Jürgen Klinsmann has been out of the management game for well over two years now, and there are a variety of reasons for that. Most obviously, the 2006 German Football Manager of the Year is utilizing the old “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” technique.
The 2013 Ballon d'Or was one of the closest votes in the history of the award, given to the world’s best footballer in a given year.
And Franck Ribery is still bitter he didn’t win.
Does he have a point? Maybe.
The 2013 Ballon d'Or was an odd one. FIFA, which joined France Football in the awarding of the trophy in 2010, extended the voting period late in the process after announcing it had only received votes from less than 50 percent of eligible voters.
After Borussia Dortmund blew a three-goal lead to draw with Hoffenheim earlier in the day, Christian Pulisic was probably hoping to get some help from his USMNT teammate Weston McKennie vs Bayern Munich in the late Bundesliga match on Saturday.
The Schalke midfielder had one great moment that had Dortmund and Schalke fans both thinking the Royal Blues could slow down Bayern. But it wasn’t nearly enough as the home side dominated the rest of the match on the way to a 3-1 victory at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Bayern Munich sure loves Texas.
Last year, the German club partnered with FC Dallas to create a player-development program. Bayern has brought a number of Americans over on loan from the MLS club, even signing 18-year-old Chris Richards earlier this month.
Bayern Munich has signed 17-year-old Real Salt Lake academy product Taylor Booth on a three-and-a-half-year deal, according to Sports Illustrated. Booth is a member of the USMNT U-18 team, and he was a part of the U.S. squad that advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2017 U-17 World Cup.
Chris Richards, an 18-year-old American center back, is officially a Bayern Munich player.
The FC Dallas Homegrown Player joined the German giant on loan in July. On Thursday, his move was completed as the Alabama native signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Bayern. According to reports, FC Dallas will be paid $1.5 million for Richards.
According to the Deloitte Football Money League 2019 study, Real Madrid is now the richest club in the world after generating a record revenue of $867.7 million over the course of the 2017-18 season. Last year’s number one, Manchester United, has fallen to number three in the rankings and been overtaken by Barcelona as well.
In the soccer world, one of the best sights for sore eyes is the return of the Champions League.
Sometimes, watching Champions League teams playing league cup matches against weak opposition can be really dull after a while. For example, Manchester City’s 9-0 drubbing of Burton Albion a few weeks ago. In a lot of ways, European soccer without Champions League becomes kind of monotonous. At some point between the last Champions League group stage match and the start of the Round of 16, soccer fans will be wondering when the tournament will start up again.
If you’ve paid attention to internet trends over the past few days or so, you will notice something known as the #10YearChallenge. The basic premise of it is that people post pictures of themselves from 2009 and another from 2019 to show the world how much they’ve changed — in appearance or otherwise.
Bayern Munich has only just returned from winter break training in Doha, Qatar, where 18-year-old Alphonso Davies got his first taste of action with the Bavarian giants. The $22 million Canadian international had a breakthrough 2018 with the Vancouver Whitecaps — scoring eight goals, being named to the MLS All-Star Game and receiving Vancouver’s Player of the Year award — and his immense talent has already impressed the likes of Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Niklas Sule and, most importantly, boss Niko Kovac.