Barça have opted to buy big instead of backing a young squad and a manager steeped in the club’s values and traditionsThe greatest trick Pep Guardiola ever pulled was to convince the world that club DNA exists. Football changed when Guardiola was appointed Barcelona manager in 2008. It’s not just that the world’s eyes were opened to the full potential of possession football or that goals a game shot up in the knockout stages of the Champions League – although both did happen – but that a model was presented of how things could be.Here was a coach with no first-team experience who immediately offloaded two big-name foreign stars in Ronaldinho and Deco and, in his first season, won the...
After eight glorious years at the serial Bundesliga champions, the upright striker is at the mercy of his club’s roughshod waysThe big problem for Robert Lewandowski is that he is a professional. He has one year left on his contract at Bayern Munich and he wants to leave, but nobody believes he will down tools and create a fuss if they choose to hang on to him for another year. He likes his job. He likes his colleagues. He has a level of self-respect that means he will carry on diligently even if his bosses are treating him outrageously. He doesn’t want to let anybody down, least of all himself.This, after all, is a forward so dedicated to his trade...
Two modern stars will do some heavy lifting for their clubs this season as they strive to emulate the legendary Gerd MüllerThe Bundesliga never does things quietly. It returned with – at least some – supporters in the stands in its typical character of cut, thrust and confusion, but there was some clarity amid the mayhem. On a weekend which ended with German football in mourning at the passing of the legendary Gerd Müller, the elite centre-forwards from the current competition showed they are pulling out all the stops to be worthy successors. Related: Gerd Müller was world class but his brilliant legacy is too often forgotten | Scott Murray Mönchengladbach 1-1 Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund 5-2 Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg...
Picking a lineup is useful less for who makes the cut than for what the process says about the current state of the gameThe Fifa world rankings rarely fail to raise an eyebrow. Óscar Washington Tabárez is one of the world’s great coaches but are Uruguay, who scraped a 2-1 win over Chile on Thursday, really the sixth-best side in the world right now? Nobody who saw England’s notional first-choice centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and Joe Gomez in separate action for their clubs last Sunday would feel comfortable with their ranking of fourth. Germany 14th: when do we start talking seriously about Jogi Löw? And Belgium, whom England face on Sunday, top? Even after 12 straight wins before Thursday’s...