send Jürgen back

By: j | October 23rd, 2008

The words I hope to hear sing out through the media post the match I have been waiting for all season.

Heading into Saturday’s visit to Allianz Arena to face Bayern München, Wolfsburg will be looking to send an emphatic message that their rise in the Bundesliga is here to stay. However regardless of how the mainstream media wants to present this or how both sides deflect it, make no mistake this one is personal.

Der Kaiser’s choice of then ex-pat Jürgen Klinsmann didn’t go unnoticed to many in the German Footballing community as they questioned how he would return to full-time life in Germany and club Football itself. Many of the changes he has attempted to implement have had extremely poor results, created massive rifts in the club and further raised a suspecting eyebrow of his managerial capabilities in the beautiful Bavarian city. Recent victories have dulled the sharpness of naysayers tone but after inheriting a dominant club, their mid-table performance won’t be tolerated and internally many questions abound.

Felix Magath, knows this too well. As Bayern leader he led them to back-to-back Bundesliga and DFB Pokal titles but after a modestly slow start in which they were sitting fourth in the table, they sent him packing in January 2007. Luckily for the good people in Wolfsburg, they recognized his talent and snapped him up in the summer.

Make no mistake about it as regardless of the niceties you will hear in the press or lack of reference to the topic, this is a very personal match.

Category: Wolfsburg Team News

Tags: Bayern München, Der Kaiser, Felix Magath, Franz Beckenbauer, Jürgen Klinsmann, Wolfsburg Team News

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• Chris |  October 23rd, 2008 at 11:02 am

  
  
  

  Can’t wait to see this one. I hope Magath and Company bury them.

  Posted from United States

  

• Jan |  October 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 pm

  
  
  

  That would be something. I always had the feeling Magath was still working for Munich in the past. Wolfsburg would beat all of Munich’s rivals and then get easily beaten by Munich.

  Posted from United States

  

• diana |  October 23rd, 2008 at 2:30 pm

  
  
  

  Chris, imagine what the tabloids are going to say!

  Anyhow, I was watching the Bundesliga preview show (Goal! The Bundesliga Magazine, that is) and when talking about his former employers, Magath bear no grudges about them. That was like the most significant thing I remembered when watching the preview show.

  Posted from Singapore

  

• j |  October 23rd, 2008 at 3:22 pm

  
  
  

  The tabloids haven’t caught on to this from a Bayern side yet but they’re dealing with the same issue as when a few years ago as Germany’s coach he still wouldn’t live in Germany. Remember back them Jürgen was a commuter -

  Posted from Germany

  

• Luke |  October 23rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm

  
  
  

  With regards to Magath’s sacking in Munich: It was probably a less competitive league that season, which is the only reason Bayern remained in 4th. I mean, Hamburg was 18th at one point. That team also really struggled to score, which is not an issue with this season’s edition. When you need a Piplica patzer against Cottbus at home to squeeze out a win, you know you have troubles, and that was the case 2 seasons ago. I don’t think Magath deserves all the blame, but that’s the business–I do feel his firing was justified.

  I have to confess to not having seen much of Wolfsburg this season beyond the highlights, but any statistical analysis of their matches would show, this is a team that is fortunate to be where they are in the standings. Bayern should be in total control of this match with a commanding midfield presence. The historical results would also favor Bayern heavily, although Klinsmann is doing his best to make history irrelevant. The x-factor of course, is the Bayern backline which with Lahm out, will now become almost as much of an adventure as Bremen’s. Barring a van Bommel red card or a couple of Lell face-palms, I would call the match 3-1 in favor of Bayern.

  Posted from United States

  

• Angela |  October 24th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

  
  
  

  If Bayern continue to improve, I don’t think it will be a complete cake walk, but I think Bayern in its current form has a lot of pressure on them to walk away with a victory and I don’t think it will be an easy one. Now that we’re without Lahm it’s going to be a bit tougher. The loss of Toni isn’t a great one since he’s been out of form. And Luke should bite his tongue on van Bommel. He (Luke that is) is still my hero though. And I still have a whole lot of van Bommel love.

  But, personally, I’d love to see Klinsmann gone.

  Posted from United States

  

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