Bastian Schweinsteiger

G.J said:

All credit to Van Gal. What a player hes turning out to be. The pig mounter FTW.

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Absolutely. I really gave up on him only a few months ago. VG put him onto his natural position, he accepted it, used his strength, acts perfectly to compensate his weaknesses and turned out to be the best central midfielder in this years bundesliga, CL and WC so far.

Btw, he reminds me the most of Xabi Alonso from his style, although his ball control is much better.

He never impressed me on the wing, but as a CM he's great.

el tren said:

Absolutely. I really gave up on him only a few months ago. VG put him onto his natural position, he accepted it, used his strength, acts perfectly to compensate his weaknesses and turned out to be the best central midfielder in this years bundesliga, CL and WC so far.

Btw, he reminds me the most of Xabi Alonso from his style, although his ball control is much better.

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man when I think about Xabi all I can recollect is those typical lobs(and mostly frustrating) of his... but Bastian distributes well, I saw him do it mostly keeping on the ground

Has he been linked with Real recently? Sure i saw something where Mourinho is looking at him.....Hope to god they dont get him!

The only player who hasn't been linked with Madrid is Benayoun.

Galning said:

The only player who hasn't been linked with Madrid is Benayoun.

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Yip, that is true

Am I the only one who's seriously worried about our defence next season? The defence has always been the team's biggest worry and with Yaya gone, it's even worse.

Busquets doesn't cut it at this point, I'm sorry to say. He's a player for the future and I can't believe that both del Bosque and Pep choose to play him.

Now, with Fabregas rumours and all, why even bother? He's keen to join, but I don't think he's the player the team needs. Barcelona needs a replacement for Yaya (not the easiest task) who I think Bastian should be. And yes, I know he's not as physically strong as Yaya but he's able to think both attack and defence. He took Lionel Messi out of the game completely. Also, his passing ability is Barca material.

If not, Masch should be the choice.

Bayern wont let Schweinsteiger go.

el tren said:

Bayern wont let Schweinsteiger go.

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that is what i feel too.
they are in the midst of building a very strong young exciting team here.
and if they manage to fit ozil in, then it would be very interesting

barca96 said:

that is what i feel too.
they are in the midst of building a very strong young exciting team here.
and if they manage to fit ozil in, then it would be very interesting

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If they do get Ozil, they're on the verge of being like Barcelona for the spanish NT. There's been rumours of Neuer and Khedira going to Bavaria as well. Still, if Bastian would consider the possibility of moving, I say Bastian > Fabregas. For a reasonable sum obviously.

Bangen said:

If they do get Ozil, they're on the verge of being like Barcelona for the spanish NT. There's been rumours of Neuer and Khedira going to Bavaria as well. Still, if Bastian would consider the possibility of moving, I say Bastian > Fabregas. For a reasonable sum obviously.

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Schweinsteiger would be more of a replacement for Yaya though, and the reason why Barcelona is going for Cesc is because Iniesta has been very injury prone lately and it's been hard to break down parked buses with only Xavi in the midfield.

10Rivaldo said:

Schweinsteiger would be more of a replacement for Yaya though, and the reason why Barcelona is going for Cesc is because Iniesta has been very injury prone lately and it's been hard to break down parked buses with only Xavi in the midfield.

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Well in an earlier post, I did refer Schweinsteiger as a replacement for Yaya

His game against Argentina was the performance of the tournament for me.

yaya and bastian are the perfect bus breakers for barca.
cant understand why pep didnt try it out with yaya more.

I dont see Özil coming to Bayern when they have Kroos, but its still interesting how next seasons Bayern team will look like. Prior to the WC the expectation was sth like this:

------------ Olic / ??? -----------------
---Rib ------- Kroos ------------ Rob -
-------Schweini ---- vBom ------------
??? - Badstub - Demich / ??? - Lahm
----------- Butt / Neuer ---------------

Basically meaning that Kroos should replace Müller as regular (who was supposed to be the super sub for Rib/Kroos/Rob. Then a left back was clearly on the list and possibly a new CB to replace Demichelis and Badstuber moving into the left CB slot (as vG really want a left foot here). And there were still the rumors over Neuer.

Klose and (to lesser extent) Gomez were supposed to be leaving, as esp. Klose didnt look like he had anymore chance to play for Bayern. Thats why a new striker also looked more than likely and i was heavily expecting Dzeko as replacement for the aging Olic (who also isnt a classic central striker and lacks both finishing and heasing abilities)

Backup for the DMF was mostly Pranjic and Altintop, while Tymoshshuks future was uncertain. Van Buyten and Contento were said to be the next backups for the defense with Breno given a chance for CD as well.

Now that was before the WC. Now we have Müller superstar and Comeback-Klose. Thats why its absolutely unrealistic that we see a new striker in munich, esp. after Gomez stated that he wants to fight for his spot next season in Bayern. Then there are the hefty rumors about Coentrao (Benfica officially declined a 20M offer from Munich ... and after that they seem seriously interested and could go for finishing the deal), that however are the currently only serious transfer rumors. Neuer however seems to be delayed until next year now that Butt played a good season and seems to go for another season.

The Khedira rumors have a certain substance tbh. I dont see him getting here this season already though: captain van Bommel still has a 1-year contract and thus it doesnt make sense to have Schweinsteiger, van Bommel and Khedira in the squad now (which would be a nice luxory though). But as Khedira has only one year left of contract in Stuttgart it would fit perfectly if he is to replace van Bommel for the 11/12 season. I wouldnt be wondering if there would be a precontract already existing.

There is still the possibility that a new CD is coming, but i think it only happens if they offload Demichelis. And i dont know if his performance was good enough to get a better club like Bayern interested. Mertesacker btw seems like a realistic target (not that there was any rumor about it though).

So my prediction for next season would be:

------------- Müller / Klose -------------------
---Rib ------ Kroos / Müller ------- Rob -----
---------Schweini ------- vBom --------------
Coentrao - Badstub - Demich / ??? - Lahm
------------------ Butt ------------------------

Could really be that vG tries Müller as center forward, but also gives Klose a new chance. Kroos will be fighting for the current 'Müller'-spot there (and might be getting it when Müller moves up). Otherwise that teams doesnt look too bad. A strong CB and this teams is heavily in contention for the CL title again.