German Bundesliga 2013-14

All three players have been punished for wearing clothes from another company than official club sponsor Adidas

Bayern Munich have fined Mario Gomez, Mario Gotze and Jan Kirchhoff for wearing Nike clothes at official FCB events rather than kit from club sponsor Adidas, press officer Markus Horwick has confirmed.

The Bundesliga side's players are contractually obliged to wear Adidas clothes at official club activities - football shoes being the only exception to the rule.

However, both Gotze and Kirchhoff appeared at their official presentation on Tuesday wearing a t-shirt with a big Nike logo, leading to complaints from Adidas.

Bayern consequently offered their apologies to the company, only for Mario Gomez then to be photographed wearing a Nike hat at the club's training camp in Trentino.

The Champions League winners therefore opted to take action against the trio and have handed them fines, which will be donated to the victims of the recent floods in Germany.

No details have been disclosed about the amount of the fines, but all three players have accepted their punishment without further comment.

 

I might give the bundesliga a watch this year, never really been interested in it before

 

Who's Jan Kirchoff? excuse my ignorance but I haven't heard of him before

 

Very good centre back they bought from FSV Mainz German under 21 player.

 

If he's a Germany under 21 he will be class thats for sure

 

I'm a little concerned at the amount of money Dortmund spent on Mkhitaryan but I guess we have the money with the Mario sale and Bayern have kind of forced us to spend in order to stand a chance of competing.

 

Money well spent

 

Anyone think Dortmund should just sell Lewandowski? if they're honest with themselves they aren't going to get near Bayern anyway and there's no point in them losing £20million on him just for one season. What if he got injured and they barely got any use out him anyway?

They should sell him and sign Dzeko who they might get for about £15million, Dzeko wouldnt be ideal for them but he would score for fun and they could sell him next year if they wanted to if a better player becomes available.

 

I doubt Man City would sell Dzeko. That would leave them with Aguero and Guidetti as their only two strikers.

 

I think they would be stupid not to sell him to be fair. I think he has made it clear that he would prefer to move on, punt him and get someone else in. I'm not a massive fan of Dzeko in all honesty, but he did score regularly in Germany prior to moving to Man City so he would maybe turn out a great buy for them.

 

Selling Lewandowski would be the final blow to Dortmund's pride, the final confirmation that they are nothing more than Bayern's feeder team, just like the rest of the Bundesliga clubs are Bayern's feeder clubs when the time is right for Bayern to regenerate their team and acquire the best talent. Their fans simply wouldn't stand for it, and rightly so.

Dortmund don't need the money, and they certainly need to preserve their reputation. Lewandowski will be leaving on Dortmund's terms, not his own, and for a club raking in more than enough money from the champions league and from their gargantuan stadium, that matters a great deal more than any financial recompense gained from kowtowing to Bayern.

 

They wouldn't have to sell him to Bayern. I would be very surprised if they were the only team interested that Lewandowski would be willing to go to. I would rather sell someone that was wanting away than keep him to save face. If they were to punt him for good money and brought in a replacement that banged in just as many, I very much doubt that the fans would give a monkeys.

 

I dont think it would. They and everyone round the world knows Bayern are the daddies in Germany and anyone there would go to them before Dortmund.

Not selling him to them doesnt do anything except take money out their own pockets and leave it in Bayerns to improve further. Whats the differance in Lewandowski signing for Bayern for £20million because they are a bigger club and he wants to play there or signing for them for nothing because they are a bigger club and he wants to play there.

Madness to me.

I could see the point if they were only going to get £5million or even £10million but £20million would buy you a good player or two.... it will buy Bayern a good player or two like Gustavo and Dante who only cost that or Shaqiri and Mandzukic who only cost that.

 

He has already spurned the chance to sign for Real Madrid, his intention is clear, he's signing for Bayern.

Finding a replacement that will 'bang in just as many' is easier said than done, just look at how many strikers scored twenty plus in the Bundesliga last season; two.

'Go out and buy Kießling then', well, sure, but Kießling isn't a tried and tested Champions League striker like Lewandowski is, his European record is mediocre.

That's beside the point.

Dortmund need to keep up appearances, the loss of one major player in a transfer window to your only direct title rival is bad enough, the loss of another would be a death knell for Dortmund's credibility within German football. Bowing to Lewandowski's demands is not politically acceptable at a time when the likes of Hummels are committing to Dortmund long term and the likes of Reus are choosing them over Bayern, simple as that.

The difference is that the former scenario suits Bayern a darn sight more than the latter does. 20 million pounds is inconsequential for a club with their spending power, they only care about getting the player as soon as possible and would rather pay the money to get him in immediately than wait.

Keeping hold of Lewandowski harms Bayern, they've just sold Gomez and are now thin up front. Why hand your only title rival a guaranteed 20+ league goal a season striker on a silver platter when there is no guarantee of finding a good enough replacement for yourself?

Dortmund simply have no need for the money, they've had a huge cash injection from the sale of Gotze and are swimming in Champions League cash after their great run to the final.

The market simply isn't there for a striker of Lewandowski's quality, Dortmund can't attract a top tier option and the likes of Dzeko are not value for money, given his ludicrously inflated Man City wages that will have to be more or less matched.

Keeping Lewandowski guarantees Dortmund 20+ goals in the league, and gives them a whole season to scout thoroughly for a replacement. He then leaves on Dortmund's terms, allowing them to save face, and by that time they'll have another huge wad of Champions League revenue to burn on a replacement.

Dortmund's stance is the correct one, and Klopp should be commended for sticking to his guns.

 

Dzeko is class

 

That is not a guarentee. If you keep a player against his wishes, the same passion and desire will not be there. If they don't buy a replacement for him, and keep hold of him, they had better hope his mindset doesn't change (highly doubtful in all honesty). His goals are what could be the difference between them finishing in a Champions League place or not. So although selling him and bringing someone in is taking a gamble, keeping an unhappy player is every bit as much of a risk. Cutting your nose to spite your face comes to mind here.

There replacement wouldn't have to play in the Bundesliga, or have ever done so. Talking about a lack of Champions League experience, Lewendowski was pretty much in the same boat prior to the last campaign. So signing someone that has played in the Champions League is certainly a plus point, but not a necessity.

 

Lewandowski has 'agreed' personal terms with Bayern but it is merely an informal agreement at this stage, nothing has been committed to paper because it would be illegal to do so.

He still has to maintain his level of performance if he wants Bayern to sign him up to a big money contract, if his form dips and he doesn't bag twenty plus this season, what's stopping Bayern from turning their back on him and looking elsewhere? Nothing. What if he has a rubbish season and Bayern's Gomez replacement does well, or Mandzukic has a blinder?

He still has to play well enough to earn his move to Bayern, that's as good a guarantee as any that his level of performance will not drop. I'm not saying teams will avoid him if he goes off the boil, but they certainly won't be queuing up to offer him ludicrous money.

A free agent coming into the market on the back of a great season is going to command a higher salary than a free agent who's just had a stinker.

 

As far as I remember Dortmund won 2 out the last 3 Bundesliga titels. Bayern had a magical season, but there is no guarantee that they can do it again under Guardiola.

With Lewandowski their chances to again advance far in the Champions League are certainly bigger than without him. And with the crazy money UEFA is giving away for CL succes, they might even have more money at the end of the season than if they would have sold him. Nobody knows that for sure.

 

I don't think he is class, or anywhere near it to be honest. His all round game isn't great. He done very well in Germany, but he hasn't been all that great in England.

 

The argument about the replacement for Gomez is pointless, because if he were to come in and do well, it might not matter if Lewandowski has a good season or not. As in regard to his performances for the coming season, do you honestly believe that if he had a poor season that would put Bayern off him? I highly doubt it, especially considering they know that he had his heart set on the move to them and his heart wouldn't be in it as such for Dortmund. I very much doubt he will be as good this season if they keep hold of him.