Sunday, December 9, 2012

Who is Gerd 'Der Bomber' Muller?

Posted: 1450 GMT

Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a calendar year has stood since 1972. (Getty Images)

When Lionel Messi collided with Benfica goalkeeper Artur on Wednesday, the football world held its breath.

Introduced as a late substitute in the European Champions League tie, the Barcelona star left the field on a stretcher. Fans across the globe wondered if fate had put paid to Messi’s attempt to score the most goals in a calendar year.

The Catalan club later announced Messi, who has netted 84 goals for club and country in 2012, had bruised his left knee and, while he may miss Sunday’s match with Real Betis, he should be back to full fitness shortly.

After the Betis match, Barcelona have just two more league matches this year – at home to Atletico Madrid and away to Real Valladolid.

The assessment of his knee injury was good news for Messi, but bad news for Gerd Muller. Messi is chasing the German’s world record of 85 goals in a year, which has stood for four decades.

Muller began his Bayern Munich career with the team outside of the German top flight and ended it as a three-time European Cup winner following a golden age for the club. The unassuming goalscorer was a world champion with Germany in 1974 and also a Euro 1972 winner.

The fearsome striker, nicknamed “Der Bomber”, played in a Germany team led by fellow Bayern great Franz “Der Kaiser” Beckenbauer, nicknames that hint at a society still affected by two World Wars.

Muller and Beckenbauer helped usher in a bright new dawn for Bayern and an unprecedented level of dominance.

The Bavarians won three successive German titles between 1972 and 1974 and were crowned champions of Europe in 1974, 1975 and 1976, with Muller’s goals the ammunition used to gun down opponents.

“When I was a youngster and wasn’t sure what to do with the ball, I looked to get it to Gerd and he always managed to do something with it,” Muller’s former teammate and current Bayern president Uli Hoeness recently told the club’s official website.

Muller scored 68 times in 62 matches for Germany, including the winner which secured his country the 1974 World Cup final against the Netherlands.

For Bayern, he notched scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga fixtures - including 42 league goals in that landmark year.

It is an extraordinary goalscoring record, even more so given the back pass rule was not in operation, the offside rule had yet to be amended, while referees arguably offered players less protection than they receive nowadays.

While Messi has amassed his total largely thanks to slalom runs finished with chips and flicks, Muller plundered his tally as a poacher who operated inside the penalty box and finished with clinical precision.

“You can’t learn it,” said Muller as he analysed the art of the striker. “You’ve got to have an instinct for it. You’ve got to be able to react quickly and shoot with both feet.”

Although different in playing style, to the casual observer Messi and Muller have more than immense talent in common.

Messi, who seems to reluctantly occupy the limelight, has been typically low key when asked about the record. Similarly CNN was informed by Bayern that Muller had decided a long time ago not to do any media work.

"As I keep on saying, the record is not an obsession for me," Messi told a press conference. "I've heard my teammates saying they are going to help me beat the record, but all of the goals I've scored are down to their help.

"I'm not worried about it. It would be very nice to do it because I am so close. If I do it I hope I can hold onto the record for as long as Muller but it doesn't worry me.

"If I can do it, great, if I can't it's no big deal. But now I am so close I'm going to go for it."

By contrast, Muller’s refusal to embrace celebrity could perhaps be explained by personal demons.

In the early 1990s, after his playing career had come to an end with a spell in the now-defunct North American Soccer League, he battled to overcome alcohol problems.

Rather than pursuing a career within football’s corridors of power like so many of his contemporaries, Muller works as an assistant coach for Bayern’s second team - which finished 12th in the German fourth tier last season.

Unspectacular surroundings for someone named by FIFA as the greatest goalscorer of all time in 2000, but probably just the way Muller likes it.

"Gerd can work for as long as he wants," said Hoeness. "He doesn’t need a contract. As long as he wants to come to the training ground then he can work for us.”

And you suspect that just as there will be no whooping and hollering from Messi if he successfully overhauls Muller’s 1972 tally, there won’t be any tears shed by the man who has silently stood unrivalled for 40 years

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Jose Mourinho has insisted he has no intention of leaving Real Madrid at the end of the 2012-13 campaign amid reports that he is on his way out of the club.

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A Spanish news outlet had reported earlier on Monday that the former Chelsea and Inter boss will depart the Blancos in the summer, but Mourinho has made it clear that he will not say farewell to his current club any time soon.

"Am I leaving Real Madrid? There's no truth in this story. I do not want to say anything more about it," Mourinho said at a press conference.

"Ask [club president] Florentino Perez whether he's satisfied with my work. There is no problem. I don't have to tell you guys what I discuss with the president."

Madrid is currently preparing for their Champions League Group D match at home against Ajax. The club has already secured progress to the knockout stage of the competition.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

READ WHAT DELIMA SAID ABOUT MESSI AND RONALDO

Brazil legend Ronaldo: Messi will beat Cristiano to the Ballon d'Or

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal's future lies with the team's young players,such as Jack Wilshere

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Arsene Wenger says Arsenal's future lies with the team's young players, such as Jack Wilshere.

Wilshere, who has been at the Gunners since the age of nine, has just returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines and is thought to be negotiating a contract extension.
And Wenger, while also praising fellow England internationals Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs, is confident the 20-year-old will commit to the club.
"He has two-and-a-half years left - that's quite a long time," said Wenger.
"We have built a team where we have a lot of young English players, or British players like Gibbs, Chamberlain, Wilshere.
"We still have the case of Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey. You want them all on long-term contracts.

"Jack has always been very committed to this club and I hope he will show that. There is only one way to show it and that is to commit your long-term future to the club."
Wenger on WilshereQuotes of the week

"Jack has always been very committed to this club and I hope he will show that. There is only one way to show it and that is to commit your long-term future to the club."
Meanwhile Walcott has yet to commit himself past the end of the season, with Wenger revealing 'unfortunately, I cannot give you any news.'
Arsenal are now benefiting from their home-grown recruitment policy, which Wenger feels will make a strong bond between the developing players and their club.
"If the quality is local, it is of course even better because it gives you more guarantee of stability because the players who are English who play for Arsenal are more likely to stay for a longer term than foreign players, but we look first at quality, that is the most important," he added.
Wenger came in for criticism from some of the travelling support during the goalless draw at Villa Park on Saturday - with chants of "you don't know what you're doing" greeting the second-half substitution of striker Olivier Giroud for defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin.
However, the focus of the French coach remains unmoved.
"My job is to give full commitment to this club, with integrity. That's what I always do without expecting any return," he said.
"I don't want to comment on that [fans]. I just make sure that I do my job properly - that's what I do."

Monday, November 26, 2012

IS THE BEST FOOTBALLER IN THE WORLD

Lionel Messi: Superstar Striker Is Best Footballer in World

Is Messi the best player in the world by a wide margin?

Yes-88.5%

No-11.5%

Cristiano Ronaldo is the competitor. And when the two strikers faced off in El Clasico, the comparison looked even.

Each scored a pair of goals in a 2-2 draw. But since then, Barcelona’s superstar has made it clear that he currently has the edge—even if it’s ever so slight—over Real Madrid’s.

Messi leads all Spanish La Liga scorers with 17 goals this season. He also boasts seven assists. And that production came in just 12 matches.

Ronaldo’s 12 goals and one assist in 13 games don’t measure up, especially when he’s attempted 29 more shots than Messi. Of course, goals accounted for fail to tell the whole story of a player’s performance.

And on that note, WhoScored.com’s rating system ranks Messi’s play this season 1.01 points superior to Ronaldo’s. To put that gap into perspective, it’s equal to the difference between Ronaldo and Zaragoza’s Apono, Betis’ Canas and Espanyol’s Raul Rodriguez. That isn’t a knock on Ronaldo—that’s simply how dominant Messi has been.

Ian Chadband of The Telegraph reported after El Clasico that, despite the tie, Barca coach Tito Vilanova saw such a disparity coming. He claimed of Messi: “He is the best in the world by a big margin.”

But don’t just take the biased Vilanova’s word for it. According to ESPN’s Richard Jolly, Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez, who's played alongside both Messi and Ronaldo, said when asked who’s better:

I think it is only right if Cristiano Ronaldo does believe he is the best in the world. Any guy who gets 37-40 goals a season has a right to believe that, but if you push me I am always going to go on the side of Messi.

Gerd Muller would likely sing the same tune. Since January 1, Messi has scored 80 goals—five short of Muller’s calendar-year record which has lived for four decades.

With all the numbers—including an undefeated La Liga campaign—as well as a couple relevant voices pointing the crown in his direction, Messi is without a doubt the football king. Ronaldo may have held the title of the world's best footballer in the past.

But today, if two teams were picked, playground-style, to win a single match, who would select Ronaldo over Messi?

Someone who isn't aware of the numbers, that's who.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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