to fight for a spot in our starting XI, and Alaba and Muller more than held their own in the place of the injured Ribery and Robben. Speaking of our Frenchman and our Glassman, both are recovering well from their injuries and both should be ready to go within the next few weeks. Robben's cast is off and he's running, so it's likely he'll be available on Sunday for the Bundesliga opener. Ribery's a little bit more of a question mark, but all reports are that he's healing well and shouldn't be out for long.

So here we go...the Pokal's underway and the season is just around the corner. Here's to fewer injuries and players out of position (Seriously, Jupp, Tymo's a DM. Let him play there) and more wins and fun!

THE FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN DRINKING GAME

as created by my friends Joni, Irene and myself over the course of tonight’s DFB Pokal match at the Bachmaier Hofbräu.

• Philipp Lahm's captain armband shines as bright as the sun. Drink.


• Manuel Neuer strays outside his box. Drink.


• Oh no, not Pranjic. Drink.


• Mario Gomez's hair does something you don't expect it to. Drink.


• Arjen Robben falls down. Drink.


• Number 17, whoever that may currently be, does something particularly violent. Drink.


• Anatoliy Tymoshchuk does a tackle that looks straight out of a Playstation video game. Drink.


• Toni Cruise. Drink.


• Holger Badstuber Hissy Fit. Drink.


• Mia san Drunk.


• Anymore and you'd be dead. Happy trails, my friends.

Well look at what the cat dragged in

I emerge from my long absence to bring you this:

A bit of a round-up...

...and some thoughts on the Liga Total Cup.

First, a warm welcome to Takashi Usami and Jerome Boateng who have arrived in Munich, completed their physicals and, in Usami's case, already played in a match. We're glad to have you both, especially you, Jerome, if you can help us come up with, you know, an actual defense.

Two matches in and this season looks a bit like last. Now, I could spend my time bitching about the fact that our defense has repeatedly been caught napping (my solution is that Neuer should be allowed to smack them upside the head every time they screw up), but I'd rather look at the bright spots. Because we are, after all, FC Bayern, and everyone knows that we perform best under ridiculous amounts of pressure and in the second half. 30 minute halves really don't favor our tendency to play down-to-the-wire football. If the match against HSV had been a full 90 minutes, we would have won.

On to some good stuff...
-Toni Kroos. He came off the bench in yesterday's match and added a lot of energy and creativity and today, he was by far one of our more solid players. His crosses looked good, he was a threat in the box, and his PK was stunning.
-Nils Petersen. Even though his second PK was saved, his PK after the foul on Muller was beautiful. And he's got some real flair. He's going to be fun to watch.
-Holger Badstuber. Okay, he was pretty bad in game one, but in today's first half, he was much better. And the boy has a pretty cross.
-Ivica Olic. He's back. And he got to wear the armband today.
-David Alaba. Our Austrian bb came through with a beautiful goal (and mad props to Contento for that cross). Plus, he's just adorable.
-Daniel Pranjic. For all the stress he causes me every time he touches the ball, he had a gorgeous shot on goal and his PK sealed the win for us. So, for what may be the only time this season, he makes my good list.

All in all, it could have gone better, but let's just pretend we're working out the kinks. That's what I'm using to reassure myself.

THAT'S ALL REALLY.
CENTER BACK WOES ARE SOLVED.
WELCOME
I'M SO EXCITED I CAN'T TURN OFF CAPS LOCK.

Italy sure is nice this time of year...

As you might have heard, Bayern had a friendly today against some folks in Trentino. In much the similar fashion as Bayern defeated the Paulaner XI a few months ago, we won by a sizable margin. So here are the highlights, the low points, and other happenings...

Good Things:
*New signing Nils Petersen scored a hat trick. Glad to have you, sir.
*Gomez, Schweinsteiger and Kroos all had braces.
*Also scoring were Tymo (!!!), Robben, Gustavo, Olic (!!!), Koz, and Pranjic.
*Lots of people got a chance to play (Petersen, Bastian Muller, Koz) and Jupp got a chance to play around with the lineup a bit. Pretty much the entire team changed over at the half.
*In a sight rarely seen, both Robben and Ribery wore the armband. So I guess we now know who the 2nd and 3rd vice captains are with Miro's departure.

Bad Things:
*Some fans felt the need to greet Manu Neuer with a banner that proclaimed that they will never accept him in a Bayern jersey. In other news, it's happened and you all need to get over it.
*Muller and Breno weren't able to play because of injuries. Hopefully they'll heal soon.

Other Happenings:
*We still haven't signed Boateng.
*Coentrao went to Real Madrid.
*Several players have come out against signing Vidal. My two cents? When Tymo decides to retire, sure. Until then? Our DM is good with Basti, Tymo, and Gustavo as a back up.

an update from sam's subconscious

In the tragic time gap between the end of one Bundesliga season and the new one that's to come, one must inevitably find ways of coping. I, for one, have been re-watching my favorite HBO war mini series. If you honestly want to talk about anything that's not related to football or Band of Brothers, I am not your gal.

However, my subconscious has had other plans for me. It refuses to let me avoid the gaping hole in my life that has been left by FC Bayern München by harassing me with the strangest dreams.

Strange dream 1) Manuel Neuer miraculously scores a goal from all the way across the pitch, apparently against Liverpool (why would we be playing Liverpool, this remains a mystery to me).

Strange dream 2) Takashi Usami scores a goal in his first match for Bayern - while wearing a military camoflouge-themed kit. My dream!self says loudly in a Southern drawl (spoiler alert: I'm not Southern): "damn, we gotta get that kid a real kit now."

Conclusions to be drawn from this:

a) I really need to lay off those war mini series

and

b) if I have even a quarter of the psychic powers of the late, great Pulpo Paul, our new players are going to work out wonderfully for us.

How have you been coping with the Bundesliga break? The return to training and exhibition match today has caused a lot of excitement amongst the fans (read: the temptation to shuck on my dirndl and drape a Bavarian flag around myself and dance around like a lunatic was quite high) but we've still got some days to go until the new season starts. What holes do you think we still have in our line up? Will Jerome Boateng ever be ours? Does Berni have a girlfriend? Inquiring minds want to know.

FC Bayern Saisoneröffnung 2011

Today was the season opener to the 2011/2012 season, and the first official appearance for our Neuer goalkeeper. (See what I did there ;)

The game ended 1-0, with a goal from kapitän Lahm and the teams were:
RED: Neuer, Lahm, Breno, Badstuber, Tymo, Ribery, Alaba, Schweinsteiger, Olic, Petersen, Rafinha
WHITE: Sattelmaier, van Buyten, Contento, Gustavo, Kroos, Robben, Pranjic, Müller, Gomez

Introduction of the players and coaches:


And a bit of penalty action with Manu:

(if the video doesn't work, you can view it from the channel page here)

There are tons of pictures floating around the internet, so feel free to share your favorites in the comments. :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

In the United States, as the start of the academic year approaches, one of the office supply companies runs the same commercial: kids in a store, shopping for school supplies, looking horribly sad, while their parents all giddily sing along to the Christmas carol "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." Here at FC Hollywood, things like this

have the four of us giddly wearing our Bayern kits and counting down the days (39, if you were curious) until the 2011-12 Bundesliga season officially kicks off. Not that we're excited or anything...

While the Women's World Cup provides football on our teles, our thoughts are today at Sabener Straße with the return of the first wave of the FC Bayern boys and the arrival of a new coach and several new signings. Lots of our internationals are still off enjoying their holidays (Toni is in Spain, where apparently it's sunny, according to his latest blog update), but Basti was back today, along with new signings Nils Petersen (you may remember him from such feats as being the top scorer in 2.Bundesliga last season) and Rafinha (who says "Lahm and I have everything in order to be a superb pair of full-backs, to win many titles and to write history in Munich. I have more experience and am wiser now and I believe that I can play better at Bayern that I ever have before") and a cast of familiar faces (Contento, Gustavo, Butt).

So...39 days left. Will we sign Boateng? (Apparently, he has a physical on Wednesday with the team) Will we sign Vidal? In addition to looking forward to the start of the season, it'll be nice to be out of the transfer window where we might get an entire day without a ridiculous rumor that X player wants to go to X team or how we might buy the moon and ask him to play LB (wait...that was under LVG...nevermind).

Bayern's 2011/2012 Bundesliga Schedule

1. Borussia M'Gladbach H

2. VfL Wolfsburg A

3. Hamburger SV H

4. 1. FC Kaiserslautern A

5. SC Freiburg H

6. FC Schalke 04 A

7. Bayer Leverkusen H

8. TSG Hoffenheim A

9. Hertha BSC H

10. Hannover 96 A

11. 1. FC Nürnberg H

12. FC Augsburg A

13. Borussia Dortmund H

14. FSV Mainz 05 A

15. Werder Bremen H

16. VfB Stuttgart A

17. 1. FC Köln H

18. Borussia M'Gladbach A

19. VfL Wolfsburg H

20. Hamburger SV A

21. 1. FC Kaiserslautern H

22. SC Freiburg A

23. FC Schalke 04 H

24. Bayer 04 Leverkusen A

25. TSG Hoffenheim H

26. Hertha BSC A

27. Hannover 96 H

28. 1. FC Nürnberg A

29. FC Augsburg H

30. Borussia Dortmund A

31. FSV Mainz 05 H

32. Werder Bremen A

33. VfB Stuttgart H

34. 1. FC Köln A

Some not so fun things:

1. Season ending away at Köln. They had one of the best home records last season, so let's hope we have the title wrapped up in April and won't have to rest our hopes of winning on the final game. ;)

2. Late away game against Bremen. I know Bremen had a piss poor season in 2010/11, but I honestly think they're going to be our main competition this year.

3. Manuel Neuer will face his old club, Schalke 04, early in the season. Let's just...get it over with, shall we?

And some fun things:

1. Well, personally, my study abroad in Berlin is looking more and more likely every day. The Bundesliga gods have blessed me with Bayern playing Hertha in March. ;)

What are your thoughts on the schedule?

Need I say more? Willkommen, Manu! Endlich!

Oh, but here, he said some nice things (after eating lunch with a certain sporting director).

"I know definitely what I want. I look forward to these five years. I know Munich and I think I will be comfortable here. I know this is not normal for me, this is all new territory. But I look forward to it."

Coming off a night of 4 hours of sleep, waking up to pictures of Manu walking through Marienplatz was a wonderful surprise. :)

What other signings are you guys hoping we land this summer?

How about that qualifier, eh?

Today, Germany and Austria clashed in Vienna. It wasn't the prettiest match ever, but there are a couple of things that we Bayern fans can be proud of.

First of all, David Alaba was man of the match. Period. He had Lahm on the ropes for the entire game and he looked AMAZING out there. Raise your hand if you're glad he's coming back to us. Wow. That's a lot of hands, readers!

Secondly, despite a serious lack of finishing for the vast majority of the game, Mario's second goal was beautiful. Toni's corner was handled well by Mesut, who fed to Lahm, who sent in the perfect cross for Mario. The video below has both of his goals, as well as that of Alaba (which was brilliant).

Clearly, Basti was missed today, but hey! No Bayern players were injured in the winning of this match!

And now for something completely different

Brittany and I have decided to rate beauty on a scale ranging from

0: MELEK (fugly slut)

5: Wahiba (beauty score brought down by less than attractive footballer)

10: Adler Concubine (flawless human being); also I realize Adler does not play for Bayern, but when you look like THIS (DEAR SWEET GOD) why not be his concubine? 

Brittany and me, we’re concubines, WHAT ARE YOU?
----


Ahem. I promise that once I am entirely caught up on sleep, I will do something constructive and not ridiculous, unless it is my job to be THAT contributor...

We have a new number one!

Today is a great day. Schalke 04 announced on their website (and Neuer himself confirmed it via his Facebook (see below for text) later) that the club has agreed to terms with FC Bayern and that Neuer will be making the move to Munich later this summer. Details are still coming out (four years? five years?) and the deal is expected to be officially announced soon, but for now, we say:

Willkommen in Bayern, Manu!

English translation: Today Schalke 04 announced my move to Bayern Munich. I wanted a change to develop myself. Many of my national team colleagues are now my club teammates. I am very grateful to Schalke, but especially the fans for their support over the last years.

belatedly, sam makes a post

oh hello again. it's been quite some time since I last updated and a whirlwind road trip around Southern Italy fell somewhere between now and my last post, but the truth is, I have been home for a few weeks now. I've just been horribly, fabulously lazy. Putzing around Munich doing nothing much outside of drinking beer and walking my dog. It's been relatively quiet on the definitive news front but there have been some developments to take note of.

• the aforementioned prospective Rafinha deal is all set to go ahead, so expect to see that official presentation in a matter of days, at the most. As mentioned by my esteemed colleague Brittany, Rafinha is a right back and this will see our pint-sized kapitän switched back over to the left flank. I always felt as if Lahm linked up better with Ribery than he did with Robben, so this could be a good thing for our offense as well as our defense, even though it's not technically Lahm's preferred position. It also has interesting ramifications for the national team, feel free to talk amongst yourselves about that.


• Neuer, Neuer, where art thou, Neuer? Rummenigge remains confident that Schalke will honor their agreement regarding Neuer's future transfer to Bayern. Bayern players are already practically referring to him as one of their club teammates. After Neuer rejected a clusterfuck of a last ditch attempt at getting him to renew his contract with Schalke (a messy affair which apparently involved Vladimir Putin, what), there's not much they can do except stall, and stalling is what they're doing while they try and find a replacement for him. It seems very much as if Schalke merely wants to drag this out a bit longer just to make it look as if they did everything they could to get Neuer to stay. It's frustrating for Bayern because I believe we want to get this transfer locked down before looking towards confirming further deals in fixing our defense, a defense that has been held together with scotch tape and hope in the past few seasons.


• speaking of further deals, Manchester City wants an absurd amount of money (I believe the figure I read was 18m?) for center back Jerome Boateng. I have a very dear friend who is a lifelong Manchester City fan and his gripes with the current management are many - I have been assured that there is no logical reasoning behind this demand, so we can assume that they're just doing it because they can. Great. I guess all we can do is wait and see.

Last but never, ever least, Franz Beckenbauer has officially retired from all held football related positions, choosing to spend more time with his family. We've all known this was coming for a while now and yet it still feels as if we're not really saying goodbye to him, because could we ever say goodbye to Herr Beckenbauer? He will always be our der kaiser. Thank you for everything, Franz.

Rafinha to Bayern?

After waning interest in Van der Wiel, and Fabio Coentraos (completely misguided) statement about only leaving Benfica for Real Madrid, it appears that Bayern has found a solution for their back line in Genoa right-back Rafinha.

The Brazilian (25) played for Schalke 04 for five years before transferring to Genoa in August 2010 for a fee of 9m. Yesterday, Genoa released the player, who has said he would like to return to the Bundesliga. The president of Genoa, Preziosi, confirmed Rafinha's wishes yesterday, and said, "I think we'll reach an agreement with a big Bundesliga outfit."

The transfer fee will be around 5-7m, and could be announced as soon as next week. His transfer, of course, will see Lahm return to the left-flank.

So transfers so far: Petersen, Rafinha, Neuer....who else can we expect to see in the rot und weiss next season?

Well, it's official...

...Real Madrid, at the urging of coach Jose Mourinho, have signed Hamit Altintop. Best wishes to Hamit as he joins Los Blancos!

¡Felicidades, Hamit, y buenas suerte con todo!

Willkommen Nils!

Bayern has signed 22-year old striker Nils Petersen from FC Energie Cottbus. He has signed a three year contract. He finished top scorer of 2. Bundesliga with 25 goals. He will wear the #9 jersey, last worn by Juventus striker Luca Toni. Big shoes to fill.

"If you get an offer from Bayern Munich,, then you must accept it - that goes without saying. From the first second I was set on going this way. It makes me proud that Bayern Munich is my new employer. This is something unique. I am really looking forward to the task."

Welcome Nils! Let's hope you can pay for that Burger King in Bremervörde with your new salary.

This ain't no bandwagon.

Today, Bayern played Zenit St. Petersburg. In typical fashion, we conceded an early goal and then came back to win 4-2. But it's not about the scoreline. It's about the fact that it's clear that our boys are having fun again. From the amateurs who got to make the road trip with the team, who were all smiles while hanging out with Bastian and Mario on the bench, to the amazingly hilarious way Franck and Arjen poked fun at themselves the other day against the Paulaner XI, the fun is back. It's a team the plays through injuries (hey, we see you over there Basti with your fractured toe you've been playing on FOR WEEKS) and still manages to tease the Bundesliga's top scorer about his hair (though, really, Holger, you should be careful about that as your own Bieber-esque 'do opens you to much ridicule).

In the midst of the drama that is Neuer-gate (and it should be noted that little of the drama is coming from the Bayern fans), the accusation gets thrown around that Bayern fans are bandwagon fans: we cheer for Bayern because we love the German NT and Bayern makes up the largest contingent of the NT. And maybe that is true for some people. But not for me. And not for most Bayern fans I know. I cheered for the German NT because I was a Bayern fan first.

But more than that, Bayern is more than a bunch of superstar German NT players. Ribery and Robben are both world-class international players with high profiles, too. But for a lot of us, it's the players like Tymo and Daniel Van Buyten who tug most at our heartstrings and who make us proudest (and I'm going to leave my remarks on Tymo at that, or I'll be fangirling over him for pages). It's about the work horses, the silent heroes. Bayern isn't about the superstars; it's about the heart and the team and the players who put in solid performances week after week and yet don't get the recognition of guys like Basti or Lahm. Bayern is the kind of place where one of Germany's all-time greatest strikers, Miro Klose, spends far more time on the bench than on the pitch and yet you don't see him complaining to the media. Bayern is so much more than a bandwagon.

I love the game and will watch matches I have no vested interest in simply because I love the sport. And I love cheering for Real Madrid and Liverpool and for the German NT, but the reality is, I bleed for Bayern. Nothing else makes me prouder, happier, or more frustrated than Bayern. And for Tymo and Daniel and Toni and all the others...everything is Bayern and nothing hurts.

Vielen Dank, Bayern

Another season has come to an end. Despite the ups and downs (and heart attacks in-between), my love for this team still knows no bounds. And fear not, faithful readers, we'll be here through the Audi Cup (expect a post about the ickyness of having Barca in our stadium) and transfer season (Did you know that *insert BIG NAME TEAM here* wants *insert random Bayern player here*?!?). And when the fall rolls around, we'll be decked out in the BEST.LOOKING.HOME.KIT.EVER. and cheering on our boys to a successful season.

And to the men of FC Bayern, vielen Dank. Our lives are better because of you all.

Danke Bayern.

Sanity has been restored!

+ The new kits are BEE-YEW-TIFUL

- Freiburg why you gotta own goal like that?

+ Mario may need to officially change his name to Golmez

+ Andries Jonker: undefeated

In Bayern related news:

 Mark van Bommel has won titles in four different countries:

• PSV 
• Barcelona (can we pretend this didn't happen)
• FC Bayern
• AC Milan

Everyone chew on that notion. 

I must go back to studying and a fresh pot of coffee is calling my name, a notion, that as you can see, is absolutely thrilling:

It’s transfer season!

I can’t be the only one feeling like the past few transfer seasons have been, well, boring. Luckily for us, a lackluster season brings us a busy summer, full of rumors, signings, and, at least for me, a giant headache. So as your resident Bayern-fan-who-spends-too-much-time-on-the-Internet, I will spare you the introduction and jump right in.

In?

Nils Petersen: It was reported in “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Thursday that Petersen has agreed to a 3-year-deal. The 21-year-old (as of this Friday, alles gute, Nils!) Energie Cottbus star is the leading goal scorer in 2.Buli and the transfer fee falls in the 2.5m range. I’ve read some different on Twitter and the general consensus I’m picking up is that this is a “bad” move for the striker. Assuming Miroslav Klose makes his exit at the end of the season, Bayern is left with three strikers – Gomez, Olic, and Petersen. With a new coach coming in, it’s not as easy to guess who will be starting in the front. The obvious choice in Gomez, given his season and Olic’s injury, but we could even adopt a 4-4-2 system. It’s a little early to be making assumptions that Petersen will be riding the bench. And, well, he’s got three years to prove himself.

Fabio Coentrão: The Benfica left-back would solve our main problem on the defensive line, that’s for sure, and we were attached to him last summer, however I think this story is a bit more cloudy than what is being reported right now. Goal.com is claiming they have an “exclusive” on his signing, and that Bayern has entered negotiations regarding his transfer (for a fee of 17.5m). Coentrão has a contract until 2016, and a buy out clause that is closer to 30m. There was rumored interest in the Portuguese international by Chelsea and Real Madrid. Filing this under: I-won’t-believe-it-until-pen-hits-paper.

Gregory van der Wiel: The Ajax right-back has a similar story to Coentrão, so I’ll spare you. About a month ago it was reported that we were on the verge of signing him for 10m. I’m not a fan of Eredivisie, so I don’t know first hand, but I’ve heard he has had a lackluster season. If he were to arrive in Munich, we would see our Kapitän switch to the left. It’s important to note that Arjen Robben has endorsed VdW, and we all know how much we like to cater to the king of the wing. Filing this under: Ehhhh.

Centerback? This is a bit of a catchall. Obviously we are in need of a central defender. With Breno on his way out, we’ll only have two true CBs in DvB and Holger Badstuber. We’ve been attached to a series of names, but the one that has stuck the most in Jerome Boateng. The German international currently plays for Manchester City, who is (reportedly) adamant about not selling him. So, we’re just going to leave this open because, quite frankly, at this point I would take just about anyone.

Other names that are important to remember:
Marco Reus, Arturo Vidal, and now apparently Dale Jennings and Okay Yokuşlu. Okay, media. Okay.


Out?

Thomas Kraft has signed with Hertha Berlin, who have just been promoted to first division.

Andreas Ottl is also out of contract and is rumored to be following the goalkeeper to the capital.

Hamit Altintop is attracting interest from…Real Madrid? Los Blancos? Que? Yeah, I’m not going to get in to this. I can sympathize with a Turkish fixation, but Altintop? Madrid? Ay dios mio!

Miroslav Klose is one of two wild cards out of all of this. He is out of contract as well, and wants an extra two years. The rumor is that Bayern will offer him one year, but the signing of Petersen would say otherwise. So who knows where he’ll end up? Staying fit for the Euro Cup in 2012 is a top priority for him, and I can’t see him leaving the country. We’ll wait and see.

Mehmet Ekici is a tough transfer to swallow. He has a contract with us until 2012, and has been on loan to 1. FC Nuremberg all season. His loan has been extremely successful (I would put it almost on par with Kroos’ season with Leverkusen), and he has attracted interest from a few Bundesliga clubs. It is reported he’ll transfer to Werder Bremen for a fee of 5m.

And you guessed it; Breno is the last wild card. If you all remember, following that match in March, he tweeted about leaving the club and returning to São Paulo. All signs point to him leaving the club. I just hope we can get back half of what we paid for him.


Now, am I forgetting anyone?

Didn’t think so.

An introduction of sorts...

Hallo liebe Bayern fans! Becky, Chary, and Sam have invited me to contribute, so I hereby christen this my introduction post!

Just a few details about myself. My name is Brittany, I am a history major (with a German minor) at the University of Texas at Austin. Aside from Bayern, I enjoy Liverpool FC, footballer children, Rene Adler's chest hair...

As this is a football blog, I'll jump in to what got me to where I am today. I didn't grow up in a "footballing family." I was born in the midwest, and American football took precedence over everything. It wasn't until I was 14 did I really start to develop an interest in the real football. The 2006 World Cup came along, and seeing as the USA, well, did what the USA does best, I looked to the biggest part of my heritage and threw my full support behind die Mannschaft. And that is how my love of football began. Following the WC, I spent the next few months watching the Bundesliga, and in the end Bayern chose me. It's been a long 4-5 years, full of ups and downs, but here we are today, about to head in to our dream season, and I couldn't be happier.

I'll be back later this week to give you all a recap on all of the transfer stories swirling around FC Hollywood, from Neuer to Coentrao to Reus, and everyone in between.

Tschüss!

On Schalke, exposing my nerdy fangirl side, and keepers...

Imagine that you've just flown to visit one of your closest friends. Despite landing at an ungodly early hour, when you arrive, he's ready for the day. And that's when you inform him: for the next two hours, he's going to have to deal with the fact that Bayern are playing their biggest rivals and the Champions League is on the line and, well, you're not missing the match.

And that, friends, is more or less what happened last weekend. I had warned him the day before, but I'm not sure my friend was prepared for the screaming, yelling, overly-involved mess that is me when watching a Bayern match. Thankfully, the match went well, because I was thisclose to cussing in German on several occasions, and he was spared my full Schalke-related vitriole. I think he's still worried that I'm a little TOO passionate about the game.

But I can't help it. I love this team. Even when they're frustrating me, even when I can't make heads or tails of why certain people are playing (Pranjic) or playing out of position (half the team). I can't not care. Especially when we're playing Schalke. I realize that my hatred of Schalke is somewhat irrational (and it was weird to cheer for them in the CL...I felt dirty). But I really do hate Schalke.

That said, I'm not upset that Neuer is going to (almost certainly) be joining us. He's an incredible keeper, he has experience playing with quite a few Bayern players (as they're all on the German NT together), and he doesn't hurt the GQ factor.

More exciting, the love of my football life has extended his contract another year and will be our #2 keeper. Even for a keeper as experienced and decorated as HJB, there's nothing shabby about being Neuer's number two. And I also hope that this means the Jupp Heynckes will realize that, on occasion, it's okay to rest players. And I'm not just talking about Holger when it looks like he needs a nap...I'm talking about the fact that Basti has pretty much had no break for the past three years. Just saying.

The witching hour is nigh or: Early Morning ramblings of an over-caffeinated under-rested student of the medical sciences

As I sit here burning the 2 a.m. oil (midnight has long passed), trying to cram even more neuroscience into my brain (I think I am starting to have visual hallucinations, either that or my hair really does look like spiders), I realize the end to this very traumatizing season is almost near! May is almost upon us, I am 3 exams away from finishing an equally traumatizing, but fun, year.

So I suppose one thing I can ask of Bayern is, can you do me a solid and get to #3 and give me hope that I CAN DO IT here?

I will give you a hint: no more of that possession football shit, it doesn't work and insanity is repeating the same activity expecting a different result. Stop it.

I would go further with this but I realized I am without my pink and yellow highlighters, both of which are very crucial and that I just spent the last two minutes contemplating the reality of underwear gnomes and sock elves. This is probably a good sign that I should stop.

Cliffs Notes version: Win or lose, Bayern, I will love you. But a Win would feel like a really nice hug or something. Mia San Uli, etc. etc.

Ouch.

Anyone feel like sharing their "Bayern, sometimes you drive me to drink!" pictures?



At least we salvaged a point...