German League; is it the answer?

[ronanm]

What you call that german midfielder that Momo owned in the Charity shield?

Helmut?

[Maestro]

Hmmm...dunno if it's "the answer", but the German Bundesliga - while being of a distinctly lower standard than the PL - is certainly a good breeding ground for the Premiership in my opinion. It's quite fast and physical so the football played is not too dissimilar. Certainly most players who grew up in Germany would also have at least basic English, which means that it would be easier to settle in.

Regarding individual players - Diego has been a revelation this season, but has gone off the boil a bit in the last few games, along with his teammates. He has the skills, but whether he would be strong enough mentally and physically to cope with the challenge of playing for us remains to be seen. Of the other bunch in the scoring list, Makaay is too old.
Kuranyi and Pantelic are good, but not good enough for us. I've not seen much of Gomez, but he has lots of potential from what I've seen. Klose would obviously be a good bet, imo.

[Maestro]

...oh and Voronin - weeellll, Leverkusen are kind of muck this year, and he's their top scorer!
They really miss Berbatov.

[Robster007]

And Voronin's nowhere to be seen...

6 goals and 6 assists in 13 games isn't too bad.

[Maestro]

6 goals and 6 assists in 13 games isn't too bad.

He's played more than 13 games though, hasn't he?
According to Kicker, he's played 21 Bundesliga games this season.

[carheex]

FYI (why aye) he's still not in the top ten scorers in the Bundesliga which is not in the top three leagues in Europe...

you get what you "pay" for. we could sell him to villa for 7m 12 months later.

[fah-q]

Sean Dundee

[SouthAfricaRed]

I'm using anicdotole evidence here, but German players have excelled in Prem League (more than others). They seem to adapt faster and generally are good value buys. Yes, there have been a couple of bad apples... but far less than most other countries. Names of worth mention; Klinsman, Babbel, Riddle, Hamman.

Current top strikers in the German League

1 Mario Gomez VfB Stuttgart 13
2 Kevin Kuranyi Schalke 04 11
Roy Makaay Bayern Munich 11
Miroslav Klose Werder Bremen 11
Marko Pantelic Hertha Berlin 11
6 Theofanis Gekas VfL Bochum 9
Alexander Frei Borussia Dortmund 9
Diego Werder Bremen 9
9 Ivan Saenko Nurnberg 8
Sergiu Radu Energie Cottbus 8
Mike Hanke VfL Wolfsburg 8

taken from
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/t...=ger.1&cc=5739

Sorry, but which striker from the Bundesliga has ever done much in the EPL?

[AFII]

Sorry, but which striker from the Bundesliga has ever done much in the EPL?

I don't think any top class PL club have signed any top class striker from the Bundesliga yet.

[SouthAfricaRed]

I don't think any top class PL club have signed any top class striker from the Bundesliga yet.

Exactly my point. Why would Germany then be the ideal place to look for a striker for the EPL?

Klinsmann is about as close as you'll get. I cant recall any attacking player coming from there?

Defensive players, Yes, but I dont know about attacking players

[El Jefecito]

hahahaha i presume your grasp on tv knowledge is better than that of your German skills. :P

You would be spot-on

[El Jefecito]

Had some for lunch today

It was my staple diet when I was in Indonesia. Made the mistake of getting a dish augmented with Monkey brains once. It was actually pretty good. You should try it

[REDSCOUSER]

Hmmm...dunno if it's "the answer", but the German Bundesliga - while being of a distinctly lower standard than the PL - is certainly a good breeding ground for the Premiership in my opinion. It's quite fast and physical so the football played is not too dissimilar. Certainly most players who grew up in Germany would also have at least basic English, which means that it would be easier to settle in.

You saved me from typing all this mate cos its exactly wot I was gonna say.
Been watching the Bundesliga for about 10 years solid now and for me it is a better league than both Serie A & La Liga.

[SouthAfricaRed]

Hmmm...dunno if it's "the answer", but the German Bundesliga - while being of a distinctly lower standard than the PL - is certainly a good breeding ground for the Premiership in my opinion. It's quite fast and physical so the football played is not too dissimilar. Certainly most players who grew up in Germany would also have at least basic English, which means that it would be easier to settle in.

.

You saved me from typing all this mate cos its exactly wot I was gonna say.
Been watching the Bundesliga for about 10 years solid now and for me it is a better league than both Serie A & La Liga.

Yet not many attacking players have made the transition. Only Rosicky is showing promise. Berbatov is not, Not to mention Ballack

[Mattshark]

Yet not many attacking players have made the transition. Only Rosicky is showing promise. Berbatov is not, Not to mention Ballack

Berbatov's quite well i think.