Karl-Henize Rummennigge, chairman of Bayern Munich is looking to Mark Van Bommel to be Micheal Ballack's replacement in midfield. Now Van Bommel may be no Ballack, skill wise but as a PSV fan I can assure Bayern fans that he is a workhorse, consistent midfielder. He hasn't shown anything close to his full talent in Barca and I am sure that the German game would suit his playing style better than perhaps Spain, and while it may take a bit of time for him to adjust to Bayern's tactics, I sure he can hold the midfield for them.

Tim Borowski's name has also been mentioned for the replacement role, possibly a better option.

Opinions?

Ofcoz Van Bommel would do great at Bayern, it's really his type of play. But if I were him I wouldn't just leave a club like Barcelona, this is his first year and if you get the opportunity to play for a team like that I'd surely add another to that.. maybe he gets more chances and do better? You'll never know, you've got to try to take everything out of your career.. he can always go to Bayern after Barcelona

I doubt though Bayern would be interested anytime other than this...
Bayern are still one of the Top 5 Clubs in my eyes in general...
They need a change again... and im also not that sure anymore that Magath is the right coach for such a big club. They need a teamcoach with style and character like Hitzfeld been...

In my eyes Bayern should be careful and maybe its time for them to start spending and change sth...
As for now Ballacks gone, Deisler suffered a terrible injury once again, Makaay seems to be over his peak already, Kahn is too old now, and the defense hasnt been to impressive in big matches as well... Defeats vs Juventus and Milan and also twice vs Hamburg in the league..

If they dont behold their situation realistic they might struggle a little bit in germany in the next years as well as Hamburg has the momentum on their side and a way more talented and young squad at this time willing to stick together and get some further top class transfers...

So if van Bommel is really Bayerns new star - well who is better Van der Vaart or van Bommel. I guess Hamburg would be the winner regarding this position.

van bommel def isn't a good choice. 2 years, tops, then he's over the hill too, if he isn't already. coz he's been a mere glimpse in the barca shirt of what he showed when he was at psv.

vdvaart is more purely a playmaker. somebody who loves gliding around the 2 strikers, just behind them. he's not somebody who'll go to retrieve and fight for balls. backtracking isn't his strongest point. so i don't think vdvaart would be the ideal replacement for ballack. i think somebody like riquelme or pirlo would be better. but i don't see pirlo leaving ac milan.

well Bayern dont really want to get a player like Ballack again...they are also interested in signing a playmaker, but u got me wrong in this respect. I didnt mean to present a possible vdV move to Munich. I just wanted to say that their midfield might be weaker next season than the one of other clubs in Germany next year.

Ballacks replacement is Julio Dos Santos, they play the same position it's no coincidence.

Right... it must also be a coincidence that he didnt get one bit of playing time so far and next season he should succesfully replace germanys best m idfielder

tim borowski sounds good to me. he is young, he is talented and i can´t stand him. so good to replace ballack. really, i think he is a good choice. and, another plus i see, he is german. and i would like to see a german replacement for ballack.

Borowski is quality, I like him way more than Ballack and I would welcome him at Bayern. He seems to be the only likely german replacement but I am sure that Hoeness will buy a foreigner.
Borowski should also stay at Bremen, that is where they made him the player he is right now and the team is on a good way, hopefully they can keep it up.

It wouldn't help the german football if Bremen start to suck, therefore I guess he should stay there.

sadly i agree. someone from the lating part, i think. i bet he´ll be good aswell, i just would like to see good german players. and i agree with the tim staying at bremen. going to bayern would weaken bremen and that would suck. but i can still see him playing for bayern in the future.

I would revel in seeing Kaka of Brazil in a Bayern shirt, he could run the midfield with his speed, skill and elegance not to mention his great passing and through balls. He's also a natural goal scorer and could replace Ballack as he knows how to get forward and move the team forward. Doubt Bayern could afford him, how much would he sell for? Not that AC would let him go.

How much can Bayern afford? The sort of player of Ballack's level would be very expensive and still no guarantee if they will score as many goals as Ballack. What about grooming a player like Ali Karimi for midfield or finding new younger players that can be shaped into playing in a solid midfield. Any possible candidates?

i'm thinking of somebody like hedwiges maduro. kaka of course will never be sold by milan. and i doubt he'll wanna exchange milan for the champions league chokers anyway.

I think Bayern would spent 15-20 million euro for a cracker, have my doubts though that we'll get a real cracker.
It doesn't need to be a player who scores mainly goals like Ballack. I would prefer someone who shows up often and who sets up his teammates well.
There are rumors we have interest in van Bommel, most likely candidate right now.

van bommel isn't gonna leave the best team in the world after only a year. or bayern will have to come with something very very tempting. such as the captain's armband.

Bayern were kicked out in the knock out stage same as Chelsea. Barcelona and AC Milan are equally strong opponents to play against. Chelsea are not chokers for being kicked out at at an early stage and neither are Bayern for being kicked out at the same stage. I said i doubt Kaka will go Bayern but it would be good for Bayern if he did. What is he worth anyway? Whether a player decides not to go to a club does not always depend on whether that club got kicked out early in Champs league. Regardless of Chelsea getting knocked out early they are still a very good club for a player to go to and thats the problem with Bayern their future is not so good with all the competition. Take a leaf out of Arsenal's book and bring in new players and develop them, Bayern cannot compete in the transfer market. Does Van Bommel always start at Barcelona? Maybe Bayern could offer him a starting position all the time, but still Barcelona is a better team.

what have bayern done in the champions league since their flukey 00-01 win? nothing, nadda, nil, nop. they been chokin ever since. yes, a team like that chokes when it gets knocked out in the 2nd round. they also lost chancelessly against milan, while chelsea - barca was a very balanced affair. u really gotta thing for these hopeless sides don't u.
van bommel would of course much rather stay with barca if he wanted to win the cl than bayern. a team very much in dissaray in few and far places. some players are really good, and right up there with the rest of the world, others lack a lot of form or are simply not good enough.
regarding van bommel. he's a fighter, he doesn't give up just like that. the chances of him securing a place in the starting 11 is are big if he stays fit and determined. coz we know that on his day he can be of europe's best controlling midfielders.

Right, Bayern haven't done that well in the CL since their outstanding win in 2001.
Last year they were in the quarter finals at least but overall you are right.
It is pretty similar to Manchester United since their win 1999 I feel.

I can see van Bommel sign for Bayern. Why shouldn't he want to be one of the leading players at another club rather than being of many at Barca?
Not everybody is like Robert Huth who prefers to sit on the bench often while he collects trophies with Chelsea anyway. This is more comfortable than playing at Villa or so.

But maybe van Bommel has the motivation for a new challenge, who knows.
Bayern are also in the rumors to sign Mauro Camoranesi from Juventus this summer. I'm not sure whether he is a Ballack replacement, but he should push the squad quality though IMO.

Stilian Petrov of Celtic was mentioned by Lothar Mattheusas a replacement for Ballack. Reportedly had a bust-up with Gordon Strachan the Celtic manager so could be set to leave if Bayern are interested. £5 million I believe it would take to sign him tho even if he has had a bust-up. Box to box midfielder, not as attacking as Ballack but still only 27 and hungry to win things outwith Scotland

I quite like Petrov, looks like a quality player to me.
With the fee you mentionned he would be cheaper than Camoranesi, both play a similar role and he is younger aswell.
I would prefer Petrov out of these 2 but I believe neither is the real replacement for Ballack as they don't play his position.

You've been warned alot already and you should really take a look at your warning bar. By the look of it now is a good time to stop making the kind of remarks you have made in the past and that goes for your current remark. Stay on football please.

If you keep ignoring the warnings (IF being the operative word) then somewhere along the line you will get a ban as that is part of the rules.

A lot of people support clubs which are even more unsuccessful than Bayern but that does not mean one should go around telling them they have a thing for hopeless clubs. You have no point there.

Of course Chelsea will put up more of a fight than Bayern thats obvious as they have a strong line up plus superior financial budget. I merely pointed out that they had the same success in the tournament overall this year. So if your saying Bayern choked than that applies to other teams that had the same lack of success in the tournament, but IMO no teams are chokers.

Man Utd finished last in their CL group and did not even qualify for Uefa cup but they are playing good football recently and beat CL semi finalists Arsenal a few days ago who have got one foot in the CL final. So a team can still be successful outside of CL i.e. their own league and Bayern could win their league which means they are not chokers.


Kahn's saved 3 strikes from the spot in the penalty shoot out, were they flukey? Rhetorical question
You made your point and i have made mine this ends here, this thread is about Ballack's replacement so lets stay on that.

I agree with you on Van Bommel though, Bayern cannot compete for him.


You said at one point he will be over the hill, was it in 2 years you said and at that point Barca will not start him, however even at that time Bayern will start him, so that maybe an incentive to Van Bommel.

Says the guy that supports Carlos Valeron a guy who plays for Spain the biggest flops in Soccer history and Deportivo La Corunha a team that has no significance in European competition. T & T winning the WC has to be a joke, and take sometime in spelling "You" instead of "U" and "Cause for "coz".

and who r u? cerro who?
and i don't support nor spain nor deportivo. talk about drawing short-sighted conclusions.
but ur right, t & t winning it is a joke. bit of no-brainer really.




yeah, i'm sure u'd love to c me getting banned. with me not being able to express my p.o.v , be it positive or negative, would make u happy right?

i was lookin at the big picture. bayern haven't just choked this year, but since their flukey year in which they won. and yes, in pk's luck always plays a part. therefore flukey.
over the past few years, and in the CL bayern have been chokers. and u can bend and twist round that painful fact all u want.

i'm sure u know exactly whether barcelona will or won't be starting with van bommel in two years, and whether bayern will or won't. **sarcarsm**

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...tic/4926326.stm

Petrov set to leave Celtic by the looks of it
May well be on his way to you guys if the rumours are true. Think he has a 4 or 5 million release clause in his contract

I've heard he only signed a new deal at Celtic as a publicty stunt to keep the fans off the clubs back and that the release clause maybe as low as £3million.

We may just have to wait and see.

As Strike-for-Germany said, leave such comments out.
It's up to everybody himself which clubs he supports, likes or dislikes, right? Therefore you got no reason to tell anyone that he supports hopeless sides.
What would the game of football be if everybody would support only the likes of Chelsea or Barca? It wouldn't be the same, it would lose its class as everybody would be a glory hunter then.

I'm not sure whether you meant Strike or me, but however, it's harsh to call our fav teams like that as they have either a chance of trophies(Liverpool + Bayern in cup/league+cup, Germany in the WC) or are on their way to reach their aims(Cottbus on their way to promotion, Spurs on their way to Europe, all 4 clubs are set for a top4/5 finish which isn't hopeless at all).

It would be better to choose the right words mate to avoid those confrontations we have here now.
Anyway, we should stop here and go back to topic.


It is up to you whether you are considered to get banned or not. If you would behave in the way the other people in this thread do, with other words better, then nobody would think about to warn or ban you.
It is not that anybody has anything against you but with your behaviour you don't do anybody a favour.

Apart from that, learn to accept other member's/mod's opinions. There is no point in going on about Bayern's so called flukey win. They had the needed luck in the final but won all their 4 knock out stages matches against Manchester United and Real Madrid (1-0 away and 2-1 at home apiece).
This can't be really called flukey, can it? Just leave your dislikes for any club out of here to make it a better discussion and write proper english, e.g "see" instead of "c", as everybody does.


This would be good news but I don't think that this is the end of the story.
I wouldn't be surprised if he stays at Celtic.

Your remark that i have a thing for hopeless teams is your point of view, but im sure people have points of view that we don't need to know about like personal remarks or p.o.v that are not in line with soccerpulse rules as your warning bar indicates. So just because you have a point of view does not mean you can express it, for example if it is personal and degrading.

Saying I have a thing for hopeless teams was not based on discussing football but more of a remark about me. So if you have points of view about people that tend to degrade then yes you cannot express them. There is your answer.



Were staying on topic here, good

You said that Van Bommel will be over the hill in 2 years, Barcelona have plenty of stars, Bayern do not, so if Van Bommel will be over the hill in 2 years like you say there is more chance of Bayern starting Van Bommel in 2 years then Barcelona. Bayern would need Van Bommel more than Barcelona as the Nou Camp have many stars to fall back on and a player like Van Bommel would stand out compared to other Bayern players and be enough reason to maybe start him in 2 years.

Do you really think that Bayern need to buy in another player to replace Ballack, people have all said that Bayern is not full of stars but I disagree to a certain degree. They have more pulling power then any other club in Germany and have more stars then most other Bundesliga sides combined. When compared to world class sides (Barca, Man U, Chelsinski, Real, AC Milan, Juve etc) then yes they lack a little. I think their is depth in the squad to warrant not being too concerned about losing Ballack.
The only "concern" I would have is that of his publicity machine - He is considered the best player for Germany and debatable the whole Bundesliga. So without him Bayern will be less feared in other clubs eyes.... but that could work in their favour. Personally I think a player like Hargreaves would be a good player to mould into the Ballack "Position". Both players started their career's defensively and both have proved dangerous around goal, both quick minded and have good ball control. It might not happen overnight but they would have to take a chance with buying a player anyway. And there is no one better imo to mould a player than Magarth.
As for Petrov, He would be a welcome edition at any club, he's hard working and class. Saying that if he were to play in Ballack's position, the team would have a complete different dynamic.

weak argumentation if u ask me. i'm still not clear as to who are stars at barcelona and who aren't. btw, who's to say that in two years time players like deco, oleguer and giuly are still at barcelona. should they leave, it could perhaps open up more possibilities for van bommel.

Van Bommel over the hill in 2 years tops is what you originally said even if the likes of Deco and Oleguer leave in the coming years what are the chances that the best club in the world: Barcelona (you said Barca were the best) will not attract suitable talent to replace them. A club like Barcelona can compete for the best players in the world no problem as its well known they are N01 club in Europe. Either way its going to be harder for Van Bommel when he starts to get older he will have more competition at Barcelona than he would have at Bayern at that older age, thats for sure.

Kallstrom of Rennes or Diego of Porto would be plausible choices, too.

hehe its fun to see you guys Strike and Valeron still discussing everything in this forum since its obvious you will never agree on anything as one of you is overconvinced of Germany and Munich and the other one is just the whole opposite, but go ahead if you like conversation with no outcome.

still don't agree, coz bayern have pretty decent player on the right side of midfield. it's the left where bayern's weaknesses lie. and possibly upfront, next season.
i also don't see hoeness and co go for somebody who's van bommel's age. somebody younger. and who likely already plays in the bundesliga.

Its just different points of view, Juan's views in this thread is not unreasonable and neither are mine, but it would be pretty boring if we all agreed on everything getting mainly only one sided views, plus if you look back on previous posts its not just me and Valeron.

I have not said Germany are going to win the world cup and am not overconvinced of Germany or Munich, your quote on that part has no foundation, I have mentioned that Germany reached the world cup final last time round and were considered a weak team and people were "under-convinced" if you like, last time round, yet did well but other than that i have not said they are going to cake walk the world cup.

in my opinion every argumenation based on past achievements and strength are just a sign of weakness. Did you ever here a Brazil team sa we will do big as we always did. They only talk about their squad and what they have right now. YOu will never have succes when you base it on sth you aint.

1982 Germany got the world cup final and the next world cup in 1986 Germany got to the final and people looked at how strong Germany where in the these 2 world cups and said next time they could win the next world cup which is not unreasonable and they won the 1990 world cup. IMO your argument is weaker.

A lot of fans of Brazil talk about Brazil's history and stars like Pele, you hear this stuff all the time as it reflects on the culture on Brazils football team and Brazil try to put that success in modern teams.

Im not saying Germany will win because they have gone to 7 finals, my point is only that they have a N0 2 record in world and are known to do good in world cups thats all. To futher explain, if Brazil have kept on producing teams that go to finals then its not unreasonable to say that in the future they can keep producing teams like this. Same goes for Germany and it does not mean they will win every world cup.

I replied to your post above. Ballack's replacement lets stay on that.

you guys ever even seen petrov play a match??? if you watch him he is in a class of his own, great control and 150% work rate.....

Fair enough but why do you post something about Petrov in a thread about Ballack?

Here is the thread about Petrov, please make sure to post in the right thread next time .

Cheers.

maybe he sees petrov as ballack's replacement.

Maybe but his post didn't really look like he wanted to suggest Petrov as a Ballack replacement.

Apart from that, Petrov is a left attacking minded winger, like Robben for example. This is not the type of player to replace Ballack IMO.

they won´t get any big name. i do not think they will this season. poldi can play behind the strikers, as i said before. and with hargreaves we have a good solution. maybe they are looking for some big name, but i doubt it will happen this summer. don´t know why.

they should get a big name if u ask me. poldi is only 20, u can't expect him to pull all the strings yet, and he's too much of a goal-scorer to hang back in midfield. while hargreaves is average at most. i believe he didn't even make the english world cup squad.
bayern should put all hands on deck to bring in somebody like gerrard.

i think stilian petrov.... he shear wor rate and effort gives him alot of potential

Agreed on Hargreaves, he is able to fill in that role.
The problem is that Bayern can't attract real big name players so I suppose they won't get a big name this summer, but who knows. Maybe we are completely wrong.


A player like Gerrard would be great but its a big money issue and many players simply can't get attract with the Bundesliga. Otherwise I could see Bayern pulling such a signing off.

As for Hargreaves, he is an important player, no average IMO.
And he made the english WC squad .


Oh, you mean Stilian Petrov. I thought some days back you were talking about Martin Petrov .

I would take S.Petrov, can see him doing well for Bayern.