THE BUNDESLIGA FAQ 98/99 (December) |
Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern Munich and the National team |
(Click on 'The Bundesliga FAQ' for an index of the 2-monthly updates) |
This is a part of of | THE BUNDESLIGA FAQ / BUNDESLIGA FAQ MAGAZINE |
as a component of | THE SHOT THAT PASSED RIGHT THROUGH THE NET |
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Will Bayern run away at the top? | Bayern had one of the best starts in Bundesliga history. Will anybody be able to follow? |
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What's the matter with the 'Mannschaft'? - Part 2 | The German national team is continuing shaking up after the disappointing France 98. Also with new coach Erich Ribbeck they lost at Turkey and looked embarassing against the Netherlands... |
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Who are Borussia Mönchengladbach and can they get rescued? | Borussia Mönchengladbach is one of the most popular clubs in Germany. Why? And today MG are in trouble. Can they survive? |
What's
the matter with the 'Mannschaft'? The German national team shaking up after
France 98 - PART 2
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In the last update parallels between politics and football had been drawn. Here they can be continued. Although it has to be attached, that this analogies idea should not be stressed too much... The metaphor of change, of new departures, motivated a more positive attitude towards the National team, its coach and his decisions. The reality: Erich Ribbeck send the youngsters home again, and reactivated 37 year old Lothar Matthäus to play at least until Euro2000. Also Andy Möller is back and Thomas Haessler is expected back also. Leaves only one major departure after the World Cup: Jürgen Klinsmann (beside from a few other important but not key players). It is a step back and has produced its first results: 2 Euro-qualifiers in one week: a 0:1 defeat at Turkey and a victory at Moldavia which saw 2 completely different halfs of the German team. Above it was called an metaphor of a new beginning. This metaphor made the public see those matches completely different than before: Had the coach been still Berti Vogts, the two matches might have triggered devostating critics. So now it was called a promising new beginning with only little mistake - a bad result. But the next match seems to have entirely unveiled the misery: The Netherlands one half completely embarassed the German team, who played as bad as before only against Romania some months ago. The result? This was the point: As it used to be before, the German team was able to score as much as their opponents: the match ended 1:1. So yet just nothing changed although it felt like. The parallels? Also the new government made more or less no changes or if, it have been the same things the old one had already intended anyway. And those measures do not seem to solve any problems. But here it is much too early too see results. As it might be in football also? |
Who
are Borussia Mönchengladbach, why are they so popular, and can they
get rescued?
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A note
as the following misunderstanding for German football beginners is known:
Mönchengladbach has nothing to do with Munich/München and is
located in a completely different part of Germany.
Borussia
Mönchengladbach attained nationwide and even Europe-wide sympathies
in the 1970s when an extra-ordinary generation won the German championship
5 times in 8 years, the cup once, and the UEFA-Cup twice.
Rainer
Bonhof is the new coach for Borussia Mönchengladbach and is trying
to rescue the team that has dropped to #18 of the table and faces relegation.
Now Mönchengladbach
is last in the table and will need about 30 points from their final 19
matches to survive. If Bundesliga newcomer Rainer Bonhof accomplishes this,
it will be a masterpiece. If not, the fate of Borussia is very unsure,
as the stadium might not be build and the club has not the financial substance
to force a comeback like Kaiserslautern had been able to do.
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