http://www.soccer365.com/US_NEWS/Breaking_News/page_131_61263.shtml so willy sagnol pines for the days when effenberg was the leader of FC hollywood - i don't know, this seems ridiculous: ballack is a fine leader (just ask die mannschaft) and one of the top players in the world - also seems unfair to lay this on the guy, like it's an excuse for the rest of the team - oh and isn't the current captain quite fiery? between kahn and ballack, i think they have plenty of leadership and i expect that their best is ahead of them this season
Maybe there’s something to it. Ballack is obviously a better player than Effenberg ever was, but maybe he’s just too nice. You need a couple of arschlochs on the team and I think Kahn is the only one left.
1-since when does a$$hole = great leader 2-ballack took kahn on full steam when oli questioned his injury - ballack is hardly a softie
I remember reading how brutal MJ sometimes was to his teammates in training… But you’re right, a leader doesn’t have to be a bad person. It just seems to me that Ballack is happy to play his part the best he can and not bother about leading the team
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I hate it, when people call the german NT "die mannschaft". Where the hell did they get this term from? That sounds so awful for my german ears, you can´t even imagine! A more realistic name is "Nationalelf". To Michi Ballack I can just say: He can´t practice regularly cause of some minor injuries, but keeps on playing to help his club or country, what more can you ask for from a Teamleader! He may be not such a arschloch as Effe, but I don´t think you can call this a negative attitude! He scores, he assists goals, he is a good fighter in defense. He doesn´t need to have such big mouth, cause he is a great player!
Re: Re: sagnol disses ballack Perfect point, soccerfreak. It is much better to lead by example than to lead with the mouth. In this, Ballack is the perfect leader. He is one of the best players in the world, plays hurt, and works his *ss off for club and country. The other players need only try to follow Ballack's example, and Bayern will be just fine.
I don't really think this was a diss rather just a valid point. Bayern do not really have a leader, is it Kahn or Ballack? Same can be said for the NT Kahn? Sure he's a tough character but he's all the way at the back and can't be heard. I don't agree with his captaincy with the NT either because of this. He's one of my heroes but a Captain should not be a Goalkeeper. Ballack? He's no leader... at least not yet. He's Germany's best but that isn't saying much. I think everyone is placing too much importance in his role to Bayern and the NT. Does anyone think his game has improved since leaving Bayer? To me he was much more effective on the pitch cropping up from nowhere to snatch that goal. He is no playmaker !! Effenberg was Bayern's leader, he is no match for Ballack in terms of skill but the intensity he brought to the game is what is missed now. Bayern were known 5 years ago with no superstars compared to the European Giants but what made us so good was the discipline within the team and so Sagnol is correct. It seems the better players we buy the worse we play. I haven't seen the Bayern of 3 years ago for a long time. Bayern need a leader !
the thing that struck me about this quote was that this was a comment from sagnol... doesn't seem to pop off in the press much. as such, maybe their is some merit to it. it is pretty clear that ballack is a much better player than effe was---and to play through the pain that ballack has had and pretty much never miss a game is quite remarkable in today's game of spoiled millionares. however, on those bayern teams of the late 90s -01... whenever the team was down a goal, you just always had the feeling they'd fight and comeback. last night after elber scored...no one had that quasi-maniacal intense stare in their eyes that effenberg always had during the game--- like he'd run through his grandmother to win. bayern seems individually more talented now...but seem to lack fire. (olli excepted)
funny... that's not what rudi and the other national team players say about ballack... did you not watch WC02?
Of course I watched WC'02, I live and die for Germany. But you fail to see the point I raised on the NT and Bayern putting too much pressure on Ballack, it's almost as if he's not playing we should consider it a loss. Ballack was best not playing a central figure and this can be seen with Bayer Leverkusen.
Very good point about Effenberg's intensity, Basti. Also, I agree about all the so called superstars. Frankly, there's too many of them. And some are perhaps overrated. The Effenberg years featured a more German lineup. Perhaps this was a bit less glamorous or skillfull, but those sides had cohesiveness and they fought to win. The only only main foreigners in those years were Elber, Anderssen, Lizu, and Koufour. The rest of the line-up featured Jancker, Jeremies, Tarnat, Effe, Scholl, Bassler, and Kahn. This leads to a point I've made elsewhere on the Germany forum - there's too many international players in the BL. It seems teams go for the quick fix and get a foreigner. But the foreign players often end up being mediocre, or they don't gel in the system.
There are lots of foreign players in the BL because the German ones aren't good enough, not vice versa.
Thats what the clubs think, but not what the reality shows us! The most succesfull clubs in the bundesliga at moment, and also in the past, had at least 5/6 germans in their starting lineup and were also led by germans! The bundesliga was big in the 70´s and 80´s cause it was dominated by german players and slipped down in the 90´s cause too many bad foreigners came into the league! If the clubs would reduce their number of foreigner, they would definitly become more succesful again! The same as the Italian clubs!