Dalbeider

Dec 10th 2022 World Cup report part the second: the first knockout round brought one more shock when Mexico defeated Belgium 2-0, but for the most part it was either even matchups (England over the Netherlands, Spain over Portugal) or very one-sided ties (Argentina over Jamaica). We're now in the quarterfinals, and Qatar's dream run has just ended in a 0-2 defeat against Germany, while Spain fell in a narrow 1-2 defeat to England. Brazil-France and Argentina-Mexico are the other ties, and whoever wins the semifinals look promising already. Dec 16th 2022 France and Mexico(!) won their ties, and the semifinals put them against each other, while Germany faced England in the other match. Both games ended in narrow 2-1 wins, and as a result France and Germany will face in the final, to be played simultaneously with our league game against Dresden. ...Wait a second, why the hell did we have this break if we can just play while the World Cup is still ongoing?! Dec 18th 2022 SG Dynamo Dresden (8th) vs. TSV 1860 München (5th) (2.Bundesliga, 17/34) Back to the league after a long break, and we reach the halfway point of the season with a trip to Dresden. Dynamo have been roughly where expected so far, midtable and without making much noise in one direction or another. That said, with how tight the league is right now both them and us could end up either top or bottom half with just a single win or loss. A pretty even game with uncertain result. * * * DYNAMO (4-2-3-1): Kevin Broll (GK); Erlend Dahl Reitan (DR), Kevin Ehlers (DCr), Tim Knipping (DCl), Chris Löwe (DL); Yannick Stark (MCr), Niklas Hauptmann (MCl); Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer (AMR), Julius Kade (AMC), Oliver Batista Meier (AML), Christoph Daferner (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-2-3-1): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Gastón Hernández (DCl), Silvan Sidler (DL); Jayson Molumby (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Sidi Sané (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AMC), Bruno Arce (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) * * * I have this sudden urge to sign Dresden's left back for some reason... Anyway, mirror match for our new-ish 4-2-3-1 formation, let's see how it holds up. Dynamo seem to have the upper hand in the early game, soon testing Kretzschmar with a direct free kick by Batista Meier that the keeper pushes wide, then following it up with a high header by Königsdörffer in the resulting corner kick. Another header by Daferner after a quick break goes wide, and it's obvious we're struggling to get past their high lines of pressure. After a while we finally start finding ways through, and on the 18th Lohkemper can finally get a shot in after a cross by Goden, still an easy catch for Broll. It's a mirage, though, and a set piece four minutes later ends with Königsdörffer shooting, Kretzschmar saving, and Stark gathering the rebound in a dubious (but legal according to VAR) position and scoring the 1-0. Immediately after restarting, however, we mount a beautiful passing play that ends with Dressel crossing low from the left into the heart of the box so Lovera can place a shot into the net and pull level instantly. His first official goal for 1860, by the way. Took him long enough. Momentum shifts slightly after the draw, and we start controlling the ball more and getting into good shooting positions. Lovera has another chance to beat Broll with a placed shot, but this time the keeper dives well and gathers the ball. Dynamo are still dangerous, though, and a quick break through the center by Kade almost becomes the 2-1, but Kretzschmar performs one of his lately forgotten miracle saves to keep the game tied. Two more saves by the keeper to an easy header from Daferner and to a dangerous shot by Kade mark the end of the first half. HALF TIME - 1-1 We make a few tactical tweaks in half time to try and have better control of the ball and to improve our transition into midfield, and apparently they work a treat: seven minutes in we pass the ball around with impunity for a long minute before finding Sidler on the left so the wing back can cross low towards Lohkemper for an easy tap-in. Königsdörffer has the answer for Dynamo after a short through ball from Daferner, but Kretzschmar dives low to close the near post gap and save again. We move things around by bringing in Tallig and Lex, moving Lovera to the right and placing Tallig in the center behind Lohkemper. Once again, it works fantastically and immediately: Tallig receives, turns around, and lobs a beautiful high pass towards Lohkemper's run so the striker can hit it as it drops and score the 1-3. With our lead secured we move back to our usual 4-3-3 formation, now with substitute Neudecker as our unorthodox anchor. Dynamo keep trying, mostly through headers that Kretzschmar catches without issue, while we try to keep the ball and let time do its job, still having a fantastic chance for a fourth in a set piece that Lang heads into the post. The fourth does come eventually, though, after yet another long passing play that Goden ends by assisting Tallig inside the box, allowing the midfielder a curling placed shot to grab his goal and completing a fine performance off the bench. With the game already almost over, a long ball by Lex into nowhere turns into a perfect assist so Lohkemper can run at Broll and complete his second hattrick of the season, rounding up a fantastic team performance in our most comprehensive win so far. * * * SG Dynamo Dresden 1 (Yannick Stark 22) TSV 1860 München 5 (Maximiliano Lovera 23, Felix Lohkemper 52 66 90+4, Erik Tallig 87) - - - Now this? This was divine. Exquisite. A perfect way to round up the year and the first half of the season for sure, and proof that yes, our forwards can score, too. The tactic worked after a few tweaks giving us better ways out of the defense without resorting to long balls against high pressing lines like Dresden's, and from then on what had been an even game with a slight edge to Dynamo turned into a slaughterfest. Lovera did fine in the hole, and has earned staying until the end of the season. Kretzschmar is also finally back, his first half was impeccable. Still riding the high, the players go on holiday for the Christmas season and all are expected back in training on the 3rd of January. Meanwhile, in Qatar, the 2022 World Cup ends with France winning their second consecutive trophy after a 3-2 extra time win over Germany in the final, with none other than Paul Pogba grabbing the deciding goal in the 103rd minute. England got the consolation prize of finishing third after defeating Mexico on penalties after a goalless draw in the playoff. Players-wise the big name of the tournament was, surprisingly, Mexico's striker Raúl Jiménez, who fell only two goals short of beating Just Fontaine's impossible record of thirteen goals in one World Cup. The Golden Ball went to Mbappé ahead of Kimmich and Adeyemi, Neuer won the Yashin Award as the best goalkeeper of the tournament, and Adeyemi was picked as the best young player. * * * | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 17 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 41 | 14 | 27 | 43 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Greuther Fürth | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 29 | 18 | 11 | 36 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Arminia Bielefeld | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 13 | 17 | 34 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Schalke 04 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 13 | 15 | 32 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | 1860 München | 17 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 27 | 17 | 10 | 28 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Nürnberg | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 21 | 6 | 28 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Werder Bremen | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 26 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | SC Paderborn | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 25 | 22 | 3 | 25 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Jahn Regensburg | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 21 | 3 | 25 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Hamburg | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 25 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Dynamo Dresden | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 21 | -1 | 25 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Darmstadt | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 23 | -1 | 24 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Hannover 96 | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 24 | -5 | 21 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Holstein Kiel | 17 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 41 | -17 | 13 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Duisburg | 17 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 34 | -17 | 12 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | St. Pauli | 17 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 15 | 33 | -18 | 11 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Ingolstadt | 17 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 36 | -24 | 9 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Sandhausen | 17 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 32 | -18 | 7 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| If I could get a wish granted right now, I'd ask for the season to end with the league table exactly like this. A fifth place in our first season in the 2.Bundesliga would be absolutely fantastic, and also a much more realistic outcome than us promoting straight up to the Bundesliga. Not to mention less potentially painful in the long term... We've had some lows in the last eight matches, but this last match against Dresden gives me hope of actually sticking around the top half until the end and, who knows, maybe push for the playoffs if the results go the right way. In any case, 28 points at the halfway point is an outstanding haul, and we only need a couple more wins to reach the 35 which more often than not mean you will not relegate from this league. Almost there. As for the rest, Fortuna Düsseldorf are still the clear stand-out team, even more solid leaders than we were in the 3.Liga just one year ago. Fürth, Bielefeld, and Schalke might have a chance of catching up, but it's likely they'll be left to fight for scraps. Then there's a huge pack of teams within 4 points of each other, currently led by none other than TSV, and any one of these teams could end up as a promotion challenger if they manage a good streak of results. Hannover are left hanging a bit behind, and then there's the five relegation candidates, with Ingolstadt and Sandhausen still at the bottom but not looking much worse than their other three companions right now. A league in three sections, so to speak. PLAYER STATS ============ Average rating (min. 6 games played): Felix Lohkemper 7.40 (15(1) apps) Daniel Wein 7.34 (11(1) apps) Gastón Hernández 7.30 (16 apps) Dennis Dressel 7.11 (14(4) apps) Kevin Goden 7.08 (11(3) apps) Goals: Felix Lohkemper 12 goals Dennis Dressel 3 Billy Arce 3 Marcel Bär 3 Sidi Sané 2 Assists: Sidi Sané 3 assists Erik Tallig 3 Dennis Dressel 3 Marcel Bär 3 4 players 2 ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD Bundesliga: a surprisingly even league so far. Yes, Bayern are leading, but they're actually tied on points with RB Leipzig, and BVB are four points behind but with *two* games in hand, while Leverkusen have one and trail the leaders by only five points. The rest of the league are far behind the leading pack, though, with Wolfsburg and Stuttgart slightly ahead in the remaining European places. The fight to avoid relegation is also extremely close, with teams placed 13th to 17th within only four points of each other. Bochum is dead last with only 2 points so far, though, and look as good as gone. Premier League: still four games to go until the halfway point, but things are also quite tightly contested in England. Chelsea have a small four-point lead at the top, but City, Arsenal, and United are tied on points right behind, and Liverpool, Newcastle, and Leicester aren't much farther behind. The big shock this year so far have been Conference League champions Spurs, who sit on a very uncomfortable 14th place, although safe from relegation just due to the fact that the bottom three have been absolutely terrible so far. Fulham are the least bad with 9 points, so imagine how well Stoke and Palace have been doing... LaLiga: the dead are walking the Earth! Or at least Spain! Everyone thought Barcelona would be in for a long dry spell due to their money problems and somewhat limited squad, yet here they are leading the table with four points over Real Madrid and *thirteen* over third-placed Atlético. Back to times of splendor indeed. Ansu Fati and ter Stegen seem to be carrying them hard, but so far it's enough. Celta are the surprising fourth Champions League team right now, with Villarreal and Valencia behind and Sevilla outside of Europe, but all four of them plus Atlético are within just two points, so anything goes there. Just promoted Sporting look ready to go straight down with only five points so far, while the other relegation spots are wide open, with Cádiz and Málaga occupying them currently. Serie A: unexpected leaders in Italy, too, with Lazio looking pretty on top and two points ahead of both Juventus and Milan, with Inter, Sampdoria, Roma, Sassuolo, and Atalanta in a tight pack a bit farther away. Again, disappointing start by mid-table Napoli, but we said the same last year and they made it to the Europa League in the end, so who knows. Lecce and Monza are having a tough time at the bottom, although not as bad as the worst teams in other leagues, and Salernitana are the third team in the red zone but with a reasonable shot at making it out soon. Ligue 1: no surprises in France, though, because PSG would need more than a few miracles to be dislodged from the top, even after Mbappé left for Real Madrid. Led by Messi, who's already announced he'll retire at the end of the season, they have a healthy seven-point lead over a resurrected OL, who lead a very tight pack of chasers ahead of Nice, Monaco, Nantes (!) and Montpellier, with Marseille, Saint-Étienne, Clermont, and Rennes just behind outside the European places. The hopeless team in Ligue 1 seems to be last-placed Nimes, with only six points, although nine-point Lorient aren't far behind in terribleness. Nancy and Reims still have a good chance of making it out alive.

Nov 14th 2022 We line up a few friendly games for the World Cup break, just to keep our players active and to give some playing time to a few of our promising reserves. Also as a final test for Lovera, who against Paderborn had one of his usual no-shows. Then again so did all of our attackers, so it might not be just on him this time. It's also a good time to discuss issues with the players. First one to my door is Lex, who hasn't been playing much if at all lately and wants to go out on loan. Perfectly fair, and considering his level keeps dropping as he grows older and right now our staff consider him barely good enough for the 3.Liga, it's very unlikely he'll get any regular play time here, even if Lovera ends up leaving. So request granted, although he'll have to wait until January to leave, assuming there are teams interested. Nov 18th 2022 And a good time for injuries, it seems. Bär suffers a hip injury in training and will miss two to three months of training. Between the World Cup and the winter break it shouldn't amount to many actual matches, but still hurts. Nov 20th 2022 Still more increases to transfer revenue from the board, now up to 75% for the first €30M we earn, then 40% afterwards. Surprising given our funds are creeping closer to the red zone by the month, although I imagine the board consider the prize money we'll receive at the end of the season, something the 3.Liga didn't have and which I'll welcome very, very much when it happens. * * * Stuttgarter Kickers vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) First of four friendlies we've prepared for the break, three of them away to lower division German teams and then a home match against Hajduk to test ourselves against a regular in European competitions. We start with our 4-2-3-1 formation and Lovera in his preferred position behind the striker, and he soon shows why he likes it with a good assist so Lohkemper can score the first. We're not exactly overwhelmingly better, though, and on the 21st a cross from the right allows Hoxha to pull level with a perfect downwards header. The goal wakes us up and we go to create many chances, although our accuracy is terrible for a change (not). Finally it's a header from Sané after a cross from Arce that bends the keeper's hands and becomes the 2-1. Early in the second hand Tallig assists Lex for the third with a nice through ball, and from then we go on to dominate effortlessly and secure a solid win. First test passed with good grades. Stuttgarter Kickers 1 (Lirim Hoxha 21) TSV 1860 München 3 (Felix Lohkemper 10, Sidi Sané 40, Stefan Lex 48) Nov 21st 2022 Remember when we signed those two youngsters for the reserves a couple of months ago? Well, one of them, center back Phil Zimmermann, just broke his foot in a bad fall in training and will be out for 4-5 months. There goes any hope of loaning him out, or of him developing at all during this season, I guess. Oh well, nothing lost, if we still think we can get something out of him come the end of the season we might extend his contract then. Nov 27th 2022 Türkgücü München vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) Our second friendly brings us almost literally across the street to the Olympiastadion to play our neighbors Türkgücü, who're currently 10th but only three points over the relegation zone in an extremely tight 3.Liga (8 points between 7th and 18th!). A penalty on Lang in a corner kick gives us the chance to take the lead early, and Lohkemper doesn't miss. The striker grabs the second later in the first half with a great run through the center, following many other chances. Reserve forward Ouro-Tagba scores our third already in the second half, heading in a corner kick, then Dressel makes it for with a powerful header. Türpitz grabs two consolation goals for Türkgücü in the final minutes when we relax a bit too much, but our victory is never in question. Türkgücü München 2 (Philip Türpitz 80 89) TSV 1860 München 4 (Felix Lohkemper 15p 29, Mansour Ouro-Tagba 49, Dennis Dressel 65) Dec 4th 2022 FC Ismaning vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) A more relaxed fixture today against minnows Ismaning. Or that was the plan at least, but our terrible finishing means it takes us a while to take the lead. Thirty-one minutes exactly, and only thanks to a steal plus cross by Sané into Lohkemper's finish. The second has to wait until the second half so reserve winger Harper can half-volley in a cross from the left, and then he goes to assist Dressel for the third, scored with a screamer from distance. We even allow Ismaning to get one back in the final minutes, another long shot by Press that Müller can't even dream of stopping. All in all, a somewhat disappointing performance. FC Ismaning 1 (Erich Press 88) TSV 1860 München 3 (Felix Lohkemper 31, Cameron Harper 55, Dennis Dressel 75) Dec 5th 2022 The World Cup is already in its first knockout round, with some surprises having taken place in the group stage. The United States and Nigeria were beaten to the second place of their group by South Korea, Qatar topped their group ahead of Croatia, Colombia, and Serbia, then Jamaica shocked group G by finishing second behind Spain and ahead of both Algeria and Denmark. So far the second round has seen Qatar flexing their home field advantage (so to speak) with a 2-0 win over South Korea, Germany defeating Italy on penalties, and Brazil and France having very narrow wins over Croatia and Uruguay. Dec 7th 2022 A first glance at the next batch of youngsters to come from the academy looks quite promising, with top-grade prospects in five different positions. These things always turn out very differently when they happen for real, though, so let's wait until March and see what we get this time. Dec 9th 2022 TSV 1860 München vs. HNK Hajduk Split (Friendly) Last match of the break, facing a serious rival in Hajduk to see if our 4-2-3-1 works when your opposition is actually strong. The start of the game looks more than fine, and after a couple of chances Lovera opens the score early with a nifty little chip over the keeper, well assisted by Lohkemper. The striker then makes it two immediately after thanks to a bad decision by the keeper in a deep free kick, and next it's Arce who finishes from close a cross by Goden, scoring the 3-0 with less than twenty minutes played. After such a blowout start we slow things down and maintain our lead until half time. In the second half Hajduk seem to try to get back into the game with an early goal, but their attempts are few and misguided, and we just let the clock tick until the game ends. TSV 1860 München 3 (Maximiliano Lovera 9, Felix Lohkemper 12, Billy Arce 19) HNK Hajduk Split 0 - - - Not a bad show, this one. The 4-2-3-1 seems to be working fine for the most part, and with versatile midfield players like Tallig or Dressel we should be able to switch between our two main tactics on the fly without issue. It also gives us the chance to use Lovera in his natural position, which is a plus. We'll give it a try in our next league match and see if it's worth using regularly.

Nov 8th 2022 The World Cup is almost here, and the participating nations are naming their squads today. There are no 1860 players involved, but a few ex-players will be in Qatar, including Kevin Volland (Germany, currently in Monaco), Julian Wiegl (also Germany, currently in Benfica), Marin Pongracic (Croatia, now in Wolfsburg), Julian Baumgartlinger (Austria, now in Fiorentina), and Milos Degenec (Australia, now in Columbus Crew). Nov 13th 2022 TSV 1860 München (6th) vs. SC Paderborn 07 (7th) (2.Bundesliga, 16/34) Last match before the World Cup break, and it's another doozy. Like most of this league for us, really. Paderborn have been yo-yoing all over the divisions in the last decade, including two short visits to the Bundesliga, but nowadays they're a midtable team just as the preseason predictions said. In fact we're tied on points and only ahead of them by a single goal, so this could be considered a direct duel for, I don't know, the right to stay in the top half? Or something? Still an important game, and one we'll have to turn up to if we want a result. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Christoph Kobald (DCl), Silvan Sidler (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) PADERBORN (4-1-4-1): Leopold Zingerle (GK); Bendegúz Bolla (DR), Uwe Hünemeier (DCr), Thomas Isherwood (DCl), Jamilu Collins (DL); Maximilian Thalhammer (DM); Kai Pröger (MR), Meritan Shabani (MCr), Marco Stiepermann (MCl), Michael John Lema (ML); Dennis Srbeny (ST) * * * Steinhart serves our first suspension of the season today, and Hernández rests for the first time in a while at the back while Lovera gets a second consecutive start. Paderborn are known for being a very counterattack-focused team, so we'll have to be careful today. Our first attempt is a direct free kick by Wein that Zingerle deflects wide with some trouble, and our second is exactly the same, only five minutes later. We don't create much from normal attacking play, though, and that's concerning. We try to switch the focus of our attacks to the wings, hoping to find more space there, and after a while without success Sidler at least manages to find Bär with a cross from the left, although the raumdeuter's header is easy for Zingerle. That's still the closest to an actual chance we get in the first half, though. Meanwhile Paderborn are more than happy to just defend, and that means no goals. HALF TIME - 0-0 It takes only five minutes of the second half to make sure that our current wing players aren't working, and Sané and Arce take their places hoping for more production. The effect isn't immediately obvious, although we start looking a bit more sharp in attack and Dressel gets a decent try with a left-footed shot that goes wide by half a foot or so. Our wings start working then, with Goden and Sané connecting on the right so the winger can shoot, although the position is not ideal and Zingerle saves without trouble. We don't get any further than that, though, and once again we hit a wall and time starts running out really fast for us. We try to turn the pace up a notch further in the final ten minutes, but there's no result other than a few offsides. In the end Paderborn get what they wanted: a goalless snorefest. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 SC Paderborn 07 0 - - - Not the best note on which to go on a one-month break, I guess. A point is a point, but we really looked toothless today. Defensive teams always give us trouble, particularly if they play with three at the back or with an anchor in front of their defense, or god forbid with both. Maybe we should rescue the 4-2-3-1 for these games, I'd shelved it as too risky for the 2.Bundesliga but it might be worth a try. In any case, we gain one place and climb up to the fifth position, six points away from the promotion playoff and fourteen over the relegation playoff. Not a bad place to be by any means. Sané suffered a twisted knee in the final minutes of the game, nothing serious and it should heal within a few days.

Nov 1st 2022 Steinhart and Hernández earn themselves a place in the Team of the Week. The center-back has been a regular fixture there so far. Good loan, this one. Nov 7th 2022 Fortuna Düsseldorf 1895 (1st) vs. TSV 1860 München (5th) (2.Bundesliga, 15/34) Now this is a tough one. Fortuna have been on a tear almost since the very first match of this season, and looked likely to run away with the title until last week, when they suddenly saw their winning run snapped by none other than Werder Bremen. So not the best moment to face them but not the worst either, I suppose? Any points will be welcome, yadda yadda, you know the drill by now. * * * DÜSSELDORF (4-2-3-1): Florian Kastenmeier (GK); Matthias Jürgen Zimmerman (DR), Christoph Klarer (DCr), André Hoffmann (DCl), Kostas Stafylidis (DL); Isaac Twum (MCr), Ilay Elmkies (MCl); Khaled Narey (AMR), Shinta Appelkamp (AMC), Kristoffer Paul Peterson (AML); Dawid Kownacki (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Christoph Kobald (DCr), Gastón Hernández (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Quirin Moll (DM), Erik Tallig (MCr), Jayson Molumby (MCl); Sidi Sané (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) * * * One last chance for Lovera to show he's fit for this team, while another loanee, Molumby, returns to the lineup after his injury. The start of the game isn't exactly promising, as a bad clearance by Hernández almost gifts a goal to Kownacki, who thankfully scoops the ball over. We soon calm down and start doing our thing with possession, trying to deny Düsseldorf's attack by just not giving them the ball. Of course when they do get the ball things get hairy, and a run into space by Kownacki gives us a serious scare on the 14th minute, but thankfully the striker finishes wide under pressure by Hernández. A corner kick gives Fortuna their next chance, and this time it's a high header by Peterson. Then, on an apparently innocent throw in play, Moll barges Kownacki on the back inside the box and, after an intervention from VAR, a penalty is awarded and scored by Kownacki himself. The striker has another great chance later on, outpacing his marker and shooting into the root of the post and clear. On the 27th a very similar play started by Appelkamp with a great through ball ends much worse for us, as Kownacki sidesteps to avoid Kreztschmar's rush and scores with ease. 2-0 and feeling like a truck just ran us over. It gets worse: four minutes later Appelkamp drops to the left and crosses into the small box, Kobald loses sight of both the ball and his man, and Kownacki scores the 3-0 with ease to complete a ten-minute hattrick. Our first chance doesn't come until the 44th, but it's a great one: pass into space by Lovera to Sané, who rounds Kastenmeier and looks certain to score, but hits the post, gets the rebound, then sends it into the post again from a very tight angle. Best we can say is that at least we don't concede any more goals until half time. HALF TIME - 3-0 There's a different attitude in our players' faces after the break, probably as a result of my screaming. Thirty seconds in and Lovera finds Lohkemper behind the defense with a good assist so the striker can finally break his dud and bring us back into the game with the 3-1. Kretzschmar finally saves a shot two minutes later, an easy one from, who else, Kownacki, and it looks like things might start turning a bit better-looking for us now. Sané continues our recovery with a one-on-one created by Lohkemper, but this time Kastenmeier won't be beat and the ball goes wide for a corner kick. We bring Bär and Sidler into the game to see if we can keep increasing the pressure, and soon Molumby has a dangerous volley inside the box parried by the keeper after a cross by Lovera, who for once is looking pretty good. Kastenmeier has more work to do after Lohkemper sneaks his way into the box and shoots from close, only to find the keeper's gloves on the way. Then Lovera heads the corner kick high and wide, and it looks like Düsseldorf could crack at any moment. That's when they say enough is enough, start defending with the ball, and our attacks suddenly dry out. With our momentum gone we see time pass us by while we struggle to get close to Düsseldorf's goal again, and only a wide shot by Lohkemper in injury time gives us anything resembling hope of a comeback. The game ends in our defeat, as it was clear it'd do since halfway through the first half. * * * Fortuna Düsseldorf 1895 3 (Dawid Kownacki 21p 27 31) TSV 1860 München 1 (Felix Lohkemper 46) - - - Haven't felt this outclassed in a match since that one DFB Pokal tie against Bayern. The first half was just embarrassing, and I'm not sure if we reacted in the second half because we suddenly started playing well or because Fortuna just relaxed a bit too much. Leaning towards the second option, as shown by the fact that as soon as they wanted to stop us, they did. Still, that second half performance was enough to turn my rage into something a bit more mellow, and I actually commended the players on their effort. Lovera earns himself a second chance after a decent showing today. We'll see how he does against Paderborn next week... Kownacki is on 15 goals in 14 appearances so far this season, by the way.

Oct 25th 2022 Sidler and Dressel make the Team of the Week, our first appearances in a while. Oct 28th 2022 TSV 1860 München (6th) vs. FC Schalke 04 (3rd) (2.Bundesliga, 14/34) Getting closer to the World Cup break, and the tough matches start piling up. Schalke are still today the top favorites for winning the league and promotion, and they probably would be closer to that position if they hadn't had a bit of a difficult start and, well, if Fortuna wasn't currently running away with the title. We don't really have anything to lose here, other than our recently regained morale. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Silvan Sidler (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Gastón Hernández (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Billy Arce (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) SCHALKE 04 (4-3-3): Ralf Fährmann (GK); Reinhold Ranftl (DR), Marius Lode (DCr), Malick Thiaw (DCl), Pietro Beruatto (DL); Adrian Fein (DM), Victor Pálsson (MCr), Michal Sadílek (MCl); Nahuel Bustos (AMR), Amine Harit (AML), Simon Terodde (ST) * * * A mirror match today, although Schalke's lineup is certainly scary in names alone. No wonder Sané had to leave on loan if he has to compete with Nahuel friggin' Bustos for a place... The game looks very even at first glance, with a slight edge possession wise for us while Schalke seem more willing to try and shoot from distance in the early game. A wide header by Terodde is the first real chance of the game, but it takes eighteen minutes for it to come. It takes eight more for us to get one, and it's only thanks to a bad tackle by Schalke's defense that leaves the ball all for Lohkemper with miles of space, although in the end the defense puts him under pressure and he shoots wide. The rest of the first half wastes away with little worth reporting. No goals at half time, of course. HALF TIME - 0-0 The second half starts about as slow as the first ended, with only a high header by Pálsson in a set piece breaking the monotony. If anything Schalke look a bit more active in attack, although not overwhelmingly so. Before we even realize a whole half hour has passed and practically nothing has happened. We only have a very wide direct free kick by Steinhart to our name, while Schalke try from distance from time to time with about the same luck. We try to be a bit more offensive in the final third, while Schalke decide to switch to a flat 4-4-2 in the last ten minutes. This gives us a bit more space in midfield, and soon Sané has a decent run from the right that ends in a blocked shot, still our best chance in the whole half so far. Also the last of the game. Yep, not a match that will be remembered as thrilling, that's for sure. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 FC Schalke 04 0 - - - Yawn. Oh well, I'll take the point, all things being normal Schalke should walk all over us with ease, so a point against them is a very welcome booty. Both teams annulled each other, and no one really deserved the win. Nothing more to say, really, this was a huge pile of nothingness with void nuggets on top.

Oct 23rd 2022 TSV 1860 München (7th) vs. SV Werder Bremen (12th) (2.Bundesliga, 13/34) Another of my favorite teams (and one of my favorite cities) in Germany, and somehow, also in their worst moment in recent times. Their relegation from the Bundesliga at the end of the 20/21 season was seen as a bit of a disaster, although they'd been a bottom half team for the best part of a decade by then. Finishing 10th in the 2.Bundesliga the next season and now being even lower than that is just unacceptable for a team of Werder's stature. They'll climb up eventually, I just wish they don't start doing so today. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Gastón Hernández (DCl), Silvan Sidler (DL); Quirin Moll (DM), Erik Tallig (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Sidi Sané (AMR), Billy Arce (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) WERDER BREMEN (4-2-3-1): Jiri Pavlenka (GK); Felix Agu (DR), Lukas Mai (DCr), Ömer Toprak (DCl), Niklas Beste (DL); Felix Nmecha (MCr), Oscar (MCl); Leonardo Bittencourt (AMR), Romano Schmid (AMC), Luc Ihorst (AML); Niclas Füllkrug (ST) * * * Been a while since we played against a 4-2-3-1, probably around the time we stopped winning. Not sure if coincidence... Anyway, Lang is back in the lineup today, we'll see for how long this time. There's a lot of back-and-forth in the first minutes of the game, neither team quite dominating not creating real danger, but still threatening the opposing defense in turns. The first real chance to come from those attacks falls to Arce, who dribbles his way into the box from the left flank but ends up shooting over the bar. Much closer is Sané one minute later, receiving from Arce himself and running into space, only to send his finish into the crossbar. We're doing better than Werder now, but we still never quite dominate the game completely, and there's always the threat of them finding space to send a counterattack through. Their static plays don't really create much, though, with a centered header by Füllkrug straight into Kretzschmar's arms the closest they get. Meanwhile we keep almost striking gold, but not quite: Lohkemper sends another great chance very narrowly wide following a nice assist from Dressel. Finally, on the 35th minute, a long pass towards the center by Tallig finds Dressel in the middle of one of his runs into space, and the midfielder shows everyone how it's done with his typical power shot to grab the opener. We hold Werder at bay for the rest of the first half. HALF TIME - 1-0 Not much changes in the second half at first, and after a bit of controlling football Sané sends a ball into the box for Lohkember to volley it wide as our first warning shot. The two players trade roles next, with Lohkemper assisting and Sané finishing, although this one's easy for Pavlenka. Third should've been the charm when Arce hits the net from close, but VAR decides the Colombian is offside by inches and we have to save the celebrations for later. The siege continues with a narrowly wide header by Dressel that Pavlenka could only watch fly past. The midfielder tries again with another of his trademark missiles from just inside the box, but the keeper manages to cover the gap and deflect the ball with his body. Third try's not the charm either, as Dressel's header in the following corner kick goes over the bar. The goal should be coming at any moment now, and Werder haven't scared us since the second hand began. Famous last words? Nope. Sané is the next one to try, leaving Beste seated on the grass with a nutmeg then running the flank to cross for Arce's header, well held by Pavlenka. And that's basically the last action of the game on either goal, other than a few blocked finishes that don't go anywhere relevant. A header by Mai in a corner kick already in injury time is Werder's only real chance of the game, and it's an easy catch for Kretzschmar. The game ends soon afterwards. Finally, a win. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Dennis Dressel 35) SV Werder Bremen 0 - - - Theeere we go. Had me suffering until the last second even though Werder didn't really do much to threaten our lead, but we should've won this by three goals or more, seriously. Lohkemper seems to have forgotten how to finish in the last month or so, I swear, reminds me a lot of Lex one year ago. Good thing Dressel's still here to carry us and give us our first win in six matches, about time. Good team performance, glad to see Lang playing a good amount of minutes without issue, and... Lovera is now complaining about not being played in his position. He should probably shut up before he ends up not being played at all or, even more likely, back in Greece. I'd rather not pay €4.7k each week for nothing.

Oct 14th, 2022 SpVgg Greuther Fürth (2nd) vs. TSV 1860 München (4th) (2.Bundesliga, 12/34) Another supposed rival of ours for which our fans don't really care much at all, huh. Fürth have been doing quite well lately, climbing all the way to the promotion places after a so-so start and in the middle of their best stretch of form of the season so far. So, our polar opposites. We'll need to be at our best if we're to get something out of here. * * * FÜRTH (3-2-2-1-2): Sascha Burchert (GK); Bruno Rodrigues (DCr), Nick Viergever (DC), Gideon Jung (DCl); Simon Asta (WBr), Gil Dias (WBl); Sebastian Grisbeck (MCr), Tobias Raschl (MCl); Mijat Gacinovic (AMC); Dickson Abiama (STr), Branimir Hrgota (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Stephan Sadler (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Billy Arce (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) * * * Still no Lang, who should be available to start for our next fixture. Kobald gets benched after one too many bad performances, and Kretzschmar should start worrying about the same if he doesn't improve soon. Hrgota starts the game with a weak header that Kretzschmar picks up without problem, then follows it up with a good right-footed finish that the keeper dives well to tip wide. Looks like Kretzschmar is in the right state of mind today. Even better: on our first attack a cross from the right by Bär eludes the defense's attempt at clearing and reaches Arce, who shoots first time to score the 0-1. Not complaining one bit. Of course it doesn't last, and it's Hrgota once again who provokes the draw with a cross from the left that hits Salger in the chest and escapes his control, rolling into our own net. We try to strike back through the left, with Steinhart sending a nice ball ahead of Arce so the forward can finish from a difficult angle, easy for Burchert to block. We seem to slowly be taking the game back, though, and soon a wide header by Lohkemper gives Fürth another scare. Another chance for Arce is next, this time well assisted by Neudecker, but once again stopped by Burchert. On the other goal a missed header by Hernández allows Hrgota an unexpected chance, but Kretzschmar happens to be in the right place and saves. A very even first half ends with a fair draw. HALF TIME - 1-1 The draw survives all of two minutes into the second half: set piece taken from the right wing by Gacinovic and Bruno Rodrigues heads it in completely unmarked, making it 2-1 for Fürth. We need a bit to digest it, but soon enough we're looking for the draw through Arce, who this time tries a long range chip but sends it over the bar, if only just. Then Hrgota runs towards the left flank, dragging the defense with him, and sends a ball towards Gacinovic, who runs through the channel created by the striker to shoot and score the 3-1. Could've even been 4-1 if Hrgota, again, had hit the target with his header one minute later, but thankfully he went wide this time. Again we try to rally back, and again we miss on our next attack, this time with Lohkemper shooting wide from the edge of the box. Hrgota hits us back on the counter but once again sends an apparently easy finish wide, his lack of accuracy marring what should've been an absolute stormer of a game. Time passes and another chance falls to Lohkemper near full time, but he squanders it with a badly-timed miskick and the ball rolls harmlessly into Burchert's hands. We don't get another, and we slump to our second defeat of the season in the league. * * * SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3 (Stephan Salger 19og, Bruno Rodrigues 47, Mijat Gacinovic 60) TSV 1860 München 1 (Billy Arce 14) - - - Welcome to reality, I guess. The fairytale is officially over now, and this kind of match is what we should start expecting from now on. I can't even blame any individual performances today, except for Salger's unlucky own goal, and even that just sped up the inevitable. Funny thing is, looking at the possession numbers and goalscoring opportunities of both teams this was a very, very even game, but we never looked like we'd be getting anything out of it after going behind early in the second half. Oh well, let's hope we adapt to this new reality soon, otherwise we're gonna struggle. Down to 7th after the rest of this week's games are played.

Oct 5th 2022 Our great start of the season comes with some benefits attached, namely that the board now are completely convinced that I'm the right man for the job and are willing to offer me a new contract three-year contract worth €11.5k per week, with promotion and relegation clauses added as usual. The agreements don't change either, so I accept it happily, knowing that I'll have the time to really build this team up and bring it to the Bundesliga. Oct 9th 2022 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. FC St. Pauli (14th) (2.Bundesliga, 11/34) A bit of a disappointing season for St. Pauli so far, considering they were expected exactly in the middle of the pack and are currently too close to the drop zone for comfort. Their form isn't exactly stellar either, with just one win in their last five games. Then again we're similar in that regard, so... Still, a good chance to finally return to our winning ways. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Silvan Sidler (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Christoph Kobald (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Quirin Moll (DM), Erik Tallig (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Sidi Sané (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) ST. PAULI (4-1-2-2-1 narrow): Nikola Vasalj (GK); Luca Zander (DR), Jakov Medic (DCr), James Lawrence (DCl), Leart Paqarada (DL); Christopher Salon Avevor (DM); Christopher Buchtmann (MCr), Julian Justvan (MCl); Marcel Hartel (AMCr), Lukas Daschner (AMCl); Guido Burgstaller (ST) * * * Lang returns to the bench today, although he's unlikely to play due to his lack of fitness. St. Pauli seem to be using an ultra-narrow tactic that overloads the center, so we decide to go with one open winger and a wider attacking shape to try and hit them where it hurts. The tweaks seem to work fine, as we go on to clearly dominate the early game, although without creating much danger in exchange. In fact this trend extends to the whole first half, and we only manage a couple shots from distance without any danger before it ends. St. Pauli don't even try to attack at all. HALF TIME - 0-0 Things look a bit better in the second half, and at least Sidler makes Vasalj work a bit with a powerful shot the keeper has to tip over. St. Pauli also finally decide to try and shoot, even if it's a wide 25-yarder by Paqarada with zero actual danger. Kretzschmar finally gets some work to do in a set piece that Medic finishes and the keeper parries. Then, finally, in the 59th minute a steal by Sané allows us to catch them out of position, and the ball soon finds its way through Lohkemper and to Arce, who shoots into the underside of the bar so the ball bounces just inside of the goal line. And then VAR disallows it due to offside. Drat. At least now we know we can do it, so it's time to buckle down and keep trying. Another chance to counterattack arrives in the 64th, Sané runs the right flank, assists Lohkepmer, the striker returns the ball to the winger, and Sané passes it low towards the center so Dressel can score unopposed. Great goal, and the barrier is finally torn. We go on to control the game in the following minutes while we look for a second, but what we found is a cross from the right wing by substitute Lee Dong-Jun into Burgstaller's perfectly placed header over Tallig, which becomes the 1-1 with fifteen minutes to play. We pour forward to try and fix things, and surprisingly it comes much easier than expected: a set piece is cleared by St. Pauli's defense back to Steinhart, and the wing back spots Sané unmarked on the far side of the box and sends a pinpoint cross so the winger can volley it in and score the 2-1. But again, it doesn't last: long pass from Hartel towards Burgstaller, who breaks the offside trap by inches and blasts it in to draw the game again just a couple of minutes later. Neither team can manage to steal the win in the final minutes, and it all ends in another draw. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Dennis Dressel 64, Sidi Sané 82) FC St. Pauli 2 (Guido Burgstaller 75 84) - - - What a frustrating game. A first half of nothing at all followed by a second half in which we clearly deserved the win but ended up giving up two leads. Sané was great attacking the weak flank, but on the other end our defense was uncharacteristically soft today. Kobald has had a few mediocre games in a row now, and Kretzschmar can't save a shot for his life lately. I'm really starting to worry. Also, yet another terrible game by Lovera, who can't seem to find any way to impact the game from the left. Seriously considering finishing his loan early come the winter window if he doesn't improve drastically.

Sep 27th 2022 Gastón Hernández selected in the Team of the Week. He's been our most consistent defender so far, probably because he's the only one who hasn't got injured... Oct 2nd 2022 SV Darmstadt 98 (11th) vs. TSV 1860 München (2nd) (2.Bundesliga, 10/34) Another team that started really well but now has hit a bit of a form dip and have plummeted all the way to midtable, Darmstadt also have in their roster one of our ex-plaers, Deichmann, although he's much less of a frequent starter than Hiller for Regensburg. On the topic of form dips, we really need to snap off our recent bad streak, and a win here would go a long way towards that. * * * DARMSTADT (4-1-4-1): Marcel Schuhen (GK); Matthias Bader (DR), Lasse Sobiech (DCr), Patric Pfeiffer (DCl), Fabian Holland (DL); Niklas Dams (DM); Tobias Kempe (MR), Fabian Schnellhardt (MCr), Marvin Mehlem (MCl), Mathias Honsak (ML); Phillip Tietz (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Christoph Kobald (DCl), Silvan Sidler (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Billy Arce (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) * * * Lovera misses out on starting today due to a minor injury, but is still in the bench should we need him. And yep, Deichmann doesn't start today for Darmstadt, something I'm actually glad of given the precedent Hiller set last week... We do much better in possession at the start today, although Darmstadt still get to hit first with a good chance for Honsak he blasts miles over. We strike right back through Neudecker assisting Arce inside the box, his finish barely kept out of the goal by Schuhen. A weak header by Kempe follows, easy for Kretszchmar, and both teams look set for trading blows all match long. We get really close in the 22nd minute when a cross from Goden towards Lohkemper is intercepted by Sobiech and almost puts it past his own keeper, but after some bouncing around the ball is cleared. Tietz gets the next turn with a high header, and then jumps ahead in the queue with another header, this one wide and in a much more dangerous position. Third time's the charm as they say, and a cross from the left by Mehlem finds Tietz unmarked again, and this time the striker hits true and beats Kretzschmar to score the 1-0. Neudecker has the chance to strike right back directly off kick off, but despite having all the space and time in the world he ends up shooting wide. Then Tietz has another, this time with his right foot after a good movement, but he also misses the target and sends it over. There's no time for more, and we go to the dressing room trailing. HALF TIME - 1-0 After some harsh words at half time the players seem more focused, and soon enough Lohkemper assist Dressel on the run and the midfielder shoots with power but finds Schuhen well positioned to block. It doesn't last, though, and soon Tietz is sending more headers in Kretzschmar's general direction, although thankfully without much danger. Things slow down afterwards, and we try and bring some substitutions in to change things. One of them makes a quick impact: Sané receives a ball from Neudecker and runs into the box, trying to beat Schuhen from a tight angle but finding the keeper covering the gap quite well. Another substitute, Lex, also becomes important when he controls the ball on the left side of the box, wiggles his way past his marker, and crosses it towards the far post so Sané can head it in and score his first goal for 1860. We take control of the game completely in the following minutes and try to ride the high from the goal into a better result. Dressel almost completes the comeback two minutes later with another of his runs from deep, but once again he finds Schuhen in the way of his finish. Then, on the 81st minute, Lex chases a long pass by Neudecker that their substitute right back Müller intercepts, steals the ball from him, and crosses into the box. Sané isn't anywhere near the destination, but Sobiech panics, tries to intercept the cross, and ends up putting it past his own keeper and gifting us the lead. Darmstadt look shellshocked after this, and they don't react until injury time, but then a cross from the right is nodded by Holland towards the small box and Honsak gets there first to head it into the net from point blank. There's no time for more, and the game ends in a fair, if somewhat painful, draw. * * * SV Darmstadt 98 2 (Phillip Teitz 35, Mathias Honsak 90+2) TSV 1860 München 2 (Sidi Sané 72, Lasse Sobiech 81og) - - - I'll take it. We maaaaybe were just a little bit better than them, particularly in the last thirty minutes or so once our substitutes got going, but in the end we gave away too many easy chances and they were bound to take at least a couple. Fair result, bit of a kick in the nuts given how it came but eh, we'll deal. Good job by Sané and Lex off the bench, but Kretzschmar has his third consecutive "bad" game and that's a worrying trend, considering he's most likely our most decisive player this side of Lohkemper. Hope it's just a phase. We lose a place to Fürth and go down to third, still much higher than we had any right to expect.

Sep 24th 2022 TSV 1860 München (2nd) vs. SSV Jahn Regensburg (7th) (2.Bundesliga, 9/38) One fourth of the season gone, and no rest for the wicked as we square off against Regensburg, the other surprise package of the year. Expected in the relegation discussion, they've somehow managed to stay close to the top all this time despite a somewhat dubious streak of form as of late. Let's hope this game looks like the Hannover one, and not like the Duisburg one... * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Silvan Sidler (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Stephan Salger (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Erik Tallig (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) REGENSBURG (4-4-2): Marco Hiller (GK); Steve Breitkreuz (DR), Tim Rieder (DCr), Melayro Bogarde (DCl), Andrija Raznatovic (DL); Benedikt Saller (MR), Max Besuschkow (MCr), Majeed Ashimeru (MCl), Tom Baumgart (ML); Anthony Ujah (STr), Kaan Çaliskaner (STl) * * * After all the 4-2-3-1s we're now facing all the 4-4-2s it seems. Rotation again to keep our legs as fresh as possible, and hello would you look at that handsome goalkeeper playing for our rivals today? That's right, Marco Hiller found a new home in Regensburg and will surely be expecting to show me how wrong I was to pick Kretzschmar ahead of him. Once again we seem to struggle with possession in the early game, meaning it takes us a while to start testing Hiller. First to try is Bär with one of his usual headers, easy for the keeper, and then again one minute later with a very similar chance, this time wide by a foot or so. Regensburg's first approach comes through a nice combination between their two strikers, with Ujah providing and Çaliskaner finising into Kretzschmar's save. The game slows down after that as we regain control of the ball little by little, but on the 38th Ashimeru breaks through the center to collect Saller's cross from the right and score the 0-1 with surprising ease. We can't find a way to strike back before the first half ends. HALF TIME - 0-1 We can't find any solutions in the early second half either, so we turn to the bench trying to switch things around, bringing Arce, Sané and Dressel into the game. Meanwhile Regensburg get a goal disallowed by VAR due to offside, and otherwise look pretty comfortable on the pitch. We finally get a chance in a counter led by Dressel and finished by Lohkemper, but the ball goes straight to Hiller and it's an easy catch for him. The keeper shows his quality once again to stop a direct free kick by Steinhart which was aimed straight at the top corner, then blocks two finishes by Arce on the continuation and a shot by Sané on the very next play. He's really performing today, isn't he. The fact that Hiller is having so much work is a good sign for us, though, and we maintain the pressure high but can't quite seem to take the final step and actually grab the goal. A triple chance for Dressel in the 80th almost gives us the goal we need, but first Hiller saves, then a defender blocks, and finally he sends the third try over the bar from a very awkward position. Another disallowed goal for Çaliskaner due to offside gives us a bit of a scare as we pour forward without restraint, and Kretzschmar has to save another great chance for the striker, onside this time, just three minutes before the end. Neither team scores in the end, though, and we stumble into the first defeat of the season. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 SSV Jahn Regensburg 1 (Majeed Ashimeru 38) - - - Hrm. It had to come sooner or later, yes, but I didn't like how it happened one bit. We did have chances to turn things around and deserved the draw at the very least but we were terrible up front today, both starters and subs, although Sané had a fine performance off the bench providing crosses and enabling the others. Hiller really took his revenge on me today with his saves, as is bound to happen with these things. * * * | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 22 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | 1860 München | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 18 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Schalke 04 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 18 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Greuther Fürth | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 17 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Jahn Regensburg | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 16 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Arminia Bielefeld | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 15 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | SC Paderborn | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 15 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Dynamo Dresden | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 14 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Hamburg | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 14 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Hannover 96 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 14 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Darmstadt | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 13 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Nürnberg | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 13 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Werder Bremen | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 12 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | St. Pauli | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 9 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Holstein Kiel | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 6 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Duisburg | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 18 | -11 | 5 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Sandhausen | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 21 | -11 | 2 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Ingolstadt | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 19 | -16 | 2 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| I mean, wow. We really shouldn't be anywhere near the top of this league, but there we are. I don't think this team is anywhere close to being able to handle a promotion race, let alone actually surviving in the Bundesliga afterwards, but even looking at our more realistic goals of avoiding relegation, this is a fantastic start. Having sixteen points on the direct drop places and thirteen on the playoff is a very comfortable cushion to be lying on, that's for sure. Fortuna are obviously the strongest team right now, sporting a very scary attack capable of averaging almost three goals per game so far, and a competent defense on top of that. Schalke should be climbing the remaining places until the top soon, too, based on the complete opposite approach of a rock-solid defense and just enough goals to get by. Hamburg and Hannover have been disappointing so far, though, and should really start digging upwards soon if they're to get involved in the race at all. The distances are short, though, and even bottom half teams like Nürnberg and Werder Bremen could get into interesting positions with just a few results going their way. The bottom is about as expected: Ingolstadt and Sandhausen still winless, Duisburg and Kiel somehow holding on, and St. Pauli as the team that really shouldn't be there but now has to worry. Somewhat surprising that there are only six teams on negative goal difference, and one of them at only -1. PLAYER STATS ============ Average rating (min. 3 games played): Felix Lohkemper 7.72 (7(1) apps) Gastón Hernandez 7.40 (9 apps) Daniel Wein 7.34 (7(1) apps) Kevin Goden 7.32 (5(1) apps) Niklas Lang 7.30 (2(1) apps) Goals: Felix Lohkemper 8 goals Marcel Bär 3 Billy Arce 2 2 players 1 Assists: Sidi Sané 2 assists Dennis Dressel 2 Marcel Bär 2 Billy Arce 2 6 players 1

Sep 20th 2022 Arce, Dressel, and Bär make it into the Team of the Week. Lohkemper, somehow, doesn't, although to be fair he lost his place to Paderborn's Felix Platte, who also got a hattrick against Kiel. The transfer window is closed, but there are still some interesting players out of contract out there. We sign two of those today, both signed as potential investments for the future: 19yo central defender Phil Zimmermann, formerly in Viktoria Köln, and American 20yo right winger Cameron Harper, who just left New York Red Bulls in the MLS. Both join on cheap contracts until the end of the season, and might be loaned out once the window reopens in January so we can see if they're worth holding onto. They do have the potential, at least. For now they'll stay in the reserves to get some fitness and playing time. Sep 21st 2022 DSV Duisburg (16th) vs. TSV 1860 München (1st) (2.Bundesliga, 8/34) The one team that beat us twice last year, always the most dangerous rival for promotion, and now look at the space between us. To be fair it's mostly that we've been punching a lot higher than our level would imply, but still. Meanwhile Duisburg are doing about as expected, struggling to gain points and only outside of the direct relegation zone because Sandhausen and Ingolstadt still haven't got a single point to their name. Duisburg have four, which isn't much better, but is enough to keep their head above the water for now. Given both teams' current forms, we should win this one. * * * DUISBURG (4-4-2): Patrick Wiegers (GK); Marvin Ajani (DR), Antonios Papadopoulos (DCr), Marvin Knoll (DCl), Rolf Fletcher (DL); Alaa Bakir (MR), Niclas Stierlin (MCr), Marvin Bakalorz (MCl), Aaron Seydel (ML); Orhan Ademi (STr), Dennis Borkowski (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Christoph Kobald (DCr), Stephan Salger (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Quirin Moll (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Sidi Sané (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AML), Billy Arce (ST) * * * Rotation is required today for our first midweek match of the season, as we recover Müller for the backup goalkeeper role. Duisburg's eleven is almost completely unrecognizable compared to what we faced last year, with only a couple of names that stick around since then. Regardless, we start fantastically well thanks to a long ball from deep in the midfield by Neudecker into Arce's run into space so the forward can finish and score with a beautiful little chip over the keeper. We somehow struggle to keep possession today despite our early advantage, and Duisburg use that to their advantage: 15th minute and a pass towards Borkowski finds Kobald napping, allowing the striker to score with a powerful effort from inside the box and put things back where they started. After that both attacks seem to take some time off as the battle moves to the midfield, where Duisburg still keep a better possession rate than us. That's all that happens until the 41st minute, when another ball from deep, this time by Dressel, allows Sané a clean run into the box and a chance to score with a beautiful lob... which ends up bouncing off the woodwork. The result thus remains tied until half time. HALF TIME - 1-1 We look a bit sharper in the second half, still not creating any real danger but at least testing Wiegers from afar. Lex and Bär come in to replace our underperforming younger wing players, yet the game still remains dull and slow, with Duisburg apparently content to hold the ball and then do nothing with it. It takes until the 69th for a real chance to appear, a header by Bär after a shot from Lex deflected his way that Wiegers holds with a good dive. Six minutes later Dressel controls the ball inside the box and has all the time in the world to turn around and shoot, only to find Wiegers has guessed the direction correctly and is there to tip it wide. Duisburg finally get a shot at scoring six minutes before full time with another ball that sneaks its way to Borkowski, but Kretzschmar saves well this time. And... that's about it, really. A clear contrast with our previous fixture, and a somewhat disappointing result. * * * DSV Duisburg 1 (Dennis Borkowski 15) TSV 1860 München 1 (Billy Arce 3) - - - An off day, I guess. We really struggled to get going today, the wet pitch and the constant pressure of Duisburg never let us play our game, and our only good chances came from uncharacteristically long passes, including Arce's goal. We were better according to the numbers, but we really didn't deserve a win today. As a result we lose the top spot to Fortuna Düsseldorf, but remain in the promotion zone in second place. And we still can't beat Duisburg, for whatever reason.

Sep 14th 2022 Only three games after returning to action and Lang is already back in the ditch, this time with a hamstring strain that'll keep him out of contention for five to six weeks. This is really starting to be a problem, not just for his development but also for our team selection. At least the other injured players are either returning or close to doing so. Sep 16th 2022 Injuries are really taking it out on us this season, huh. Now it's loanee Molumby who'll be out for 6-7 weeks with sprained knee ligaments, just before a game in which I was planning on having him start. Wonderful. Sep 17th 2022 TSV 1860 München (1st) vs. Hannover 96 (3rd) (2.Bundesliga, 7/34) Now this is getting serious. Hannover are not just one of the league's top favorites for promotion, only behind Schalke and Hamburg, but have also had a good start to the season with only one defeat (to Fürth) so far and keeping close to the top at all times. And of course, they have bags of quality. As always against these teams, any points we can steal from them are very welcome. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Silvan Sidler (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Stephan Salger (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Erik Tallig (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Billy Arce (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) HANNOVER (4-4-2): Ron-Robert Zieler (GK); Josip Stanisic (DR), Amos Pieper (DCr), Cédric Kipré (DCl), Niklas Hult (DL); Jakub Kaminski (MR), Domink Kaiser (MCr), Svante Ingelsson (MCl), Rabbi Matondo (ML); Ishak Belfodil (STr), Erik Shuranov (STl) * * * Moll joins the just-recovered squad, while Kobald is still not ready for a full match, so Salger takes Lang's place today. We start well, but only three minutes in we're hit with a sudden dose of reality: Matondo sends a ball into the box for Belfodil, and the striker places it next to the post to score a very early 0-1. We react well to conceding our first goal since the cup elimination and go on to dominate the midfield as we try to attack their weak center. We have to be careful, though, because Hannover are very dangerous on the break. Our first real chance comes in the 14th minute, and it's a great one: pass by Bär towards the center where Arce appears to control and shoot straight into the post. By now we're clearly the best team on the pitch on performance alone, and in the 21st we finally reap the rewards: Arce sends a beautiful cross towards the penalty spot where Lohkemper controls and shoots with his usual quality to make it even again. It's almost a short-lived result, though, as Tallig's missed header when trying to intercept a goal kick ends up leaving Belfodil unmarked and with all the space in the world to score, but thankfully he hits the right post instead of the back of the net. On the 32nd minute we try this counterattacking thing ourselves, and soon Dressel finds himself on the left side of the box with space to cross towards the far post, where Bär does his usual thing, outjumps Hult and scores the 2-1. We don't stop looking for goals after that, and soon Lohkemper half-volleys a cross from Steinhart into Ziele's hands to keep the pressure up. The keeper has more work a bit later when he has to punch wide a powerful header by Bär, and in the last minute of regulation Lohkemper loses his marker and Dressel sees his movement, sending the ball through the gap so the striker can make it three. In injury time Kretzschmar has to dive to divert wide a shot from distance by Stanisic in the last action of the half. Beautiful match so far. HALF TIME - 3-1 Hannover try to regain the initiative in the early second half, but Tallig sends a knife through their heart, literally and figuratively, with a fantastic pass towards Arce who controls inside the box and scores the fourth, and his first goal for TSV. A run through the center by Kaiser is the best Hannover can create in retaliation, and Salger is there to tackle the ball away from him when the midfielder was about to finish the job. With our lead secured, we take the foot off the gas for a while in order to slow down play, confident in our midfield superiority. That doesn't mean we stop attacking, though, and Lovera comes off the bench to have a fantastic chance at point-blank range, but his finish is deflected by Zieler into the post and then back into his own hands in a very lucky save. Another substitute, Kerk, has a good chance for Hannover from the left flank, but sends his shot into the sidenetting, then Lovera misses another sitter with a wide chip when completely alone against Zieler inside the box. On the 84th Lohkemper shows him how it's done, finishing in style another great assist by Arce to make it 5-1 and sealing his hattrick. Hannover score their second in the last minute of regulated time thanks to a good header by Kerk, but the game is already as good as finished, and could even have ended with a bigger victory for us if Tallig and Neudecker had been more accurate with their finishes in injury time. A fantastic game with a fantastic result. * * * TSV 1860 München 5 (Felix Lohkemper 21 45 84, Marcel Bär 32, Billy Arce 52) Hannover 96 2 (Ishak Belfodil 3, Sebastian Kerk 90) - - - Well. That was a thing that happened. Might be our best performance since I've been here, and that's saying something. Our attack has never looked this lethal and Lohkemper is absolutely on fire in this early season. Long may it last. Then there's Arce, who played out of his mind today on the left. Lovera might have trouble reclaiming his starting position now, particularly if he keeps missing sitters like today.

Aug 30th 2022 Of all our players I wasn't expecting Hernández to be the one selected in the Team of the Week, but I guess he did well enough against Kiel. Aug 31th 2022 We've already brought a lot of players into the squad this season, so there are no plans of adding to that number on transfer window day. However, there's always the risk of someone leaving at the last second and having to patch the hole. The first to leave is an expected departure, though: Knöferl joins Regionalliga side Hankofen on loan until the end of the season. Like Wicht, I'd have loved to have him on a higher level team, but alas. Let's hope the experience and increased playing time are enough to see him make some leaps in his development. Not transfer news, but Steinhart does pick up a pulled thigh in training, our first non-ankle injury in a while. 8-11 days of rest should do the trick, and with some luck he might be available for our next fixture against Ingolstadt. Ah yes, it's been a while since Paderborn made one of their... original offers. This time they want Dressel on loan, only paying 70% of his wages plus a bit extra (but only on months in which he doesn't play) and want to attach a mandatory future fee of €400k plus €170k in installments. That... doesn't even cover Dressel's current market value. I wasn't even going to consider selling him unless there was an absolutely ridiculous offer for him, but this is ridiculous in the wrong way. Stop, guys. With that brief moment of hilarity a quiet transfer window day reaches its end, and there are no last second movements in our squad. Yay. Sep 1st 2022 Good news from the 3.Liga: Belkahia finishes third in the Player of the Month award, doing really well for a Meppen side that's performing quite worse than last year in the league, 15th right now. Sep 7th 2022 Some unexpected money coming our way: former 1860 academy boy Alexander Hack, who was playing for Mainz until now, has been bought by Dynamo Moscow for €4.3M. As his club of origin we get 2.5% of that fee, so €107k come into our accounts out of basically nowhere. Nice. We might even get a few thousand more if all the clauses in the transfer agreement are fulfilled. Sep 10th 2022 FC Ingolstadt 04 (18th) vs. TSV 1860 München (1st) (2.Bundesliga, 6/34) Back to the league after a two week rest for a visit to Ingolstadt, who apparently consider us their rivals even though we don't particularly care for them? Well, they're a Bavarian team, too, so it's understandable I guess. Regardless, they've had a torrid start of the season so far, with zero points after five fixtures and sitting dead last on the table, tied with Sandhausen. They are expected in the bottom half, but then so are we... * * * INGOLSTADT (4-2-3-1): Fabijan Buntic (GK); Nikola Stevanovic (DR), Visar Musliu (DCr), Korbinian Burger (DCl), Marcel Gaus (DL); Marc Stendera (MCr), Merlin Röhl (MCl); Arianit Ferati (AMR), Christopher Scott (AMC), Deian Sorescu (AML); Valmir Sulejmani (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Gastón Hernández (DCl), Silvan Sidler (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Stefan Lex (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) * * * Five out of six of the teams we've played so far in the league play 4-2-3-1, huh. Anyway, Lovera, Arce, and Kobald are back in training and fit enough to play some minutes off the bench today. It takes us a few minutes to establish ourselves and start really putting pressure on Ingolstadt, but by the ninth minute Dressel is already running into the box and testing Buntic's reflexes, a test which the keeper passes with a pretty good grade. One minute later Bär is heading a cross from the same Dressel over the bar, and the pressure starts mounting up. Despite their ultra-defensive attitude we still manage to find gaps with relative ease, and on the 19th minute Sidler crosses at mid-height into the box for Lohkemper to hit it first time and score the 0-1. So far so good. Lohkemper almost doubles our lead in our very next attack, very well assisted by Lex, but this time Buntic manages to deflect his finish wide. We're still dominating them thoroughly, and after a brief period of respite we break through the center in full force and Bär ends assisting Lex, who scores his first goal of the season after a short moment of suspense while VAR validated his position. The veteran forward tries to return the favour a few minutes later, but Bär miskicks his finish and the ball rolls slowly into Buntic's waiting hands. Meanwhile Kretzschmar spends the whole first half without having to perform a single save. Easy win at half time. HALF TIME - 0-2 We stroll calmly through the first minutes of the second half, only accelerating to leave Lohkemper on the run behind the defense, only for Musliu to tackle the ball away from him just as he was getting ready to score. He manages to shoot in his second run a bit later, but the ball sails well over. Kobald and Arce return to action a bit later, with the latter playing as our striker for the remainder of the game. Ingolstadt finally make Kretzschmar sweat a bit with a shot by Oczipka that the keeper tips wide, and then with a header by Burger in the following corner kick which he saves and holds securely. Their warning shots continue with a finish by Sulejmani that Kretzschmar once again has to deflect around the post, and it seems like we've lost control of the situation all of a sudden. Dressel still finds space to run to a bit later, though, and the third is only prevented by a defender getting in the way of his finish when the keeper looked beaten. Afterwards we decide to just put a lid on it, hold the ball, slow the pace of the game down, and let time pass. It works fine, at least until Kobald misjudges a high ball and leaves Sulejmani alone against Kretzschmar. Thankfully our keeper is quality and manages not only to save, but also to keep the ball to himself. That's the last scare of the game, though, and after a final chance for Arce which ends up in the stands behind Buntic's goal, the referee whistles for the end and we get to add another win to our scoreboard. * * * FC Ingolstadt 04 0 TSV 1860 München 2 (Felix Lohkemper 19, Stefan Lex 33) - - - It might have been ten months since the last time Lex scored from anywhere other than the penalty spot. And it's not like he didn't play enough last season either... Regardless, another great, very solid win, at least until the minute sixty-something when we just seemed to disappear from the map and let Ingolstadt attack with impunity. Good thing they weren't very good at this scoring goals thing, and we get to keep another clean sheet, five in a row now and counting. That small slip in concentration aside, a great team performance, and another week leading the table.

Aug 20th 2022 We finally cave in and send Wicht on loan so he can get playing minutes. I'd have wanted a 3.Liga team, but he'll have to do with Göppingen in the Regionalliga instead. At least he's guaranteed to be the star of the team and get lots of playing time, but I'm not sure if the lack of challenge will help him develop. We'll see... Aug 21st 2022 Somewhat surprisingly, the board announce that we'll be able to retain 60% of all incoming transfer fees from now on, dropping to 30% whenever we reach €29M in sales this season. Extreme optimism about the value of our playing assets aside, nice, if a bit late because right now we don't want to sell anyone. That might change in the winter window, though, so we might still make use of this. Aug 23rd 2022 Team of the Week appearance for Goden, who had a very solid match in defense against Bielefeld. Aug 26th 2022 Did I say Molumby was our last loan signing? Well, ignore that, because here comes another: 24yo Colombian forward Billy Arce joins on loan from Jahn Regensburg, with us paying his €3.2k per week wages in full. Arce is a two-footed player with great technique, pace, and natural fitness, as good a passer as he's a finisher, and who can play on the left of the attack, as a striker, or as an attacking midfielder. He comes with the main role of being Lohkemper's backup up front, but will also cover on the left (and probably get ahead of Lex in the rotation) when needed. With his arrival we can now consider loaning Knöferl out, since his minutes are gonna be very limited with two senior options ahead of him. Aug 27th 2022 Another. Twisted. Ankle. And this one is particularly annoying, since it affects our backup keeper Müller. We'll have to bring one of our reserve team keepers, Kosovan 17yo Erion Avidja, with us for the next few matches. Aug 29th 2022 TSV 1860 München (5th) vs. Holstein Kiel (12th) (2.Bundesliga, 5/34) One of a handful of teams that are predicted to finish below us in the league, Holstein Kiel actually did pretty well last season, finishing 8th, but now the press are calling them relegation favorites. That just serves to put more pressure on us, though, so let's try to ignore it and just play our game today. If we're that much better than them, it'll show. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Silvan Sidler (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Gastón Hernández (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Erik Tallig (MCr), Jayson Molumby (MCl); Sidi Sané (AMR), Billy Arce (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) KIEL (4-3-2-1): Ioannis Gelios (GK); Florian Ballas (DR), Patrick Erras (DCr), Stefan Thesker (DCl), Sascha Härtel (DL); Wilson Kamavuaka (MCr), Marcel Mehlem (MC), Lewis Holtby (MCl); Steven Skrzybski (AMCr), Gianluca Gaudino (AMCl); Benedikt Pichler (ST) * * * First start for Arce, on the left today due to Lovera's ankle injury, while Lang gets his first start of the season. We start attacking from the moment we kick off, and seconds later Sané is already volleying a cross by Steinhart into Gelios' hands. Kiel hit us right back, though, and with their superior numbers in the center they mount a decent run that Pichler ends with a weak shot into Kretzschmar's save. A wide direct free kick by Gaudino follows, but soon we start dominating possession in our usual way, and in the 18th one of Arce's incursions from the left into the box provokes a mistimed tackle by Kamavuaka. After some tense VAR moments, the ref points to the spot, but a lucky guess by Gelios allows him to save Lohkemper's penalty kick. The match continues the same way after our miss, with us holding the ball the most but Kiel throwing dangerous counterattacks at us, like one in which Pichler faces Kretzschmar one on one but fails to put the ball past the keeper's hands. But we have a lot of space on the wings to exploit, and we finally find the way to do it on the 39th minute when Tallig finds Sané free inside the box, then the winger passes it back so Lohkemper can blast it in with all his shooting power to score the 1-0 and compensate for his earlier penalty miss. A very similar play on the left side started by a great pass from the opposite side by Sidler almost becomes the 2-0, but although Arce's pass back to Molumby is good, the midfielder can only smash his finish against the upright. Kiel don't seem to have much to offer in the final minutes of the half, and we keep our lead without any scares. HALF TIME - 1-0 Kiel try to push the lines further up the field in the second half, but that only makes the gaps behind them even more apparent, and soon Arce is running after a long pass by Steinhart and facing the keeper on his own, only to shoot wide in the end. Another wide shot is the end of Kiel's first chance of the game, a run through the center by Gaudino. Things seem calm for a while afterwards, but then disaster strikes, again, in the form of an injury to new guy Arce. Bär replaces him, moving Sané to the left. Despite the blow, we keep dominating the match and looking for a second through Tallig, who shoots wide form distance in the 68th minute. Sané has another after a nice long cross by Bär, but it falls to his left foot and his finish is pretty badly over. The first real scare of the half comes in the 80th minute, a cross from the left by Holtby that Skrzybski heads into the crossbar. Their hopes of a comeback suffer a hard blow seven minutes later, though, when Mehlem goes on late and two-footed on Steinhart and gets rewarded with a straight red. Bär heads that free kick narrowly over, and in the last moments of injury time, after a long time searching for it, Lohkemper finally makes it two-nil following a great assist by Sané, who rounds up his first really good game with us. Great win. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Felix Lohkemper 39 90+4) Holsten Kiel 0 - - - Really good match all in all. It was obvious that with all that firepower Kiel concentrated in the center we'd get hit through that area at least a few times, but we managed to cope well, dominate possession, and exploit their weak wings to create danger and score our goals. Should've been a couple more, actually. Player of the Match performance for Sané, who seems to be starting to gel well with his teammates and learning the ropes, and Lohkemper was lethal from anywhere other than the penalty spot. Best of all, this win puts us in first place, one point ahead of a huge pack of teams with ten points, and we remain as the only unbeaten team in the division. Madness. Oh, and four games without conceding, too. That brings back memories... Arce's injury is, thankfully, not a twisted ankle, but just pulled ankle ligaments. He'll still be out for 10-12 days, but better that than the popular alternative. Even better, we have a break next weekend, so we get to rest and recover some of our injured players, most likely Arce included.

Aug 15th 2022 Once Knöferl stopped wanting to leave, our immediate move was to offer him an improved contract so that teams would stop sniffing around him and making stupid bids. And it worked: Knöferl signs a new 3-year deal worth €2k per week, a small increase over his previous contract, and with no release clause attached. With some luck that should shut up all his chasers, at least for a short while. Aug 19th 2022 DSC Arminia Bielefeld (1st) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (2.Bundesliga, 4/38) Bielefeld relegated from the Bundesliga last season, yet the experts seem to think they'll only finish seventh this season. So far they've defied expectations and top the table on goal difference, tied on points with four other teams who've managed two wins and one draw so far, us among them. We might be up there, but we shouldn't forget that our real objective for the season is to not relegate, so we should approach games this difficult with the due caution. * * * BIELEFELD (4-2-3-1): Stefan Ortega (GK); Panagiotis Retsos (DR), Eric Martel (DCr), Fabian Kunze (DCl), George Bello (DL); Manuel Prietl (MCr), Burak Ince (MCl); Bryan Lasme (AMR), Sarpreet Singh (AMC), Patrick Wimmer (AML); Florian Krüger (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Stephan Salger (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Quirin Moll (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Stefan Lex (AML), Lorenz Knöferl (ST) * * * We have a small advantage in that they played their last fixture only four days ago, while we've had a full week to rest. Lang is finally back in full training, too, although he'll be on the bench for today and probably have some minutes in the second half. Knöferl also gets his first league start to celebrate his new contract, and to see if he's really capable of playing at this level before the window shuts. The game starts with Arminia in the front seat, putting us under heavy pressure and dominating, and with Lasme missing a very good early chance with a narrowly wide shot. After a while we do manage to calm things down a bit and start having the ball more, but another injury, this one to Moll, gives us more to worry about. Wein comes in immediately, and while we don't really have any presence in attack, at least we manage to keep Bielefeld at bay for the most part. A high header by Wimmer on the 31st minute is their next approach, quickly followed by another coming from Lasme, easy for Kretzschmar. On the 36th we finally get a chance to try our luck in a corner kick that Bär heads wide on the near post, but Bielefeld soon keep pushing through Lasme, first with a high header and then with a good shot that Kretzschmar has to tip wide. A centered volley by Krüger that our keeper saves with sufficiency follows, then Bär hits back with a first-time shot that gives Ortega a bit of a scare, forcing the keeper to an awkward save that sends the ball over the bar. No goals at half time. HALF TIME - 0-0 Things seem to slow down a bit after the break, and we make good use of those minutes to regroup, move the ball around a bit, and look for a chance. We find it in a long ball towards Lex which then reaches Knöferl, and the striker runs into the box and shoots into the root of the post and wide, almost giving us the opener. We also bring Lang and Sané into the game, the first because we need him to hit peak form as soon as possible, and the second to see if we can chance something in our attacking flow. Arminia finally show up near our goal in the 64th minute with a wide volley by Wimmer, but so far we're doing quite well at containing them and forcing them into harmless long-range shots. We keep getting into good positions, too, and in the 75th Dressel has a fantastic chance to score following a through ball by Bär, but he shoots wide when the fans were already celebrating. Bär himself gets another try seconds later, well assisted by Knöferl, but this time it's Ortega who tips it over. Our revival keeps going with a wide long shot by Sané, and continues when Lang shoots from a narrow angle in a set piece and finds Ortega in the way. Dressel has yet another chance one minute before full time, but once again the keeper is in the right position to deflect it wide. Injury time brings no more chances, and the game ends in our second goalless draw in a row. * * * DSC Arminia Bielefeld 0 TSV 1860 München 0 - - - Good point, and probably a fair result. One half for each team, with us having twenty minutes near the end in which we dominated almost completely and had great chances to score. I'll take drawing away to the leaders, though. Knöferl wasn't particularly good today, but to be fair to the lad we threw him to the lions. We'll see how he does against teams in our own league. And Moll also twisted his ankle, and will also be out anywhere from four to five weeks. Looks like this is the new en vogue injury, huh. Suddenly we find ourselves with three long-term injuries, although at least it's one per line.

Aug 7th 2022 Recent signing Yusuf Kabadayi departs towards Berlin to join Berliner AK, new guys in the 3.Liga, on loan until the end of the season. With Sané's arrival minutes will be very limited for him, and he needs to play in order to continue developing. A likely starter role in the 3.Liga should do wonders for him. Aug 9th 2022 Dressel is selected in the Team of the Week. Aug 11th 2022 Fifth and final loan for the season: 23yo Irish international midfielder Jayson Molumby joins on loan from Brighton to cover that small gap we had in the midfield. Physically very strong, with great stamina and pace, and a sharp and focused mind which makes him an absolute workhorse, he's also a very good passer, has a pretty decent long-range shot, and will work tirelessly to steal the ball back from opposing midfielders. Not a straight swap for Dressel for sure, but an all-rounder who'll do a lot of work for us, and who still can be a threat coming in from deep as our tactics demand. Costs us his full €4.5k weekly wages, but should be totally worth it. With this, and unless anyone leaves (and believe me, teams are trying *hard* with Wicht and Knöferl), we should be set for the season. The same day we lose Kobald to injury, a twisted ankle sustained in training that'll keep him out for 4-5 weeks. At least Lang is close to returning, but it's still a tough situation for our defense for at least one or two games now. Aug 12th 2022 TSV 1860 München vs. 1.FC Nürnberg (2.Bundesliga, 3/34) Can we make it three out of three? Well, Nürnberg are gonna be another tough nut to crack, but after beating HSV in Volksparkstadion everything's possible. Expected sixth and possible outsiders for promotion, Nürnberg have been in this division for three years now, but have been steadily improving since a pretty bad 16th place finish in 2020. Winning would be fantastic, and we'll do our best to do it. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Stephan Salger (DCl), Silvan Sidler (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Erik Tallig (MCr), Jayson Molumby (MCl); Sidi Sané (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) NÜRNBERG (4-2-3-1): Christian Mathenia (GK); Sei Muroya (DR), Maxime Awoudja (DCr), Florian Hübner (DCl), Enrico Valentini (DL); Kilian Fischer (MCr), Fabian Nürnberger (MCl); Mustapha Bundu (AMR), Fredrik Jensen (AMC), Mats Moller Daehli (AML); Pascal Köpke (ST) * * * 4-2-3-1s are everywhere in this league, it seems. Molumby gets his first start today, Steinhart rests, and Salger starts in Kobald's place, among other changes and rotations. Nürnberg start very aggressive, getting to our goal in their first play and only missing on an early goal because Jensen's header on an empty goal sails over. We hit them right back with a through ball from Lovera that Lohkemper smashes in Mathenia's body, and the duel is on. Next up is Lovera, who receives a great pass from Molumby and tries a cute little chip that kisses the upside of the bar before going over. Things calm down after that, though, and the early rush slows down to the usual midfield battle, with us as narrow winners. Lohkemper restarts the hostilities with a header to Goden's cross that Mathenia saves easily, but it's an isolated incident in an otherwise quiet part of the game, which stretches until half time. HALF TIME - 0-0 The second half once again starts interesting, with Lovera and Lohkemper connecting again just so Mathenia can show off with another good save, followed by Fischer shooting wide from a wide open position on the edge of our box. Eleven minutes into the half Tallig tries his luck after receiving a good back pass by Sané, but once again the keeper does his job to perfection, as he does to save a point-blank half-volley by Lohkemper in the following corner kick. That one really should've gone in. Things take a dramatic turn when Fischer sees his second yellow card, leaving Nürnberg one player short. We bring our big guns off the bench and go on the attack, but all our finishes keep finding a defender plunging in to block. Nürnberg are still dangerous on the break, like Förster shows in the 76th with a run through the center that only Kretzschmar can stop. Ten minutes before full time numbers become equal again as we're forced to bring Lovera out of the field due to injury without any available substitutions. With our game flow suddenly stopped, in the end we can't break through and the game finishes in a draw. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 1.FC Nürnberg 0 (Kilian Fischer sent off 59) - - - Somewhat unfair result, in that we dominated a good portion of the game and had more and better chances, but eh, can't win 'em all. It's still a pretty good start to the season, not only results-wise, but showing we can go toe to toe with the bigger teams in the 2.Bundesliga, and even come on top sometimes. Another fine performance by Wein in the anchor, by the way. Worst part of this game is the news that Lovera will be missing between four and five weeks with another twisted ankle. Not ideal, since this means Lex will become the de facto starter on the left once again.

Aug 1st 2022 Well, looks like Lex's and Knöferl's issues have been solved on their own. The veteran forward no longer seems to be sad about becoming a squad player, while the youngster has forgotten about wanting to move to a bigger club. For now. Aug 6th 2022 Hamburger SV vs. TSV 1860 München (2.Bundesliga, 2/34) Time to die, I guess. HSV are six times Bundesliga champions in a bit of a slump after relegating for the first time in their history back in 2018 then failing to bounce back for four years straight, and actually ending in their worst position ever last year with a 7th place finish. Now they're second favorites to win the league only behind Schalke, but they still shouldn't take things for granted, since that's what led them to this situation in the first place. As for us? I'll take anything we can get from here, really. * * * HSV (4-2-3-1): Daniel Heuer Fernandes (GK); Josha Vagnoman (DR), Stephan Kofi Ambrosius (DCr), Mario Vuskovic (DCl), Steffen Tigges (DL); Ludovit Reis (MCr), Ron Schallenberg (MCl); Xavier Amaechi (AMR), Anssi Suhonen (AMC), Güven Yalçin (AML); Afimico Pululu (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Silvan Sidler (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Christoph Kobald (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) * * * Rotating back to our starting eleven that trounced Sandhausen, while Hamburg change their formation from their until now usual 5-2-1-2 to a 4-2-3-1. Same formation Sandhausen used, incidentally... HSV get the first attempt with a header by Yalçin that Kretzschmar grabs without difficulty, but we soon balance things in midfield and start trying to create danger. Both teams resort to long shots for a while, but in the 17th minute Sidler finds Lovera with a long ball into space and the forward moves into the box and passes it back to Dressel, who for once goes for placement over power and scores the 0-1. After our goal the game returns to a somewhat dormant state, with both teams struggling to get past the other's advanced pressing, until we once again find a gap and exploit it. This time it's on the right wing and it ends with Lohkemper passing back for Bär's finish, only this time the shot smashes against Vuskovic's back and is eventually cleared. HSV don't manage a single shot at goal in the time following our goal, and we keep our lead unopposed until the break. HALF TIME - 0-1 Things seem to continue the same way in the second half, with HSV finally trying something in attack with a 30-yarder by Reis that flies high into the stands behind Kretzschmar's goal. A much better chance falls to Suhonen in the 61st, but the keeper is there to save and keep the ball without much trouble. Still, we seem to be losing ground little by little. Thankfully, this early burst seems to lose steam as time goes by. After a while on the defensive we find a way out with a long ball towards Lex on the left, and we almost exactly repeat the same play of our goal with a pass back towards Dressel and a good finish, but Heuer Fernandes dives well to deflect it wide. HSV answer with a flat shot from outside the box by Yalçin that Kretzschmar also has to tip wide, and Suhonen follows up with a wide shot a couple minutes later. None of them gets closer than Steinhart with a direct free kick straight into the left post of Hamburg's goal with eleven minutes remaining. A corner kick headed by Kinsombi into Kretzschmar's hands in the first minute of injury time is the last real chance of the game, and we manage to steal a massive win from one of the most difficult stadiums in the 2.Bundesliga. * * * Hamburger SV 0 TSV 1860 München 1 (Dennis Dressel 17) - - - Here comes Dressel winning matches all on his own once again. More seriously, absolutely fantastic result, we played a very good first half in which we actually deserved taking the lead and then endured HSV's inevitable rush in the second with a good defensive display and the usual quality goalkeeping from Kretzschmar. We're off to a good start in this division, it seems.

Jul 24th 2022 Season ticket sales announced, reaching a total of 12309, a pretty decent increase over the 11000 from last season but obviously limited by the size of our stadium. We can't really earn enough money to take the next step with such a handicap... The draw of the first round of the DFB Pokal is held today, and we still have absolutely zero luck in this competition: Karlsruhe at home. Promoted to the Bundeliga just last season, the one-time Bundesliga and two-times DFB Pokal champions will be extremely difficult to beat, but considering Bochum last year, who knows... Jul 26th 2022 Bär and Lohkemper make the Team of the Week, of course. Still set up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, grumble. Jul 30th 2022 TSV 1860 München vs. Karlsruher SC (DFB Pokal 1st round) And here we go again, with little to no pressure and facing a team that's supposed to be better than us, but not unsurmontably so. Again, we have started the league competition while they haven't, which might be a small fitness advantage for us, but we're still up against it. Let's see how this goes. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Sven Müller (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Christoph Kobald (DCl), Phillippe Steinhart (DL); Quirin Moll (DM), Erik Tallig (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Sidi Sané (AMR), Stefan Lex (AML), Lorenz Knöferl (ST) KARLSRUHE (4-1-4-1): Max Weiss (GK); Sebastian Jung (DR), Felix Irorere (DCr), Daniel O'Shaughnessy (DCl), Rémy Vita (DL); Philip Heise (DM); Choi Kyoung-Rok (MR), Marvin Wanitzek (MCr), Jérome Gondorf (MCl), Robin Hack (ML); Philipp Hofmann (ST) * * * Rotation almost everywhere in our squad, since our players are still a bit short on fitness. This gives Müller and Sané the chance to debut, and we get off to a good start possession-wise, although the first chance falls to Wanitzek, who shoots weakly into Müller's hands. The game is slow in any case, and neither us nor Karlsruhe are exactly swimming in goalscoring chances. They manage a couple of long range shots with zero danger for our goal, while we can't produce even that. An absolute waste of 45 minutes ends, how else, without goals. HALF TIME - 0-0 Four minutes into the second half we finally find a way to get the ball to Knöferl inside the box, and the striker does well with his finish, but Weiss does even better to palm it away and behind. A wide finish by Kyoung-Rok follows on the other side of the pitch, and it looks like the game is finally starting. Knöferl has another after a long ball from Steinhart, but wastes the chance with a terribly high finish. Third time's not the charm either, and his shot following a low cross by Goden ends in Weiss's hands. Things aren't exactly freeflowing now, but at least there's some action from time to time. The best chance for Karlsruhe comes in the 78th after a counterattack finished by Hofmann and well stopped by Müller with a diving save. Ours arrives six minutes later, when substitute Lovera nods a ball into space towards substitute Lohkemper, who can't hit it correctly and sends it wide. A final chance for Lovera deflects off a defender's legs, and the match goes into extra time still goalless. FULL TIME - 0-0 Extra time starts spicy, with Sané crossing towards Lohkemper so the striker's volley hits a defender which happened to be in the way and deflects clear. It gets even more interesting when Neudecker finds Sané with a through ball and the winger scores, but he was just a tiny bit offside and the goal is ruled out. Then, immediately after, Kother runs on the right and finds substitute striker Tushi running behind Kobald, and he doesn't waste his chance to cross the ball past Müller into the back of the net. Bär comes into the game as our fourth substitution to try and give us an out, but the one to get really close next is Moll with a direct free kick, tipped wide by Weiss with a spectacular flight. We go all in in the second half of extra time, and five minutes before the end we get a fantastic double chance: header by Lohkemper in a corner kick that Weiss saves by some miracle, then Neudecker smashes the rebound into the crossbar and straight into the keeper's hands. Tough luck. One minute later a somewhat knackered Goden fails to intercept a pass towards Hack, and the winger runs into the box and curls it past Müller into the far corner to score the 0-2 and kill the game for good. There's no time for miracles, and we fall out of the cup at the first hurdle. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 Karlsruher SC 2 (Tician Tushi 92, Robin Hack 116) - - - Extremely unlucky to lose today, but that's the cup for us I guess. We dominated both in possession and in number and quality of chances once we actually started playing in the second half and deserved to score at least once in regular time, but once extra time kicked in all bets were off, and we got the worst cards. That double chance in the 115th was painful to watch. Goden will most likely miss our upcoming trip to Hamburg with a pulled groin sustained during extra time today, out of training for 6-8 days.

Jul 18th 2022 Paderborn and their joke offers... Now they try their luck with a €41k offer for Wicht, who I've even removed from the loan list because he's likely to play for us this season in the end, considering we haven't signed any midfielders yet and the wage space is getting shorter. Nope, not happening. Bär and Neudecker are selected as our captain and vice-captain for this season, keeping the same roles they held last year. Jul 20th 2022 Here's our backup keeper! Sven Müller, 26 and former Halle goalkeeper, joins on a free transfer. He expects to be a backup, and that's what he'll be, playing in the cup and whenever Kretzschmar is not available. He's most certainly not a starting-level keeper for this level, but more than good enough to hold the fort in case of emergency. His wages reflect that, costing us only €2.2k per week, less than half what Kretzschmar's deal sets us back. He'll do. Meanwhile, Greilinger moves on loan to Braunschweig, who'll pay his wages almost in full. This loan actually pays for Müller's contract and then some, so the numbers work nicely. As with all our other loans, Greilinger needs playing time and he's unlikely to get much with us in the 2.Bundesliga, while he's supposed to be an important player in Braunschweig, so things should work out. Ideally we'll see some definite development in the 21yo which will make us want to keep him next season. Jul 22nd 2022 Leandro Morgalla moves to Türkgücu on loan until the end of season. The 17yo center-back was unlikely to get any minutes for us just yet, even though he's been pretty good-looking in the preseason, so he moves across the street (so to speak) to hopefully get some 3.Liga experience. They only pay 30% of his wages plus a minimal monthly fee, but Morgalla's contract is a lightweight one, so we don't really mind. Another player leaves today, this one permanently: Marius Willsch moves to RKC Waalwjik in the Netherlands in exchange for €25.5k plus an extra €675 for each of his first ten league games with them. Surplus to requirements after Sidler's arrival and already 31, this was our last chance to get something out of him, and we took it. Most importantly, we remove his €3.4k/w wages from our books, freeing space for another signing. Jul 23rd 2022 And just before our league debut, a new signing is indeed confirmed: 19yo winger Sidi Sané joins on a loan from Schalke, with us paying 90% of his wages for a total expense of €2.1k per week. A quick and nimble wing player who can perform on both sides of the attack but prefers the right, Sané will give us another option in those positions we'd been needing since Biankadi's loan ended, and for cheap too! Not a guaranteed starter by any means, but at the very least he'll give Bär a run for his money, even if he's not so much of a goalscorer. * * * TSV 1860 München vs. SV Sandhausen (2.Bundesliga, 1/34) And our debut in the 2.Bundesliga is finally here! We're gonna need to be hard to beat at home and to get good results against our fellow relegation candidates, and this match happens to tick both boxes: Sandhausen are predicted 16th (so two places below us) and only finished 15th last season, so they should be a good stress test to our new and (hopefully) improved squad. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Silvan Sidler (DR), Gastón Hernández (DCr), Christoph Kobald (DCl), Stephan Salger (DL); Daniel Wein (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Maximiliano Lovera (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) SANDHAUSEN (4-2-3-1): Alexander Meyer (GK); Tim Kister (DR), Sören Gonther (DCr), Alexandr Zhirov (DCl), Chima Okoroji (DL); Tom Trybull (MCr), Marcel Ritzmaier (MCl); Alen Halilovic (AMR), Lars Kehl (AMC), Erich Berko (AML); Manuel Schäffler (ST) * * * Sané doesn't arrive on time to make it to the squad today, so Kabadayi has a chance to debut off the bench. Wicht could also get some minutes in the second half. In Sandhausen's lineup there's a very familiar face in Manuel Schäffler, who came through die Löwen's youth system and played a few years in the first team before moving on to various second and third tier teams in his career. We start the season in a style reminiscent of the previous one: long pass into space from Bär towards Dressel, who runs into the box and shoots with power but can't find the target by the slimmest of margins. A bit later Lovera sends a ball into the box looking for Bär, but Okoroji manages to intercept. Then there's some hesitation between the left back and Meyer, Bär sneaks through both to steal the ball away, and walks into the net with it. What a way to score our first goal of the year. We keep playing well after the goal, and Lovera could've got a debut goal with a better finish after a great combination through the center. Seconds later a long clearance towards Lohkemper turns into a counterattack, and the striker's cross towards the far post is headed in by Bär and turned into the 2-0. It's been less than 7 minutes since the match started by this point... We finally slow things down a bit while Sandhausen wonder how they got themselves in this mess. Possession is split but all danger keeps coming from us, and a corner kick in the 19th minute elludes the heads of both Kobald and Schäffler and finds its way to Lohkemper who, unmarked, volleys it in to make it three. It's not even twenty minutes into the game and things already look settled. We still want more, though, and Dressel has a double chance that first deflects on a defender and then flies over the bar. On the 27th, though, Sandhausen's first approach of the game ends with Schäffler crossing, Sidler missing the interception, and Berko volleying it in to shorten the distance a bit. Another counter in the 40th gives the striker a chance to chip Kretzschmar, but the ball gets too much air and sails over. Other than those two chances and another shot by Berko that Kretzschmar tips wide we remain mostly safe until half time, and even threaten a fourth with a free kick by Salger that Meyer saves well. HALF TIME - 3-1 Sandhausen try to be a bit more active in attack in the second half, but seven minutes in we clip their wings with a fantastic low cross into space by Bär and a no less wonderful first-time finish by Lohkemper. 4-1 and those two might have to duck it out for the player of the match award tonight. Bär could've secured the prize three minutes later, but his shot after a pass from Sidler goes very narrowly wide. Things calm down again afterwards, and we take the chance to bring in both of our youngsters, replacing Dressel and a quite solid Lovera. The visitors don't quite give up, still trying long shots to surprsie Kretzschmar from time to time, but their effectiveness is very limited. We answer in kind, Wein being the one to get the closest with a 20 yarder that goes a foot or two over the bar. The two kids almost combine for a debut goal with Wicht drops into the left side of the box and crosses towards Kabadayi, but the winger's finish is well held by Meyer. There's a bit too much relaxation on our side, though, and on the 84th we get our first experience with VAR, which helps confirm that Berko was onside when Schäffler assisted him for what would become the 4-2. We have a final chance for the fifth that Bär heads into the side netting, but otherwise no more action follows that final goal and we secure an important and quite impressive debut victory. * * * TSV 1860 München 4 (Marcel Bär 3 7, Felix Lohkemper 19 52) SV Sandhausen 2 (Erich Berko 27 84) - - - Three braces in the same game, huh, you don't see that often... Anyway, fantastic start. Every team playing their first game in a higher division dreams about beginning with three goals in twenty minutes, and we got just that thanks to Bär and Lohkemper, who were both unstoppable today. Shoutouts to Wein, Lovera, and Hernández, all of them also looking very good today.

Jul 1st 2022 Transfer window opens! Lohkemper, Kobald, and Kabadayi join, while Deichmann and a host of lesser young players leave. Aaand we already have our first problem: Paderborn want Knöferl and offer €99k (most of it in yearly installments) plus €40k extra in clauses. It's quite short of our valuation of the youngster, which is estimated somewhere between €170k and €325k, but there's a catch: Knöferl wants to move to Paderborn and, I quote, "would need a lot of convincing to stay." I'd really prefer to hold onto him for at least another year or two, but if he wants to leave then there isn't much I can do. Regardless, this offer is clearly insufficient, so we reject it and hope for something better. There are many more clubs interested, including basically half the 2.Bundesliga, so I'm sure we won't be hurting for bids. Also, that story about Mbappé and where he'd play next? Surprising absolutely no one, he signs a five-year deal with Real Madrid earning €325k per week. Jul 2nd 2022 Election day! And we hear of the last candidate, Sebastian Dippel, who is... another continuist! If I had little interest in the results before, now I have even less. - - - AC Bellinzona vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) While all that is going on back in München we're enjoying the beautiful Swiss town of Bellinzona and playing against their second tier club. A much easier match than the previous friendly, we show our superiority with an early goal by Lohkemper, then Dressel hits the post with an almost perfectly placed finish as we go on to dominate the first half with ease, grabbing a second near the end once again thanks to Lohkemper. The second unit also scores early, thanks to a great header by Wicht in off the post, but then we allow a direct free kick goal for Bellinzona, a howler from distance by substitute Correia. In the final minutes Knöferl knocks in a cross by Kabadayi to round up our victory. AC Bellinzona 1 (Óscar Correia 72) TSV 1860 München 4 (Felix Lohkemper 3 44, Nathan Wicht 48, Lorenz Knöferl 87) Jul 3rd 2022 And the winner is... Sebastian Dippel! Basically nothing changes, as expected, and his update on the team's long-term vision only removes those nascent twinges of a defensive-minded team culture and leave everything else unchanged. Suits me just fine. Alas, no new investment expected either. One of our U19 team physios is poached by Hoffenheim, who pay us €53k for the right to sign him. Free money is very welcome, and we're already looking for a replacement. Jul 4th 2022 Two new scouts, Dutch 55yo Fred Arroyo and Croatian 42yo Adrian Babic, join the club and are sent to work immediately. We need bargains, and quickly. Jul 5th 2022 One day later we add two new goalkeeping coaches to replace the departed Harald Huber, who was let go at the end of his contract. They are another Croatian, 53yo Brano Arsenovic, and 41yo Kai Rabe. Our first real signing is confirmed today, even though it's on loan: 23yo Argentinian attacking midfielder Maximiliano Lovera, contracted to Olympiacos, joins on a season-long loan during which we'll pay 40% of his wages, to a total of €4.7k per week. Lovera can play anywhere in attack, either as a false nine/trequartista upfront or behind a main striker, or on either wing. Right footed, he's been brought mainly to play as our new left wing player, although we lied a bit in the loan offer telling his team that he'd play mainly as a central attacking midfielder, teehee. He has bags of quality, very good acceleration and agility, and enough finishing to be a goalscoring threat in whatever position he plays. Let's hope he adapts and does well for us. With his arrival we also fulfill a promise we made to Kretzschmar when we negotiated his new contract to reinforce the attack, so two birds with one stone. Jul 6th 2022 FC Viktoria Köln vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) Back in Germany, we travel to Köln to visit one of our former league partners. Bär puts us ahead quickly with one of his trademark headers, then hits the bar a while later in a corner kick. We enjoy a pretty good and quite dominant first half, and early in the second a penalty on Knöferl allows Lex to score the second from the spot. Our kids do well, and Morgalla even grabs himself a goal in a set piece towards the end of the game. Wicht sends two shots into the woodwork, the latter of which allows Kabadayi to score the 0-4 with an easy tap-in. I don't remember Viktoria being this easy to beat last year... FC Viktoria Köln 0 TSV 1860 München 4 (Marcel Bär 10, Stefan Lex 52p, Leandro Morgalla 79, Yusuf Kabadayi 86) Jul 8th 2022 Preseason injuries are always scary, particularly when they hit one of your best players: Lang will miss 6-7 weeks after spraining his knee ligaments. Not ideal, and not the first time Lang misses time with untimely injuries, he seems to have a knack for those... Jul 9th 2022 Johann Ngounou Djayo leaves on loan once again, this time for Viktoria Köln, and with them paying 90% of his wages plus a small monthly fee on top. The young striker is unlikely to ever make the first team, so at least we get to write off most of his wages from the books and use those funds for someone else more useful for the first team. And hey, if he performs and improves during his loan, all the better. Jul 10th 2022 The next day Semi Belkahia follows suit, joining Meppen on loan. We'll save on 80% of his wages and will get some extra cash as loan fees every month. The thing with Belkahia is, he's 23 already, and he's still a Regionalliga level player. Playing regularly in the 3.Liga should help his development, but he's still very unlikely to reach the level we're at now. The worst part is that his contract expires this season, so if he leaves then we won't get much out of him, but oh well, at least we won't have to pay his wages. Hours later, we sign another loan of our own. 24yo Swiss full back Silvan Sidler joins on loan from Spezia. We'll pay his €2.7k/w wages in full, and also an extra €5k fee each month, which is an absolute bargain for a two-footed full back who can run, defend, and create on both wings with almost equal skill, and who'll become our main rotation option for both full back positions. Not only is he cheap, but he also saves us one signing. Great deal. With his arrival we can safely sell Willsch (if anyone's willing to buy, so far no luck) and loan Gresler out. Jul 11th 2022 Interesting offer coming from Portugal today: Estrela Amadora offer €170k for Moll. I'm gonna reject it because it'd be difficult to find a quality replacement for him with that money, but if they up the bid I might actually consider it. He's 31 after all, and getting anything out of him at this stage of his career would be good, even if he's still one of our best midfield players. For once, though, he doesn't seem to be interested in a move to Portugal. There are problems to deal with elsewhere, though: Lex has seen his expected playing time demoted to squad player because he's shown clear signs of regression in his play and fitness as of late. And of course, he's not happy at all with that. Considering he's an important figure in the club and in the dressing room, this might have consequences later on... One day after Sidler's arrival Gresler departs on loan towards our neighbors Türkgücü. They pay most of his (minimal) wages, and hopefully he'll get some playtime there to show he's worth holding onto. - - - U.D. Almeria vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly Cup semifinals) Almeria, who just finished fourth in the Spanish second tier and lost in the promotion playoffs, have invited us to a friendly cup at their stadium together with NK Lokomotiva Zagreb and SV Ried. We play the hosts in the semis, and although we're supposed to be the lesser team we actually manage to take the lead thanks to Lohkemper's goal and Lovera's beautiful assist. Almeria pull level in one of their first attempts at goal, a shot from distance by Arnau, and the result holds until halftime. We're once again the better team on the pitch in the second half, but in injury time a counterattack by the home team allows Javi Robles to score a very unfair 2-1. U.D. Almeria 2 (Arnau Puigmal 36, Javi Robles 90+1) TSV 1860 München 1 (Felix Lohkemper 10) Jul 12th 2022 NK Lokomotiva Zagreb vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly Cup 3rd place playoff) The second and last match of this friendly cup sees us play against Croatian side Lokomotiva, who finished just short of the European places last season. We get some early shots in, but soon start losing control of possession and have to take a step back. We're still the only ones creating danger in the first half, though, and should probably have taken the lead. Things slow down in the second half, although Lokomotiva still can't seem to get anywhere near our goal. The goal finally comes in the 87th thanks to a great long pass by Tallig for Lohkemper to run into and score what eventually becomes the winner. NK Lokomotiva Zagreb 0 TSV 1860 München 1 (Felix Lohkemper 87) Jul 15th 2022 Here come Paderborn again with a slightly improved offer for Knöferl: €125k plus €50k on clauses. This is starting to get old, so I decide to negotiate with a €325k plus €100k plus 30% of future profits counteroffer. They withdraw immediately, the cowards. Then we get our next loan signing, this time coming from Argentina: San Lorenzo's 24yo center-back Gastón Hernández joins on a €1.2k/week loan until the end of the season. Yes, that's his full wages, and yes, he's good enough to play for us. Good in the air and smart in his positioning, he'll become Lang's main backup and will sometimes play alongside him, possibly becoming the third option at the back ahead of Salger, who might end up playing more often as a left back in the end. Being so cheap there's little risk involved, and I expect him to do a good job in any case. With this our defense is complete, keeping the possibility of losing Lang in mind. One comes and another leaves: Marco Mannhardt leaves once again on loan, this time to Mannheim, who'll pay half his wages. His contract is not particularly big so I'm not worried about the money here, I just want him to get playing time in the 3.Liga and see how he develops. He's still 20, so there's still hope he'll become a valid player for us. Jul 16th 2022 Paderborn learnt their lesson, but here come Dynamo Dresden to pick the Knöferl chase right back up with a €99k + €105k in clauses offer, as always unacceptable. I ask for the same amount I asked Paderborn, and once again they withdraw. Yep. - - - TSV 1860 München vs. Stade Brestois 29 (Friendly) Last friendly of the preseason is a home fixture against French side Brest, from the Ligue 1. Their 5-2-3 formation gives us some pause, and although we do keep the ball most of the first half, we find it terribly difficult to break through their defense. They eventually change to a 5-3-2 in the second half, but things continue mostly the same, with few chances on their goal and none on ours. You can probably guess the end result... TSV 1860 München 0 Stade Brestois 29 0 - - - And thus ends the preseason, with a whimper rather than with a bang. It's been a pretty solid set of friendlies, all things considered, almost always playing against top tier teams from various nations and doing well enough against them. The ease with which we destroyed Viktoria Köln gives me hope that we've improved since last season and we can actually fight in the 2.Bundesliga. The bookies currently predict us to finish 14th out of 18, so we're not relegation favorites at the very least. League debut in seven days!

Jun 4th 2022 With the contracts of our current squad sorted out already, it's a good time to start looking at what we have and what we're gonna need to sign for the coming season. That means it's time for a depth chart! Here's the players we have available right now (including confirmed signings and excluding transfers out) for each position in both of our tactics. GK: Kretzschmar/??? DR: Goden/Willsch?/(Wein) DCx2: Lang/Kobald/Salger/Belkahia?/(Moll)/(Wein) DL: Steinhart/Gresler?/(Salger) DM: Wein/Moll/(Neudecker)/(Dressel) CM1: Neudecker/Tallig CM2: Dressel/???/Wicht?/(Tallig) AMC: Tallig/(Dressel)/(Lex)/(Knöferl) AMR: Bär/???/(Lex) AML: Lex/Greilinger?/(Bär) F9: Lohkemper/Knöferl/(Lex) Obvious first take: we need a backup keeper. I mean, duh. We have a few options here: we could go for another young keeper with high potential, but if their current ability is too good we'll run into the same issues we did with Hiller, and if it isn't we'd be stalling their development by limiting their playing time, and we might have a subpar keeper if/when we need them to step up in Kreztschmar's place. Or we could try and find a more veteran (late 20s) keeper who has a decent level for the division, no potential for improvement, and doesn't mind being a backup. Leaning towards the second option myself, but something tells me such a player will be difficult to find. A third alternative is a loan signing, someone good enough to give cover in this division but not tying ourselves to any long-term contracts and less issues with playing time. Both our full back positions need some looking at. Our starters should be fine in this league, but our backups leave a bit to be desired, and that's something I mentioned even in last season's initial squad review. Gresler needs to play regularly or his potential will be squandered, so he's looking like a very likely loan out. Meanwhile, Willsch was just barely good enough for a backup in the 3.Liga, no way he'll make the cut in the 2.Bundesliga. We can reposition other players, particularly Salger who'll be third choice in the center at most, but that's far from ideal and hurts our depth in other places. Ideally, I'd like one new player for each position, a young backup for the left and someone who can push Goden for the starting position on the right. The center of our defense seems mostly covered at first glance, but it's also our most fragile position when you stop to think about it. Belkahia could be bought by his loan clause this month, and besides he'd be a distant backup even if he stays. Salger is turning 33 soon and his physical stats are likely to get worse. Then there's Lang, who could be poached by a Bundesliga team for his release clause, and in fact has a few dogs hounding him already. I'd want at least one more player here to make sure we're not suddenly short-handed, and might have to add more depending on how things go from there. Our midfield is probably the line that'll change the least from the previous season, barring unexpected sales. Wein and Moll should be our anchors with about equal playing time, Neudecker and Tallig will continue to rotate as our playmakers... and then there's the box-to-box-like role, which currently only has Dressel as a clear option. Young Wicht is, well, too young at only 17 right now, and ideally I'd want him loaned so he can get some minutes under his belt, but if everything else fails he could probably do a good enough job even now. Best case scenario, though, is adding another player who can perform this role. As for our forwards... Funnily enough, the position that'll need the least work is the striker one, since we have a good starter in Lohkemper and Knöferl and Lex as backups, with the youngster ideally being chosen more often to free up the veteran for the left wing. That's where our problems start: we need at the very least one wing player for each side. Biankadi is leaving and that leaves Bär as our main and only option on the right. Same on the left with Staude most likely not coming back, although here it's worse because Lex is a very borderline player for the 2.Bundesliga and Greilinger will most likely be loaned out so he can get regular minutes at a more fitting level for him. So not only do we need two wing players, we need them to be good. And to get all this we have... about €18k per week available in wage space. Nnnnot ideal, considering how much our own players are asking for in their contract negotiations. If we stretch it a bit and don't go overboard that might be enough for four players, although being realistic it's more likely to be only three. And we need seven. Ew. Diverting all our transfer budget into wages gives us €9k extra, so that's an option, but still probably too little for all we need. Of course there's always the alternative of going for loans, which tend to be cheaper even if we have to pay the player's wages in full. All in all, probably doable, but will require some haggling. This will be a fun transfer window... Jun 7th 2022 Another new candidate shows his colors. His name is Roland Bunge, and besides a reasonably funny name, he offers exactly the same as the previous one we saw: continuity. I don't mind that one bit. Jun 12th 2022 So we actually made a profit last year, huh. €361k in total, which includes all the season ticket sales which had already happened before my arrival. Nothing big but better than losing money. Then again that also means we get hit by tax and now have to pay €55k, but hey, I'll take that over the alternative. We get a couple new sponsorship deals signed, including a pretty decent one with a telecommunications company. All in all they'll bring in €675k extra per year, and we might get even more once we promote to the Bundesliga. Establishing ourselves in the 2.Bundesliga is paramount for this very reason, since we'll need to increase our income by quite a lot if we're to compensate for the almost doubling in wages we've "enjoyed" since our promotion was confirmed. We also collect €400k in club membership fees, which is nice. Jun 13th 2022 Preseason officially starts! The players seem to be on board with our current plans of dodging relegation even if it's through winning the playoffs, and there seem to be no new issues to deal with, other than Salger's still ongoing injury. Jun 19th 2022 Ahead of the upcoming season, it is announced that the 2.Bundesliga (and all competitions in Germany, by extension) will go back to the pre-2020 rules for subs, meaning we'll still be able to name nine bench players, but we'll only be allowed to make three substitutions instead of five with three stoppages like the previous season. Not a fan, but okay, we'll deal. Jun 20th 2022 The board agree to increase the maximum number of recruitment analysts in the club's staff from two to three, which is welcome but not exactly groundbreaking. More interesting is the increase in coaching staff, from five to seven, and in performance analysts from two back to three. We do lose one scout slot, but that's not a huge problem given that... Two of our most veteran scouts, Hermann Grümmer and Franz Merkhoffer, announce their retirement. Both were among the best in our recruitment team, so replacing them will be a tough job. Job adverts are posted in order to attract new applicants as soon as possible. We have a lot of work to do in the recruitment department, and we've also been allowed to scout the whole of Europe now, so the hunting grounds widen. The league will start early, on the 23rd of July, with a home match against fellow relegation candidates Sandhausen. We'll follow that with the first round of the DFB Pokal and a trip to Hamburg, then we'll host Nürnberg. Also, it looks like my fears of the Grünwalder Stadion not being suited for the 2.Bundesliga were unfounded, and we'll keep playing our home matches there for the time being. Good in the sense that it's still our home, but not so good in the sense that the Olympiastadion would allow us to have more fans in the stands. We almost filled the stadium every afternoon in the 3.Liga, finding tickets for the 2.Bundesliga is going to be a real nightmare, and that's assuming the season tickets don't increase any further... The promotion clauses in most players' contracts kick in, and now we're suddenly over budget. Oops. We divert most of our transfer budget into wages to prevent immediate problems, but considering we haven't signed almost any of our targets just yet this could be a real problem... Jun 22nd 2022 Erling Haaland agrees a €168M move to Manchester City. No surprises there, although the fee is astronomical. We could budget our whole club for many seasons with that amount of money, after repaying all our loans! The other big story of the summer transfer market, Kylian Mbappé, still hasn't decided where he'll play next season, and is still "considering his options". Christian Köhler is the third candidate to the club's elections to be held in a couple of weeks and, yep, another continuist. I mean, I don't mind this at all, but would be nice to have something different to choose from, right? Jun 27th 2022 Oh nyo, here we go again: Fürth want to sign Lang. So far the rumors on the press talk about a €775k fee, but that's obviously not enough for me. I'll require his release clause in full if anyone wants to buy him, and may I remind Fürth that said clause only applies to teams in higher divisions, which they aren't. Our first signing of the summer window, Kobald aside, is one for the future: 18yo German winger-slash-striker Yusuf Kabadayi joins on a free transfer after failing to earn a professional contract in our dear neighbors Bayern. The kid is obviously still far from a 2.Bundesliga standard, but he oozes potential and could even eventually make it to a team in the top tier, hopefully us. It's likely he'll be sent on loan this season so he can get some minutes in his legs and show what he's capable of, then we'll see what to do with him next year. His wages are low, so the impact in our budget is minimal, and the prospect of future profits, either on the pitch or as a sale, make this a very good signing in my books. We've listed Willsch for transfer and Gresler, Greilinger, and Wicht for loan, but what we get is a transfer offer for the latter from Austria Klagenfurt, €26.5k upfront and about €60k in conditional clauses. Obviously not good enough, it'd take something much bigger than that for us to be willing to part with Wicht permanently. Jun 28th 2022 Austria Klagenfurt vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) Funnily enough, Klagenfurt happen to be our first preseason opposition. Fifth place last season in Austria's top division, we still give them a run for their money despite our very much incomplete squad, although we eventually do go down late in the first half to a lucky goal by Cvetko. We play the whole second half with Wein, Tallig, and a bunch of kids, but we still manage to not concede any more goals against a superior team. Not a bad run out for an early preseason match despite the result. Austria Klagenfurt 1 (Christopher Cvetko 43) TSV 1860 München 0 Jun 30th 2022 Contracts expire, loans end, players leave. In our case that means Biankadi and Moormann going back to their teams while Hiller and Staude leave on free transfers. It also means that the players we had loaned out, namely Belkahia, Mannhardt, and Ngounou Djayo, return to us. In the end TeBe Berlin didn't execute the optional clause for Belkahia, and now we have a decision to make about his future. There are many teams from the 3.Liga interested in loaning him again, but this time I'd want his wages paid in full, or to sell him altogether.

May 15th 2022 And with that, our work for the season ends. The players go on break until the 13th of June while we stay behind to deal with the board's expectations for the next season. We won't go into much detail at this point since we'll have another meeting regarding this after the holidays, but according to our five-year plan next season we should at least escape direct relegation. The club also seems to be developing a culture of defensively-solid and counterattacking football, which is quite close to what we've achieved this season. Our training facilities seem to be noticing the lack of investment in the recent years of turmoil, and are starting to look a bit out of date. We'll need to put some money into them soon if we want to keep pace with the best teams in the nation. Something to bring up with the new president after the election, I imagine. May 21st 2022 Wein finally agrees to a new contract worth €8k per week. That means we can now focus on the expiring contracts before deciding which positions need being filled (or refilled) for next season. Guess who scored a hattrick in the DFB Pokal final? No prizes if you guessed Haaland. Yep, Dortmund lifted the trophy after destroying Fürth 4-1, meaning they've scored four goals in each of the three last rounds of the competition, eight of those courtesy or the Norwegian talent. May 24th 2022 Zwickau didn't make it to the 2.Bundesliga with us in the end, and lost to Fortuna Düsseldorf (which we played in the winter break to a 0-0 draw, by the way) 3-2 on aggregate. The collective bonuses for the league are paid to the squad, and amount to €525k. Money well spent, although still, ouch. May 25th 2022 Yours truly finishes in a somewhat disappointing third place in the Fussballtrainer des Jahres (Manager of the Year) award, behind Zwickau's Joe Enochs and Meppen's Rico Schmitt. On the other hand, we completely dominate the Elf des Jahres (Eleven of the Year), with Kretzschmar on goal, Lang and Salger in the center of the defense, Steinhart on left back, Bär on right wing, and Dressel and Tallig (not Wein!) in the midfield. May 28th 2022 The elections already have a date: they'll be held on July 2nd, meaning there's a bit over a month left. We're finally starting to get some insight on the candidates thanks to interviews and such. The first of them, a gentleman called Detlef Ghafury, seems to be the continuist type, promising to keep running things as they've been until now, and not making any big promises or anything. I think I like this guy. May 31st 2022 Time for a last round of contract negotiations! - Hiller is obviously leaving, and so is Staude, still hiding his intentions under the "considering his options" moniker. If he changes his mind before the end of his deal I'll be very surprised, and it's not 100% guaranteed I'd even offer him a contract if that happened. As far as I'm concerned right now, he's gone and in need of replacement. - With Staude gone, keeping Lex is more important as our (currently) best option on the left wing. A 2-year deal at €6k/week is the final result of the negotiations, with him keeping a regular starter role, but not a guaranteed place in the eleven. Seems fair enough. - Goden finally accepts a regular starter role, just when it looked like his agent was gonna snap again. The contract negotiations are surprisingly easy after that, and he accepts a €4.8k/week 2-year deal without issues. - Greilinger is also much easier to convince now: 2-year deal as a breakthrough prospect, €2.5k per week, done and dusted. That's that sorted out, then. The rest of the expiring contracts are of reserve and youth players, which I delegate to our DoF so he can handle them himself. Meanwhile I focus on our staff contracts, of which there are also a bunch of expiring ones. I'd expect we'd be able to attract more and better staff once our promotion is official, but making a complete overhaul would be dangerous at this point, and probably too expensive. Extensions are offered for all the worthwhile members, including Oliver Beer, Manfred Paula, Marco Haber, and Günther Gorenzel-Simonitsch. Others are left hanging for now while we probe the market to see if there's anyone interested that improves on them. We'll see if the board allows more positions to be filled later on. Another contract negotiation we get started with is Kretzschmar's. He still has a whole year ahead of him, but his wages are low and he obviously is going to be hounded by bigger, better teams. Tying him down to a longer, better paid contract would help us make sure we get the most out of him in case he eventually leaves. We offer him a 3-year-long, €4.8k per week deal as a star player and he immediately accepts, not even bothering with a release clause. Fantastic. * * * ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD Bundesliga: Bayern somehow managed to score more points than us in the league while playing four games less. That should give you an idea of how utterly dominant they were, only drawing three and losing one (at home to Leverkusen). Dortmund were once again the best of the rest, although RB Leipzig weren't too far away in the end. Leverkusen finished fourth, Hoffenheim and Gladbach will play in the Europa League, and Hertha managed a very convincing seventh place and will play in the Conference League. Augsburg eventually missed out on Europe by five points. At the bottom, DFB Pokal finalists Fürth finished dead last in the league, and will be among the strongest teams in the 2.Bundesliga together with Arminia Bielefeld, being replaced by Heidenheim and Karlsruhe. Bochum won the playoff against Hannover and will stay in the Bundesliga. The likes of Schalke, Nürnberg, Werder, and HSV will also keep us company in the second tier this coming season. Scary... Premier League: Manchester City kept the top spot they had at the half-season point and won the Premier League with a healthy seven point lead over eventual second-placed Liverpool, who managed to climb back up after a very poor start to the season. Chelsea and Manchester United will join both in the Champions League, while Aston Villa and Spurs will play in the Europa League and Leicester snuck past Arsenal to get the Conference League place. Relegations for Brighton, Brentford, and Norwich, all of them by pretty big margins. City managed a domestic treble, winning both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup against Manchester United and Southampton, respectively. LaLiga: as predicted, things did return to normalcy in the second part of the season in Spain, although not completely. Real Madrid won the league handily with a twelve-point lead over Barcelona, who finished second ahead of the surprising third-placed Valencia and Atlético. Sevilla regressed to their favourite competition, the Europa League, together with Athletic, while Villareal would have to deal with the Conference League. Relegations for Mallorca, Rayo Vallecano, and Alavés, although Espanyol and Elche were quite close in the end. Barça got a certain degree of vengeance against their arch-rivals in the Copa del Rey final, though, which they won over Real Madrid with an extra time goal by wonderkid Pedri. Serie A: easy win for Juventus, ten points ahead of Milan and sixteen of both Inter and Roma, the other Champions League teams. Atalanta, Napoli, and Lazio followed behind in the other European places, while the relegation was very obvious for Spezia and Venezia in the last two places, but a matter of one point for eventual losers Torino, who saw the likes of Cagliari, Verona, Salernitana, and Udinese escape the drop by the skin of their teeth. Just like Real, Juventus couldn't do the double and lost the Coppa Italia final to Inter 2-1. Ligue 1: surprisingly close, as PSG only won the title with 5 points over Monaco, who made a fantastic run in the final part of the season and almost gave the giants a scare, although to be fair PSG clearly relaxed in the final fixtures and dropped a bunch of points with the title already decided. Marseille also climbed up after a bad start and snuck into third place, displacing Nice and Montpellier to the Europa League by two points. Strasbourg was the best of the rest, and got a place in the Conference League as a reward. Relegations for Troyes and (gasp) Lille, who finished dead last but only two points away from salvation after earning a single point in their last four fixtures, an absolute disaster. The Coupe de France didn't have any of the usual suspects in the final, and Nice trounced Sochaux four-nil to lift the trophy. Champions League: remember how Manchester City did a treble in England? Well, that was just the hors d'oeuvres for Guardiola's squad, as the Cityzens managed to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time in their history after a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in Saint-Denis, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring the decisive goal in the 73rd minute and most likely earning himself a statue or two in front of the Etihad in the near future. Bayern and Porto were the somewhat surprising semifinalists. Europa League: another first-time winner in Europe, Leicester surprised everyone once again not only by reaching the final, but also by clearly defeating Betis three goals to nil, including a brace by club legend Jamie Vardy and a third goal by Maddison. Real Sociedad and PSV just missed out on reaching that last stage. Conference League: completing a full sweep of the continental trophies by the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur lifted the first Conference League trophy after a close-fought final against fellow Brits West Ham, with the winner coming from an unlikely source: center-back Cristian Romero. Antwerp and Slavia Praha lost out in the semis.

May 10th 2022 Bär in the Team of the Week. May 13th 2022 Looks like Herr Reisinger won't be running for a second term after all. There's a bunch of names in the candidates' list, but none of them gives me any kind of better vibes than the rest. We'll see how it goes. May 14th 2022 TSV 1860 München (1st) vs. Borussia Dortmund II (14th) (3.Liga, 38/38) Time for goodbyes, in what might be our last match in the Gründwalder Stadion in a long while. Some players will also play their last football for us, including Deichmann, Biankadi, Moormann and, possibly, Staude. But overall, it's time to celebrate a great season overall and send it off as it deserves: with another win. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Martin Moormann (DCl), Phillipp Steinhart (DL); Quirin Moll (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Yannick Deichmann (MCl); Merveille Biankadi (AMR), Stefan Lex (AML), Lorenz Knöferl (ST) DORTMUND II (4-2-3-1): Luca Unbehaun (GK); Antonios Papadopoulos (DR), Lennard Maloney (DCr), Soumalia Coulibaly (DCl), Kolbeinn Birgir Finnsson (DL); Christian Viet (MCr), Kamal Bafounta (MCl); Marco Pasalic (AMR), Berkan Taz (AMC), Immanuel Pherai (AML); Richmond Tachie (ST) * * * A chance for most of our expiring contracts and loans to say goodbye to the fans. Staude might get it in the second half. It's a rainy evening in Munich, and as usual we start the game kidnapping the ball away and trying to find gaps in Dortmund's defense. We get it the easiest way: play down the right flank, Biankadi enters the box, and Bafounta just barges him on the back and brings him to the ground: clear-cut penalty kick, transformed by Lex into the 1-0, his first goal in forever. We keep the pressure up after the opener, and soon Knöferl has a chance to make it two, although his finish is stopped by a very secure-looking Unbehaun. Dortmund don't offer much resistance, and we keep passing the ball around their box for the remainder of the half, occassionally trying to get a shot in without much success. 1-0 at half time. HALF TIME - 1-0 Lang has a fantastic chance in the second minute of the second half, his header in a set piece hitting the post then bouncing straight into Ubenhaun's arms. However, it's Dortmund who score next after a cross from the right by Pasalic and an easy tap-in by Berkan Taz, with our defense way too passive to have any chance of stopping it. The result is very short-lived, though, since Steinhart decides to send a beautiful free kick straight into the corner of Unbehaun's goal to make it 2-1 just a few minutes later. We bring our substitutes in, and Staude says his likely goodbyes to the fans in the usual fashion: by missing a clear goal with a weak finish. Bär doesn't do much better, though, sending well wide his shot and wasting a nice assist by Moll. His following header is more accurate, but then there's Unbehaun ready to catch it. On the other goal Tachie also blasts over the bar a decent chance 72 minutes in, which we answer with a long passing play that ends in a through ball towards Knöferl, who also finds the keeper in the way of his finish. Finally, four minutes before full time, Bär and young Wicht trade passes near the edge of the box before the winger runs in and the midfielder sends the ball past the defense, leaving Bär with an easy finish to make it 3-1. Not a bad way to signal the end of the season. * * * TSV 1860 München 3 (Stefan Lex 21p, Phillipp Steinhart 56, Marcel Bär 86) Borussia Dortmund II 1 (Berkan Taz 53) - - - Good show for a final fixture, with some extra goals accomplished: first good game by Wicht off the bench, assist included, first goal by Lex since before the winter break, and 91 points and 29 wins in a dominant season which we end way, way above the rest on the table. We can be proud of our achievements, I think. * * * | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | 1860 München | 38 | 29 | 4 | 5 | 68 | 22 | 46 | 91 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Duisburg | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 56 | 37 | 19 | 72 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Pl | Zwickau | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 74 | 45 | 29 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Wiesbaden | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 52 | 33 | 19 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Braunschweig | 38 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 46 | 31 | 15 | 65 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Meppen | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 53 | 38 | 15 | 62 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Saarbrücken | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 63 | 51 | 12 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Viktoria Köln | 38 | 18 | 6 | 14 | 65 | 51 | 14 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Magdeburg | 38 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 56 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | VfL Osnabrück | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 56 | 57 | -1 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Kaiserslautern | 38 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 47 | 43 | 4 | 51 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Mannheim | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 46 | 49 | -3 | 51 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Halle | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 42 | 48 | -6 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Borussia Dortmund II | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 43 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Türkgücü München | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 55 | 67 | -12 | 43 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Würzburger Kickers | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 45 | 59 | -14 | 41 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | R | Freiburg II | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 39 | 63 | -24 | 36 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Viktoria 1889 | 38 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 40 | 76 | -36 | 24 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Verl | 38 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 32 | 66 | -34 | 23 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Havelse | 38 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 23 | 77 | -54 | 23 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| The promotion race ended, of course, with drama. Duisburg had the most difficult task, since they had to win their game away to Verl and hope at least one of the others dropped some points in order to make the playoffs. Problem was, they also played with bottom-half teams, Wiesbaden in Halle and Zwickau at home versus Würzburg. Well, what do you know: Duisburg managed a 0-1 win with a 48 minute goal by Hettwer, and in the meantime Zwickau only could draw 2-2 while Wiesbaden, who hadn't left the direct promotion places in the last couple of months, suffered an unlikely last second defeat and dropped out of the fight altogether. In the end, Duisburg will join us in the 2.Bundesliga, and Zwickau will have to wait for the playoff against a still undecided team. In other end-of-season news, our U19 squad won the promotion playoff and will play with the big (well, not so big) boys in the A-Junioren-Meisterschaft next season, yay! * * * END OF SEASON 2021/22 - PLAYER SUMMARY GOALKEEPERS Name Apps Conceded Clean Sheets PoM Av.Rat. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Kretzschmar 37 20 22 1 7.14 Marco Hiller 3 5 1 0 6.97 The fight for the starting place at goal was decided practically from the start. Kretzschmar got the nod initially due to his greater potential and value as an asset and he never let it go, going on a record-breaking clean sheet streak at the height of our season. He dropped down a bit towards the end, but his performances this year guarantee he'll be starting for us the next, unless someone willing to spend a lot of money comes knocking in the meantime. Hiller always had the losing hand in this match, and despite being solid in the DFB Pokal and in the one league game he played, he soon grew restless with his lack of playing time and will be leaving on a free transfer this coming June. DEFENDERS Name Apps Goals Assists PoM Y.C R.C Av.Rat. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Niklas Lang 32(2) 0 0 3 8 0 7.29 Martin Moormann 28(11) 0 0 2 5 0 7.20 Phillip Steinhart 32(5) 2 9 2 5 0 7.12 Stephan Salger 22(7) 2 1 3 4 0 7.09 Sami Belkahia 1(5) 0 0 0 0 0 7.08 Kevin Goden 35(3) 1 2 1 4 0 6.92 Marius Willsch 5(19) 0 0 0 0 0 6.82 Maxim Gresler 4(3) 0 2 0 0 0 6.82 A great season for most of our defense, with particular attention to our brightest young talent, Niklas Lang. At only 19 years old he's already become our second best player rating-wise, and he'll only get better from now on. He was an absolute wall in the air and, together with Moormann and Salger, formed the backbone of a successful promotion challenge based on being extremely solid at the back. Belkahia was the fourth center-back during the first half of the season and did quite well off the bench when needed, but left on loan in January searching for more minutes and might leave for good if TeBe pay the optional clause we agreed with them. We would like to keep Moormann for another year, but Sturm Graz seem willing to give him a chance in the first team, so we'll have to find a replacement. The wings were... somewhat unbalanced. Steinhart was the obvious stand-out name, not only performing quite well on defense but also becoming the team's best assist provider with nine and scoring a couple of beautiful direct free kicks, a job he shared with Salger, Moll, and Wein. He was so good that he rarely left space for young Gresler to play, and even when he was out for whatever reason we usually resorted to playing Salger in his place. In contrast, the right back position was somewhat poor, given the standards set by the rest of the defense. Goden was passable, but his contributions in attack were much lesser than expected, and Willsch didn't really provide the spark we expected from him when he played either. This will be a position we'll have to look into carefully before the next season starts, particularly considering Goden still hasn't extended his contract. MIDFIELDERS Name Apps Goals Assists PoM Y.C R.C Av.Rat. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Wein 21(9) 1 1 2 2 0 7.28 Quirin Moll 20(8) 2 2 1 3 1 7.14 Dennis Dressel 18(10) 10 3 2 0 0 7.13 Erik Tallig 18(15) 7 4 4 0 0 7.05 Nathan Wicht 0(2) 0 1 0 0 0 6.95 Yannick Deichmann 20(11) 3 4 0 1 0 6.94 Richard Neudecker 24(8) 0 5 0 0 0 6.86 Another extremely solid line with some oddities. The anchor man position was shared almost equally between Wein and Moll, and while the former had the best overall performances, the latter had a slightly greater impact in our results despite also spending a few games covering in defense towards the end of the season. Both players should continue with us next year, although Wein is expecting a new deal soon and might bring some trouble to the table if he doesn't get what he expects. The creative side was supposed to be Neudecker's with Tallig as his backup, but at times it looked almost like the opposite. Neudecker wasn't *bad* per se, but he never really shone like we expected as an assist provider and general tempo maker. Meanwhile, whenever Tallig entered the game he always brought energy, vision, and a fantastic number of goals for someone whose role wasn't supposed to be this focused on finishing. Both will have a chance to decide this fight for the starting place next season, although if Tallig keeps developing as he has this year, there's a good chance he might keep the place as his own. Lastly, the 'box-to-box' role was, once again, an almost equal share between Dressel and Deichmann, with the latter having the advantage in the early season but slowly losing steam, particularly once he asked for a transfer after disagreements with his contract. Then came Dressel, who'd already been doing fine when he played but had been somewhat hampered by injuries, and completed an absolutely stellar final third of the year, scoring for fun and looking like the most in-form player in the whole squad at times. His ten goals are second only to Lex, and only just. With Deichmann leaving for Darmstadt, Dressel should have the starting role next year on paper, but there's also a good chance that whoever we bring as a replacement might displace him back to a rotation role. ATTACKERS Name Apps Goals Assists PoM Y.C R.C Av.Rat. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Felix Lohkemper 14(1) 7 2 3 0 0 7.30 Marcel Bär 26(11) 9 8 3 1 0 7.09 Stefan Lex 23(9) 11 6 1 2 0 7.03 Lorenz Knöferl 10(13) 6 1 1 1 0 6.93 Merveille Biankadi 16(17) 3 7 2 2 0 6.82 Keanu Staude 24(9) 4 3 1 1 0 6.81 Fabian Greilinger 7(15) 3 1 0 0 0 6.72 Lights and shadows in our forwards, and who was which changed a lot during the year. At the start it looked like Lex was going to score for fun and Biankadi was the best loan signing in the history of everything given his assists-to-games ratio. Both deflated very quickly, though, particularly the right winger, who went from starter to rotation to benchwarmer as the season progressed and his numbers regressed. Lex wasn't helped by annoying injuries in winter, but he only scored one single goal in all of 2022, and it was a penalty kick in the very last fixture. Heck, he was on nine goals scored after ten league games, and only got two more afterwards! Not good enough, by any means. As for the shiny spots of light, Bär was probably our most regular forward throughout the season, always there to head a cross by Steinhart to the far post or to finish a quick counter, or even to provide midfielders and the other forwards with crosses of his own. His raumdeuter-like style of play took a while to mesh with the rest of the team, but when it did he became our third best scorer and second best provider. The second light is, of course, Lohkemper: the striker came on loan from Nürnberg in the winter window and, although he took a while to start scoring, always showed that his quality was one step above the rest. Soon the goals started coming, and with them the certainty that we wanted to keep him permanently. He ended the season with the best average rating of the whole squad, just a smidge above Lang and Wein. Then there's the left wing. Sigh... It should tell you something that for the final third of the season our first choice there was Lex. Staude was supposed to be one of our best attackers and he turned out to be a liability more often than not. He had a few good games here and there, but his lack of consistency hurt more than helped. He's now unhappy and considering his options, so there's a good possibility that he'll leave on a free in a bit over a month, and I'm not sure I'm at all sad about that. Young Greilinger didn't step up when Staude left the door wide open either, and other than a couple of isolated performances, like in the DFB Pokal against Bochum, he was mostly irrelevant despite enjoying quite a few minutes. Even with Staude leaving I'm not sure I want him in the rotation next year, not unless he makes giant steps in his development. If he stays, it'll probably be to go on loan. Young Knöferl was our default goalscorer for a while, which should tell you how desperate we were. Don't get me wrong, the kid had a very notable debut year, but he's still not good nor reliable enough to be entrusted with that responsibility. We'll see him back next year, hopefully with the same hunger and even more quality and experience.

Once the servers stopped imploding whenever I tried to login, TSV DalbeTeam is in.

May 1st 2022 Oh, I wasn't even aware there was a monthly player award in the 3.Liga, we hadn't appeared even once in the top three so far... Anyway, Dressel takes second place in the Fussballer des Monats award, behind Viktoria Köln's striker Federico Palacios. Good showing by the midfielder, with five goals and one assist in five games. May 2nd 2022 Welp, Staude says he's gonna consider his options once his contract expires. That's agent talk for "we're leaving on a free transfer and there's nothing you can do about it" more often than not. We'll focus on finding a replacement for him, I guess. This also raises Lex's stock considerably, since if both are released we'd be left with only Greilinger in that position. May 3rd 2022 Wein won't play for us again this season after suffering a hernia in training. He'll be out for 3-5 weeks, so I guess he can start his holidays now. May 4th 2022 Elections will be held at the club come July, with current president Robert Reisinger still deciding whether he'll run for a second term or not. I don't expect this to have any effect on my job, but one never knows. Knöferl got his U19 debut with Germany in a 2-3 defeat against Iceland. He scored, but also pulled his groin in the process, meaning he'll be definitely out for our next game and will have to rest for 5-7 days. May 7th 2022 1.FC Magdeburg (9th) vs. TSV 1860 München (1st) (3.Liga, 37/38) Winding down the season with more completely meaningless fixtures. Magdeburg have had a pretty average season overall, and still could improve their position a bit if they manage to catch up with Saarbrücken and/or Meppen, but have otherwise nothing to play for, just like us. No expectations today. * * * MAGDEBURG (4-3-3): Benjamin Leneis (GK); Alexander Bittroff (DR), Tobias Müller (DCr), Korbinian Burger (DCl), Leon Bell Bell (DL); Andreas Müller (DM), Amara Condé (MCr), Connor Krempicki (MCl); Raphael Obermair (AMR), Tatsuya Ito (AML), Luca Schuler (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Kevin Goden (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Martin Moormann (DCl), Maxim Gresler (DL); Quirin Moll (DM), Richard Neudecker (MCr), Dennis Dressel (MCl); Marcel Bär (AMR), Fabian Greilinger (AML), Felix Lohkemper (ST) * * * Greilinger gets another chance to show he's deserving of a new contract, while young midfielder Nathan Wicht has a chance to debut today off the bench. And well, we couldn't have hoped for a better start: steal by Greilinger on the left flank, Gresler passes into the box, and Dressel celebrates his new contract and recent almost-award with another goal, which brings his total to ten and puts him on par with Lex as our top goalscorer for the season. All within 36 seconds. Not bad. The match is even possessoin-wise after that very early goal, although we still look much more dangerous than Magdeburg. Their first shot is a wide attempt by Ito and it takes nineteen minutes to arrive, while we strike back thanks to another interception by Greilinger which ends in a cross towards Bär, who heads it over. Magdeburg have a much better chance with a long ball towards Schuler, who finds himself unmarked inside the box but can't get through Kretzschmar's imposing presence. Another high ball by Bär, this one with his feet after a good assist from Lohkemper, keeps the pressure high from our side a bit past the half hour mark. His next chance does find the target, but Leneis manages a good hand to prevent the second goal, as he does a couple of minutes later to deny Moll's impressive-looking direct free kick. Finally, a bad clearance by the defense gifts the ball to Bär inside the box, and the winger passes it back for Greilinger so he can shoot and score the 0-2, with some help from the keeper's weak hands. A disallowed goal for Ito, who was clearly offside when he received the ball, is the last action of a pretty fun first half. HALF TIME - 0-2 The second half starts with Dressel looking for another goal, shooting with power after Lohkamper's nod and finding Leneis' fingertips in the way. Tallig also tries his luck from afar, but finds only the air meters above the goal. The game is much quieter than in the first half, though, and that gives us the chance to bring Wicht into the game for his first senior minutes. Lex also enters the game, and soon wastes a fantastic chance to score the third by taking too long and allowing a defender to close him in, while Biankadi also fails to put the rebound in the wide open goal. Magdeburg finally show some will to play for the win with a shot from Ito that Kretzschmar has to deflect wide, and then with a wide header by Obermair after Lang horribly miskicks a free kick from inside our own box. On the other goal, Leneis has to fly to save and hold a good shot by Lohkemper in the 83rd minute. The clock hits the 90th minute right when Moll seems to trip Bell Bell inside the box, although that might have been a pretty skillful dive by the full back. Regardless, Bittroff scores from the spot and puts us under a bit of pressure for the final minutes of the game. Good defending prevents any last-minute surprises, though, and we secure a deserved and entertaining win. * * * 1.FC Magdeburg 1 (Alexander Bittroff 90p) TSV 1860 München 2 (Dennis Dressel 1, Fabian Greilinger 43) - - - That's better. Finally the youngsters had a notable game, and Greilinger and Gresler were even involved in both goals. That should give them a morale boost, and hopefully make them start working even harder in their development. A bit of a letdown in the second half, but that's bound to happen when there's nothing worth playing for other than records. Incidentally, today we secured the all-time highs for both points (88 so far) and wins (28) in the 3.Liga, nice. Crazy day for all the important parts of the league: Freiburg II snatch a draw from Duisburg, but it's still not enough to keep them in the division, confirming the fourth and last relegation of the year. The best part? Duisburg's home draw was the *best* result among the promotion chasers, since both Wiesbaden and Zwickau lost their games, the former 1-3 at home against Mannhiem and the latter 3-0 away to Saarbrücken. So, one game remaining, Wiesbaden have 70 points, and Zwickau and Duisburg both have 69. Fun times.