Podolski

tracylynn

Noooooooo!!!! Crying or Very sad

I hope the best for him and I do hope he recovers without any set backs.

tracylynn

07-22-2007
Injured Podolski vows to win back Bayern place

Injured Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski, voted the best young player at last year's World Cup, has vowed on Sunday to win back his place with the German giants.

After Bayern spent a reported 69 million euros this summer to build their own 'dream team' including strikers Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni and German veteran Miroslav Klose, injured Podolski, 22, was in danger of becoming a forgotten man.

But after French midfielder Franck Ribery impressed on his competitive debut with two goals for Bayern in their 4-1 League Cup win over Werder Bremen on Saturday, Podolski is as determined as ever to get back in the starting XI.

'I am not worried about the situation,' Podolski told German paper Bild Am Sonntag after a frustrating summer spent recovering from knee surgery.

'I am pretty relaxed about things. I know that I can play football and get my chance. And I know that I will assert myself.'

Having joined Bayern after his World Cup success, Podolski had a difficult first season with the German giants - defenders were quick to close him down and he produced a poor return of just four goals in 22 games.

But Podolski is determined to stay at Bayern and realise his potential, even if he is one of four top strikers - German international Jan Schlaudraff also joined in the summer - competing for only two places up front.

Despite interest from other Bundesliga clubs keen to get his signature, Podolski has told his agent he does not want to be at any other club.

'I have told my adviser, I am not prepared to leave and I want to prove myself here, there is no way I want to leave after just one year. I am only 22 and I want to play for Bayern for several years.'

Still recovering from knee surgery last April, Podolski is unlikely to be ready for Bayern's first Bundesliga game of the season againsy Hansa Rostock on August 11, but is only a few weeks off resuming full training.

'After the knee operation, I need more time to let the knee settle down, I am in no hurry, I want to look after it now to make sure I can play football on it for years to come.'

FC Bajern

August 19th, 2007

Podolski back in action!

Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld received some good news when Lukas Podolski completed competitive run-out for the reserves in Saturday afternoon’s goalless draw with third division city rivals Unterhaching. “It was great to be back on the pitch after so long out,” Poldi declared on Sunday morning after a light shakedown at the Säbener Strasse.

Four months after knee surgery, the player is now aiming for a swift return to the Bundesliga team. “Obviously I lack stamina, freshness and match practice, but I’ll remedy that over the next few weeks,“ the 22-year-old continued. Hitzfeld intends to monitor the Germany man’s progress in training this week before potentially handing him a seat on the bench against Hannover: “He needs match practice,“ Hitzfeld confirmed.

The former Köln hitman could equally well pick up the necessary practice with the reserves against Stuttgarter Kickers the following day. “If I or anyone else believes I’m still short of match practice, I don’t have any problem with turning out for the second team,” Podolski stated.

MUTU

Bayern Munich have been hit with the news that they will have to do without Lukas Podolski for their trip to face Portuguese side Belenenses in the Uefa Cup on Thursday.

The German international is suffering from a bout of flu, and trainer Ottmar Hitzfeld had announced that “his selection is out of the question.”

It remains unclear whether the 22 year old will be well enough to face Nürnberg on Sunday.

The news comes as an added blow, due to the fact that Bayern will also be without Miroslav Klose. The current Bundesliga leading scorer with eight goals suffered a knee injury in his last league match and is expected to be out for the next three weeks.

Ottmar Hitzfeld also has injuries worries over Mark van Bommel and Bastian Schweinsteiger ahead of the return leg of the Uefa Cup tie.

However, the ‘General’ will accept no excuses.

“We cannot allow any slip ups and absolutely must qualify for the group stages” he demanded.

FCBinNYC

Yahoo news is reporting that Poldi has a slipped disc in his back. It doesn't say how long they expect him to be out, but if I'm not mistaken isn't that the same injury that delayed Schlaudraff's start to the season? If so then THAT SUCKS and that's why you need 4 strikers at a club ladies and gentlemen. (Even though Poldi was the one in question, but still.)

walter

Podolski is in the squad for Germany's friendly on Wednesday, and according to Bayern's doctors he is fit to play despite the back pain he suffered earlier...
I guess it was not as bad as we thought...

MUTU

Actually, he's not.

Germany squad
Goalkeepers: Timo Hildebrand (Valencia CF), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal FC).

Defenders: Gonzalo Castro (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Manuel Friedrich (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Roberto Hilbert (VfB Stuttgart), Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (FC Schalke 04).

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea FC), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (FC Bayern München), Simon Rolfes (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Bernd Schneider (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (FC Bayern München), Piotr Trochwoski (Hamburger SV).

Forwards: Mario Gómez (VfB Stuttgart), Miroslav Klose (FC Bayern München), Kevin Kuranyi (FC Schalke 04), Oliver Neuville (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach).

walter

He is listed as a midfielder Mutu, look at the list you posted again...

MUTU

Woah true, what's he doing there? And Ribery's been listed as a forward on France's selection.

Miss Dangerous...!!

Podolski is back better than ever! Cool

FC Hollywood18

podolski maybe back but no he has to compete with the likes of Klose and Toni. In my mind its kind of unfair because they brought him in to be the star striker and now they have gone out and picked up 2 big names....... life is just unfair i guess lol

Bayernglasgowfan

Poldi must surely know this season is his last chance saloon as far as breaking into the Bayern team. There is no way he is deserving of a starting place on what he has (not) shown this term.

Again to be fair, coming on for the last 15 minutes of match (like yesterday) hardly gives him the chance to shine - despite two good efforts that Adler somehow managed to block.

Best of luck to the lad but he should heed the words that Roy Makaay said to him just before he left - that the honeymoon was over and he would have to make his mark this term.

He may of course come on in the UEFA Final and make the 2:0 that lifts us the trophy - if so then no doubt all would be forgiven.

tracylynn

LOL!! The honeymoon has been over for him since his first season with the team.

Granted, it's hard to play when there are two world-class strikers in front of him but Franz, Hitzfeld, and others have pointed out that Lukas has to fight for his starting place, which obvioulsy has not happened, yet. Of course, I think he should have replaced Klose a few times in the starting line-up but that did not happened. I don't know why unless he's still not showing much in practice that satisfies Hitzfeld. Either way, if he does not improve under Klinsmann, since he has not proven much under Magath and Hitzfeld, then I would say that he would be gone.