Less than a month after what seemed a deeply underwhelming appointment, it has begun to seem a brighter future is possibleThe fabled ‘new manager bounce’ is one thing. Stuttgart winning away, though? That’s something else entirely and after a first victory on the road since winning promotion back to the top flight, Tayfun Korkut is earning the right to be taken seriously.As the final whistle went on Sunday’s victory at overachieving Augsburg, there was a genuine sense of achievement. Stuttgart’s players celebrated not so much, it seemed, for getting one over near neighbours in Swabia but for the sensation that maybe a corner really has been turned. It has long been received wisdom that only maintaining their strong home form...
England could only benefit if more of the squad had sampled a different environment while embracing a new language and culture, as the under-21 winger is doing at RB LeipzigWith all of the transfer talk predictably revolving around the big-money moves to Champions League-level clubs by players such as Alexis Sánchez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aymeric Laporte, there was one loan deal involving an overseas club in a Champions League place that really caught my eye. Ademola Lookman took a brave decision – seemingly against the wishes of his Everton manager, Sam Allardyce – in leaving the comfort zone of staying in this country and joining the Championship side Derby and instead pushed for a move to RB Leipzig, who...
Ralph Hasenhüttl has belief in the match-winning debutant who ‘only brought one pair of boots with him from England’It could have been all so different for Diego Forlán. So he thought, at least. Some years back he famously told an interviewer the tale of his last match for Manchester United, against Chelsea in 2004. Sir Alex Ferguson told him to wear boots with soft-ground studs but, feeling more comfortable in moulded, low studs, he ignored his boss. Late on, Forlán lost his footing in front of goal and missed a chance and was never picked again. After RB Leipzig’s late win at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, it appears that Fussballgott is very much on the side of Ademola Lookman. Three...
This was the match of the season so far in the Bundesliga, hands down, as RB Leipzig ended Dortmund’s incredible unbeaten run at Signal Iduna ParkIt was clear, from the way Ralph Hasenhüttl jumped on the pitch at full-time, bouncing with his fists pumping and the full complement of equally jubilant backroom staff in tow, that this meant something – that this meant everything. In winning at Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig had done more than beaten the leaders, and more than further opened up what threatens (at least for now) to be a title race.It meant more, even, than ending BVB’s incredible unbeaten Bundesliga run at Signal Iduna Park, incorporating 41 matches – under Jürgen Klopp, to Bayern Munich, in...
A 5-0 thrashing at Dortmund could have been worse, even with a dubious VAR decision, and there are already fears of a situation spinning out of controlJörg Schmadtke rushed out to the Sky truck in the TV compound to pore over every possible angle – and to check his eyes weren’t deceiving him. By that point, the Köln sporting director had already been on the Signal Iduna Park pitch, shoulder to shoulder with the coach, Peter Stöger, protesting to the referee, Patrick Ittrich, over the award by VAR of Borussia Dortmund’s second goal. Before any more fingers start pointing at Effzee about an anarchic end to a chaotic week, we should add that this was a reasonable moment for both...