01. Yesterday Bayern took on Getafe. Fortunately for me, Fox Soccer Channel showed the match. I have the greatest invention ever through Dish Network, the Dish DVR so I recorded the match since I would be at work during it and watched the majority of it this morning. The first half was classic Bayern. Dominating, controlling, looking really well. A goal taken away from Toni again. Great shots from Podolski even though they were off target. Mark was a bit reserved and a little less aggressive. I'm not sure if that's because he's already picked up a yellow or if that's because he's been extremely ill and didn't participate in trainings before the match. The second half saw Bayern fall apart a little bit. Getafe clearly didn't want to walk away with a loss and they didn't. They went away with a very deserved draw. The game away to Getafe is going to be a hard one for Bayern. Getafe has a good UEFA home record thus far and they're going to want to win in their stadium.
02. Oliver Kahn is not happy that Klinsmann showed up at the game yesterday. He doesn't think it's right that a coach, who is not their coach yet, came to a game to watch a team he will be coaching next year. What? Wait, does that even sound right? Evidently, there is still a big rift between Klinsmann and Kahn. He called Klinsmann's move unclassy. I don't see anything wrong with an upcoming coach watching his upcoming team play a game, especially when he was already there on business, but maybe I am seeing things unclearly.
03. Daniel van Buyten is picking up serious steam in the transfer rumor mill. This time it's Aston Villa. They have been doing some scouting and are looking to bring the Belgian on board. Rumor has it they will offer somewhere around 4 mill for him, but I don't know if Bayern will let him go. They had offers in the winter transfer window that they declined due to money. Also, Klinsmann would like for him to stay, so we'll see what happens in the future.
04. Congrats to the offisde being named one of the top 50 most powerful blogs. Congrats to all of the writers, the creators and all of our readers for making this the spot to be for all the football/soccer news. I am glad to be part of the Offside community. And I'm glad to have all of you here with me.
05. Lastly, if you'd like to be a part of the Offside crew, there are blogs that are in need of filling. They are currently looking for someone to blog about these teams:
Bayer Leverkusen
Zenit St. Petersburg
Rangers
Sporting Lisbon
Getafe
PSV Eindhoven
If you're interested send an email to Daryl daryl [at] theoffside [dot] com, or you can get in touch with Ian if you have any questions at uefa [at] theoffside [dot] com.
Much love to all of you out there in Cyberspace!