The days leading up to the squad announcement have been far from calm. National coach Julian Nagelsmann heads into the World Cup in a weakened position, having suffered a surprising decline. A commentary.
All things considered, BVB's season hasn't improved much on the previous two. It remains uncertain whether the platform built under Kovac is solid enough to underpin the "new BVB".
Manuel Neuer appears set to return to the Germany squad, a move that would cast Oliver Baumann into the role of unfortunate spectator—a situation for which coach Julian Nagelsmann would bear the blame. The Bayern Munich goalkeeper's comeback would also undermine the national coach's credibility, creating a communications disaster that could have been avoided with clearer planning. An editorial.
After BVB’s 0-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, players and staff are mostly concerned about the sporadic boos aimed at Nico Schlotterbeck. It is commendable that they are closing ranks to defend him, but this solidarity also masks a troubling drop in team morale.
The yellow cards deliberately earned by Kimmich and Olise were a curious side note to Bayern's gala performance in Bergamo. It would be easy to prevent this from happening again. A commentary.
One year should be more than enough time to transmit your ideas to your squad and mould them to your way of playing. But Ruben Amorim's first anniversary as Manchester United coach against Everton felt like being back at square one, his players still no closer to working out how to beat mid-table Premier League opponents, even when playing against 10 men for more than 77 minutes.