Not since the times of Klopp’s Dortmund has some other club not named Bayern Munich won the German Bundesliga and this has been due to the way that Bayern has been poaching players from their rivals, debilitating them all in the process while they continue to get stronger. Dortmund is the Bundesliga club to have been hit most from the Bayern monopoly, having lost the trio of Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski and Matt Hummels in recent seasons – you get the feeling that if Marco Reus had much lesser fitness issues, he’d be in Bavaria too. The likes of Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy are players Bayern have also poached from Hoffenheim. This is something Bundesliga Authorities need to take a gander at and take action because it has made the league weaker turning it into a one-horse race each season. While money generated to guarantee this spree and fascism isn’t really anyone’s problem, the hollow it’s causing in powers could really affect the prospects of a once great league.
Now, before the league has even started, even if Bayern lose its first 10 games, they’re nailed on to win the league. This has likewise affected the performances of German clubs in Europe’s premier competition to drop radically in late seasons. From 2014-2016 the Bundesliga had only one representative in the quarterfinals, which was Bayern Munich while in this current season’s competition, Bundesliga had only three clubs in the group stages with just Bayern making it to the second round and one reason for the poor performance is that Bayern has debilitated their rivals which then affects their performance in Europe. None of them can build consistently, even if they don’t have Bayern’s financial clout. Hoffenheim, for example, lost two key players that were instrumental to them getting into top four last season to Bayern and this affected their performance in Europe with the club not even making it into the group stage.
Asides this secondary factors, if due examinations are done, one would discover continued slide in dedicated viewership, especially outside Germany – not the facts they present to sponsors though. I’m talking the real one.
One way the Bundesliga authorities can stop this is to introduce a rule that will put confinements on the number of players Bayern can sign from their rivals over a number of seasons. In spite of the fact that the rule may appear to be outlandish, it could likewise be the best way to stop Bayern. The Bundesliga income sharing model is presumably the most balanced in all of Europe’s top five leagues but that isn’t sufficient to stop Bayern. The authorities can likewise empower new proprietors, for example, the Arab individuals who will have the money related influence to rival Bayern. It won’t sit well with the Bayern heads because of their seeming voraciousness, but it will clearly stop Bayern’s poaching of rival players along these lines, shortening their influence in the league. Afterall the English Premier League was dominated by both Manchester United and Arsenal until the likes of Roman Abramovich and Sheik Monsour came in to purchase Chelsea and Manchester City respectively. Since then, it has made it the most competitive league in Europe where up to six teams can win the league title. This is a thing the Bundesliga officials can do by urging rich owners to come and buy some of their clubs and with that, they can limit Bayern’s bully tactics.
Nonetheless, it is likewise critical to state that these players need to start changing their orientations, most particularly the youthful German players by being ready to go out on a limb and move to another country. It is believed that Bayern represents to them what Barcelona and Madrid represent to Spanish and South American players. It, however, looks bad to heedlessly make a move to Bayern in light of the fact that they want to play for the greatest club in Germany. Mario Gotze, for instance, made such move and regretted it, though he has since been offered an escape route by his previous club.
This is a recurring pattern with young German players, The likes of Sandro Wagner, Niklas Sule, Sebastian Rudy and as of late Leon Goretzka have all heedlessly joined the Bundesliga top club knowing there were interests from other top clubs abroad where they will have the chance to get regular football and keep on developing their ability and also win trophies. Leon Goretzka had interest from Liverpool where he would have been guaranteed a regular playing time and be under the guidance of his counterpart Klopp, who is known for nourishing young talents and transforming them into world-class, yet still picked Bayern despite the fact that Bayern are fully stocked in the central midfield region which implies he could find regular playing time hard to come by and in turn most likely slow down his development.
I realize footballers are driven by a need to win accolades and make money. But for the life of me, I can’t understand why you’d go make money for three years and win accolades only for your top-level career to be done at 25 or 26. Maybe, not being a footballer is hampering my point of view and diluting my idea, but blind sentiment will only hurt you in decision making. Why not choose a to the club where you can play regular footballer, make money and win trophies all in one transaction? Why give up any because the top club in your country has offered you something about your childhood dream? Is it really worth throwing your entire promising career over?. If young players can’t learn from Gotze, I don’t know who they will learn from.
This is an orientation most young German players need to bin. They should be willing to go out on a limb of playing abroad where they won’t just get regular playing time however it will likewise help their development. These players can look at both Toni Kroos and Michael Ballack who both took the risk of leaving Bayern and found success abroad or Emre Can who rejected Bayern and is playing regularly at Liverpool, enhancing his game, a chance he would never have gotten at Bayern.
This is the ideal time for these new set of German players to change their mindsets and go out on a limb of moving to another country if that’s where they can play regularly for a top club for ego purposes during international breaks, make money and also win trophies. Even though some argue winning trophies is important, what’s the good in playing in a Champions League team you only played sporadically for? Or a Champions League final you never played in, only to be offloaded to a team below the top club rating when you get deemed surplus to requirements. I might not be a footballer, but I’m ambitious human being and I know what I want. It’s not playing second fiddle to anyone anywhere at the age of 22 when I should be playing. The juice has to be worth the squeeze and sometimes, we’re not ready for the steps we take. Realizing that will only help us avoid sentimental stupidity.