Weekend Warm-up: Ready or not, former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann is leading Germany; Will Bayern grab Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips in January?; Throwing it back to “Riders in the Sky”; & MORE!

The Hansi Flick Era with the German national flamed out in dramatic fashion.

While the last international break put the final nail in Flick’s coffin as Germany’s boss, the failed World Cup effort in Qatar was really when the time of death should have been recorded.

As shown in the All or Nothing documentary by Amazon Prime, Flick was being challenged by team leaders like Joshua Kimmich, he was being disrespected by squad afterthoughts like Julian Brandt via tardiness to meetings, and in general, Flick was leading a listless group destined for failure.

No one was going to fix that mess.

Now, though, Julian Nagelsmann will be the latest coach to try and crack the code — something that Flick and his predecessor, Joachim Löw, failed to do since roughly late 2017.

Can Nagelsmann find a way to break through to this group (which is not as deep, nor as talented as some of the other traditional European powers)?

Uli Hoeneß thinks that Nagelsmann can do it.

“We at FC Bayern agree that he’s exactly the right person for this situation. He’s fresh and young. He took a long vacation after leaving FC Bayern and has now recovered. And he has a lot of enthusiasm. I’m convinced that he gained a lot of strength. And now the national team needs optimism, it needs high spirits. I think Julian is exactly the right person for that,” Hoeneß told RTL (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).

All of that sounds great on the surface, but dealing with this group has been grating on the last two coaches to say the least. While talent has been slightly altered for this break, the culture and attitude of the collective is what needs the biggest reform.

Tactically, Nagelsmann will challenge the squad and he will seek to innovate. His ability to manage personnel off of the pitch has been rightfully questioned, even at Bayern Munich. Make no mistake, Nagelsmann was the best available option to lead the German national team, but he is not a sure thing.

In fact, no one could be a sure thing with this group, but Nagelsmann is going to give his best effort.

Will it be good enough?

Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Podcast: Season 3, Episode 14

Bayern Munich might not be active during this international break, but there is certainly a lot to discuss on the club — and also with the German national team.

For the first segment, we are catching up with our old pal — Daily Mail journalist Jake Fenner — to talk all things Die Mannschaft.

Why waste any more time babbling about what we will talk about, though? Let’s get down to it. This is what we have on tap for this week’s episode:

• A look at Germany’s first roster under Julian Nagelsmann and what to expect as Die Mannschaft prepares to square off against the United States and Mexico — featuring Jake Fenner.
• Grading Bayern Munich’s position groups to this point in the season. Where the team is succeeding and what positions might need some work.
• Addressing the recent transfer rumors linking Alphonso Davies to Real Madrid and Manchester City, while also looking at the possibility of an exit for Joshua Kimmich this summer as Pep Guardiola might be looking for a reunion. Also, those very early rumors on Jamal Musiala.

Will Phillips be the move in January?

According to Sport Bild’s Christian Falk, Bayern Munich could kick the tires on Manchester City afterthought Kalvin Phillips to fill its “need” for a defensive midfielder during the January transfer window:

Getting Fulham FC’s João Palhinha is likely going to cost more than Bayern Munich anticipated before the midfielder inked his new deal. If that figure is outside of Bayern Munich’s comfort zone then a player like Phillips could be very appealing to the Bavarians.

If Tuchel can fight against his own “Anti-Goretzka” Agenda, the club could just seek out a depth piece, rather than a player who would need the salary and minutes of a starting-caliber player.

In just about two-and-a-half months, we will find out how it all plays out.

Song of the Week: “Riders in the Sky” by Vaughn Monroe

We are going WAY back for this one.

In fact, we are going back to 1948 for a classic tune from the era, “Riders in the Sky” by Vaughn Monroe.

Now...this is not the normal fare that we find in this spot, but the song is so damn unique and the sound is so chilling, it needed to be shared to a new audience:

Concert Review

As a bonus, our own RLD attended the recent Queen show and gave us this review:

On Queen: Rock’s Royalty Rolls On - This past weekend (Happy belated Thanksgiving all) Mrs. RLD surprised me with tickets to see my GOAT band, the immortal Queen, now fronted by Adam Lambert. This was my fourth Queen concert, two with the legendary Freddy Mercury and now my second with Lambert and they did not disappoint.

One would expect a band with two key members in the mid-seventies to be slowing down but there was no sign of it. The energy was unrelenting and the musicianship still at the highest standard. There were no breaks in the nearly three hour show that featured songs from all of Queen’s many varied eras and musical styles. Some personal favourites included Roger Taylor singing “I’m in Love with my Car” and the new ‘country’ version of “Tie your Mother Down.” Perhaps the greatest delight was seeing just how well Lambert has developed as a performer.

Last time around he was a pastiche of Freddy and the role seemed too big for him. Now we see a much more mature Lambert with a stronger and more disciplined voice, and a more self-assured stage presence really making the classic songs all his own. There was not a dry eye in the house when they featured two short moving (and funny) videos of Mercury which were done tastefully for maximum emotional impact like a quick punch to the nostalgic gut. So if Queen are coming to your town I urge you to get out and see them. This might be their last tour and if it is, I would judge it a fitting end to one of rock’s great eras.

Prediction Records

• Bundesliga Last Week: 4-5
• Bundesliga Total: 29-25
• DFB-Pokal Total: 1-0
• Champions League Total: 2-0
• DFL-Supercup: 0-1
• Total: 32-26