Translated material
Bayern are out
Superclub loses points and is looking for a coach
It looks like Germany will have a new champion. The current owner of the title, Bayern Munich, almost voluntarily surrenders his powers. After the winter break, the Bavarians won only one meeting out of five - against a very frail Arminia and are now 12 points behind leader Schalke.Changes on the coaching bridge have not yet affected the performance of the most titled club in the country. Both under Felix Magath and under Ottmar Hitzfeld, the Munich players play extremely poorly. Perhaps the reshuffle slightly stroked the ego of Hitzfeld, the most successful coach in Bayern's recent history, since he was not so long ago fired in favor of Magath's arrival. But Hitzfeld is not going to stay in Munich, he will work until the end of the season - that’s all. Therefore, the question of a successor is very relevant for the German football community.
Its long-time captain Lothar Matthäus, who now helps Giovanni Trapattoni at the Austrian Red Bull, has already expressed a desire to work for Bayern. But Matthäus' track record as a coach is somehow unimpressive, and Bayern management must take a serious risk in order to call on the former captain. It’s somehow hard to believe in such an outcome of events, in any way, but the rule of the Bavarians was not noticed in adventurism.
Perhaps the optimal candidate for the position of Bayern coach is another famous football player, Matthaus' famous opponent, Jurgen Klinsmann. But the former Bundestim coach has already signed a contract with the Australian national team and is unlikely to leave the Green Continent for the sake of reforming Bayern. Therefore, guessing the name of the new flagship coach now is an extremely difficult task. But I’ll still take a risk and assume that it will be one of the most productive defenders in history, Klaus Augenthaler, who is now very successfully working with Wolfsburg. Option number two is a hundred-kilogram Hans Mayer, coaching another Bavarian club, Nuremberg, who is stepping on the heels of his fellow countrymen from Bayern. If Mayer moves to Munich, it is logical to assume that Ivan Saenko will follow him. The Russian legionnaire is having an excellent season and is probably being considered by the selectors of clubs richer than Nuremberg.
The championship title, dropped by Bayern, is now lying in the dust. Who will pick him up? It seemed that who, if not Werder, would be the first if the Bavarians were out of work. But the Bremen “musicians” suddenly fell into a hole - three defeats in a row and a seven-point gap from Schalke. Then maybe Schalke, who recently placed the Gazprom logo on their jerseys? There seems to be every reason for this. The squad is powerful, and Lincoln and Kevin Kuranyi have made peace with Mirko Slomka, the latter scores regularly. And Shlomka turned out to be a good coach, and not a character from jokes, as they thought until recently. But Schalke has a bad habit - dizziness from success. Over the past five years, the Gelsenkirchen team has given Bayern two championship titles. This was before Shlomka, some readers will object. We agree. But alarming symptoms of the disease appeared on Saturday. Schalke confidently beat Wolfsburg away - 2:0, but, apparently, the information from Bremen lulled Gazprom's team, and they allowed the Wolves to equalize the score. A six-point lead over Stuttgart and seven over Werder does not at all guarantee Schalke the championship title, their first since 1958.
Who is capable of interfering with Gazprom's partners? It is worth taking a closer look at Stuttgart, which has an amazing ability to regenerate. Having lost, together with Felix Magath, all their stars except Hildebrand - Lam, Kuranyi, Gleb, Hinkel, Bordon, the southerners quickly created a new team, no less attractive, playing attacking, spirited football. Mario Gomez took on the role of leader, scoring in every match. Most recently, the young Spaniard made his debut in the German national team, where he also did not leave the field without scoring a goal.
Since the match in Bremen was mentioned, it’s worth dwelling on. Hamburg, which finds itself in the relegation zone, really wants to get out of it - after all, it is the only club that has participated in all Bundesliga championships. There are already signs of recovery: Werder were outplayed and Rafael van der Vaart's goals did not look random. It is clear that new coach Hub Stevens is trying to correct the mistakes of his predecessor Thomas Dohl, and something is already happening. The invitation of the former goalkeeper of the German national team Frank Rost was very smart, and Ivica Olic will certainly play out. And the fact that there are no hopeless outsiders in the Bundesliga is clearly demonstrated by the examples of Hannover and Mainz, who managed to get out of the abyss and move away from its edge.
The Bundesliga will lose a very prominent figure in the summer. Ukrainian national team striker Andrei Voronin, after many years of playing in Germany, decided to move to England, and nowhere, but to Liverpool itself. A somewhat unexpected transition. But, knowing the love of the Reds coach Rafael Benitez for various surprises, one should hardly be surprised at the invitation of the Odessa native to the Premier League.
Results of the 22nd round: Eintracht - Stuttgart - 0:4, Wolfsburg - Schalke 04 - 2:2, Werder - Hamburg - 0:2, "Alemannia" - "Bayern" - 1:0, "Borussia" (Dortmund) - "Borussia" (Mönchengladbach) - 1:0, "Hertha" - "Mainz" - 1:2, "Bayer" "-"Hannover" - 0:1, "Arminia" - "Bochum" - 1:3, "Nuremberg" - "Energi" - 1:0. Leading: Schalke 04 - 49 points, Stuttgart - 44, Werder - 42, Bayern - 37