Dortmund`s Transfer Drama

It is another dirty chapter in this year’s summer transfer period. The fight between Ousmane Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with Borussia Dortmund goes into the next round. Both players wish to leave the club this summer, Dortmund however insists on their current contract with both players.

By Benedict Mansuet Steininger.

The 20 year old Ousmane Dembele, currently playing for Dortmund arrived exactly one year ago at the Bundesliga club.  Evolving to one of the best players in the last season, Dembele received an offer by the FC Barcelona who are currently seeking a replacement for the Brazilian winger Neymar, who left towards Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona handed in a 130 million bid for Dembele including additional payments in the coming years. Dortmund however refuses the offer wanting at least 130 million euros in advance with additional payments raising the price to at least 150 million euros.

As a result to that, tensions broke out between Borussia Dortmund and the French, leading to Dembele not attending the training unexcused before the important DFB-Pokal match. Dortmund then reacted by suspending Dembele from the training. The French national player however seems sincerely upset after witnessing this decision. Instead of attending single training, Dembele completely refuses to visit Dortmund’s training ground. Wether Dembele will be able to leave Dortmund towards the Catalan city is still unsure as the French winger still has a contract until 2021.

Aubameyang however, sustains in a problematic situation since the last transfer period in which he has been linked to many different clubs including various teams out of the Chinese Super League. This time however, the Gabonese striker has been connected once again to the newly rich club AC Milan. In a video on a social media platform, Aubameyang states once more his transfer wishes, stating “he wants to leave off to his former club which although takes its time to hand in an official offer”. Even though Aubameyang still attends training and performs well in games, Manager Hans-Joachim Watzke won’t be amused by another opened-up chapter of the Aubameyang transfer drama. The Gabonese started his career at AC Milan in Italy in which he had to go through a hard time, being loaned out numerous of times before finding his breakthrough at Saint-Etienne and then moving to Dortmund.

Wether both players will leave Dortmund this summer lies in the stars as Dembele just arrived last season whilst Aubameyang exceeded his by the club given transfer time. Dortmund clearly hangs on to both players as they are a substantial part of their offensive axes. However in order to find replacements the Borussia will have to react quickly.

Madrid wins first title of the season

In yesterday´s warm summer night of Skopje, it has been Sergio Ramos who lifted the Supercup trophy for Real Madrid into the sky after winning over Manchester United with 2.1.

An article by Benedict Mansuet Steininger.

Last year´s Champions League winner Real Madrid won the most recent European super cup game, which is held every year between the winner of the Champions League and the winner of the Euro League in this case, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

After an extraordinarily first half by Madrid and a seemingly meaningless effort by United, Madrid took the 1:0 lead into the second half, with the goal of Casemiro in the 24th minute. The goal emerged out of black out inside Uniteds defense, in which both centre backs Lindelöf and Smalling seemed lost as the Brazilian midfielder Casemiro took the lead.

The second half continued from where the first half had ended. Madrid took the initiative and created more chances, until the 52nd minute, in which Isco who replaced Cristiano Ronaldo on the left side adequately scored and extended the lead to two goals over Manchester United. However with Madrid´s second goal of the game, it has been the Red Devils who took on the control of the game, and then scoring in the 62nd minute after a goal by the newest Belgian acquisition Romelu Lukaku. The game started to increase its heat fitting the very hot conditions in which both teams had to work in.

The minutes went by and both teams were trying hard, but weren’t capable of scoring again, only the substitute for Karim Benzema ( Cristiano Ronaldo) resulted in an uproar by the fans, in which many could not resist taking pictures of and sending those, resulting in a breakdown of the suburban internet connection.

Altogether however, it has been a successful night, winning their first title of this season and advancing Real Madrid to the FIFA World Cup of associations in this years winter. In this tournament Madrid will play against other continental winners around the globe. whether Madrid however will be able to win their second consecutive title of this season will be written in the stars when they will have to play against the FC Barcelona in two different games.

 

The Neymar-Deal

Another season passed by just a few months ago, opening the transfer period of this summer. A period filled with rumours and speculations around the globe. Although, there has been one specific transfer this year which did not only broke various records, but also shocked and amazed fans around the world. The Neymar-Deal between the FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. 222 million Euros or roughly 200 million Pounds; a transfer-fee questioning the world of football and doubting the integrity of the financial fair play introduced by the UEFA.

 

By Benedict Mansuet Steininger.

 

Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, or simply Neymar, accepted last Friday the transfer offer from Paris Saint-Germain, making him one of the best paid players around the globe, and the most expensive professional football player in the history of football with a delicate price of only 222 million Euros.

Neymar himself, who was born in Sao Paulo (Brazil), moved around four years ago from Santos FC to the FC Barcelona, costing already more than 80 million euros.

The Brazilian noble technician, fascinated team members and fans already at an early stage, in his first season playing for Barcelona. He became until recently one of the teams most important players with players such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

 

Since the beginning of this transfer period on the 1^st of June however, rumours and speculations were increasing, “Neymar seeks a new adventure”, linking him together with PSG (Paris Saint-Germain), who are known for their well-paid environment.

As time went by rumours became truth and intense reality, Neymar accepted the offer and followed like many other players nowadays the tempting call of money, whilst leaving many questions out on the open. These questions also include the consequences for Neymar´s present employer, as the UEFA´s financial fair play department will certainly have a close look upon PSG´s newest acquisition.

 

If the UEFA however, will enforce any punishments is still unknown. The Union of European Football Associations, is well-known for its rather mild interpretation of a righteous and transparent transfer system. Consequences therefore, might only occur for Neymar´s current teammates.

By paying over 200 million for only one player, Paris will have to sell one of their current players. Not only in order to get some of the invested money back, but also in order to make some space for the Brazilian. Speculations of who will have to leave PSG include the German Julian Draxler. The still young player who is mostly situated in the left midfield, might leave Paris for an Italian Club of the Serie A.

 

As the transfer-window is still opened up until the 31^st of August Paris might become active once again in form of another transfer. Whether this on the other hand, will be a new signing or will include selling a player out of their rooster is still written in the stars.

Certain is meanwhile the fact, that Neymar da Silva Santos Junior is now the most expensive player in the History of football.

 

Another Saturday passed

20 goals in only six matches on one day. A statistic showing how entertaining a Saturday evening in the Bundesliga can become. Two out of those six games included very important derbys and the other four games showed how narrow the fight against relegation could turn out.

An article by Benedict Mansuet Steininger.

Fighting to survive:

Currently, it’s a fight between six different teams. Ingolstadt, had yet an incredible week, hoping to get another three points tomorrow against Darmstadt, who already need 14 points towards a relegation spot. Also, Augsburg has the possibility to close the gap to Mainz, Wolfsburg and Hamburg with a win over Hertha Berlin. On the other hand, there is also the HSV. With their today’s 2:1 victory over the TSG Hoffenheim, they gathered three vital points against the descent into the 2. Bundesliga and jumped on position 13, which sounds very promising but due to only four points difference; Hamburg still has to deliver in the upcoming weeks. With Wolfsburg and Mainz, there are two more teams trying to fight against relegation. Chances however seem slim and tiny after both teams lost today. Wolfsburg, with a desolate performance against Schalke 04 loosing 4:1. Coach Jonker commentated the performance of his team with the word “abysmal”. Mainz 05 Coach Martin Schmidt, has to fear loosing his Job. After loosing another game, Mainz entered a fight with Augsburg and Ingolstadt, fighting over every point there is, in order to play another season in Germany’s highest football league. Even Leverkusen has to realise their rather controversial position. With only 5 points to the Euro League Leverkusen still has a slight chance to reach one of the first six places in the league. However there are also only six points until they could reach the relegation spot. Leverkusen therefor simply has to wake up and accept the rather delicate situation they have to face; the high chance of delegation.

The race for Europe:

Currently, there are seven different teams directly involved in the race for Germany’s representation in the Europa League next year. With Freiburg, Berlin, Cologne, Gladbach, Frankfurt, Schalke and Bremen there are seven different teams with only five points difference. It is currently extremely close, and the question, who will be able to reach these haunted positions, is by far more present than ever before in this season. All of those teams have a lot of potential and qualities. However Hertha has to show tomorrow what they can if they want to keep up their four points lead, lately they found themselves loosing against Hoffenheim and Gladbach (3:1 and 1:0). Gladbach however seems to have the highest chances to get one of those positions. After winning against two direct opponents in the fight for Europe and drawing against a third one, the odds seem higher then ever this year. Also Bremen has recently gained a positive trend over the last eight games, without loosing one match. It will be interesting to see how Bremens next match against the HSV will turn out when the two northern lights of the German Bundesliga will play against each other in a derby. Although Cologne is still in the pole position for one of the two available Euro League places, Cologne still has to fit for their position, as there are still five more teams hoping to get to that position. Wether Schalke will use their chance however to play international next season is still to be found out as they Weill have to proove it to themselves and to their opponents that Schalke is still fighting to win the race.

Directly into the Champions league or does it have to be the qualification

A question which the FC Bazern Munich and probably even RB Leipzig do not have to ask themselves. After both teams won their matches meanwhile Hoffenheim and Dortmund lost theirs Leipzig and Munich sustain their right to play in the champions league next season without qualification. With seven points difference to Hoffenheim, has Leipzig after Munich the best chances to qualify for the next season. It is now between Dortmund who tragically lost today against Bayern and Hoffenheim to qualify directly for the champions league next season. Both teams are fighting over the treasured 3rd place. The looser has to qualify in the summer.

Whatever will happen in the upcoming weeks, will define the outcome of all the current questions. Who will descent into the second league Who will play in the Euro League and Who will have to qualify for the champions league this summer. There are still many exciting weeks ahead of us so we will have to wait and see what other surprises will lie ahead of us.

Sevilla marches through La Liga

Sevilla has recently, a lot to laugh about. After just ten matches in Spain’s first devision; the FC Sevilla is now to be found on the second place right behind Real Madrid and in front of the FC Barcelona, although both will have to play this weekend and show what they are cape able of against an uprising force with Sevilla.

By Benedict Mansuet Steininger.

Four matches in a row without loosing. Only one loss in this current La Liga season against Bilbao in an away fixture. Statistics which enlighten every FC Sevilla fan´s heart. It is basically a truly wonderful time to be a Sevilla fan. After Unai Emery (the previous coach) leaving off to Paris Saint-Germain FC Sevilla supporters were scared of how this years season will turn out. Enforced by loosing in the UEFA Super Cup, against current rival for the first place Real Madrid and loosing both games against the FC Barcelona in Spain´s Supercopa Sevilla fans were further worried. Furthermore Sevilla had starting difficulties in their first game in the league against Espanyol Barcelona in which they won only 6:4.

Sevilla however, was able to find themselves back on track by being unbeatable in the next four games. Even the only loss in this season against Bilbao, was not able to worry Sevilla, as they were winning their next three games in a row, including winning against the seemingly superior Atletico Madrid. In which they used 59% of ball possession, their left offensive side and long shots (50% of all shots) in order to win the game. However only Steven N´zonzi was able to score after a counter attack including a strong mistake by Diego Godin.

An other strong side of Sevilla is their home strength. In five home games, Sevilla won in all five of them, leading to an unbelievable home strength. The only real weakness, which is to be found in Sevilla is their away statistic. Yet Sevilla was able to only win one of their five away matches, with a narrow 2:3 win against ascender Leganes.

Overall however, supporters of the FC Sevilla can be fairly happy with their current season, in which they seem to attach neatly to the previous successes in Spain´s first division. Surely the season has just started, but Sevilla is certainly one of the big teams in Spain at least for this season, and a clear favorite for a Champions league ticket in the next season, as long as they continue to play well at home whilst working on their away weakness.

50 shades of Roberto Firmino

Getting settled in the Premier League, can become problematic as seen with Bastian Schweinsteiger who is simply not cape able of fitting into Mourinho’s Manchester United and goes through various problems. Firmino on the other hand became one of Liverpool’s most important midfielders; by reaching a whole new level which even his statistics reflect.

Firmino, the 25 year old Brazilian, plays for Liverpool since summer 2015, in which the reds invested around 35 Million £ on him. A number which is certainly high, although he seems to be worth every single pound. For Liverpool, Roberto mainly plays as second striker, although he can also vary his positions and is often found to play on the wings. additionally Firmino is even able to play the role of the center attacking midfielder. His current marked value is estimated to be found nearby the 30 million pound mark. In just one year, Firmino increased his player value by 10 million, which can be seen as a substantial growth within just one year.

Within just seven matches in the current season, Firmino scored three goals. This number might be thought to be low, however Firmino has many other abilities which makes him a big part of Liverpools current success in this season. Most certainly his passing abilities are incredible. with 50.1 average passes per game and an unbelievable 79.2% of success rate, Firmino is to be seen as a passing machine. His passes do not only consist of simple passes. his passes are mainly reflecting his abilities, as his strengths in his passing are consisting mainly of key passes and passes through the opponents defense. this brings us to his next statistic. Although he has no assist yet, this wont take a long time as he already gave three key passes.

A lot of weaknesses are not to be spotted, as he looses the ball only about one time per match which is certainly a fairly low number, when comparing to other players in the league on his position. Overall Juergen Klopp can be very happy with his Brazilian hanging-striker as he contributed a lot towards the success of the team of the Anfield Road, and most certainly not only gives his best in every match, however also gives his personal note to the matches he plays in.

 

Insanity in Europes transfer market

Already only two football players cost together nearly 200 million pound an extraordinary amount. The worst part: this drama doesn’t seem to end.

An article by Benedict Mansuet Steininger

In this years transfer period, we have already seen transfers which are far beyond what many call “normality”. The best examples for these insane numbers are Paul Pogba and Gonzalo Higuain. Both previously playing in Italy costed together about 200 million pound. A number which has never been as high as it became in this season. This however seems to be only a small number in regard to the many more millions which have been spend in this period. Currently it is clear that our favorite football teams have never spend that much money before on new players. Statistics, show that this however wont end at the current level, as when those trends continue it wont take many more years until we have reached the 200 million mark for just one footballer. A number which is feared by many ex footballers, who claim that those amounts are “outrages”.

This however seems to be due to the fact that the professional football sport itself withers, whilst the monetary aspect grows exponentially. As to be seen by the many billions which are brought into the English premier league through TV rights and new owners from Asia, bringing release clauses, wages and of course transfer fees to an abnormal amount. Furthermore meanwhile, the Premier League earns more and more money, other leagues like the Bundesliga or the Seria A seem to look helpless when compared to the Premier league. As professional players are increasingly looking to switch teams in order to play in the Premier League for various reasons. First of all, due to density of high quality players makes it fairly interesting for football players to play in England. Secondly higher wages and standards of living attract more players to switch leagues.

Other leagues are forced to buy young players, educate them, and sell them with high profits, as to be seen by the transfer of Granit Xhaka from Borussia Moenchengladbach to the FC Arsenal or Shinji Kagawa and Nuri Sahin a few years ago. Whether this will be successful in the long term is discussable as the Bundesliga won’t be able to improve their attractivity for other countries in the next years, while the Premier League could be able to keep their quality if the money will keep on flowing into English offices. But how long will this be able to last? And an other important question to ask wether this will be the right way to continue, as the amount of money spend in this summer has never been as high as it is now. Over 1.000.000.000 Euros, were spent only in England’s first division. Furthermore, 13 teams of the English premier League were setting new records, whilst Manchester City and Manchester United spend together over 300 Million Euros.

Overall there is a lot to expect in the upcoming years regarding new transfer coups rising into heights above the imagination of many experts. Questions, like will this ever end? Or are we ever going back to the normal? And many others are still unable to be answered as we are completely unsure whether trends like that are continuing in those many years ahead of us. Although there is one thing clear. If TV contracts with individual football Leagues continue to rise, teams are able to spend even more money on players they really want, which could lead to transfer fees above the 200 Million euros.

The magical bond between Griezmann and Simeone, will it ever break?

Spain is currently able to see one of the most exciting and purest bonds in football to be seen between a coach and his players. Since 2014 plays Griezmann for the “roji blancos” under the Argentinean coach Diego Simeone. Within these two years, Griezmann evolved through and with Simeone to one of the best players in Europe.

An article by Benedict Mansuet Steininger.

Griezmann, born in Macon in France became in the recent years one of the most important players for Atletico Madrid and one of the main reasons why Atletico reached the final of last years Champions League. He already started his career in Sociedad after many clubs in France have said that he does not have enough athletic abilities to become a professional footballer. However, just after four years in Sociedad, he moved to Spain’s capital city Madrid. Where Diego Simeone already had an idea of how much talent hides inside him. However, even Simeone might not have seen how important and how good Griezmann might become after just two years in Spain’s capital.

Nevertheless, whilst playing only two years in Madrid Antoine Griezmann and Diego Simeone formed a relationship, which needs many years for others to evolve. This results now in the fact that, as long as Diego Simeone stays in Madrid Griezmann definitely won’t leave for any other club. Whether this promise however will continue to exist lies in the stars, as many rumour suggest that after loosing two finals in the champions league against city rival Real Madrid, Simeone tries to find himself a new challenge. This challenge might be his previous love Inter Milan, for whom he used to play for as a professional for many years. Furthermore, the fact that Simeone did not renew his contract suggests that he might leave after this season.

Although these are just rumours, one thing is clear. That when Simeone leaves Atletico Madrid so will Griezmann. This will be due to numerous of reasons. First of all Griezmann clearly stated that he will leave Atletico as soon as Simeone leaves. Secondly many teams around Europe seem to have a lot of interest in the French superstar. Apparently, he is the first name on Mourinhos wishlist for the upcoming summer. An offer which Griezmann might even accept as he will not only be able to finally have chances to win more titles, he will also be able to play with the French midfield strategist Paul Pogba. Additionally he is even able to increase his weekly salary due to the high amount of money which lies at the Old Trafford. But not only Manchester Utd is interested in buying Griezmann, also the FC Chelsea would like to get Griezmann into the Premier League. There might be even the possibility to exchange Atleticos former player Diego Costa with Antoine.

Not matter whether Diego Simeone will leave the club or not, one thing is certain, that this magical bond between them both won’t be able to last forever as both certainly would like to give their career a little boost with taking upon new challenges.

Picture: http://images.prensa.com/deportes/Antoine-Griezmann-Atletico-Diego-Simeone_LPRIMA20151213_0098_30.jpg

Bundesliga Vorschau: FC Schlake 04 : FC Bayern München

Die Nationalmannschaftspause ist heute offiziell vorbei und die Bundesliga öffnet mal wieder ihre Tore. Dies geschieht mit einem wahren Knaller denn die Gelsenkirchener empfangen heute den Liga Primus FC Bayern.

Ein Artikel von Benedict Mansuet Steininger.

Die Liga begann vor genau zwei Wochen mit einem richtigen Eröffnungsknaller. Der FC Bayern fegte die Werderaner aus Bremen mit einem klaren 6:0 vom Platz. Heute beginnt der zweite Spieltag dieser noch sehr jungen Saison durch ein Spiel das mit viel Potential ausgestattet ist. Denn heute heißt der FC Schalke 04 den FC Bayern willkommen.

Ein Spiel, dass jetzt schon sehr viel über die Schalker verraten könnte. Denn nach der 1:0 Niederlage gegen die Frankfurter Eintracht gelang es den Schalkern jetzt schon unter Druck zu geraten. Dies aufgrund einer blutleeren Vorstellung die nur durch den nichtvorhandenen Aufwand, der Bremer am Tag davor überboten werden konnte. Dies beruhte auf die nicht vorhandenen Abwehrleistungen sowie die schwachen Offensivbemühungen der Schalker, die sich vom letztjährigen Relegationsteilnehmer gegen die Wand spielen ließen.

Dies hat nun auch einen Einfluss auf die Startelf der Gelsenkirchener, die mit sechs Erneuerungen im Vergleich zur letzten Woche gegen die Bayern antreten wollen. Ob dies jedoch gegen die übermächtigen Bayern helfen wird bleibt nun noch offen. Jedoch auch die Münchener verändern sich in ihrer Startelf. Da Arturo Vidal erst am gestrigen Tage aus Südamerika ankam, übernimmt nun Bayerns Neuzugang Renato Sanches die offene Position im zentralen Mittelfeld. Dies ist dennoch auf keinen Fall eine Schwachstelle, da der 18- jährige mit Portugal in diesem Jahr den Titel des Europameisters an sich reißen konnte.

Es wird heute auf jedenfall ein sehr interessantes Spiel indem sich der FC Schalke 04 zu beweisen hat während die Münchener ihre Favoritenrolle gerecht werden könnten. Nichts desto trotz können Fans und Journalisten ein großes Fußballspektakel erwarten, das mit sehr vielen Torchancen und hoher spielerischer Attraktivität versehen sein könnte.

England’s Brexit out of the European cup

Since last week it is clear. The “great” Britain wants to leave the European Union. But just yesterday, England was defeated against a stronger and tactical better Iceland, which led to England’s worst case scenario, just like the vote for leaving the E.U.

Just as David Cameron was defeated by the British population, so as was Roy Hodgson by his own team and both happened through lack of knowledge. Just after the British population voted for leaving the E.U., British citizens were googling what the E.U. and Brexit actually means, which shows a lack of knowledge regarding whether it would be smarter to stay inside the E.U. or whether to leave it. This caused mass confusion and the least worthy currency since 1985. Meanwhile the lack of knowledge regarding England’s national team has nothing to do with leaving a vital European organisation. It has something to do with Europes most important tournament in football history. The European Cup. Just like the British referendum, England lacked of effort, strength and simply intelligence.

The lack of effort became clear for numerious of ways. Easy passes, were unable to be received through a minimum amount of motivation which caused England’s top eleven to move very little into the empty spaces, which forced Roy Hodgsons team to surrender their ball possession on many different occasions throughout the whole game. Furthermore, it became fairly clear that Wayne Rooney was unable to push his team forward in order to create more chances in order to tie the score in order to maintain the possibility of remaining in the tournament. Also the effort in Britains referendum is to be questioned as well. Not only that greatest Brexit associate Boris Johnson lacked of effort to tell the truth about the weekly payment to the E.U., he rather started a smeare campaign for voting to leave the E.U. causing people to be hidden from the truth and to be incited through a Bus telling nothing but lies.

Secondly, England’s strength is to be talked about as well. Meanwhile Iceland used their mentally and physically strength in order to win this game, England has not done so. Instead of playing with the well known british roughness in order to secure their lead after the penalty, England gave up all their strength and brought Iceland back into the game, conceding then two goals which led to the loss of the possibility to win this tournament for the first time in English football history. Also it needs to be asked why important politicians who were against the Brexit were not able to forget their differences and to look at the bigger picture. Britain. A country which heads with the E.U. not only to economic stability but became one of the most important countries in the European Union. This country however is now led by instability. A prime minister with no clear successor, a currency which seems to fluctuate even more than before, and a population which is as confused as it is uninformed in terms of the question should we really leave the E.U.?

Finally, intelligence has played an important role in loosing the previous match. With no spark and nearly no intelligent action whatsoever, England lost its battle against Iceland. Also, Hodgson is partially to be blamed. His exchange of Dier and Wilshere made things only worse, whilst Vardy and Rashford were kept on the sideline for too long, causing no real threat to Icelands defence. To some extent even Cameron is to be blamed, not challenging the truth of Johnsons and UKIP leader Farages smeare campaign.

Overall both the upcoming exit out of the E.U. and the exit in the European Cup could have been stopped if both politicians and football players would have showed more effort, strength and intelligence. Doing not so however as caused the problems both were trying to avoid. Now both Great Britain and the English football team need to get everything under control as quickly as possible or otherwise both have do deal with severe damages for their future.

Picture from: http://static.bz-berlin.de/data/uploads/2016/06/600d74f9d3b_1467090791-1024×576.jpg