Wolfsburg striker Patrick Helmes has been banished to the reserves by autocratic boss Felix Magath. "He has not learned how to do defensive work" said Magath of the 98-goal striker.
"Also", continued Magath, "Diego Benaglio's frankly pisspoor goal-scoring record means he's going to the reserves as well and the less said about Josué's tap-dancing the better. He's out too".
Getting into his stride by this point, Magath went on to say that Alex Hleb "had better work on his foxtrot" if he were not to suffer the same ignominy and that Tomas Hitzlsperger had better "learn how to prepare a proper tarte tatin by the time the transfer window opens or he's gone".
Our reporter asked whether central defender Alexander Madlung's defensive shortcomings might be in more urgent need of remedy than that of Helmes, Magath fired back saying "he's too busy learning how to juggle chainsaws while unicycling across a high wire. Now get out of my way. This interview is over"
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Showing posts with label Felix Magath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Felix Magath. Show all posts
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Goal of the week: Benedikt Höwedes
The damage had, of course, been done at the Giuseppe Meazza, but Schalke were also very good in the return leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Inter. Everyone expected Inter to come flying out and Schalke set up as if expecting that, but the onslaught never came and the Germans took a while to realise what was happening. They adjusted slowly and took the lead through Raúl late in the first half, again exposing the statuesque Inter defence.
Revitalised, Schalke were much better after the break despite conceding to Thiago Motta's scrambled effort and Höwedes had the ball in the net from a corner, but had half his left foot beyond the last defender and was flagged offside. Late in the game came the moment. Höwedes started the move by putting Raúl in space and immediately signalled where he wanted the ball, in between the full-back and centre-half. The ball was perfect, chipped into the space, and Höwedes continued his run and lashed in a thunderous shot low to Julio César's left.
It was a cracking goal all round. The vision of Höwedes, the through-ball from Raúl and the emphatic finish were all pretty much perfect, but it's what it represents that is more important. The tie was over at that stage - Inter weren't about to get five in ten minutes - and any other side, certainly the Schalke of the early part of the season, would have been content to knock it about at the back and play out time. Moreover, under Felix Magath, the likelihood is that Höwedes would never have thought about that gallop forwards. Had it not worked out, perhaps even if it had, the likely first comment from his manager would have been a reading of the riot act. The fear of the bollocking would have seen Höwedes give the ball to Raúl and immediately return to his station in the back four. Ralf Rangnick is a different type of manager who places a great deal of trust in his players to make the right decisions. With this backing from the bench, Höwedes saw the opportunity to create something and went for it. That it worked so spectacularly is almost a side issue.
The Bundesliga table may lull Manchester United fans into a sense that they're halfway there already. This new Schalke who beat Inter home and away without one of their main strikers are a different beast to the one that began the season with three straight defeats. Benedikt Höwedes slammed that point home emphatically at the Veltins Arena and S04 are live contenders in the semi-finals.
Revitalised, Schalke were much better after the break despite conceding to Thiago Motta's scrambled effort and Höwedes had the ball in the net from a corner, but had half his left foot beyond the last defender and was flagged offside. Late in the game came the moment. Höwedes started the move by putting Raúl in space and immediately signalled where he wanted the ball, in between the full-back and centre-half. The ball was perfect, chipped into the space, and Höwedes continued his run and lashed in a thunderous shot low to Julio César's left.
It was a cracking goal all round. The vision of Höwedes, the through-ball from Raúl and the emphatic finish were all pretty much perfect, but it's what it represents that is more important. The tie was over at that stage - Inter weren't about to get five in ten minutes - and any other side, certainly the Schalke of the early part of the season, would have been content to knock it about at the back and play out time. Moreover, under Felix Magath, the likelihood is that Höwedes would never have thought about that gallop forwards. Had it not worked out, perhaps even if it had, the likely first comment from his manager would have been a reading of the riot act. The fear of the bollocking would have seen Höwedes give the ball to Raúl and immediately return to his station in the back four. Ralf Rangnick is a different type of manager who places a great deal of trust in his players to make the right decisions. With this backing from the bench, Höwedes saw the opportunity to create something and went for it. That it worked so spectacularly is almost a side issue.
The Bundesliga table may lull Manchester United fans into a sense that they're halfway there already. This new Schalke who beat Inter home and away without one of their main strikers are a different beast to the one that began the season with three straight defeats. Benedikt Höwedes slammed that point home emphatically at the Veltins Arena and S04 are live contenders in the semi-finals.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Managers board the carousel
You can tell what time of year it is by the number of managers announcing their intentions all of a sudden. It's quite the week for a bit of turmoil and two of Europe's leading clubs won't start next season with the same chap whether they win their respective titles or not.
Eric Gerets said a few weeks ago that he'd not be hanging around in Marseille beyond the end of the year. Apparent frustration with the board hangs above him, but Gerets has never been a man to hang around long in any one job and, rather than initial reports linking him to the vacant Bayern job, he looks like he's off to Saudi Arabia. Presumably for the footballing challenge rather than pots of oil dollar. In Germany, Wolfsburg lead the way, but Felix Magath has revealed he's got itchy feet. Again, it's all about the folding. Any managerial job bar England looks good when there's a salary of €2.5m which is what Magath reportedly earns with the Volkswagen owned club. Not enough, apparently. Despite being his own sporting director, thereby giving himself unparalleled power in the German game, he's off to Schalke next season because they're going to double his wedge. You'd think Schalke would learn after last year's must-have gaffer, Fred Rutten, didn't even last a season after they pursued him over hill and down dale until he finally quit Twente for the sleeping Gelsenkirchen giant.
While Marseille moved quickly to recruit Didier Deschamps to take over from Gerets, the Bayern job remains vacant for next season and another legendary club from the north of Europe is now also without a big cheese. To be fair, he was jumped before he was pushed, but Marco van Basten quit Ajax today, saying that he didn't feel he could improve the team. It might be a good time to get out. After spunking a fortune on players like Miralem Sulejmani - €16.5m from Heerenveen when they could have had him for just the 0.5m part of that half a season previously - who have gloriously failed to do much of anything, they're in bother. Not making the Champions League this year leaves them with a huge problem. If they gamble again and don't make it - and there's little to suggest AZ, Twente and PSV won't be the sides to beat next season - and they could be the Dutch Leeds. And nobody wants that.
Back in France, Paul Le Guen looks set to be pushed out at PSG despite turning them from relegation fodder to one-time title hopefuls inside of a year. Their challenge just fell away in the last few weeks and a pitiful exit from the UEFA Cup probably made a few minds up that he wasn't the man to take them forward, but it looks harsh. His pre-season was disrupted when one of his big signings, Lilian Thuram, didn't arrive following a diagnosis of heart problems. That and Mateja Kezman's ongoing campaign to piss off everybody in European football has been in full flow all year, leaving Le Guen with few resources up front while at the back, Mickael Landreau has gone from international certainty to comedy stylist.
There's an inevitable managerial change at Real Madrid coming up as well - hey, it's spring - which leaves us with a few questions. Would anyone in their right mind want the Real Madrid job? Would anyone really want the Ajax job? Of all the vacancies, is Wolfsburg, with the near-limitless backing of VW, the pick? Are memories at the Parc des Princes really that short? Who can possibly do a worse job at Bayern than Klinsi? The answer to some, all or none of these will no doubt become clearer - or not - over the coming weeks.
Eric Gerets said a few weeks ago that he'd not be hanging around in Marseille beyond the end of the year. Apparent frustration with the board hangs above him, but Gerets has never been a man to hang around long in any one job and, rather than initial reports linking him to the vacant Bayern job, he looks like he's off to Saudi Arabia. Presumably for the footballing challenge rather than pots of oil dollar. In Germany, Wolfsburg lead the way, but Felix Magath has revealed he's got itchy feet. Again, it's all about the folding. Any managerial job bar England looks good when there's a salary of €2.5m which is what Magath reportedly earns with the Volkswagen owned club. Not enough, apparently. Despite being his own sporting director, thereby giving himself unparalleled power in the German game, he's off to Schalke next season because they're going to double his wedge. You'd think Schalke would learn after last year's must-have gaffer, Fred Rutten, didn't even last a season after they pursued him over hill and down dale until he finally quit Twente for the sleeping Gelsenkirchen giant.
While Marseille moved quickly to recruit Didier Deschamps to take over from Gerets, the Bayern job remains vacant for next season and another legendary club from the north of Europe is now also without a big cheese. To be fair, he was jumped before he was pushed, but Marco van Basten quit Ajax today, saying that he didn't feel he could improve the team. It might be a good time to get out. After spunking a fortune on players like Miralem Sulejmani - €16.5m from Heerenveen when they could have had him for just the 0.5m part of that half a season previously - who have gloriously failed to do much of anything, they're in bother. Not making the Champions League this year leaves them with a huge problem. If they gamble again and don't make it - and there's little to suggest AZ, Twente and PSV won't be the sides to beat next season - and they could be the Dutch Leeds. And nobody wants that.
Back in France, Paul Le Guen looks set to be pushed out at PSG despite turning them from relegation fodder to one-time title hopefuls inside of a year. Their challenge just fell away in the last few weeks and a pitiful exit from the UEFA Cup probably made a few minds up that he wasn't the man to take them forward, but it looks harsh. His pre-season was disrupted when one of his big signings, Lilian Thuram, didn't arrive following a diagnosis of heart problems. That and Mateja Kezman's ongoing campaign to piss off everybody in European football has been in full flow all year, leaving Le Guen with few resources up front while at the back, Mickael Landreau has gone from international certainty to comedy stylist.
There's an inevitable managerial change at Real Madrid coming up as well - hey, it's spring - which leaves us with a few questions. Would anyone in their right mind want the Real Madrid job? Would anyone really want the Ajax job? Of all the vacancies, is Wolfsburg, with the near-limitless backing of VW, the pick? Are memories at the Parc des Princes really that short? Who can possibly do a worse job at Bayern than Klinsi? The answer to some, all or none of these will no doubt become clearer - or not - over the coming weeks.
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