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When people think of German youth academies, they instantly think of those at Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Granted, they may have produced current international players such as Mario Götze and Thomas Müller, but it’s Schalke who are often overlooked as one of the best for providing the German national team with players.

Manuel Neuer, Benedikt Höwedes, Julian Draxler and Mesut Ozil all came through the obscure Knappenschmiede (youth academy), whilst the quartet helped Joachim Löw guide Germany to their first ever World Cup triumph in 24 years.

Countless stars have passed through the Royal Blues’ Knappenschmiede – if you’re German that is – that includes current crop of players such as Max Meyer and Ralf Fährmann, whilst prodigy Leroy Sané recently joined Pep Guardiola’s revolution at Manchester City after impressing in the Champions League.

But just where did it all start for Schalke, and what’s their idea behind it all? Considering it’s far different from many renowned academies.

Youth teams have always been a key ingredient to teams in Germany. Be it at Borussia Mönchengladach with Marc-Andre ter Stegen or 1860 München with Lars Bender, Julian Weigl and Kevin Volland – who have both recently featured for the Germany national side.

Firstly, former Academy Chief Bodo Menze told UEFA.com in an interview that “the development of talent has always been an integral part of the club,” which sees the Bundesliga side boast one of the youngest average ages in the league.

Schalke’s Knappenschmiede proved to be so successful, that in 2014, former sporting director Horst Heldt revealed the representatives from Bayern Munich asked just how they do it after rebuilding their youth academy from scratch.

“We hired more fulltime coaches and more scouts for the academy. We even have fulltime assistant coaches for our youth teams now. Such a standard isn’t even available everywhere in the DFB,” said Heldt. “It is no coincidence that we were in the U19 final of the German championship last year (2013) and that we won it the year before.”

OPERATIONS

Under tutelage of the staff at the Knappenschmiede, the youth players’ – from U17s to U23s – first “professional” contact will be with a football, prior to anything else. Coaches at the club state that any player must enjoy their time on the pitch and so they regularly impose a technical style of play to their training sessions.

Ball control and basic techniques are first taught amongst the youngsters whilst they are also taught self-responsibility, self-confidence and team spirit – also receive high school education.

Individual strengths and weaknesses are closely monitored before players progress to the next stage which involves a great deal of fitness, in order to ensure they can give their all for 90 minutes.

The jump from U15 Regional League West to the U17 Bundesliga West is a huge leap for any athlete. Instead of technical, coaches now focus on the tactical aspect of football with the U17 players before progressing.

An area that German football does well is their U23 teams. This represents the final stage of training – which is also known as the “transition region” – whilst they’re allowed to gain experience in league format, where they come up against other semi-professional teams.

The opportunity to play in the U23 side allows players to prepare themselves at a professional level should they be called up to train with the first team, as players such as Sané– who duly impressed – have done in the past.

“Our objective has always been to bring through one or two players from each age group into the Bundesliga,” Menze explained. “We have teams from Under-9 to Under-23 and we select every team according to performance. The most important factors are to be fast, be good decision makers with technical skills and tactical skills but also with strong character and an identity with the club. That has continued with Draxler, Höwedes [and] Matip.”

From a young age, the Knappenschmiede ethos is etched into their minds, whilst the philosophies of the club are taught from the youngest age group, up until the U23 squad.

Not every footballer that comes through the youth academy is successful at the club. Kaan Ayhan – who made 30 league appearances for Schalke – failed to keep his place in the first team, which saw him loaned out to Eintracht Frankfurt, before signing for Fortuna Düsseldorf on a permanent basis.

In recent history, it’s Sané who has gained all the plaudits during his time at Schalke, in which he helped the club to a fifth place finish in the 2015/16 campaign, thus becoming a key member of a youthful setup last campaign.

Sane joined Schalke as an eight-year-old after a brief spell at neighbouring Bayer Leverkusen. Winning the U19 German championship, Sane earned his first professional contract with the Royal Blues.

His masterful displays in the league and Champions League – noticeably against Real Madrid –came with attention from Europe’s elite, which included Arsenal, Real Madrid and Liverpool. It was however Pep Guardiola who persuaded the youngster to join him at Manchester City in a £37 million fee.

Schalke’s golden generation, so to speak, might be over for the time being, with Max Meyer being their only notable youth player – that came through their system – to cement a place in the starting XI.

However, there’s plenty to come from Knappenschmiede. Schalke U17s – under the tutelage of Stephan Schmidt – currently sit top of the B-Junioren Bundesliga West table, six points ahead of their rivals, Borussia Dortmund.

With a plethora of talent on their books, Schalke already have eight players signed to contracts in their U17 squad. Ahmed Kutucu is certainly one player people need to keep an eye on. After 10 games for the U17 side, the German born forward has scored six goals, whilst he has also assisted six.

The technical ability that coaches at Schalke strive upon is certainly evident at this level. Okan Yilmaz – again another prodigy – has scored four goals in eight games whilst on a whole, Schalke U17s have found the net 27 times in 10 matches, winning eight, losing just one.

It’s clear that Schalke do boast one of the most impressive youth academies in European football. Perhaps even the world. Underappreciated by many outside of Germany, it’s evident that Bayern Munich want to replicate what their Bundesliga counterparts are doing at youth level.

For Schalke, there’s a sense of togetherness for anyone who comes through the Knappenschmiede. A close-knit group of players, management and coaches at Schalke really do believe in youth development, whilst they’re extremely motivated to providing the first team with as many stars as possible.

About the author- Daniel Pinder

Daniel is a yorkshire based sports journalist that specialise in German football. Having fallen in love with the country during the 2006 World cup thanks to the trio of Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger, he has visited six times in the past two seasons to watch Cologne. Daniel has also had work published on FourFourTwo, Deutsche Welle, Goal and Gazzetta World, whilst he aims to bring news and analysis from Germany to an English audience.

Twitter: @DanielJPinder

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They may be the most hated team in Germany for the way they were converted from humble fifth division SSV Markranstädt into big-spending RB Leipzig by their Red Bull owners – changing the colour of the kit and moving to a new purpose built stadium — but the Bundesliga newcomers could yet win a few people over if they continue to perform the way they are at the moment.

Fifth in the table with twelve points from six games is a fantastic effort for a newly promoted side. And behind RB Leipzig’s current form are a host of young stars.

Timo Werner

Timo Werner was signed this summer from relegated Stuttgart. The 20-year-old old striker was one of the few shining lights for Die Roten last season, scoring seven goals from 28-appearances. But more than his goals, it was Werner’s industry and work-rate that impressed most observers. Despite the fact that he was part of a weak side who were unable to avoid the drop, he showed a willingness to fight, displaying an impressive level of physical readiness for one so young.

And those characteristics have served him well at Leipzig so far this season, where he has starred as Die Bullen’s lone striker, scoring three goals from five Bundesliga appearances.

With his crouched style, Werner has a low centre of gravity despite standing a hair short of 6ft tall. He is well adept and spreading his arms wide and shielding the ball with a defender on his back – an important skill for a lone marksmen awaiting midfield runners.

Werner is also blessed with tremendous pace, and has already shown his ability to burst into the channels on counter-attacks, while his comfortability shooting off either foot means he is able to find the target from almost any angle.

With three goals in five appearances for the Germany under-21s, a senior national call-up is surely in the near future of the talented Stuttgart-born forward.

Marcel Sabitzer

Austrian international Marcel Sabitzer signed for RB Leipzig from Rapin Wien in the summer of 2014 but was immediately loaned to sister club Red Bull Salzburg.

The Graz-born 22-year-old made 33 appearances for the Austrian Red Bull outfit, scoring nine goals, before moving back to Leipzig for last season’s Bundesliga2 promotion-winning campaign.

Manager Ralph Hasenhüttl tends to deploy Sabitzer on the left or in a central attacking midfield role, and the versatile forward has struck up a strong understanding with his new team-mate Werner.

Sabitzer already has a goal and an assist to his name in the Bundesliga so far this season, and has proven himself undaunted by the step up in competition.

Oliver Burke

Scottish winger Oliver Burke has gotten a lot of media attention in his native Great Britain following his summer move to Leipzig from Nottingham Forrest. The 19-year-old elected to take on the challenge of playing in a new country, shunning offers from the Premier League, having come through the youth system at Forest.

Although not yet a regular starter, Burke has shown flashes of his immense potential in his cameo appearances so far this season, providing the match-winning assist against Borussia Dortmund at the Red Bull Arena, and notching his first goal in a recent 1-1 draw with KC Köln.

Read all about “Flying Scotsman Oliver Burke” in our Future Stars series.

At 6ft 2ins, Burke is tall for a player for his position, but his physical prowess only adds to his offensive arsenal. Fast, direct, and a gifted dribbler, the teenager appears destined for a bright future, however, Hasenhüttl has preached caution over the elevated expectations of Burke, as he believes the young Scot has a lot to learn tactically before he is considered the finished product.

Already a full international, Scotland fans are hopeful that Burke will one day have the kind of impact for the Tartan Army that Gareth Bale has for Wales.

Naby Keita

Guinean international midfielder Naby Keita joined RB Leipzig from Red Bull Salzburg for £12.75 million this summer. The 21-year-old has only started two Bundesliga games so far this season, but his potential has been evident, and Leipzig will be confident that, with time, he will repay the faith they showed in him with the large transfer fee.

Standing only 5ft 7ins tall, Keita cuts a diminutive figure in the centre of midfield, but his positional maturity and responsibility in possession make up for any physical shortcomings.

Keita came on as a late substitute to latch onto Burke’s low cross and fire home the winning goal against Dortmund on his debut for his new club. Although he got forward to great effect on that occasion, he is much more adept at sitting deep, controlling the tempo and breaking up opposition attacks.

Bernardo

Bernardo Fernandes da Silva Junior – better known simply as Bernardo – signed for Leipzig for £3.4 million from Red Bull Salzburg, whom he joined from another of their affiliated teams, Red Bull Brasil.

The 21-year-old Brazilian has spent the majority of his career as a midfielder, but has been utilised as a right-back so far this season, and has excelled in the position in his three Bundesliga appearances to date, wining of 1.7 aerial duels per game, and averaging a WhoScored.com rating of 7.11.

Bernardo is still some way off appearing on the radar of Brazilian national team coach Tite, but if he continues to impress in the Bundesliga, he could figure for the Selecão in the future.

About the author- Ryan Baldi

Ryan is a Midlands based freelance sports writer specialising in European football. He has been fascinated with the continental game ever since he was presented with his first football kit at the age of 7 whilst on holiday in Spain – a Barcelona shirt with ‘Romario 10’ on the back. A contributor to numerous footballing websites, Ryan has also covered martial arts for local and national print publications.

Twitter:  @RyanBaldiEFB

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When Oliver Burke transferred from Nottingham Forest to Red Bull Leipzig this summer for £13M, the 19-year-old became the most expensive Scottish footballer in history. The player who he replaced as the record signing, Matt Ritchie, believes that Scotland may have found their own version of Gareth Bale and that he can go on to replicate his success.

If you saw Burke away from the pitch or for the first time you would presume he was either a central defender or forward due to being over six feet tall and broad shouldered. In actual fact he is a wide attacker / winger who has excellent pace and is very skillful on the ball. This along with his technique and size is why Ritchie along with many others have compared him with the Welsh wizard.

His former teammate, Thomas Lam said: “He is a great talent and potentially a great player. He is a similar player to Gareth Bale. I do not want to say he is definitely going to be as good as him, but you can see the similarities there – he does scare the life out of opponents.”

The comparisons with Bale are no surprise to Scotland’s assistant manager, Mark McGhee, who said “The first time I saw him on the training pitch, I was licking my lips. There was something really special about him – his movement, his size, his ball control.”

These comparisons are understandable as the young Scottish winger has explosive pace, raw power and an eye for goal. This was evident after only a few games for Forest as Championship defences were struggling to cope with him as he became a regular in Dougie Freedman’s squad. This season under new manager, Philippe Montanier, he became a fixture in the starting line-up and started with a bang scoring four goals in five games.

Towards the end of the summer transfer window, Burke was being linked with the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool but it was Red Bull Leipzig that moved first and secured his signature.

“He’s exactly the sort of player we were looking for.” said  Red Bull Leipzig Sporting Director, Ralf Rangnick. “We’re delighted that we have managed to lure such a talented player away from England. He’s tall, incredibly quick. Outstanding. He’s got lots of promise for the future.”

Red Bull Leipzig were only founded in 2009. Since then they have risen through the German leagues with four promotions in seven seasons and now find themselves in the Bundesliga. This has all been possible due to the backing of Red Bull GmbH who have lofty ambitions to take the Saxony club to the Champions League.

The club have already signed several exciting prospects such as Naby Keita, Yussuf Poulsen, Timo Werner and Davie Selke. It is also the club where Joshua Kimmich made his first steps in German football. They have all been attracted to Saxony by Red Bull Leipzig’s philosophy to develop talent and play expansive attractive football.

Only time will tell whether Burke will develop into Scotland’s answer to Gareth Bale. However, he will be surrounded by like-minded young hungry players who are all looking to impress and push their careers forward under the guidance of Ralph Hasenhüttl. He is in the perfect environment to develop and also at a club who will give him a chance to play regularly.

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As the Bundesliga resumes for the 2016-17 campaign, talk has inevitably turned to the battle for supremacy between champions Bayern Munich and their nearest challengers, Borussia Dortmund.

Moreover, great intrigue surrounds the transfer business the two clubs have done with one another this summer. Bayern have snatched Dortmund’s captain and star defender Mats Hummels, while BVB have manufactured a Signal Iduna Park return for Mario Götze, who controversially left the club to join the Bavarians in 2013.

Dortmund have also signed reliable 25-year-old central midfielder Sebastian Rode from Bayern for around £10 million.

But aside from these headline grabbing deals, there has been some fantastic work done throughout the Bundesliga this transfer window, and here are the five new signings to keep an eye on as the new season commences.

Kevin Volland – Bayer Leverkusen

After four impressive seasons with Hoffenheim – in which he twice broke double figures for goals scored in a season for Die Kraichgauer – 24-year-old striker Kevin Volland has joined Bayer Leverkusen for €18 million.

The hefty fee has set a new club record for Leverkusen, so what are they getting for their money?

Volland is a strong and powerful striker with a tireless work ethic and a calm finesse in front of goal.

That work ethic will be key to fitting in at the BayArena, as manager Roger Schmidt demands that his team press their opposition relentlessly throughout 90 minutes.

A full international with six caps for Germany, Volland is yet to register a goal for Die Mannschaft. But the former 1860 Munich player’s pedigree was evident at under-21 level, where he netted 11 times in 22 games. He also demonstrated his leadership skills when captaining the German side at the 2015 Under-21 European Championship, where he finished as the second highest scorer and was named in the team of the tournament.

With his industry and creativity, Leverkusen fans will be hoping Volland turns out to be the perfect partner for Javier “Chicharito” Hernández.

Ousmane Dembélé – Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund have been extremely busy in the transfer market this summer; the loss of Hummels, Ilkay Gündoğan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been offset by the arrivals of Götze from Bayern, record signing André Schürrle from Wolfsburg and Marc Bartra from Barcelona.

In addition to the more experienced, ready-made incomings, BVB have also signed a raft of young players with huge future potential. The most exciting of which is French winger Ousmane Dembélé, who has been brought in from Rennes for £12.75 million.

Dembélé only made his senior debut for Rennes in November last year, but the teenager immediately became a key player for the Ligue 1 club, as he went on to net 12 goals and register five assists.

The 19-year-old is genuinely two-footed, and able to play on either wing or centrally as a number 10. With his blistering pace and bamboozling dribbling ability, Dembélé is widely regarded as one of the future stars of the world game. Dortmund’s capture of the youngster represents a real coup and, despite his tender years, he is capable of helping BVB close the gap on Bayern this season.

Breel Embolo – Schalke

Swiss forward Breel Embolo was linked strongly with moves to Manchester United and Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig earlier this summer. But, with a bid of €20 million plus add-ons, it was Schalke who secured the signature of the exciting Basel player.

Embolo featured heavily for Switzerland at Euro 2016, playing on the right-wing and demonstrating his pace, directness and impressive physicality. The 19-year-old is equally comfortable playing centrally as a striker, and possesses strong finishing skills and the eye for a pass of a much more experienced player.

Though still in his teens, Embolo has already racked up over 80 senior appearances for Basel, and has scored 30 goals for the Swiss club.

Embolo’s versatility will prove a useful asset for Schalke this season, where he will be expected to play on the right-wing following the loss of Leroy Sané to Manchester City, while also offering an alternative to Dutch veteran Klaas-Jan Huntelaar up front.

Renato Sanches – Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich have not made many moves this summer, with only two new players coming through the door at the Allianz Arena. The first, Mats Hummels, is very much one for the here and now, who will be expected to come straight in to the starting line-up and improve the team.

The other is one for the future, but whose impressive maturity could see him having a big impact much sooner than anticipated.

Renato Sanches has been signed from Benfica for €35 million plus a string off add-ons that could see the eventual cost sky-rocketing beyond the €60 million mark.

But the monumental fee could come to represent a bargain for Bayern if Sanches delivers on his immense early promise. Much like Dembélé, Sanches has less than one full season of senior football under his belt, but he has already played a key role in Benfica’s Portuguese title triumph, as well as his country’s first ever major trophy at Euro 2016.

Sanches, a central midfielder, is blessed with explosive pace over short distances, a rocket of a left foot, and is so positionally aware that it is hard to believe that he has only just turned 19. Although at his best in a box-to-box role, Sanches is also able to fill in out wide or as a dedicated defensive midfielder.

Sanches is set to develop into one of the best midfield players on the planet over the next few years, and at Bayern, under Carlo Ancelotti, there is no better place for him to grow.

Mario Gomez – Wolfsburg

Mario Gomez’s Bundesliga record is outstanding: 63 goals in 121 appearances over six seasons with Stuttgart – including a title win in 2007 – and 75 in 115 for Bayern Munich, with two league titles and a Champions League in four years.

But the veteran poacher struggled to find his best form upon joining Fiorentina for €20 million in 2013, scoring only seven Serie A goals in two seasons.

A loan spell in Turkey last season proved to be the tonic for restoring Gomez to his former glories, however, as he helped Besiktas to Super Lig success, becoming the league’s top scorer with 26 goals in the process.

Now, the man who was once the most expensive player in Bundesliga history after joining Bayern for €35 million in 2009, has moved back to Germany to join Wolfsburg in a deal worth around £6 million.

At 31, Gomez still has plenty of gas in the tank. And although he’ll never be the quickest or most dynamic striker around, the 68-cap Germany international still knows where the net is.

About the author – Ryan Baldi

Ryan is a Midlands based freelance sports writer specialising in European football. He has been fascinated with the continental game ever since he was presented with his first football kit at the age of 7 years old whilst on holiday in Spain – a Barcelona shirt with ‘Romario 10’ printed on the back. A contributor to numerous footballing websites, Ryan has also covered martial arts for local and national print publications.

Twitter:  @RyanBaldiEFB

 

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Milos-Pantovic

It has been a quarter of a century since a Serbian footballer last played for Bayern Munich.

It was in 1989 when former Yugoslav international Radmilo Mihajlovic moved from Dinamo Zagreb to West Germany where he signed for the Bavarian giants. Mihajlovic amassed 34 league appearances and scored 4 goals for Bayern Munich, before he was transferred to Schalke 04 a year later.

From Branko Oblak to Robert Kovac, Hasan Salihamidzic, Ivica Olic and most recently Mario Mandzukic, Bayern Munich have had their fair share of Balkan talent over the course of last thirty years.

It wasn’t until 2015, however, that Serbia have had their representative in the squad of Germany’s greatest football club.

Milos Pantovic was born in Munich in 1996 to parents from Arilje, a small town in Central Serbia and the 19-year-old forward was never too shy when it came to speaking proudly of his Serbian origin.

“I love Arilje. I use every moment of spare time to visit Serbia and my parents’ home town. I really enjoy every time I go there”, said Milos Pantovic.

This young Serbian starlet is a proper utility player, who can operate in a number of positions.

Naturally a right winger, the 19-year-old is often deployed as right midfielder and attacking midfielder, but can also successfully fill in the forward position.

Bayern Munich have invested a great deal in this player, who has been with the Bavarians since his tender age of nine, when he joined the Bayern Munich Junior Team.

Renowned for their committed and dedicated work with young players, Bayern Munich have seen plenty of talent coming through their ranks, but not as many as they would have liked it in most recent years. David Alaba is the latest academy pearl to overcome the challenges and succeed as professional footballer in this great club, and one of Guardiola’s main tasks in Bayern was to ensure that the club took a huge step towards asserting their dominance through youth levels.

Milos Pantovic, along with his teammate Joshua Kimmich, looks set to live up to the expectations following his impressive performances in Bayern’s reserve team this season. The total of 17 games in Regionalliga Bayern, five goals, two assists to his name and 956 minutes of action were more than enough to catch the eye of Pep Guardiola, whose call came as a just reward for this young man’s efforts.

“Guardiola is one of the best managers in the world. I am grateful that he recognized my hard work in the youth team”, enthused the youngster.

Pantovic’s excitement was obvious after he was granted his first minutes in Bundesliga, against Werder Bremen in October.

Young winger was introduced in the dying moments of the game, coming on for Arturo Vidal. He wasn’t expected to make an impression in little time he was granted from the Bayern boss, but he was meant to recognize the intention.

As an unlikely name to come up through the ranks and to prominence, Pantovic was thus given a clear message from Guardiola, who appreciates his dedication and commitment. Couple of minutes in the game against Werder and 90 minutes on the bench against Hertha Berlin last weekend will serve as the precious experience for this young lad, as the motivation to push him further on and make him an inspiration to young players around him upon his return to reserve team.

Much to surprise of the European public and football fans around the globe, one person was also astonished to see a Serbian name donning the Bayern shirt and coming on for great Arturo Vidal – the Serbian Under-21 coach Tomislav Sivic.

Funny, border-line embarrassing story.

Day after Pantovic’s season debut for Bayern, Serbia Under-21 national coach Tomislav Sivic publicly expressed his astonishment over finding out that there was a Serbian player in Bayern Munich.

“I was completely shocked to see a Serbian coming on for Bayern”, he said.

“I called the FA immediately and got some more information about him. I will watch him next week and then we will know if he could help us in the following qualifying games against Italy and Slovenia”, Sivic reported before the last international break, much to the amazement of the Serbian football community, which was, on its own part, also shocked to have a coach ignorant of this huge potential plying his trade in one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Luckily, Milos Pantovic is no stranger to the Serbian national team.

The Serbian FA keep a close watch on the lad, who was first introduced in the Under-16 set-up by Veljko Paunovic as the 12-year-old.

Despite being born in Germany, Pantovic had never had any doubts about his choices.

“My parents are from Serbia. Germany never contacted me, but even if they did Serbia is my first choice. I was first called to join the team and meet up with the national squad when I was 12, but later on no one called me for various reasons. Since 2007, however, the FA has been following my progress in Bayern”, he said earlier in November.

Tomislav Sivic kept his word and went to Germany to pick up on Milos Pantovic.

The talented striker was consequently handed his Serbia Under-21 debut on 17th November in a 2-0 loss at the hands of Slovenia away. Pantovic had been previously called by Serbia Under-19 coach Ivan Tomic for the international friendly against Croatia, but was not given a chance to feature.

However, there is no doubt that Bayern debut has put much limelight upon this youngster who is projected for a successful career.

Balkan raw talent and German work ethics are enough of the guarantees that he will succeed.

About the author – Miloš Markovic

Sports journalist from Serbia, Editor in Cheif at Sportske.net and contributor to FutbolgradLive. Worked with Inforstrada and FIFA covering Serbia’s international games during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

twitter: @milosemarkovicu

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It is testament to how good a season Borussia Dortmund are having that they sit just five points behind Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table, despite the Bavarians having won 11 of their opening 12 matches.

Bayern have been devastatingly brilliant so far, but there is a strong argument to be made that it is Dortmund who are currently Europe’s most entertaining team.

Sunday’s 3-2 victory over Schalke in the Revierderby took their top-flight goal haul for the campaign to 35, with a further 27 netted in eight Europa League encounters and nine in two DFB-Pokal clashes. They have scored in every single game they have played this term, with an average of 2.92 strikes per game in the Bundesliga and 3.23 in all competitions.

Clean sheets have been hard to come by of late – Dortmund have recorded just one shut-out since the 3-0 triumph over Bayer Leverkusen in mid-September – but that simply adds to the sense of fun. BVB’s intention is to outscore opponents, with defending a secondary concern.

Thomas Tuchel, hired as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement in the summer, has had a terrific start to his tenure at Signal Iduna Park. The objective before the season got under way was simply to return the club to the Champions League, something that Dortmund look well on course to do.

The victory over rivals Schalke at the weekend showcased exactly what the Black and Yellows are about.

Dortmund were excellent and really should have won by a greater margin, with Schalke’s two goals – both converted by Klaas Jan-Huntelaar on the counter-attack after mistakes from Mats Hummels and Sokratis Papastathopoulos – coming in isolation from the general pattern of the game.

Although Tuchel’s charges were forced to hang on for the final 10 minutes, they dominated for the vast majority of the match. Hummels, Papastathopoulos and midfielder Julian Weigl, who dropped in between the two centre-halves to help start attacks, were frequently the only outfielders kept back by Dortmund; full-backs Matthias Ginter and Marcel Schmelzer took up high and wide positions, allowing Shinji Kagawa and Gonzalo Castro to drift infield and combine with Ilkay Gundogan, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and lone striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has found the back of the net a rather remarkable 22 times in 20 outings.

Schalke just could not live with the sheer numbers BVB committed to their forays forward. There was good variation to the home side’s play, too: Dortmund switched between long spells of possession and short, sharp bursts forward throughout the 90 minutes.

Victory in the Revierderby is always worth more than just three points to fans of both clubs, but Tuchel will simply be happy that his team picked up their ninth league win of the season. Were Pep Guardiola’s Bayern not so exceptional, Dortmund would probably be top of the Bundesliga, while there is plenty of credence to the contention that they would be leading the way in most other European major division.

Bayern remain overwhelming favourites to secure another Bundesliga crown this year, but Dortmund’s start will give them hope that they can challenge once again.

For now, though, such talk can wait: after an excellent first three months that have seen BVB play some of the most entertaining football on the continent, fans of the Black and Yellows are simply enjoying the ride.

About the Author – Greg Lea

Freelance football writer. Work published by FourFourTwo, The Guardian, World Soccer, Goal, The National, Squawka, Eurosport, The Blizzard + others.

Twitter @GregLeaFootball

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Bayern-Bundesliga-Dominance

A quarter of the way through the 2015/16 Bundesliga season, the destination of the title already looks to have been decided. Bayern Munich’s 1-0 victory over Werder Bremen on Saturday afternoon was their ninth in nine top-flight encounters – another Bundesliga record set by the Bavarians – with Pep Guardiola’s outfit already seven points clear of closest challengers Borussia Dortmund. The team that has won the last three German championships by margins of 10, 19 and 25 points look to have wrapped up another crown in mid-October.

It is an incredible spell of dominance that does not look like ending any time soon. The Bundesliga, which remains one of Europe’s most competitive divisions from second place downwards, has become monopolised by Bayern, whose combination of status and financial might dwarfs all of their domestic rivals.

The gap between the league leaders and Dortmund was showcased in the pair’s meeting before the international break: Bayern ran out 5-1 winners at the Allianz Arena, simply proving too strong for Thomas Tuchel’s charges, who themselves had begun the campaign extremely well.

Bayern took the lead in the 26th minute through Thomas Muller, who soon added a second from the penalty spot. BVB threatened a comeback with an immediate response from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but Bayern found another gear after the break, a brace from Robert Lewandowski and strike from Mario Gotze sealing an emphatic triumph.

It was a similar story in the weekend’s clash with Werder, even if the narrow scoreline suggested a closely-fought encounter. Muller’s winning goal was the 29th Guardiola’s men have scored this term; with just five conceded, Bayern have an extraordinary goal difference of 25 after nine matches.

There is a debate to be had about whether Bayern’s imperiousness is a positive or negative thing for the Bundesliga. The 25-time German champions’ strength has allowed them to assemble a squad of truly world-class talent – from

between the sticks, Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm and David Alaba in the backline, Xabi Alonso, Thiago Alcantara and Arturo Vidal in midfield, Arjen Robben on the flanks and Lewandowski and Muller up top – that can compete with anything the rest of Europe has to offer.

Sport, though, is about competition; as German football writer Raphael Honigstein noted recently, the sheer brilliance of many of the side’s performances may attract overseas interest in the league, but the lack of a genuine title race at the top is likely to eventually lead to those viewers switching off. While Bayern’s quality will always make them worth watching, many consumers are likely to prefer watching games involving the likes of Barcelona or Manchester City if the points at stake are likely to be pivotal to their chances of finishing the season top of the pile.

The issue could accelerate calls for a European superleague involving the continent’s biggest clubs, something that many believe is bound to happen at some point in the coming decades. If Bayern – and, indeed, the rest of the Bundesliga – no longer believe the current arrangement is working for them, it is not too difficult to foresee a situation whereby they push for more regular games against other elite outfits.

For now, the Champions League probably sates that desire; if Bayern continue to dominate German football for years to come, however, a breaking point may not be too far away.

About the Author – Greg Lea

Freelance football writer. Work published by FourFourTwo, The Guardian, World Soccer, Goal, The National, Squawka, Eurosport, The Blizzard + others.

Twitter @GregLeaFootball

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German-Classic

Sunday’s German Klassiker—or German Clasico if you want to follow the silly trend of the German media to use the Spanish term—between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund has dominated the football media in Germany this week. In fact, you could almost forget that both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund had other important European games this weekend.

Bayern Munich played Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday in what would be the continuation of Robert Lewandowski’s goal scoring show as he scored three goals in Munich’s 5-0 win over the Croatians—Lewandowski has now scored ten goals in 8 days (five against Wolfsburg, two against FSV Mainz, and three against Zagreb).

Lewandowski has been instrumental for Bayern’s recent run of good form, and the importance of the Polish striker was especially evident against VfL Wolfsburg and Mainz. Bayern’s first half against Wolfsburg was especially disappointing, and Wolfsburg could have easily been up by two points going into the break, Bayern coach Pep Guardiola added Lewandowski at half time after which Bayern quickly dismantled the Volkswagen club. Bayern’s first half against Mainz appeared equally lethargic, and it was not until Lewandowski’s goal in the 51st minute that Bayern woke up, and quickly tallied up another two goals for a final score 3-0.

Meanwhile in Dortmund the recent euphoria has been dampened as Borussia dropped points against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Darmstadt 98 in the last two games. Borussia’s results in fact have meant that many journalists in Germany already fear that Bayern could once again dominate the league, and easily win the title. Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung for example already declared Sunday’s encounter as the final for the German championship as a Bayern victory would see the Bavarians seven points ahead of Borussia.

It seems premature to declare the eighth round of the Bundesliga as the decisive round in the race for the German championship, and with 26 games remaining after this Sunday’s Klassiker, a Bayern victory would indeed not herald the traditional championship parade to Munich’s city hall.

Despite their first two slipups since Thomas Tuchel took over as a coach, Borussia will provide a strong challenge for Bayern at the Allianz Arena on Sunday—Tuchel now holds the starting record of any coach in Borussia history with five wins and two ties in the first seven matches. Furthermore, Dortmund easily dominated both games against Hoffenheim and Darmstadt, and under normal circumstances should have won either match easily.

Also Borussia Dortmund have their own goal scoring sensation in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Before the season kicked off Aubameyang promised that he would score 20 goals this season, he currently sits second in the goal scoring chart behind Lewandowski (ten goals) with nine goals in eight matches—his current pace means that he will easily surpass his promise of 20 goals.

Despite Aubameyang’s goal scoring progress, and Thomas Tuchel’s start record, the mood appeared sober in Dortmund. Hummels openly criticized the fact that Dortmund’s play was not clever enough to defeat Darmstadt on Sunday. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote that while both Dortmund and Bayern appear on the same level, Bayern still has that cleverness ahead of Borussia. Had Bayern been in the same situation as Dortmund they would have played on to add a third goal and put the game to rest—the Sueddeutsche Zeitung argued.

Indeed the Sueddeutsche Zeitung has a point. Last season for example Bayern had a perfect record against teams from the lower end of the table. In fact it was that perfect record that secured the Bavarians the championship as Bayern had a poor record against the top four in the Bundesliga. In the six games against Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen, and Borussia Mönchengladbach last season Bayern only managed two wins, one tie, and lost three with a goal differential of 4:9—making them last in that mini-table, in what is a wonderful argument against Premier League fans who believe that the Bundesliga is not competitive. Furthermore, Bayern also lost last year’s DFB-Pokal (German Cup) semi-final to Borussia Dortmund.

With Bayern’s recent fantastic form, and Borussia Dortmund appearing once again as the closest challenger to Bayern’s hegemony Sunday’s Klassiker should be one of the best, and is certainly a must watch for football fans around the world.

About the author – Manuel Veth

Manuel Veth is a freelance journalist and Editor in Chief @FutbolgradLive and writes about the economics and politics of Soviet and post-Soviet football. You can find his work at Futbolgrad.com.

twitter: @homosovieticus

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Volkswagen-&-Wolfsburg

It has been a tough week for Wolfsburg. The story that Volkswagen had equipped 11 million of its diesel cars with manipulation software that could be used to cheat on emissions tests in the United States and the European Union has dominated recent news in Germany. In football there were also bad news for Volkswagen as their Werksteam (German for factory team) VfL Wolfsburg was trashed 5-1 by Bayern Munich.

With Wolfsburg’s dismal performance in Munich in mind perhaps it was just coincidence that Volkswagen’s CEO Martin Winterkorn stepped down just the day after VfL Wolfsburg’s nine minute meltdown in the Bavarian capital.

But while most of Germany’s press focused on Bayern’s striker Robert Lewandowski, whose five goals in nine minutes broke several Bundesliga records, the dismantling of VfL Wolfsburg at the hands of Bayern Munich’s striker Lewandowski was only worth page 2 coverage in Wolfsburg’s press digest. Even in the sport sections the crisis at Volkswagen dominated the news with some voices raising concerns on what impact Volkswagen’s current crisis could have on football.

After all Volkswagen’s former CEO Winterkorn was considered an avid football supporter, and the company sponsors several football projects not only in Germany but also around the world. In Germany aside from owning VfL Wolfsburg outright, Volkswagen’s daughter company Audi holds 8% per cent of Bayern Munich’s shares. Furthermore, Audi also owns 20% of the shares of the newly promoted FC Ingolstadt. In the Bundesliga Volkswagen is also an important sponsor at Schalke 04, and Werder Bremen, and furthermore the company also sponsors the second Bundesliga club Eintracht Braunschwieg, and lastly Volkswagen’s Think Blue initiative is the shirt sponsor of Munich’s second Bundesliga club TSV 1860. Lastly Volkswagen also sponsors the DFB Pokal (German Cup).

VfL Wolfsburg’s manager Klaus Allofs, however, does not believe that CEO Winterkorn’s departure will have a big effect on VfL’s ambition to become Germany’s new football power. “I am in constant contact with the management circle at Volkswagen, and we haven’t even discussed the current crisis at Volkswagen, and I don’t think we need to.” Allofs told Germany’s Kicker Magazine. Allofs further added that, “Volkswagen’s believes in the commitment to VfL Wolfsburg, and a crisis doesn’t mean that this commitment is questioned. We know the value that VfL has for Volkswagen [as a marketing vehicle], and I don’t think that value has changed now.”

Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Hans-Gerhard Seeba a specialist on Germany’s car industry, and a former VW manager told 11Freunde that, “the current events will not affect VW football sponsoring commitments. After all Football sponsoring is an important part of the company’s corporate communication and marketing strategy. … VW is Germany’s largest company, and they will easily survive this current crisis. Therefore the company’s financial engagement in football will remain unquestioned. For the clubs the money from Volkswagen is important, but for Volkswagen the sums are merely peanuts — Volkswagen’s profit last year was €10 billion.” In fact the Volkswagen’s image “would be even further damaged if the company decided to end its sport sponsorship program.”

Financially Seeba’s assessment of the situation is good news for VfL Wolfsburg, but for Wolfsburg’s Brazilian dominated defence consisting of Naldo, Dante, and Luiz Gustavo — the last two were also involved Brazil’s 7-1 meltdown against Germany at the 2014 World Cup — the fact that Wolfsburg’s press may switch their attention back to events on the field could also mean uncomfortable days ahead, as the trio may soon be asked how to avoid Brazilian style debacles in the future.

About the author – Manuel Veth

Manuel Veth is a freelance journalist and Editor in Chief @FutbolgradLive and writes about the economics and politics of Soviet and post-Soviet football. You can find his work at Futbolgrad.com.

twitter: @homosovieticus

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BVB-Resurgent

After four games with four victories and twelve points, Borussia Dortmund are on top of the Bundesliga table—on even points with the current champion Bayern Munich. Dortmund, under new coach Thomas Tuchel, now look to be the closest competitor to Bayern Munich, which is aiming to win an unprecedented fourth Bundesliga title in a row.

When speaking to the German magazine Kicker after Dortmund’s 4-2 victory against Hannover 96, Borussia captain Mats Hummel pointed out that the gap to Bayern has become “a lot, lot, smaller. Now the top is once again tight.” The reasons for Dortmund’s resurgence are manifold. Players like the Armenian attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the Japanese playmaker Shinji Kagawa, and the German defender Matthias Ginter have experienced a genuine renaissance under Thomas Tuchel. Kagawa returned from Manchester United last season, but took a full season to develop the necessary fitness to readapt to the high power football of the Bundesliga.

Mkhitaryan was brought in from Shakhtar Donetsk as a replacement for Mario Götze in 2013, and although the Armenian provided glimpses of his potential in the last two seasons, he failed to truly replace Götze. This is especially manifested by several statistics: Last season his pass completion rate fell to 73.5%, which was far below what is expected of a player of his calibre. Götze, for example, playing in his last season at Dortmund in 2013-14, had a pass completion rate of 83.4%. But perhaps even worse than his passing was Mkhitaryan’s inability to score goals last season at Dortmund—he only managed 3 goals in 28 appearances, a far cry from the 25 goals he scored two years ago for Shakhtar Donetsk.

Then in March, Germany’s Die Welt newspaper added Mkhitaryan to a list of players who exemplified Dortmund’s poor transfer policy, and stated “at no point has the player justified the high transfer sum that the club paid for him in June 2013.”

Mkhitaryan’s poor form was accompanied by rumours that he was unhappy at the club. One source close to the player told me that Mkhitaryan was displeased that Borussia coach Jürgen Klopp had moved him away from the centre midfield position to the wings were he felt that he was not as well integrated in the game. The same source also suggested that Mkhitaryan has had a hard time being accepted in the Borussia Dortmund dressing room, and that at times he felt that players intentionally ignored him on the pitch. This story was further supported by an interview that Mkhitaryan’s agent Mino Raiola gave in February in which he said: “Henrikh wants to leave Dortmund at the end of the season” and added that he was dissatisfied with his life in Germany.

All of this, however, seems to have been forgotten, as, under new coach Tuchel, Mkhitaryan’s career seems to be back on track: In the first four Bundesliga games this season, Mkhitaryan scored three goals in four Bundesliga games, including a wonderful goal against Hannover this weekend, and also managed to score five goals in Dortmund’s four Europa League qualifying matches. Furthermore, Mkhitaryan’s pass completion rate has also improved to 79.9%, despite the fact that Tuchel has used him mostly as a left-winger, or as a left forward in a 4-3-3 formation.

What is most striking about Mkhitaryan’s return to form is the fact that Tuchel did not move him back to his favourite position in centre midfield, and that, in his new position, Mkhitaryan has been able to integrate himself well to Borussia’s new playing style.

Another player who has regained his form under Tuchel is the 21 year old defender Matthias Ginter. Ginter was part of Germany’s squad that won the World Cup last summer, but after his transfer from SC Freiburg to Dortmund last summer, failed to find his place in Dortmund’s squad under Jürgen Klopp. There were rumours that Ginter could leave Dortmund this summer and move to Borussia Mönchengladbach. Ginter, like Mkhitaryan, remained in Dortmund, however, and Tuchel has since redeveloped the player as a right defender, where Ginter is expected to play much more offensively. Ginter has reacted marvellously to his conversion to offensive right defender and has said “I never played this far forward my entire career.” For Ginter, his transformation to right defender could also lead to a return to the national team, as Germany is notoriously short staffed on right defenders.

The man primarily responsible for Dortmund’s resurgence is Thomas Tuchel; since he inheriting Dortmund from Jürgen Klopp, he has only made small adjustments to the squad but has re-invented the play of several key players. Dortmund now looks poised to once again challenge Bayern for the league title.

About the author – Manuel Veth

Manuel Veth is a freelance journalist and Editor in Chief @FutbolgradLive and writes about the economics and politics of Soviet and post-Soviet football. You can find his work at Futbolgrad.com.

twitter: @homosovieticus

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Bundesglia-benefits-from-EPL

This Tuesday the Transfer window closed in England, home to Europe’s richest league – the English Premier League (EPL). Fuelled by a new television deal EPL, clubs went on a spending spree this summer, and according to the German homepage transfermarkt.de, English clubs have spent €1.178.360.000 for new players.

About a fifth of the €1.17 billion spent flowed towards Bundesliga clubs, which according to the German football magazine Kicker, earned €217 million from selling 16 players to England—in comparison the Bundesliga only earned €15 million from player sales to the Premier League in 2014. The biggest earners were VfL Wolfsburg, which sold the Belgian star Kevin de Bruyne to Manchester City for €75 million, TSG Hoffenheim, which sold the Brazilian playmaker Roberto Firmino to Liverpool for €41 million, and Bayer Leverkusen, which sold the Korean winger Heung-Min Son to Tottenham Hotspur for €30 million.  Smaller clubs also benefited:  two examples are FC Augsburg, which sold Abdul Rahman Baba to Chelsea for €20 million; and 1. FSV Mainz which were able to transfer the Japanese striker Shinji Okazaki to Leicester City for €10 million.

The major reason for the discrepancy in financial wealth between the two leagues is television money. Currently, the Bundesliga’s €579 million a year in television revenue is peanuts compared to the €2.2 billion that the Premier League receives. The difference in television revenue can be explained by the fact that Germany does not have the same kind of television culture as England. In the United Kingdom the Pay-TV stations BT Sport, and SKY UK together have 15 million customers, whereas Germany’s only Pay-TV station SKY Deutschland has only  4.5 million customers.

This means that Premier League clubs on average can spend far more than Bundesliga teams on the transfer market. Last season, for example, Queens Park Rangers, which finished last in the Premier League, received more television money (€90.8 million) than Germany’s biggest club Bayern Munich (€50.6 million)—and with the new EPL television deal kicking in next season, English teams will have even more spending power. Many fans and observers of the Bundesliga have, therefore, been critical of the Premier League’s spending power, with some fearing that the Bundesliga could be bought empty by English clubs.

Yet, some Bundesliga managers do not feel that the newfound riches of the EPL can threaten German football. Bayern’s manager Matthias Sammer told Kicker Magazine “we have to think about the new situation, and we will have to find constructive solutions, but one thing is for certain, we will remain competitive, and we won’t capitulate”. Furthermore, Mainz manager Christian Heidel pointed out that money from England could actually be a huge benefit for German football. When speaking to an academic sports forum, he said “it is now up to us to bring English money to the Bundesliga. The solution is simple, when an English club wants a player from us, we right away set our demands way above the actual market value. We should simply say thank you, take the money, and reinvest it into our scouting network, and youth development infrastructure. It will pay off.”

In truth, the financial discrepancy between German and English football has been in existence for more than a decade, and recent results suggest that despite having smaller budgets, Bundesliga clubs are actually more successful in European club competitions (Germany ranks second behind Spain in the UEFA 5-Year coefficient ranking). Furthermore, Bundesliga clubs have been very successful in producing young exciting talented players—a major reason for the country’s success at last year’s World Cup in Brazil. With more money coming in from England, German clubs will be able to put even greater focus on developing young players,  and this will benefit German football in the long run, or as Borussia Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke put it “even with all their money England won’t win a World Cup in the next 50 years…”

About the author – Manuel Veth

Manuel Veth is a freelance journalist and Editor in Chief @FutbolgradLive and writes about the economics and politics of Soviet and post-Soviet football. You can find his work at Futbolgrad.com.

twitter: @homosovieticus

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Douglas-Costa

Not everyone will have sat down and watched Bayern Munich’s comfortable 3-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday evening, but many will nevertheless have seen a six-second snippet from the game.

With the Bavarians cruising with just nine minutes to go, winger Douglas Costa rainbow flicked the ball over the head of the unsuspecting Julian Brandt, producing a piece of outrageous skill to cap another superb all-round performance.

It has not taken Costa long to settle in Munich following his £21.8 million move from Shakhtar Donetsk earlier this summer. A return of one goal and two assists in his first three appearances for Bayern represents an excellent start, with the Brazil international already having made an impact on Pep Guardiola’s side.

Bayern struggled in the second half of last term when Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery were sidelined with injuries, a lack of pace and width often causing their play to become congested in the middle of the park.

With Ribery still out with an ongoing ankle problem that could see him miss the rest of 2015, Costa has help to fill a void in the side with his speed and direct running. Deployed on the left flank, the 24-year-old has helped to stretch the play – both horizontally and vertically – by looking to beat his full-back on the outside and sprint in behind the opposition’s backline; his forward-thinking attitude adds an injection of pace to Bayern’s attacking moves, moreover, with his ability to quicken the tempo in an instant likely to be vital for Guardiola’s men this campaign.

Costa usually played on the right at Shakhtar, with the focus on cutting infield onto his stronger left peg and whipping crosses towards the back post or taking shots at goal. The fact that Robben is also left-footed means that Costa has been deployed on the opposite side at Bayern, something that has worked to the team’s advantage so far: against Leverkusen, for example, Costa constantly hugged the left touchline, holding his position out wide and in turn opening up space inside for the likes of Thiago, Arturo Vidal and Thomas Muller to work in.

Costa’s assist for Muller’s goal was evidence of what he brings to the table. After a period of patient Bayern possession, Xabi Alonso fired an accurate diagonal towards the winger, who used his first touch to push the ball beyond the hapless right-back Roberto Hilbert and his second to fire a delivery towards Muller in the middle of the box.

Crossfield balls from Alonso to Costa will likely be a feature of Bayern’s play this season: Costa’s preference for staying wide out on the left at almost all times means he is able to isolate his full-back when the ball is on the opposite side of the pitch, with a quick switch of play likely to leave him one-on-one with his direct opponent.

Costa hit the angle of post and bar soon after, showing his willingness to arrive at the back stick when the ball is on the opposite flank and guiding a controlled effort onto the woodwork.

It is still early days for Costa at Bayern, but he has already added an extra dimension to Guardiola’s outfit with his acceleration, directness and penetration. At this stage, £21.8 million looks like a bargain.

About the Author – Greg Lea

Freelance football writer. Work published by FourFourTwo, The Guardian, World Soccer, Goal, The National, Squawka, Eurosport, The Blizzard + others.

Twitter @GregLeaFootball

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