Lothar Matthäus: The Matthäus Affect

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Lothar Matthäus: The Matthäus Affect

Overview


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Lothar Herbert Matthäus, one of the modern day greats within the footballing world, as well as being one of Germany's finest ever players with 150 international caps, the most that anybody has ever obtained from the nation.

Matthäus enjoyed a career spanning 21-years across 3 countries, obtaining numerous individual awards including both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year.

As well as individual awards, Matthäus has winners medals from the World Cup, the UEFA European Championship, the UEFA Cup, seven Bundesliga's titles and numerous Domestic Cup's.

In his days as a player Matthäus was well and truly the epitome of a box-to-box midfielder, but what happened next?

A year on from retiring, Lothar decided that he would attempt to achieve a new goal: to become a Bundesliga manager. Of course, before reaching this goal in such a prestigious league, he have to write a new resumé as a head coach.

Matthäus began his managerial career with a brief stint at Rapid Wien, followed by a year spent with FK Partizan. With Partizan, Matthäus achieved his initial goal of winning the league title, as well as a triumph over a strong Newcastle United side to qualify for the 2003/04 Champions League.

Matthäus left Partizan almost a year to the day of him joining the club in controversial circumstances to become manager of Hungary, his first international managerial post, and another role he did not keep for long.

Sacked by the Hungary F.A following several poor results, Matthäus continued his unwanted fashion of short-term positions with Atlético Paranaense, a team which he left after 7 games to be closer to home.

Red Bull Salzburg became the next destination for Matthäus, and although he clinched the Austrian League Title by a huge margin, he again did not keep his post for more than a year.

In 2008, Matthäus entailed on his final club venture, Maccabi Netanya of Israel. Finally, after a year as manager and sitting in 4th position, Matthäus looked set to end his run of short-term roles. Unfortunately, the Netanya board ran into financial issues, and Matthäus' contract had to be terminated with immediate affect in the Summer of 2009.

After another year long break, Matthäus returned to International management in 2010 with Bulgaria, a job which began relatively well with a 1-0 win over Wales. Although winning his first qualifier, Bulgaria failed to qualify for Euro 2012 which lead to yet another contract termination for the German.

Now, following yet another year long absence from the game spent as a pundit, Lothar Matthäus will for the last time attempt to gain a managerial status that reflects his time spent as a player.

My Game

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In an attempt to be realistic, and also to reflect Lothar's career so far, I will try my best to employ a 'German' approach to the way my team(s) play. I will also look to employ staff that are relevant to Lothar, and will start my game unemployed with several low-end European football leagues selected:

* German Division 2
* Czech Division 1 and 2
* Romanian Liga I and Liga II
* Russian Premier and First Division
* Swiss Super League and Challenge League

Targets

* To manage in the Bundesliga (Complete)
* To manage Bayern Munich
* To manage Germany

I hope to make this an enjoyable read, just as much as I hope to have an enjoyable game and 'career'. I'd also like to say Hello! This is my first post on FM-Base after many years of downloading from the site and reading some fantastic FM Stories.

May the game begin!​
 
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Like the look of this and could be good. Look forward to more. :)
 
29/06/2012

The job hunt begins and so far.. not so good..

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Not really a fan of these positions so going to hold out a bit for something a bit more appealing.


5/07/2012
Okay so as I selected Bundesliga 2, Bundesliga was also selected of course, and the post of Freiburg Manager has just become available! A long shot but going to apply for it, may possibly achieve one of Lothar's goals which is to manage in the Bundesliga (a lot quicker than I thought!).

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Speculation has already began in the press, with the German Football Informer getting the exclusive tip off about my application.

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14/07/2012

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There we have it,
Matthäus is back in management! SC Freiburg have given Lothar Matthäus the opportunity he has longed for, to manage in the Bundesliga. Dirk Dufner has stated that his expectation for me is to stay in the Bundesliga, which will be a tough task with the wage and transfer budgets available. I have now set the following tasks for myself to complete:

* Reduce wage budget
* Assess squad and meet the backroom staff
* Meet the squad
* Begin tactical analysis and training​
 
14/07/2012

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SC Freiburg


Founded in 1904, SC Freiburg currently play their games at the MAGE SOLAR Stadion, Germany's first ever completely solar-powered stadium. The club has 'good' training facilities and youth facilities, with both an 'above average' junior coaching system and youth recruitment network.

Freiburg's last piece of silverware came in 2009, when the club won the Bundesliga 2. The club's most notable recent player is Papiss Ciss
é.

Staff Overview

Before jumping into tactics and first team analysis, I figure it makes sense to check out the staff that will be aiding me in my position. Currently, SC Freiburg employ 3 scouts, a physio, a goalkeeping coach and a normal coach, an U23's manager and an U19's manager. There is currently no assistant manager, which is a matter I must press on with immediately.

Assistant Manager Role


I have approached Manfred Dubski with an offer to become my number two. Dubski's playing career lasted 17 years in Germany for the likes of Schalke and Duisberg. As a coach and scout he returned to Schalke, managing both the Youth B squad and the U23 squad for the club. His stats can be seen below:

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I feel that Dubski's man management skills combined with his ability to work well with youngsters will suit my style of management well. He will also be able to help out with scouting, team talks and press conferences if needed, which is very handy.
 
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14/07/2012


First Game In Charge

Unbelievably, I have been notified that due to the lack of an assistant, I will be taking charge of my first game the same day as I join Freiburg. We have a friendly match against Ravensburg, away, meaning a two hour drive to take charge of a team I have not even met yet!

During my journey to the small town of Ravensburg I have quickly glanced over my squad and decided that I will employ a 4-5-1 formation.

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I don't really like messing with sliders, but I will certainly try to adopt a direct style of player, getting the ball forward when possible, meaning I will often rely on the passing skills of my midfield unit.

As I am yet to thoroughly examine my squad, I have asked our coach to pick the team that fits my formation.

Upon reaching the stadium, I have told our boys that although this is just pre-season, we must be winning matches of this calibre. As you can imagine, a bunch of guys who have never met me before barely take notice of what I have to say and there is no morale change to any player.

Match Review:

A solid 3-0 win, just as I had expected from my new team. Ravensburg never threatened us and we limited them to just a single shot (which was very poor and nearly hit the corner post).

We had some great passing percentages in midfield, with Guede and Schuster both achieving 90.9% and 88.1% respectively.

Sebastien Freis, our striker, achieved the highest match rating with an 8.2.

With my first game under my belt, I can now press on with meeting and assessing my squad properly and working out how we are going to stay in the German top flight this season.​
 
17/07/2012

Dubski joins Freiburg

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57-year-old Manfred Dubski has joined Freiburg as my new assistant manager. Dubski will be in charge of match training and sometimes team talks, as well as taking charge of a few pre-season friendlies. Hopefully this will be the start of a good working relationship!​
 
17/08/2012

Pre-Season Roundup

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So our pre-season is complete, and my first competitive match awaits: a home game against Cottbus in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

Our pre-season went rather well, with just one defeat in a close game with Auxerre. Our best results came against Manchester City and Villarreal, with a 1-1 draw and an amazing 4-0 win respectively.

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I have also made two signings, both being strikers:

Libor Kozak (Transfer Fee: Loan (£20k p/m)

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Franck Etoundi (Transfer Fee: 180k)

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I believe these two players will give me two completely different attacking options: the composed poacher in Etoundi or the strong target man in Kozak. Primarily I plan to use the target man option so I believe Kozak will be my primary striker for the season.

Both players are young and both have great teamwork stats, an attribute I look to instil into my entire team.

I also ended the loan deals for both Ivan Santini and Ezequiel, as well as increasing my wage budget by decreasing my transfer budget.

 
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01/09/2012

The Matthä
us Affect (September 2012 Roundup)

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Our season is now underway, it is the 1st of October and we have played 1 cup game and 6 league games, which have gone very well for us:

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Our only loss so far was away at Bayern and even so we performed well and were unlucky to have not scored.

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Currently we sit 3rd in the league, a great deal higher than where I expect us to finish but I am very happy nonetheless, as are the board who called me in to a meeting earlier and expressed their delight at our current run. I also believe that this early 10 point advantage over the other candidates for going down will definitely help me to fulfil the goal of avoiding relegation.

At home we are employing the following tactic:

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And away from home we set up slightly more defensive:

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Our top scorer so far is Rosenthal with 3 league goals, who is also our top performer so far with an average rating of 7.70. Guede and Makiadi have been great in front of our defence, with passing percentages of 88% and 89%.

We have had a few injury worries, with 3 Goalkeepers being injured in the past month! Fortunately our youth keeper Daniel Batz impressed, having to stand in for 2 starts.

Now we look ahead to October, where Wolfsburg and Dortmund will look to start knocking us down the table.

P.S

Any feedback so far would be appreciated highly! I look to continue this and your feedback will deter me from giving up :)
 
02/01/2013

2012/2013 Mid-season Review

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We are now in January, enjoying the mid-season break and polishing up on our set piece defence.

So far, the season has been excellent, with SC Freiburg having the joint second best defence in the entire Bundesliga. We're sitting 6th right now and continue to play way above our expectations. We also went on a seven game unbeaten run in the league between October and December.

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The board are still happy with me, and increased my wage budget on the basis of us aiming for a top half finish now. I am disappointed at our Cup exit to Koln on penalties, but at least we can now focus on the league, although I would have loved a shot at silverware during my first season.

With 26 points, we are 16 clear of relegation, with beating Nurnberg 4-0 clearly stating our intent to stay well away from the drop zone.


Player News

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Matthias Ginter has signed a new contract to keep him at the club until 2015, and is forever improving as well as putting in excellent performances. The 18-year-old center back is hitting an average rating of 7.52, and you can check out his stats below:

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Our top league scorer is currently Franck Etoundi with a very low 6, and I still believe our attacking force is the weakest link within the team, although this is hard to improve without a sufficient budget. Hopefully we will be able to bring somebody in at the end of the season to start banging them in.


Transfers

I have added a second physio to our backroom staff and we are also currently in talks to bring in two new coaches to help improve both our attacking and defensive coaching.

Although I do not plan to sign any players this window (which is completely down to a lack of funds), I have signed Dutch international Daryl Janmaat from Feyernoord on a pre-contract, which will see the young full back join us in the Summer.

Daryl Janmaat

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I believe Janmaat has great potential, and will fit straight into the first team when he arrives. As well as being young and technically, mentally and physically sound, he also fits the bill in regards to the team work and work rate I am trying to drill into my squad.


Overview

I hope to continue our current form and finish the season within the top 7, which will give us an opportunity to qualify for the Europa League next season, although I would happily settle for a top 10 finish based on the initial target of avoiding relegation at the start of the season.

I am very happy with our defensive showings throughout the season so far, especially with the rising star Ginter, I just hope we can hold on to him.

Our main flaw is clearly our inability to finish chances, and we could actually be a great deal higher if it wasn't for our poor attacking force. Libor Kozak, who I signed before the season began on loan, has been poor and hasn't scored a single goal. I will definitely be looking to bring in a striker when the season finishes!





 
11/05/2013

No Pressure

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With us only competing in the league for the majority of the season, the months have flew by, to the point I didn't even realise the season was about to end before seeing that we were in May 2013.

Poor refereeing decisions cost us quite a few points in the latter stages of the season, and we could well be placed 5th right now if it wasn't for a few dodgy linesmen.

Our next game is our penultimate match, which sees us at home to Hoffenheim, a team who have underachieved in my opinion and are sitting 13th place.

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Schalke and Gladbach are playing Leverkusen and Mainz respectively, and I expect them both to get the three points, meaning we too must win if we wish to solidify our position and earn ourselves the potential foor in the door to the Europa League.

Our final game will also be at home, to Schalke, so two wins in these final two games could see us as high as 5th place.

Ginter is still impressing and is dubbed to be the next Mertesacker and no doubt some of the bigger clubs above us will be in for him next month. Etoundi is still our top scorer with 11 league goals, which puts him in the top 10 of the Bundesliga I believe.

We have only lost more games than Bayern and Dortmund, and we still have the second best defence in the league behind only Bayern, letting in 26 goals over 32 games so far.

I'd also like to show our three best youth prospects that have recently joined the club:

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Jakov Bilic

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Manfred believes Jakov Bilic to be our best youth prospect within our entire club, and can see him becoming a leading Bundesliga player in the future. He has decent stats and I too can see him growing well, especially with the new facilities we have planned to be completed later this year.

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Now, without further adieu, let us head into our final two games for the season!



11/05/2013

Hoffenheim @ Home


Our line up against Hoffenheim is now our usual 4-2-1-2-1, with our solid central midfield unit of Flum, Makiadi and Guede.

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We will look to dominate the game by keeping possession against a team that I believe we should be beating, which I have reiterated to the boys before the game, telling them that fans expect us to win.

First Half

19 mins / GOAL /
Freiburg

Etoundi caps off a wonderful presentation of at least 15 passes before slotting home.

21 mins / GOAL /
Freiburg

Makiadi this time, steering in a cross from Rosenthal.

Half-Time

We're comfortably winning with 56% of possession so far, and a pass completion percentage of 81%. Gladbach and Schalke are both level with their opponents at this stage also, meaning currently we move up to 6th position and will be 2 points off Gladbach in 5th.

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HSV, who are just below us, are losing to Stuttgart 2-0, leaving them 5 points behind and securing our 7th position finish if the scores stay the same.

I tell the boys to kick on and carry on with the great display they have given so far, they look happy and run out for the second half.

Second Half

53 Mins / RED CARD /
Hoffenheim

Polanski is sent off after receiving a second yellow, surely we can secure the win now!

75 Mins / GOAL /
Freiburg

Etoundi finishes Hoffenheim off with our third goal, and will HSV losing elsewhere we will now secure at least a 7th position finish!

Full Time

A comfortable 3-0 win against opposition I would have feared at the start of the season. We now look ahead to Schalke, who sit 1 point above us after narrowly beating Leverkusen in the dying minutes of their game.

MOTM

Rosenthal



18/05/2013

Schalke @ Home


Arguably the important game of the season just so happens to be our last, against an opponent who beat us the last time we met. The winner of this game will secure a Europa League place for next season.

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A nervous Lothar watches on as the most important game of his managerial career is about to begin. We will line up just as we did against Hoffenheim, as we look to carry our confidence through to secure our place in Europe.

First Half

26 mins / GOAL /
Freiburg

GOAL GOAL GOALLLL. Flum hits a beautiful free kick into the top left corner and Freiburg move up into 6th position as it stands.

29 mins / GOAL / Freiburg

Unbelievable scenes at the MAGE SOLAR Stadion as Jan Rosenthal puts Freiburg 2-0 up.

Half-Time

Another dominant first half performance from our boys with a massive 62% possession. Schalke's attacking force has been neutralised by our midfield and defensive efforts, and thankfully our attack has done its job. We now have 45 minutes between us and a Europa League spot. I tell the boys they're doing fantastic and to go out there and keep it up.

Second Half

59 Mins / RED CARD / Schalke


Jermaine Jones is sent off for a horror tackle on Franck Etoundi.

59 Mins / SUB / Freiburg

Etoundi leaves the field on a stretcher and is replaced by Libor Kozak.

Full Time

The whistle blows and the fans are ecstatic after a fantastic 2-0 win. The word has flown around the stands that FC Bayern managed to do their old hero Matthäus a favour and come back from behind to equalise against Gladbach, meaning SC Freiburg have finished in 5th place because of goal difference. Thats right folks Freiburg will be competing in the Europa League next season!

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Matthäus and the team applaud their fans before leaving the field to celebrate in private, with Matthäus' press conference to follow shortly.

MOTM

Howedes (For Schalke, some how)
 
07/06/2013

2012/2013 Season Review

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So, my first season in the Bundesliga is finished and what a fantastic season it was. I received several emails following our 2-0 win over Schalke, all of which brought good news.



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Fantastic reactions from both the fans and the board mean I plan to continue my reign of
SC Freiburg, providing I am not offered a more lucrative post of course.

Bayern finished 1st place in the Bundesliga with a record amount of points, so I highly doubt i'll be snapping up that job any time soon.

Our team ended up with the following league statistics:

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Franck Etoundi's 13 goal contribution was a steal for £180k that he cost me, and although I plan to bring in a better striker, he will definitely be staying at the club as a back-up option.

Our midfield displays all season have been fantastic, and our defence kept going throughout, holding their position as the second best in the league behind only the champions.

Next season will no doubt be tough with us entering the Europa League and we must bolster our squad, so hopefully our chairman Fritz Keller will hand over some funds to do so.

The funds gained from our final position mean that we end the season with an overall profit of £15.31m, and with no loans to repay I am glad to say that we are in a great financial position at this current time.

My plan for next season is to continue the employing the philosophy of using hard working, young players, as well as keeping the financial side of things in check. Our current wage bill is £276,760 a week, which equals to about the same as Gladbach's five highest paid players combined, or just a little over what Cristiano Ronaldo earns himself each week.

Our foundations are solid, but we must improve if we are to content in Europe, which is now my primary duty for the coming months.



 
07/08/2013

SC Freiburg announce Press Conference

After a month of speculation, SC Freiburg are expected to axe boss Lothar Matthäus today, following on from his talks with FC Bayern. It is believed that although Bayern opted to appoint Pep Guardiola as originally planned, the lack of respect shown to the fans, players and board of Freiburg will now lead to Matthäus' departure.

It is also speculated that the press conference will be used to officially unveil new SC Freiburg goalkeeper Michael Rensing as well as the £2.3m club record signing Maurice Exslager.


The club have announced that the press conference will go ahead later today.

More to follow.
 
07/08/2013

SC Freiburg make statement of intent for the future

As previously reported, SC Freiburg were set to give a press conference today, which was widely speculated to be the means of announcing Lothar Matthäus' departure from the club.

In a shocking twist, Matthäus was present to give the press conference alongside Chairman Fritz Keller and Director of Football Dirk Dufner.

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Keller began the conference by stating that he was "overwhelmed by the success of the club on the pitch as well as financially whilst under the helm of Matthäus", and following on from this success that he would like to share the new vision for Freiburg with the fans.

The first major announcement was the unveiling of the club record fee signing, Maurice Exslager, who joined the club for £2.3m from Duisberg. Maurice revealed his excitement to join Freiburg and the potential to be playing against top European clubs this season.

The second major announcement made was that Fritz Keller is in the process of purchasing the Dreisamstadion back from MAGE SOLAR so that new developments can be planned for expanding the stadium's capacity.

The final announcement made was that Matthäus had signed a new contract extension with Freiburg, keeping him at the club until 2018. Matthäus apologised for his actions in the Summer regarding Bayern, and promised to make it up to the fans, players and board this season. This was a shocking discovery for the many spectators who believed Matthäus had been sacked, and one that may well divide fans over their opinions on Matthäus' actions.

Either way, fans will be happy to know that their stadium is returning to its rightful owners, and will be hoping that Matthäus can carry on the club's form from last season into this season.​
 
Any feedback so far would be appreciated for those who may be reading :)
 
Thanks mate, will probably update again tomorrow, start of the season is looking good a few weeks in though I must admit!
 
well as long as you stay where you are and build them up to be the next power in germany and not look for another job while you still have 1 you will be ok ill be reading
 
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