Weekend Warm-up: Can Bayern Munich overcome all of its off the field noise?; Throwing it back to Better Than Ezra; Bundesliga predictions; and MORE!

In any great championship run, there are obstacles to overcome.

Injuries, illnesses, personal tragedies, strife, etc. are all part of just about winning team’s story for a season.

For Bayern Munich, the book on a double for this campaign would absolutely have to have a hefty chapter on how the team trudged forward through all of the muck.

For a squad so deep and so talented, the club’s off the field issues are creating numerous distractions. Whether it is acclimating to a new coach, untimely injuries, COVID-19 running rampant, unvaccinated players hesitating to take the jab, sponsorship controversies, ongoing uncertainty with contracts for key players, Annual General Meeting madness, or anything else, this season’s Bayern Munich squad will have no shortage of possible derailments.

All of that begs the question: Can this Bayern Munich team put its head down, focus on the task at hand, and play to it’s potential this season?

As much as any optimistic Bayern Munich fan would like to say “Yes”, there is at least a little doubt for many supoorters — which falls right into the plotline for a tremendous season. You don’t have to look back any further than 2019/2020 to see that obstacles, distractions, and fan doubt can be eventually overcome on the path to greatness.

Nothing will be easy...nothing, but there is a championship mentality within the squad. If that mindset can overcome all of the noise surrounding the team, it will be a great accomplishment. If not...well, these Bavarians will fall right in line with those of the Pep Guardiola teams that also had great talent, but could not find a way to battle through all of the normal hardships that occur during a tumultuous year.

---

Song of the Week: “Good” by Better Than Ezra

While the 90s is likely considered my prime for musical interest (my high school and college years), there was a lot of bad music.

Hair bands and metal faded, pop was syrupy as hell, rap and hip-hop were transitioning to new era, grunge hit hard, but was ultimately a flash in the pan...it was a weird time.

More than any other genre, alt-rock pushed forward. There was a lot of good and quite a bit of bad, but one totally underrated band from the era was “Better Than Ezra.” The band is still around today, but they hooked me in the 90s with the song “Good”, which is still awesome.

Released in 1995, it is still is a great listen all these years later:

If you a fan of the NFL, you’ll notice that nearly every time there is a game hosted by New Orleans on Sunday Night Football, NBC uses Better Than Ezra as bumper music. Anyway, enjoy the song!

---

ICYMI: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 1, Episode 26

After a one-week hiatus, the Weekend Warm-up Podcast is back and there was quite a bit to look at after the crazy week that Bayern Munich had.

Here is what we have on tap:

• A quick note of thanks to all of the listeners, readers, and BFW staffers who worked together to make this site the best Bayern Munich blog/fan zone/meeting of the minds on the internet.
• A look at how COVID-19 is impacting the squad and why it could prove to be disastrous for the team this season.
• Why Joshua Kimmich needs to figure out how to move forward.
• Why Bayern Munich should make it a point to stomp out FC Barcelona.
• A quick look at the transfer rumors linking Dusan Vlahovic, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, and Pedri Bayern Munich.

---

Predictions

Bayern Munich is reeling in some ways, but most of those are a matter of off the field issues with injuries, COVID-19, AGM madness, etc.

On the field, Bayern Munich has looked a bit “off”, but not anything to be concerned about just yet. Julian Nagelsmann will roll out a makeshift line-up once more, but the talent gap between the two clubs should be more than enough to keep Bavarians ahead of Arminia.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 3-0 Arminia Bielefeld

Other Bundesliga predictions include:

• VfB Stuttgart 1-2 Mainz 05
• VfL Bochum 1-3 SC Freiburg
• FC Köln 1-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach
• SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1-2 Hoffenheim
• Hertha Berlin 2-2 FC Augsburg
• Wolfsburg 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
• Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 Union Berlin
• RB Leipzig 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen

---

Prediction Records

Here is where we are at:

Last Bundesliga Match Day record: 4-5

Overall Bundesliga record: 53-46

DFB-Pokal record: 1-1

DFL-Supercup record: 1-0

Champions League record: 5-0

Overall record: 64-52

Guest prognosticator record: 0-1 (Cowards)