Daily Schmankerl: Jogi Löw moves on from Özil; Barcelona scouting “The New Lewy”; Kovač joins practice; and MORE!

Joachim Löw closes the door on Mesut Özil (The Sun)

Still reeling from the fallout of the breakup between Mesut Özil and Die Mannschaft, Joachim Löw has now publicly moved on from the Arsenal man. He has ruled out any chance that Özil might return to the German national team:

In my view, Mesut Özil has clearly declared his resignation and closed the door with it himself. A comeback is therefore not an issue at all.

Özil famously declined to speak to Löw after the World Cup, which assuredly has not helped any chances to mend fences.

Mesut has not called me, not to this very day. I tried to reach him several times in the past two weeks, via text message, via phone. Mesut has decided to take this path. I must accept it.

With Özil gone, perhaps Löw will finally opt to play Thomas Müller at the 10 in a role behind the striker for Die Mannschaft. Özil’s own number 10, that is, his jersey number will henceforth be worn by Julian Brandt.

Niko Kovač jumps into practice to show he still has it (FCBayern.com)

With so many players out for the international break, Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovač and his brother, Robert, took an opportunity to show the squad that they still have some skill.

Bayern have scored six goals in their opening two Bundesliga games of the season. To keep up that rate, Niko Kovač let his team play with eight goals on Wednesday. Serge Gnabry and Co thoroughly enjoyed themselves during finishing practice and throughout the open training session.

Much to the annoyance of goalkeepers Sven Ulreich and Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, the Reds smacked one ball after another into the net, which delighted the onlooking fans and made their trip to Säbener Strasse worthwhile despite the absence of many players on international duty. They then got a special bonus as the Kovač brothers spontaneously got involved themselves and joined in with the drills. After that lesson, the Bayern players could do nothing but score.

The break certainly has its disadvantages, but at least the Bayern players not involved with international duty are getting a good opportunity to do some quality bonding with the coaching staff.

Mats Hummels will hold an open forum on Twitter this week (@matshummels)

With Toni Kroos trying to jump into Mats Hummels’ territory as Germany’s King of Twitter, the Bayern center back will host an open Q&A this week. Be on the lookout if you want to join in on the action.

Germany’s women secure a World Cup berth (@DFB_Team_EN)

In what was expected, the DFB Frauen have locked down a spot for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France. They did it by serving up an 8-0 thumping to the Faroe Islands:

FC Barcelona thinks it may have found The New Lewandowski™ (Sport)

Always on the hunt for a special talent, Barca is eyeing up a 23-year old Pole:

The transfer window has closed but Barcelona are still keeping tabs on the market for future windows. One possible signing the club are looking into is a player called Krzyisztof Piatek. According to Italian outlet ‘Il Secolo XIX’, the Polish forward, who plays for Genoa, has drawn interest from a number of European club following a string of impressive displays in Serie A.

Piatek has already scored seven goals in Italy’s top flight this season, more than any other player, and has been dubbed the “New Lewandowski.” The 23-year-old joined Genoa from KS Crackovia for four million euros but his value will have shot up since them. He has just been rewarded for his fine form with a call up to the Poland squad, with coach Jerzy Brzeczek expected to hand him a debut in the coming week.

Typing out “The New Lewandowski” immediately made me think of Bayern’s striker wearing The Dude’s famous sweater and drinking a White Russian. Anyway, Lewandowski and his 2.0 version are both in Polish camp this week to make things interesting.

A call for fan groups (BavarianFootballWorks.com)

We are trying something here at the Daily Schmankerl and need YOUR help. If you read my man Tommy Adams’ piece about his experience with the FCBNYC Fan Club (if you haven’t, SHAME ON YOU!), you could see how great the event was. So we want to highlight some of these wonderful groups that are out there globally and this is what we need from you:

• Name of the group
• Location
• Year founded
• Leadership (if you have people are kind of running the show)
• Meeting place
• Social media handles
• Pictures

We have 7 clubs on board so far. I’d LOVE to be able to feature a different fan group every week this season. Maybe we can do it, maybe not...but only YOU can help decide the fate of this idea. Send your info to: barrelsportsblog@gmail.com.