SchalkeUK

Benny is a German kid - born and bred in Gelsenkirchen and with no Italian ancestry! He is also the best defender and still- in most of the player's eyes - the Club Captain. Bye Bye Benny!

Uchi to Bremen and it looks as if Benny is likely to join Juventus soon. If Naldo gets injured and with Kolasinac at Arsenal, how many goals will we concede this season? Answers on a postcard to anywhere! Oh and first game back home and the Hunter is off again! With Lallana wearing a leg brace, Max should be talking to Kloppy. At least he might have a chance of getting a game there!

Another weird move - we have a rather poor back line with weakness not only in the present first choice, but not much behind them in the way of quality - so we let Atsuto Uchida go to Hertha Berlin. He is in my team for the BL comp. but he was left out on Saturday. At least now I can start picking up points as he will almost certainly be treated better in Berlin. Both he and Embolo are fit but not yet played - so Di Santo must have some form of hold over the coach - or nepotism! He was dreadful (again) on Saturday. Ten days for max to find a side that will appreciate his abilities - it's not going to happen in Gelsenkirchen if Saturday is anything to go by.

Sorry Olive - Weston was subbed later than he should have been last night - he was awful.....

Sorry - been away for a few days - PMN Peter Manuel - known on the register as PM Neuer as a kid I have always preferred Peter to Manu!

Hi Torsten - nice to have you back!

Like Nudge I approach this from a different perspective to those who are Bayern Supporters, but what has made it easier to accept what they have achieved over the past few years has been the integrity and respect shown by Philip Lahm as their - and Germany's - Captain. Having know PMN since he was a kid I have no doubts that the same honesty and respect are totally within his being and, for me, he is the obvious choice.

Like Nudge, I watch Bayern with a different perspective to those who support the Club, but what has made it easier in the past few years has been the respect which Philip Lahm generated by his whole approach to the game and his leadership - not only of Bayern, but of the German International Team. He will be hard to replace, but having known PM since he was a kid, his honesty and integrity has never been in question and for me he is a natural to follow Herr Lahm.

3-2 at the end - Hemmerich and Konoplyhanka with second half goals, but changes in defence and 2 silly goals given away towards the and made it much closer than it was. Uchida was solid again in the first half and when he went of there seemed to be last week's problems with no ideas of organisation which gave away the goals. the defence needs sorting, but nice to see Embolo return for a few minutes.

Penalty shoot our - Bayern miss one!

Iwobi goal scorer

WOW! 3 minutes into added time and after being bombarded by Bayern, Arsenal break away and level it at 1-1! Great goal and worth the draw

Not too bad a game in Shanghai - the defence is better and Amin Harit is looking a very good signing - his goal just before half time gives us a 1-0 lead.

Will try and keep an eye on this but for now I'm away to Shanghai to see 04 and Besiktas!

Arsenal lucky - good goal for Bayern ruled offside - replay shows clearly it was OK but.....

Found on myp2p if you can use it.

Lewandowski has started already - penalty after 8 minutes 1-0. Muller is captain today with Neuer not playing - yet!

Hold that!. They are still warming up - nice to see the senior players on the pitch for his game - usually they sit it out, but Muller, Ribery et al are all there.

Just about to kick off - Bayern v Arsenal - available online on ESPN Desportes (Spanish Commentary).

Never mind, nudge, just another of those silly pre-season games which start well and then disappear into some weird hole where ability and talent seem to be non-existant -must say the opposition seemed to be taking it more seriously than your guys. Put it down to the lack of Green in the shirts. Back to the good stuff - although my lady is insisting on Prosecco

Thanks nudge - working perfectly!

Must find the Werder game then!

Welcome home to you and your headache Pity it's such a poor footy day - I can only find a St Pauli game at the moment so will have to stick with Vettel and Hamilton and hope they fail to kill each other today! Nice and sunny here for a change - Dusseldorf? I gather the Croatian boys will all be watching the Tennis this afternoon and Ivan tells me it is his last Sunday at home before the US trip. Would love to be going somewhere again, but my floor and walls in the new kitchen need tiling so stuck here for a week! Get well soon and no doubt you will be out again tonight - punishment seems to thrive with all my young German friends and they never stop - a bit like banging your head against the wall - you only do it because it is so pleasant when you stop! Sei nett!

'I find Schalke's summer transfers very weird. You have given out almost 50 million Euro so far, but your squad still looks mediocre' Well, my little Werder friend, you seem to be saying what we say every year and I always try and hold on until at least October before putting it into print. I am prepared to accept that the new man knows what he is doing, but to bring in such new players and continue with Choupo-Moting and di Santo and others will prove his efforts to be wasted. He has to get tough and let the young players and the new men have a decent chance. Leon might still be here for part of the season and I hope Max will still be around, but treating like they were treated last season will guarantee that they depart as soon as possible. The are others like Platte and Reese who will go the same way if they are not treated fairly and the usual habit of ruining their confidence will have its usual effect. as for mediocre - yes if you leave it as it is, but to clear out the garbage will make it look much more of a group to be reckoned with. To-day's game showed where part of the problem lies and the trip to China could be vital in this season's future decisions. I am sure that Inter Milan and Besiktas will not be travelling for fun so bring it on!!!

0-1 at the end and one or two positive things from this game - basically a poor performance, but with Kolasinac having gone to arsenal we are short of a left back - or we were! Uchida has played most - if not all - of his games for 04 on the right, but this was a class, solid performance at left back and may well solve the problem. Bentaleb was poor - again - but Hamit and Wright look good on this performance and deserve to be with Goretzka and Meyer and then we might see some chances being created and finished off. Not a game for too many positive decisions, but something for the new coach to consider and at least it proved that one or two of last season's failures are still not good enough for BL1