TFN’s Favourite Teams: Wolfsburg 2008-09

In a new series on our favourite teams, Ben Sibley fondly recalls the Bundesliga-winning Wolfsburg side of 2008-09…

Published in 2008, page 88 of the fifth edition of Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting states that “A fire naturally occurs when the elements [heat, fuel and oxygen] are present and combined in the right mixture”.

In August of the same year, Zvjezdan Misimović joined fellow Bosnian Edin Džeko and the Brazilian Grafite at Wolfsburg – managed by Felix Magath. Magath, shocked by the decision of Wolfsburg’s outrageously-talented but homesick Marcelinho to return to Brazil, believed Misimović was the ideal replacement – he was signed for just under £4m and tied down to a four-year deal.

Misimović was a wonderfully gifted attacking midfielder and had enjoyed an eye-catching 07/08 season in a Nurnberg team that lost half of its league games and couldn’t escape relegation to 2. Bundesliga. He had the technique that ensured his vision and reading of the game was utilised regularly and ruthlessly. All he needed was a player on a similar wavelength – he ended up with two. Continue reading

Fulham and Felix Magath – “The last dictator in Europe” seizes control of the Cottage

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Piers Barber profiles the man charged with keeping Fulham up – Felix Magath…

“The English are already trembling” read the headline in the German newspaper Bild, just hours after it became clear that Felix Magath, a three times Bundesliga-winning coach also known as the toughest of disciplinarians, had been appointed as the new manager of Fulham.

Dimitar Berbatov will be overjoyed that he got out of the club when he did. For the languorous Bulgarian striker – now lounging next to the bluest sea in some sunny neighbourhood of Monaco, occasionally having a kickabout with Falcao – Magath is the pure embodiment of his worst nightmare. Continue reading

The Dud Tie? Galatasaray v Schalke

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John Guillem previews the Champions League tie that has had everyone talking. No, not that one…

So, is it? Well, that is, I mean to say, other than Porto/Malaga. An unfortunate consequence (if you look at it one way) of the scale of Michel Platini’s little pumpkin is that, alas, you get random teams (that is, clubs which you aren’t used to being continually namechecked or at least mentioned in passing by the domestic sports press) making it out of the group stages, setting up damp squib ties against real teams that ruin the ‘the chaaaampiiooooons’ vibe of the competition, and in some ghastly cases even providing both sides of the matchup. Alas, it’s happened again this year (not once but twice indeed), which is shit. I mean, who the fuck are Schalke? More importantly, what is a Galatasaray? I certainly won’t be watching it, and neither should you. Continue reading