Mark van Bommel signed a one year extension on his Bayern Munich contract last season. He had asked for two years. Bayern answered by referring to a club policy of giving players over 30 only one year extensions. At that time Martin Jol came sniffing around and rumors emerged that Hamburg might be willing to give van Bommel that extra season.

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Hamburg remain in control of the top, Hertha remain in control of the bottom and with his wins over Bochum, Dortmund and the Schalke fans Felix Magath is now in total control of the Ruhr Valley.

Battle Chess. When a commenter on one of Germany's public broadcasters attempted to summarize and categorize the match between Hamburg and Bayern, he kept talking about this game being for tactic freaks, but with an uncertainty to his statements, as though he didn't really know what was going on and didn't want to admit to it.

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Der Donnerstag in einer internationalen Fußballwoche: Europa Liga – oder wahlweise Europe League, ich wehre mich gegen diesen frischen neuen Namen – ist angesagt. Der HSV ist zu Gast in Wien, Hertha spielt vor heimischer Kulisse gegen Ventspils und Werder spielt in Funchal. Interessante Spiele, könnte man meinen.

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Sorry for letting this blog rot away in the late August sun for so many weeks. Other work took over and left some time but not much energy to spend on other things. But the team blogs have been bursting with energy all the more at the same time and a few more came back to life, so I guess there were still enough places on The Offside for Bundesliga related updates.

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Sorry for letting this blog rot away in the late August sun for so many weeks. Other work took over and left some time but not much energy to spend on other things. But the team blogs have been bursting with energy all the more at the same time and a few more came back to life, so I guess there were still enough places on The Offside for Bundesliga related updates.

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The transfer period started with two early big money moves. In fact, very big money moves anywhere outside of Madrid. Diego sealed a transfer to Juventus for €24.5m, while Bayern were willing to spend €30m for Mario Gomez; further bonus payments not included.

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Fabio Cannavaro, Carlos Tevez, Michael Ballack, Michael Owen, Mark Van Bommel, Fred... these are but a few of the players whose contract is set to expire at the end of the season. And with the january transfer window practically at our doorstep, it is time to give these "old timers" a chance they are still [. Click to continue reading...

Fabio Cannavaro, Carlos Tevez, Michael Ballack, Michael Owen, Mark Van Bommel, Fred... these are but a few of the players whose contract is set to expire at the end of the season. And with the january transfer window practically at our doorstep, it is time to give these "old timers" a chance to prove they [. Click to continue reading...

If there's one thing that Tuesday night taught Fiorentina, it's that by having 22 shots on target and still failing to score against Bayern Munich, you will at some point get punished. The German giants might very well be struggling in the Bundesliga at the moment, they are still a team loaded with world class [. Click to continue reading...

If you missed it this weekend, Zé Roberto, the 34 year old Brazilian superstar midfielder for Bayern Munich, says in the German press that he is leaving the German club and wants to play two more years. He specifically mentioned FC Dallas and MLS as possible destination. FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman says there as been no official contact with the Brazilian, but the Red Stripes are certainly interested. Click to continue reading...