Daily Schmankerl: “Air” Richards continues to impress Bayern Munich teammates; Hansi Flick allegedly not (Adrian) Fein with player; and MORE!

The good: “Air” Richards impressing teammates (kicker)

Per kicker, Chris Richards has picked up a new nickname (so long, Texas!) as his teammates have dubbed him “Air Richards” given his header ability — both offensively and defensively. The basketball terminology is appropriate as well given that Richards is reportedly very good on court. One might say that if you get him on the court, he’d be trouble and that he might...mess around and get a triple-double.

Anyway, Richards’ dad Ken was a professional basketball player, so the new nickname certainly is a good fit.

And yes, I do like Timbuk 3 song. Don’t @ me...the 80’s were FANTASTIC for music from Nu-Wave to Heavy Metal to Pop to Hair Bands....I CELEBRATE the decade’s entire catalog.

The not-so-good: Flick not okay with Fein (kicker)

In the same kicker report, it was stated that Adrian Fein is “not very popular with Flick.” Is that true? Who knows. Fein is a player that would seemingly be able to fill a need in the defensive midfield, but if Flick is not convinced of his quality, it could mean Fein’s days in Bavaria will be spent with Bayern Munich II in 3.Liga.

Muller’s Champions League draw coverage (@esmuellert_)

As only he could do, Thomas Muller had his own Champions League awards and draw coverage yesterday:

Before anyone starts the conspiracy theory about Muller leaving out an “award” for Hansi Flick, the Raumdeuter made good on his slip-up:

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (@discoverPHL)

Philadelphia as a World Cup host city? I can’t think of anywhere better to be.

Football positions explained (Bundesliga.com)

This was a bit of an interesting piece by the league website. If you are a person new to the game or maybe one who does not quite grasp some of the nuances of certain positions, this is a good read.

One of the fun things that Bundesliga.com did with this piece was name a “Bundesliga archetype” for each position. Among the Bayern Munich players selected were:

• Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer
• Full-back: Benjamin Pavard
• Wing-back: Joshua Kimmich
• Centre-back (stopper): Niklas Süle
• Defensive midfielder (deep-lying playmaker): Thiago Alcantara (well, not any more)
• Forward: Thomas Muller
• Striker: Robert Lewandowski

Other “positional archetypes” include:

• Centre-back (sweeper): Makato Hasebe
• Centre-back (quarter-back): Mats Hummels
• Defensive midfielder (ball-winner): Thomas Delaney
• Box-to-Box midfielder: Weston McKennie (now with Juventus on loan)
• Wide midfielder: Filip Kostic
• Attacking midfielder: Marco Reus
• Winger: Jadon Sancho
• False 9: Mario Götze (free agent)

You could definitely argue with some of the selections for “positional archetypes”, but it was a good read. I’d think Leon Goretzka is a better box-to-box example than McKennie, but okay.

I also get the selection of Kimmich as wing-back, even though he is not really playing the position. I think the rationale is correct in that Kimmich would probably be great there if he currently played the position, but he’d likely be great almost anywhere on the pitch.

Thoughts?