Weekend Warm-up: The plan of attack Bayern Munich should take at goalkeeper for the rest of this season; Bayern as young talent, but little chance to use it; Non-traditional holiday songs; and MORE!

With all of the controversy swirling around who will replace Manuel Neuer at Bayern Munich for the second half of the season, the choices should be quite easy to identify at this point. Knowing that Bayern Munich wants someone to come in and compete with Sven Ulreich, it really comes down to two players: Alexander Nübel and Yann Sommer.

There appears to be some serious bad blood and ill will between Nübel and some folks at Bayern Munich (whether the Bayern folks realize that or know about it is another question) and the one-time Schalke 04 man — as of now — does not appear to be close to relenting on his stance that he wants to stay at AS Monaco.

As for Sommer, he is — without a doubt — the most ready to come in and replace Neuer.

The question for each player, though, is what happens next season? Neuer will return and no one knows if he will have the mobility, range, and quickness that allow him to play his unique style.

But what if Neuer does recapture all of that magic...what happens to Nübel or Sommer? That is the X-factor in the whole scenario. Why would either player want to risk that? Nübel certainly seems averse to the situation, while Sommer still seems too good to be a backup.

If I were doling out solutions, I’d probably let Nübel pick his poison and decide what he wants for himself with no pressure. If he perceives that there is a rift, then let him be the decision-maker. If he opts to stay at AS Monaco, then Bayern Munich should try to get Sommer on a six-month pseudo-loan/sale (a short-term buy with really no expectations of a longer-term relationship past this season) or buy him outright and give him a short-term contract (one-year maybe) with the understanding he will be able to leave if the club re-commits to Neuer.

I think this is the way to go. It would keep any hopes of a future with Nübel alive and also best position the club to compete in the Champions League right now.

Who would you rather have?

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Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Podcast: Season 2, Episode 24

Ah, the holidays — a time to appreciate everything that has happened over the course of a particular year.

We will do a little bit of that a whole lot of Bayern Munich talk on this episode, so why not get right to it. Let’s take a look at what we have on tap for this episode:

• The latest on Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper situation. Who will replace Manuel Neuer...Alexander Nübel? Sven Ulreich? Yann Sommer? The Bavarians are trying to get this all resolved quickly.
• Joshua Kimmich’s likely move to being captain and that story about his altercation at the World Cup in Qatar.
• The rise of Arijon Ibrahimović and the potential loan of Paul Wanner.
• The latest on Bayern Munich’s striker search.
• What Bayern Munich should ask Santa Claus for?
• A thank you to the Bavarian Podcast Works listeners.

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The 10 Non-Traditional Christmas Songs on My Playlist

Here is a little holiday tradition we have here at the Weekend Warm-up: There are many, many great Christmas songs that would not be labelled as “traditional” and I could probably write 50,000 words on all of them, so I just decided to limit this list to 10 of those on my iTunes playlist (in no particular order):

1. Tom Petty: “Christmas All Over Again”

Did you expect anything else?

2. The Kinks: “Father Christmas”

Come on...the Kinks lambasting Christmas is terrific.

3. Big & Rich: “Drunk Christmas”

I am generally not a “country music” guy, but I am all about a drunk Christmas. I have plenty of country music-loving friends, but I just haven’t been able to catch that vibe. Still, these reference Rumple Minze (soooooo bad) and any song that can work that reference in automatically wins me over.

4. Run-DMC: “Christmas in Hollis”

Just a classic...

5. Wham: “Last Christmas”

Go ahead and roast me...I like the song.

6. Dropkick Murphys: “The Season’s Upon Us”

7. Billy Squier: “Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You”

8. The Pogues: “Fairytale of New York”

9. The Whirling Dervishes: “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch”

10. Blink-182: “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas”

Just like last year, drop me your non-traditional songs in the comments. I had a blast checking them out last year.

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Youth Movement

The recent news that Arijon Ibrahimović agreed on a pre-contract that will carry him through until he can sign his professional deal was good for all involved. Ibrahimović now joins Paul Wanner and possibly Tarek Buchmann, who is expected to join the first team next summer, as future linchpins of the club.

The good news is that Bayern Munich has identified three players so far that it wants to move forward with. The bad news is that the club’s deep roster will likely prevent any of the three from getting significant minutes any time soon.

Wanner is expected to be sent away on a loan assignment next season, which is good seeing he is still only 17-years-old. Like Wanner, though, the prospects for Ibrahimović and Buchmann are both dim in terms of actually being contributors in the near future.

Granted, all three of the youngsters could plateau and fall off of the radar, but it would be great to see some sort of pathway open for them. Will it happen? It’s hard to envision it happening any time soon given the current depth on the roster, but it would be a lot of fun to see some of the kids start climbing their way into the lineup within the next two-to-three years.

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Bavarian Podcast Works: Special Edition — Wrapping up the World Cup and breaking down Germany’s poor showing (Bavarian Football Works)

No Bayern Munich players walked out of Qatar with championship medal, but that does not mean the World Cup was uneventful or not worthwhile.

The tournament was a fun, rollicking, and sometimes unpredictable affair that ultimately saw Lionel Messi finalize his case to be known as the G.O.A.T., France make an unbelievable comeback in the finale led by its own superstar, Kylian Mbappe, and most pertinent here, Germany flail and fail its way home far earlier than it should have.

We dusted off former BFW podcaster/writer and current Daily Mail scribe Jake Fenner for a special edition to talk about the tourney’s big happenings. This is what we have on tap for this episode:

• A look at the fantastic finale — and why Argentina deserved to win.
• Lionel Messi’s strong claim to being the best ever.
• Kylian Mbappe’s growth as a leader.
• Germany’s massive flame out, where things go from here, and why some fans might have missed Timo Werner.

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Prediction Records

• Last World Cup match day record: 0-1
• Last Bundesliga match day record: 4-5
• Overall Bundesliga record: 64-69
• DFL-Supercup record: 1-0
• DFB-Pokal record: 2-0
• Champions League record: 5-1
• World Cup overall record: 38-25
• WWU overall record: 110-95
• Guest predictions: 7-5