The world’s most profitable league is back!
The world’s most profitable league is back!
By Darshan Joshi, writing from Sydney
Now that the pride that accompanied all things German during the World Cup has somewhat calmed down, and Paul the Octopus has, as some have concluded, jumped ship to the SS ‘predominantly’ Barcelona, and two of the Bundesliga’s World Cup stars have engaged in shaking Florentino Perez’s golden hands with their trouser pockets lined with hundred euro bills, German eyes turn from Spanish shores to their own – the Bundesliga kicks off on Friday evening (with an absolute screamer).
FC Hollywood, who happen to also be known as Bayern Munich, kick their campaign off at the Allianz Arena with what should prove to be a mesmerising clash with… Steve McLaren’s VfL Wolfsburg!
McLaren has made quite a name for himself on the continent, following his disastrous reign as England manager, shockingly winning the Dutch league title with the unfancied FC Twente, and now taking over a Wolfsburg side who you may remember winning the German league title little over a year ago. Last season spelled disaster for Die Wölfe, as they slumbered to a lazy 8th place finish and thus missed out on the chance to embark on another European adventure. Armin Veh was dismissed halfway through that campaign, which saw them concede the altogether very impressive total of fifty-eight goals.
McLaren has moved swiftly to rectify this problem, with Arne Friedrich and the young Dane Simon Kjær, who was actually linked with moves sides such as Liverpool, Real Madrid (shocker!), Arsenal, Juventus, and quite literally a host of other really very big names, joining the club from (relegated) Hertha Berlin and Palermo respectively. More money has been splurged on the Croatian forward Mario Mandžukić, who, after a few minutes of shambolic ‘researching’, I have found out scored something like a goal every other game for Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb (English supporters: remember that Theo Walcott-inspired 4-1 thrashing of the Croats at Wembley? He scored the Croatian goal), and an 18-year old attacking midfielder called Nassim Ben Khalifa, who has appeared for the Swiss national side at almost every youth level. That outlay of just below £20mil has been countered with the removal of quite a hefty amount of deadwood, and Obafemi Martins. Steve McLaren may not have put an end to his summer spending just yet though, with the former Werder Bremen superstar and current Juventus flop Diego Ribas being strongly rumoured to make his Bundesliga return with the Lower Saxony club.
Many consider Edin Džeko to be the key to any success the club attain, and as things stand, the Bosnian remains only a target for the likes of Manchester City and the Italian government (i.e. AC Milan, run by Italian President and professional womaniser Silvio Berlusconi), which can only be a good thing for them. Other stars that have remained at the side include Brazil’s twenty-minute World Cup hero Grafite, Andrea Barzagli (incidentally also formerly of Palermo), and one of the league’s most talented shot-stoppers in Diego Benaglio. Keep an eye out for this side, they may just be nicking Bayern’s crown next May.
Bayern Munich themselves have had a relatively quiet summer. Much of the transfer limelight has been hogged by Wolfsburg, and as you will soon find out, FC Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg SV, with the summer proving to be a period of consolidation for the Bavarian giants more than anything else. The likes of Arjen Robben, Mark van Bommel, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Müller had an incredible World Cup, leading their sides to the latter stages of the tournament, and it looks like they will remain at the side. One of the tournaments biggest flops, Franck Ribéry, has gone from prized possession and potential £50mil Real Madrid man to just ‘the Bayern Munich and France winger Franck Ribéry’, which will be quite a setback for his boisterous ego. He is no longer the star at this side, as the aforementioned names suggest.
One major concern the manager Louis van Gaal has failed to deal with is the issue of goalkeepers. Michael Rensing, who for so long was touted as the next Oliver Kahn, for club and country, never stepped out of the legend’s shadow, and has been released. Hans-Jörg Butt, as experienced as he is, isn’t as impressive as the league’s other goalkeepers (Neuer, Adler, Benaglio, Rost) and definitely isn’t a convincing asset for a team harbouring aspirations of living up to their previous-season promise. There have been, to the disappointment of the Bavarian supporters, no marquee signings this summer, though time is still there for one late transfer-market dash. Otherwise, we still wait for Mario Gomez to prove his worth – he signed for something like £28mil last year and has only bagged around ten league goals for Bayern, in 29 starts. Miroslav Klose also had a very good World Cup, equalling Gerd Müller’s record of 14 career tournament goals.
On a final note, Toni Kroos has returned from a brilliant loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen, and will add more offensive dynamism to the side, while at the back, we can expect Holger Badstuber to continue improving this season. Expectations are always high at such an exalted club, but as far as squad renovations go, Bayern Munich have been lagging behind their rivals.
The other sides will not receive as much love in this article, but should not be written off in any way.
Schalke have signed the little-known Spanish forward Raul Gonzalez but have lost Kevin Kuranyi, Heiko Westermann, Marcelo Bordon and Rafinha while Hamburg have strengthened their side with the signings of Heiko Westermann and Gojko Kacar to make up for the loss of Jerome Boateng, who joined the Manchester City revolution this summer. Werder Bremen will be hurting from the loss of Mesut Özil, but have signed the young Austrian starlet Marko Arnautović from FC Twente. In similar vein to Bremen, Stuttgart will have to deal with the departure of Sami Khedira, but have signed Cristian Molinaro and Philippe Degen from Juventus and Liverpool respectively, to boost their defences. Borussia Dortmund will be relying heavily on the development of Mats Hummels and Neven Subotić, and have signed Polish goal machine Robert Lewandowski and also have Lucas Barrios, Nuri Sahin and Mohamed Zidan in their ranks. Finally, Bayer Leverkusen: the side that promises so much and never quite fulfils it. Their only significant transfer dealing has seen Michael Ballack rejoin the club after leaving eight years ago, while a lot will be expected from the likes of Patrick Helmes, Eren Derdiyok, Sami Hyypia and Stefan Kießling.
And finally, here are some famous last words/crystal-ball predictions:
Champions: VfL Wolfsburg
Runners up: Bayern Munich
3rd to 6th: Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg SV, FC Schalke and Werder Bremen
Youngters? Holger Badstuber, Toni Kroos, Marko Marin, Thomas Müller, Neven Subotić, Nuri Sahin… the usual suspects
We hope you enjoy what promises to be a very entertaining Bundesliga season, with a title challenge that doesn’t bore us right until it’s end.
Leave us with your predictions for the campaign?
