Arjen Robben

BERLIN — Bayern Munich’s Dutch star winger Arjen Robben was named footballer of the 2009/10 Bundesliga season by sporting magazine Kicker on Sunday.

The 26-year-old – who is due to miss the next two months owing to a thigh muscle injury which has provoked a major row between his club and his national federation – saw off three clubmates in the voting by sports journalists.

Robben – who was a major influence as the Dutch reached the World Cup final where they lost 1-0 to Spain – received 445 votes while German international midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, World Cup Golden Boot winner Thomas Mueller and German captain Philipp Lahm got 180, 118 and 35 votes respectively.

Robben, who staged an amazing recovery from his initial injury in the final warm-up match prior to the finals to start in all the knockout stage matches, was outstanding as Bayern did the domestic double and reached the Champions League final last season.

Compatriot and Bayern coach Louis van Gaal was voted coach of the season.

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The first price is there. Bayern win the German Supercup

AUGSBURG— Bayern Munich on Saturday added the Super Cup to their Bundesliga/German Cup double with a 2-0 win over Schalke 04 in a display which suggested they will again be overwhelming title favourites.

Despite playing without the injured Arjen Robben, the besieged Franck Ribery and a resting Mark Van Bommel, Bayern were still too strong and triumphed with late goals from German World Cup stars Thomas Mueller and Mirsolav Klose.

They dominated the match with Bastian Schweinsteiger missing a good eighth-minute chance while Klose saw a 51st-minute drive come off the post.

But they had to be patient for the breakthrough.

Mueller, who was handed a lucrative new contract on Friday which ties the 20-year-old to the club until 2015, found the target in the 75th minute.

Klose added the second six minutes later as Bayern won a third Super Cup, a trophy which hadn’t been contested since 1996.

“This team is better than last year’s because everyone knows what they have to do,” said Bayern coach Louis van Gaal, who led the team to the Champions League final last season.

Schalke 04 coach Felix Magath, who tempted Spanish star Raul to leave Real Madrid in the summer, remains cautious over whether or not his team can chase Bayern all the way, just as they did last season when they finished runners-up.

“You must see that we haven’t yet got the quality to beat a high-level team,” he said.

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Louis van Gaal

MUNICH— Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal said Friday that star winger Arjen Robben should not have been allowed to play at the World Cup for the Netherlands because he wasn’t fully fit.
Robben reported to Bayern’s preseason training camp with a torn left hamstring, the same injury he picked up before the World Cup.

Van Gaal said the Dutch team’s coach and doctor failed to protect Robben and allowed him to play despite the injury. Robben missed the first two games but then played every game, including the 1-0 extra-time loss to Spain in the final.

“Every player wants to play a World Cup. He’ll do anything to be make it happen,” Van Gaal said. “That’s why we have a coach and a doctor, to protect the player. It’s the job of a coach and very much so of the doctor, and it wasn’t done.

“I called Robben several times during the World Cup and warned him,” said Van Gaal, who is also Dutch.

Van Gaal said Robben had fluid drained from his hamstring every two days during the World Cup.

“Everyone knew that he wasn’t in a good condition,” Van Gaal said.

Bayern officials have been fuming over Robben’s injury and are hoping for compensation from the Dutch football federation.

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk has said Robben was fit at the end of the tournament and other Dutch team officials have denied any wrongdoing.

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Daniel van Buyten

MUNICH – The injury suffered by defender Daniel van Buyten while playing for the reserves of Bayern Munich at the weekend is not as bad as first feared.

The Belgium defender had to leave the field with an ankle injury in the first half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Wacker Burghausen of the German third division, but fears he may face a lengthy lay-off were allayed on Monday.

“Fortunately, there is no tear,” reported Bayern’s director of sport Christian Nerlinger on the club’s website. “We hope that he can return quickly.”

Bayern coach Louis van Gaal had criticised the German Football Association (DFB) for forcing Bayern to play the fixture on Saturday while the first team were also obliged to take part in a four-team tournament in Gelsenkirchen.

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Louis van Gaal

MUNICH – Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal maintains he has too many strikers and is more likely to sell one than buy one this summer.

The Dutchman has Ivica Olic, Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez on the books and, since he prefers to play with only one striker, he feels he has a surplus.

“Even if I play with two strikers, I still have two too many,” he said.

“We need to sell rather than buy.”

But selling either Gomez or Klose, which would appear more likely than offloading Olic or Muller, would not necessarily mean Bayern would then make a move for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko, as has been reported in Germany in the last few days.

That, after all, would still leave him with an excess of strikers, albeit with different personnel.

“I am sure that you can count,” he joked when asked about the speculation.

Yet despite the apparent plethora of forwards at his disposal, Van Gaal was only able to take a squad of 12 with him for a pre-season tournament with Schalke, Cologne and Hamburg, and that included five members of his youth team and the club’s fitness coach Marcelo Martins.

Van Gaal is still waiting for the majority of his squad to return from their post-World Cup holidays and, with Hamit Altintop, Franck Ribery, Martin Demichelis and Daniel van Buyten also ruled out, he is struggling to send 11 players out at the Arena AufSchalke.

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Louis van Gaal

Roy Hodgson

LIVERPOOL – According to the Mirror, Kenny Dalglish will become the king maker who decides the identity of Liverpool’s next manager.

King Kenny, still idolised by the Kop, has been asked by the Anfield board to draw up a shortlist of names to succeed Rafa Benitez, who – as was exclusively revealed by the Mirror – departed yesterday.

And Dalglish, who is the greatest living hero the club has produced, will spend the next month alongside MD Christian Purslow assessing available managers before recommending the stand-out candidate to the Reds board.

Already, Roy Hodgson has emerged as one of the names at the head of the shortlist, as an experienced manager who possesses all the right credentials to take the massive job at Anfield.

And Louis van Gaal is another sure to be examined closely by Dalglish, who is perfectly qualified as a former manager, player and now ambassador of the club to define who is best suited to the role.

Senior sources at the club have suggested that Dalglish and Purslow will look for six key qualities in their new manager, before making the final decision.

They have indicated that no interim boss will be appointed, but instead, current assistant manager Sammy Lee will hold the fort until a permanent replacement is appointed, probably at the end of June.

The new boss, who will be offered a long-term contract even though the club is likely to get new owners within the next 12-24 months, must display the following criteria:

He must be – experienced; established; calm and stable; understand European football; statesmanlike… and have proven ability to work under stressful conditions.

That immediately marks Hodgson out as a viable candidate and clear front-runner. Not only does he have vast experience both in the Premier League and in European football with clubs like Inter Milan, he also has extensive international management knowledge.

Several well-known managers have already expressed interest in the job, but Hodgson has proven consistently he can work in difficult environments and appease both players and fans.

He did an impressive rebuilding job at Inter in the mid-90s on a restricted budget and, crucially, has always produced good footballing teams, even under restricted financial circumstances.

Liverpool fans have long suffered negative football under both Benitez and predecessor Gerard Houllier, and after 12 years of caution, they would welcome someone who plays the game in the right way.

Van Gaal also fits that bill perfectly, and his credentials in steering Bayern Munich to the Champions League final make him a stand-out candidate, but the question remains whether he would move from Germany at this time.

Whilst the pair are front-runners, Liverpool insist Dalglish will consider other contenders, with Benfica’s talented boss Jorge Jesus and Zenit St Petersburg’s highly-rated Italian Luciano Spalletti also on the list, along with Dutchman Frank Rijkaard, and Martin O’Neill of Aston Villa, who also has his admirers within Anfield.

Daglish himself should not be ruled out entirely as a candidate. If he cannot find a suitable successor to Benitez then he has already indicated he is prepared to take responsibility on a short-term basis.

But Liverpool believe that will not be necessary. They will offer an immediate input of funds of around £15million to bring in new players, plus the chance to sell fringe players and deadwood to boost that kitty even further… which could easily more than double the final transfer spend.

Benitez himself will walk away with a graduated £6million pay-off that could rise even further should he remain unemployed for any length of time, after he concluded negotiations over his settlement after being sacked.

Speaking yesterday, the Spanish coach said from his holiday home in Sardinia: “It is very sad for me that I will no longer be manager of Liverpool FC. I would like to thank all of the staff and players for their efforts.

“I’ll always keep in my heart the good times I’ve had here, the strong and loyal support of the fans in the tough times and the love from Liverpool.”

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Arjen Robben also named best player of the Bundesliga by his peers

MUNICH – Arjen Robben scored a landslide victory when the Bayern Munich and Netherlands winger was named best player of the past German football season by his fellow players in the Bundesliga.

Robben received a staggering 71.2 percent of the votes from 241 Bundesliga players. League top scorer Edin Dzeko of VfL Wolfsburg was a distant second with 6.7 percent and Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger third on 5.4 percent.

Earlier Robben was also named Best Player of the Bundesliga by the readers of Kicker.

Manuel Neuer of Schalke 04 was elected best goalkeeper with 30.5 percent, ahead of Bayer Leverkusen’s Rene Adler (13.6) and Hans-Joerg Butt of Munich (10 per cent).

Louis van Gaal was the best coach after leading Munich to a domestic league and cup double, and into the Champions League final in his first season at the club.

Van Gaal garnered 34.7 percent to rank ahead of VfB Stuttgart coach Christian Gross (19.7) and Felix Magath of Schalke 04 (17.2).

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Louis van Gaal: "We were not good enough to impose our game."

MADRID – Louis van Gaal conceded Bayern Munich were ‘not good enough’ to impose their own game on Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League.

Bayern’s dreams of an unprecedented trophy treble were crushed in the Santiago Bernabeu as Diego Milito scored a goal in each half to earn Inter a 2-0 win.

Though the German champions dominated possession in Madrid, bar a golden chance for Thomas Muller moments after half-time, they struggled to find a way through Inter’s stubborn defence.

Van Gaal believes there was little to choose between the two teams, but acknowledged that Inter deserved a first European Cup success in 45 years.

“We were not good enough to impose our game,” said Van Gaal. “Inter only reacted, but they still won deservedly.

“The timing of the goals was decisive. The players learned today that it comes down to small details.

“I still have the feeling that we could have won. There were no great difference.

“We attacked, Inter defended, but you have to be in great shape to beat Inter and we were not today. I still think Inter merited the win.”

Bayern keeper Hans-Jorg Butt echoed Van Gaal’s sentiments, saying: “They deserved to win. They defended very well.

“We never found our game and could not get past their defence. They have great strikers.”

Captain Mark van Bommel believes Muller’s opportunity, when the youngster shot straight at Julio Cesar, was a key moment in the game.

Van Bommel commented: “Not the better, but the more effective team won.

“Had Muller scored, it may have been different. These are decisive moments. But no reproaches, Muller has scored so many goals this season.”

Source: Sky

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Louis van Gaal

MADRID – According to Louis van Gaal not the qualities of Bayern Munich, but the decisions and errors of referees put the German squad in the final of the Champions League.

‘’Chelsea, Barcelona and Manchester United are, at the moment, better than us”, said Van Gaal during the press conference towards the final.

“We made the final because of luck and because of decisions by the referees.’’

The coach of Bayern Munich is in favour of technology as an aid for referees. He pleaded with FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Platini for the use of the videoscreens by the referees.

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Arjen Robben

MUNICH — Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has taken a swipe at Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho’s negative tactics ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final.

Robben, who will face Inter in the final in Madrid this weekend, played under Mourinho for three years at Chelsea and grew tired of his safety-first philosophy.

The Holland international believes Mourinho was too concerned with winning at all costs and didn’t let his players express themselves.

“He puts out a winning team, it doesn’t matter if it’s done with nice football or not,” Robben told.

“The philosophy at Bayern is the coach (Louis van Gaal) wants to win games by playing nice football.”

The 26-year-old added: “As a player you want to play and enjoy the game, that’s also an important part.”

Robben gradually fell out of favour with Mourinho at Chelsea because the Portuguese coach was unimpressed with his player’s poor injury record and switched to a formation that made less use of wingers.

“I was working with him three years at Chelsea. It was a successful time, he’s a big personality and as a coach of a top team you need to be,” Robben said.

“He knew how to work with big players and put them together and let them work together.

“He certainly knew what he was talking about and had the respect of every single player.

“But we started to play more in this diamond without wingers, which is not good for me. The system changed a bit so I made my decision and left.”

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