It has become some kind of an established pattern to batter East German clubs for their violent support, most notably this season Dynamo Dresden for the events before, during and after their cup match against Borussia Dortmund on October 25 at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund. Even worse, it has become a pattern not just to condemn the clubs but also to punish them for a few idiots. Read more →
Europa League: PSG vs. SK Slovan Bratislava
The first leg of this tie a fortnight ago ended 0-0 and was a reminder for the Parisians that the league and European competition are two different pair of shoes. Bratislava did not allow Paris to find any rhythm nor to play their game. And the result was a hard fought draw during which Tien
The Dark Side Of The Game
Ralf Rangnick, one of the best managers the game has produced in Germany in the last decade retired from his position at Schalke 04 claiming he needs a break as feels burned out. He has said something similar in March after he left Hoffenheim, only to go directly to Schalke where a manager was needed after Felix Magath’s demise. Now Rangnick had to take a break in order to stay healthy and to continue his work in football once he is fit again. Read more →
The weakest Link
Football managers are sacked far too quickly these days as owners become increasingly impatient if their club doesn’t top the table after a third of the season of even less. This is ridiculous to say the least. The latest example of owners getting itchy feet was Monday at Leicester City when the Thailand based owners sacked Sven-G
Yugoslavia: The Sum of its Parts
The former Yugoslavia is said to be one of the best national teams that have ever existed around the late 1980s and early 1990s in Eastern European football. Yet, the only witness to that is the triumph of Red Star Belgrade 1991 in the European Cup Final. This will be an attempt to look at the available talent playing for the countries that have made up the former Yugoslavia and to postulate their position in world football today. This, however will be a difficult task. Read more →
Elite Plans gone wrong or English football's delusion
It is with seen with astonishment that many Football League clubs in England have agreed to the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) yesterday, which would leave many if not all clubs in League One and Two with less money for their talent if these youngsters are sold on and the whole Academy system is put in serious doubt as the smaller clubs will get significantly less remuneration for their efforts. Read more →
The Hillsborough Files made public: at last
This week is going down in history as the week when the British Parliament finally decided to release all papers in connection with the Hillsborough stadium disaster on 15 April 1989 when 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death. What initially looked like crowd troubles turned out to be a chain of bad decision making by the police on the day. Read more →
Toni Kroos – last of the Mohicans?
It appears that after Michael Ballack has been the last player from East Germany playing for the German national team and who also held the captain’s arm band and for a number of years has been Germany’s best player.Today Toni Kroos is the only one with roots in the former GDR. There used to be a number of players who have their roots in East Germany. Names like Ulf Kirsten, Matthias Sammer, Steffen Freund and even Uwe R
The CAN 2012: Without The Big Guns
By looking at the teams that have qualified for the African Cup of Nations 2012 the observer will notice some of the perceived bigger names on the sheet for the qualified teams for next year’s competition are missing. Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon will NOT feature but instead there will be the likes of Botswana, Mali, Sudan and Libya playing for the highest African football honours. From the so-called established teams there are ‘only’ C
The Leipzig Football Lab
Leipzig, city of heroes it is often referred to. The credit is due and well deserved as the city was the cradle from which the East German ‘velvet revolution’ began and spread across the GDR in 1989. In football however, the city resembles a working station, a lab, which experiments with football and produces new football clubs every other year it appears.