I have been away because we had a death in the family and I took a break, but here I am to give you a quick and dirty Bayern Friday Five.
01. Lukas Podolski is the multi-faceted, multiple personality boy as of late. He wants to go, he wants to stay, he wants to go, he talks to Klinsmann and wants to stay. We're back in he wants to go mode. He has said once more that he will not be relegated to the bench and at the summer it will be time for him to consider leaving. I can't help but hear clash lyrics when it comes to him these days... This indecisions bugging me If you dont want me, set me free Exactly whom I'm supposed to be Dont you know which clothes even fit me? Come on and let me know Should I cool it or should I blow? Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble And if I stay it will be double
02. Lucio is a revolving door... or not... or maybe he is. No one really knows. He wants to leave. Bayern has said they won't accept less than 15 then they turn around and say they won't accept anything as they're going to make him stay through his contract which is until 2010. Now, it's no secret that I'm not really a fan of Lucio, but I get this overwhelmingly nasty taste in my mouth when I think about this situation. It's much like the way I felt when Miroslav Klose wanted to leave Bremen. For the life of me I will never understand why any club would want to force a player to stay who clearly does not want to be there.
03. Celtic is back in the rumor mill and once again, they're eyeing van Buyten. The rumor mill says that if they can get the cash, they will make a bid for him, but once again, I am unsure where this leaves him because, again, Klinsmann has made a few phone calls to him asking him to stay when he comes on board on July 1. If Bayern do let Lucio go then we need to hang on to van Buyten. He can be an incredible asset to the team and if he got regular playing time alongside Demichelis I'm sure his game would improve dramatically.
04. Hamit Altintop is injured and will likely be out for the rest of the season. That's too bad because Hamit has been an incredible asset to the team and he will definitely be missed. I guess this will give others a shot, but I will miss Hamit. We wish him a speedy recovery.
05. Mark van Bommel is suspended... again. He picked up his fifth yellow so will have to sit out another match already. This means that his likely replacement will be Schweinsteiger, but I'd rather see Ottl get the start. Schweinsteiger is a good player, but he's a mess in midfield. He's been more disastrous than helpful in that position. We'll have to see what happens. My vote goes to Ottl.