Podolski & Bayern Headed For Divorce…We Hope

By: chris | January 4th, 2008

I think somebody should do a study to determine whether the amount of money a club has is directly proportional to the amount of drama. I suspect it is - partially, at least. The more money you have, the better players, the bigger the egos, and the more the locker room begins to resemble the Royal Opera House. Because whenever I go looking for some Bundesliga news, I get slapped in the face with more drama emanating from the bowels of Munich. Yeah, sure, the more money a club has the more media coverage they’re going to get, but this is usually newsworthy stuff.

The newest casualty of German tranquility is Lukas Podolski, who has seen his playing time diminish rapidly after Bayern went and started throwing money to all corners of the globe in spectacular fashion. Specifically bringing in two of the world’s best at his position in Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose, as well as compatriot Jan Schlaudraff, though he has the same imprint of Bayern’s bench on his ass that Lukas does.

Well, it doesn’t look like things are going to get any better for Lukas any time soon. At least not in Munich, that is. To add insult to (Lukas’ insufficient playing time to pick up an) injury, Bayern is ready to pick up where they left off in the summer and resume throwing cash around like Pacman Jones at a strip club. This time going for Macedonian Goran Pandev, who is currently playing for the eternal city’s lesser half, Lazio. And considering his rumored - and believable - pricetag is €22m, I’m going to go ahead and guess they aren’t spending that sum for him to ride the pine, a la Podolski. Bringing their rough 2007-2008 market season spending total to around €92m. All this for a UEFA Cup team, no less. (Yeah, low blow, I know.)

However, the question isn’t so much why Bayern keeps bumping him spots down the bench, it’s what’s going wrong with Bayern for Podolski. After his coming out party during World Cup 06, where he was named Best Young Player of the Tournament and scored 3 goals, he was tipped to become the next big thing in Europe. Only the hype and expectations failed to come to an accord with his production levels, scoring only 5 goals in 1.5 years. Hardly deserving of any awards.

But adding yet another twist is that his form for country has been consistently nothing less than astounding, scoring 8 goals in 9 games during European qualifying, making it 24 goals in his national career (44 games). Still a long way off Gerd Müller’s absurd 68 in 62 games ratio, but it makes him 18th on the all-time list for Germany at 22 years old and within 10 goals of the top 10. Yes. Twenty. Two.

* - The best part is he’s Polish born, just like his NT strike partner Miroslav Klose. Helluva Polish partnership the Germans have.

The kid is clearly more than just a “talent”. With passing and ball skills which only accentuate his phenomenal (non-Bayern) goalscoring abilities. The crystal clear dichotomy of national and club makes it quite obvious the problem lies with Bayern, right? Or at least the water in Munich.

And from all accounts, Lukas is a mature young man with his head firmly on his shoulders. Eschewing a footballer’s “prerogatives” (girls, fame, nightlife) for a quiet, more family-oriented lifestyle. Coupled with his talent, this is the foolproof recipe for superstardom. Usually.

He’s taking been taking the benching well, but calling a spade a spade: He’s not happy. Who would be?

The Pandev rumors (GP himself has said the deal is all but done, and no matter what Lazio says, he’s leaving - they can’t afford not to sell him) are more of the same, but it’s become clear what needs to happen:

“I’ll wait until April or the start of May,” said Podolski. “But then we really need to talk.”

It’s about time he’s handed a one way ticket out of Munich. For the sake of Lukas and for the sake of football. The world is missing out on one of its greatest talents.