Christoph - writer and editor

All Posts by Christoph

Excuses and Accusations: England vs Germany 1954

“Sport and time can be great healers”, is how Geoffrey Green – somewhat naively – closed his pre-match report in The Times ahead of the first encounter between England and Germany in December 1954. The question that many asked themselves was whether or not the English would show their emotions at a football match. Memories…

No Backbone

Standards I’d kept, in the back of my mind Are now just rules to break from time to time As the singer of The Lemonheads, Evan Dando possesses the magic of turning scenes taken from our daily lives into little pop gems. This applies to the song “No Backbone,” quoted above. We have all been…

A Foreigner as England Manager? Never!

The news that Thomas Tuchel will be the England manager come January 1, 2025, has caused a wave of comments that are bordering on the ludicrous, while others at least take into consideration the state of international football. This is a first and brief thought about the fact that a German will be in charge…

when playing is working too much

Are players playing too much? According to their trade union FifPro, yes. However, there are many layers to this claim and a few points shall be highlighted here. how much is too much? There were some interesting headlines coming from football recently. Mostly, they were about the workload for players signed at top clubs. In…

Upon reading the names of two Arsenal players, a word play was the order of the day.

With Jesus leading the charge and Heaven rising behind him, Arsenal’s future looks truly divine.

More “WE”, Less “I”

Football is often overburdened with social problems that are not easily solved even in society. Football is a mirror of society and as such works as a prism for the workings of the people.

In a rare moment of fragility, the German national coach Julian Nagelsmann had to fight back his tears after his team lost to Spain in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Euros. It was a little sentence delivered almost at the end of his press conference that reverberated through the night.

He spoke of society in need of more “We” moments than “I”. Yet, way more remarkable was his statement that we need to think more solution oriented than being focused too much on problems. This is a very important point as we, as society, simply need to replace one word with another: not crisis but task for which there is a solution.

Berne, July 4, 1954 – Notes on a perceived Miracle

‘Rahn should shoot from the background. Rahn shoots! Goal! Goal! Goal!’ These words spoken by radio commentator Herbert Zimmermann in the heat of the moment when Helmut Rahn had scored Germany’s third goal during the World Cup final 1954 in Berne are familiar to many Germans and have become cultural icons like Kenneth Wolstenholme’s words…

riding through the storm

Who marches so late through the night dark and drear? It’s Germany’s team, for Euro 2024 they steer. Moritz von Schwind, Erlkönig, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The quote above originates from Johan Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem “Erlkönig”. These two lines are the opening lines of the poem. They are quite fitting to describe Germany’s…

Clouds over Germany

While for many the European Championships will be a festival of football, other thoughts need to be considered, too. Many people will remember the 2006 men’s World Cup held in Germany. It was a tournament accompanied by five weeks of wonderful weather and an atmosphere that surprised hosts and visitors alike. Though the end was…

Dortmund is arming up

The news broke on Tuesday but the deal was signed before, for sure: the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will be one of Dortmund’s sponsors for the following next three years. Even before the Champions League Final at Wembley against Real Madrid, the logo of the company will be visible on advertisement hoardings. While there is…