Martin Volkmar: Good Klopp, bad Klopp
The slick first public appearance of Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool seems to have caught English media and football fans by surprise, and has already made him a favourite with many.
Martin Volkmar
Martin Volkmar: Boring Bayernliga
German media and fans are united in agreement that after just eight weekends of the Bundesliga the championship is decided. Although the club bosses won’t entertain the same opinion, the frenetic 5: 1 victory over supposed challengers Borussia Dortmund has eliminated any lingering doubts concerning the dominance of Bayern.
Martin Volkmar: Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder – Germany has lost one of its football elders
Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, DFB president for many years and a member of the Executive Committee of FIFA and UEFA, passed away on Monday aged 82 years.
Martin Volkmar: Bundesliga, backpacks and grumpy Spanish men return
Germany’s football fans can at last breath a sigh of relief: after 82 days of rest, the Bundesliga is finally ready to start its new season.
Martin Volkmar: Platini and the domino effect
The candidacy of Michel Platini for FIFA president could have far-reaching consequences – especially for German football.
Martin Volkmar: A man who is proving to be like good whiskey
It has been a long journey to Old Trafford. Bastian Schweinsteiger, as an impetuous youngster, made his Bundesliga debut in late 2002 and quickly became a beacon of hope for the team – at Bayern and in the German national set-up.
Martin Volkmar: Riding the wave of success back to Rio
For the German Football Federation and its President Wolfgang Niersbach, it has already been a successful week, even before the major knockout matches are played in the Women’s World Cup and the U21 European Championship this weekend.
Martin Volkmar: From hero to zero. Di Matteo departs a lifeless Schalke
He came as a man of the world and left as a loser: Roberto Di Matteo was the man brought in to kick start a new era at Schalke 04, but instead, the former Chelsea coach’s time in the Bundesliga has expired after only seven months.
Martin Volkmar: Will Bayern find sunlight after the rain?
“Bayern can only win,” I wrote after the draw of the Champions League semi-finals a month ago. In retrospect, I have to admit I was wrong – at least partially.
Martin Volkmar: Bayern can win only
How fast can one game change everything. Until Tuesday, FC Bayern had not shown in the second round that they really had a compelling game to win at the highest level.
Martin Volkmar: Expect the unexpected from Niersbach
From journalist to the most important official in German football: Wolfgang Niersbach has never planned his upward career path and would have liked to save the job in the FIFA Executive Committee.
Martin Volkmar: Only Dortmund has disappointed
The Bundesliga has experienced a hard landing in reality over the past week. After the march of the German quartet into the knockout stages of the Champions League, only FC Bayern reached the last eight, while Schalke, Leverkusen and Dortmund have crashed out early.
Martin Volkmar: When experts talk like dopes
When it comes to serious doping allegations at the highest levels of the sport there has to transparency and the presentation of as much information as possible. Performances like that of the legendary Mehmet Scholl witnessed on German television this week are surely counterproductive.
Martin Volkmar: Leverkusen save face for Germany Ausgerechnet Leverkusen rettet die deutsche Ehre
Leverkusen’s much criticised coach Roger Schmidt, after coming away with the only German victory in this week’s Champions League matches, has shifted pressure off himself, and in so doing focused attention on Stuttgart which might be the next club to make a coaching change. But even more unstable than the Bundesliga in Germany’s coaching sack race is Germany’s second tier.
Martin Volkmar: Neuer Druck auf den Rekordmann der DFL New TV blueprint for the DFL record breaker
Im Februar 2005 trat noch ein recht junger Mann seinen Dienst bei der Deutschen Fußball-Liga an, den bis dahin in der Szene kaum einer kannte. Zehn Jahre später ist das völlig anders: Christian Seifert gilt national wie international als Gesicht des Höhenflugs der Bundesliga.