[Catfish]

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/...180462&cpid=22

Don't take the Saints lightly! They beat Utd and gave my Arsenal fits. St. Mary's is great place to play and the crowd is very passionate. You better smother Beattie or he will burn your arse. Good luck.

[Basti]

Just a friendly so it doesn't really mean much considering the form of the two teams but yes a win would be nice

[Syncope]

This is a tough one. Bayern's problems are twofold: 1) Bayern will underestimate the opponent, and 2) Bayern might get unpleasantly surprised by the English throw-everything-forward style of football (a gross generalization, I know). Bayern's advantage is that if Southampton are open in back, Makaay is good at putting away half-chances.

[miko]

I predict a 0-0 draw. Southampton are very stubborn at the back, especially at St. Mary's, and get a lot of draws.

[mcweiss]

Any thoughts on Hitzfeld's new tactics of using Ballack as a playmaker right behind the two stikers and pinching in the outside midfielders to keep central shape? Apparently the reports from the friendly against Mainz stated that the defense sucked, which is vital to this setup...Any thoughts on whether or not Southampton is a legitimate match-up for FCB to test these new tactics?

[Syncope]

I think that Southampton is a legitimate matchup regardless of Bayern's tactics. Bayern have sucked all season long--the defense being the worst in a long long time. It'll be a good test to see how Bayern compare to a solid mid-table English team--not too favorably would be my prediction, considering Bayern's ambitions and status (meaning, probably a draw, which really isn't good enough).

[Basti]

Recent friendlies since the Dubai training session.


Cottbus 2-2 FC Bayern

FCV Mainz 2-1 FC Bayern

Wuppertal 3-5 FC Bayern

I think we can safely assume we have majour problems with our defence if 2nd and 3rd division sides can score against us so easily.

[miko]

Really now, what is wrong with our defence?! The defence has been plain s*it this season!

[Basti]

Had trouble logging into FCB Champions so I went over to the Southampton website for their live ticker of the game.

Interesting... the game ended 1-0 to Southampton then magically it became 1-1.

The live ticker explained in great detail their goal but chose to ignore ours for 30mins.

I hope the "Saints" get relegated, can't even broadcast a match right.

Anyways Ballack was the scorer, he seems to be scoring a fair bit in his new role.