Instead of what might have been a rather expected double to send of Jupp Heynckes, instead Bayern never seemed able to catch their breath after suffering defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League semi finals. Mia San Rot’s Marc Almstedt and Maurice Hauss join host Susie Schaaf to chat about the last two matches and more. Just glancing over the disappointing (yet, meaningless) Stuttgart game, the trio take a bite in to the DFB Pokal against Frankfurt. Future Bayern trainer Niko Kovac set his XI perfectly, while the group feel like the out-going Heynckes might have started a more effective Startelf. Individual mistakes also came in to play in the loss in Berlin, before the crew talk about some pretty contentious VAR decisions from referee Felix Zwayer. A talk about the misguided anger at certain players by a large part of fandom is discussed, as well as how muted the ceremonies at the Allianz Arena and Marienplatz seemed to be this year. Susie and Marc debate Maurice’s season-end grades for the entire senior squad, before they all take a glance in to the future. Will Kovac play a 3-5-2 next season? With rumors swirling around some of Bayern’s starters, who is really on their way out? Before they close down the last podcast of the season, the team discusses a couple of listener questions before giving their very early expectations for next season. Thank you, as always, for listening! And in case you think you’ll be without the podcast this summer? You are in luck! The MSR team will be recording for World Cup competition-- with an emphasis on all Bayern players representing their respective nations. Mia san mia. Danke, Jupp!

Miasanrot.com FC Bayern Podcast

MSR-EN028 All Good Things Must Come To An End

There are two different segments to this one. First, host Susie Schaaf is joined by Marc Almstedt to chat about Bayern Munich’s 4:1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt and next year’s trainer, Niko Kovac. The chat about SGE-FCB is centered mainly on the youth that were promoted for the game and how they performed. After segueing massively off-topic-- as this podcast is wont to do-- the pair bring it back in to talk about what this match might mean for Kovac going in to the DFB Pokal final, and if there will be any lingering misgivings over the result. In the second segment, Susie is joined by an English language commentating legend-- Phil Bonney. Before the loss to Real Madrid is discussed, as well as the victory at relegated Koeln, Susie gets the rare opportunity to chat with Phil about his career in broadcasting-- when did he start, how did it all come about, and most importantly? What was his favourite match he ever got a chance to call. Moving on to Bayern’s dump out of the Champions League at the hands of old foes, Madrid, Phil and Susie discuss how much criticism can be leveled at the players. Is VAR warranted in Champions League competition? And do most Bayern fans have it better than they think? Phil is based out of Koeln, so he provides a sort of overview of the season and the team’s slide in to relegation, but the pair would be shocked if the Billy Goats didn’t come right back up in 2019. There are plenty of bits of history, a stellar look at what it is like to do Mr. Bonney’s job, and one or two errors might be mentioned (only compounded by making another error during the podcast. Haha.) It’s a long one, folks. But with a character as interesting as Phil, Susie was reluctant to let him off the line. Thank you, as always, for listening! Mia san mia. Mia san Rot

MSR-EN027 Frankfurt, Madrid, Koeln

Bayern got a slow start against Hannover, but eventually ran out 3:0 victors in what is now a basically meaningless Bundesliga match. And the big stuff comes in the second half of the pod where we’ll discuss the 1:2 loss at home to Real Madrid, and all the news surrounding the Champions League semi final tie. Before delving in to the pair of matches, Susie and Dennis chat about their geek fandoms and why exactly the podcast was being recorded in the middle of the night in Germany. Getting back to the pressing topics, the Hannover match appears first with most of the talk pointed on U-19 Lukas Mai and his debut as the first 2000-era player for Bayern, and his signing to a professional contract. But, the pair realize nobody really is interested in this particular Bundesliga match, so they move on rather quickly… Whew. The loss to Real Madrid is the heart of the podcast-- with a few segues elsewhere-- as the duo break down the match tactically, and call out performances pretty much across the board. Might Jupp Heynckes have been able to change the match more effectively had he not been hampered by two early substitutions? Is Robert Lewandowski really a flop for Bayern? What did Madrid do particularly well? Did Franck Ribery really have a “great” match? Assessing Bayern’s chances in the return tie at the Bernabeu-- and how Bayern might go through to the final are talked about before ending with some thoughts on Niko Kovac, Eintracht Frankfurt, Saturday’s match and the Pokal finale. Thanks, loyal listeners, as always. We’ll be back shortly! Mia san mia. Mia san Rot.

MSR-EN026 Hannover and the team that shall not be named

The trio got a lot wrong here. We had all pegged Schalke 04 to beat Frankfurt to progress to the DFB Pokal finals, as well as picking ‘Kusen over Dortmund in their derby match on the weekend. Beyond all of the collective bad calls, Eric, Tom and Susie discussed fandom-- in the stadiums and throughout the world-- whatever the result. We promise, there is match chat, too! Thank you, as always, for listening! And we will be back with you after la Bestia Negra vanquishes Real Madrid in Munich.

MSR-EN025 Leverkusen Pokal match

Bayern Munich had a busy week with a 0:0 draw surrounded by a couple of goalfests. Even off the pitch things got interesting as the team welcomes Niko Kovac as Jupp Heynckes’ heir-apparent as well as some sad news about Arturo Vidal. Marc Almstedt joins host Susie Schaaf to run through all the good stuff. The Augsburg match is the first item on deck as the pair discuss FCA’s first half press, and the general lack of lustre surrounding Bayern’s sixth consecutive title win on the trot. Moving on to the Sevilla game, Marc and Susie never really thought Bayern’s progression was in doubt, although the Spanish side did have their chances. The overtly physical (murderous) play of the away team would be a cause for concern, but the duo agree that FCB were able to keep their heads straight, and are entering the semifinals suffering zero suspensions (out of a possible six). The devastation of Gladbach was fun for all Bayern fans to watch-- although it did not necessarily seem like that from the start of the match. Does going down a goal early-- like Bayern is prone to do-- help or hurt the team down the stretch? The podcast closes out with the pair’s opinions on the Kovac hiring, and what Arturo Vidal’s injury means for the team moving forward through the crux of the season. Thank you, as always, for listening. Mia san mia.

MSR-EN024 A title, the semifinals and a new trainer

The thrashing of BVB is up first as Susie muses just how terrible Dortmund have been playing of late. After a few giggles, the trio discuss Bayern’s verticality of play and how a lot of their goals came from interceptions. The midfield trio of Thomas Mueller, James Rodriguez and Javi Martinez is widely praised, but what does this mean for Thiago Alcantara? Moving on to Sevilla, Maurice and Susie ponder whether Jupp Heynckes’ starting XI was the correct one for this match, the awesomeness of *that* Martinez tackle, and the very poor play of Juan Bernat. Sevilla would be unable to keep up their first half furious pace, and the podcast team shows some love for Thiago’s winning goal. Franck Ribery’s silly early yellow card is also chatted about, and well as how his emotions tend to dictate how FCB plays. They end the episode with another very funny round table discussion over who the next Bayern coach will be. Thank you, as always, for joining us! Mia san mia.

MSR-EN023 BVB and Sevilla

It’s far more interesting to talk about a loss than it is to chat about wins for Bayern Munich, so the pair treat this (relatively) short podcast as such. First up is the standard HSV butt-kicking that FCB have handed down over the last couple of seasons: Is this the year the clock actually stops in Hamburg? Is losing them to 2. Bundesliga a great loss? While Thomas Mueller had a fantastic match, is Hamburg the correct team for him to be judged on? Next the duo travel to the seething crowds in Istanbul, but sadly, with Bayern being up 5:0 in the first leg, the result was already a foregone conclusion. But, wait! The star of the show was a cat! (And no, to all who asked, it was not Susie’s cat.) The loss to Leipzig brings up plenty of questions from Jupp Heynckes’ selection, to what in the world was going on with Sebastian Rudy, but the one thing that was definitely agreed on by both Maurice and Susie was that Bayern wholly deserved to take a loss here. Of course this comes from a place of extreme privilege noting that Bayern will be holding the Meisterschale very soon. Segueing nicely from there, the pair ask some legitimate questions about Joachim Loew’s German National team selection, like: Why was Rudy called up? There’s the usual banter over “who would you rather?” as the DFB now will truly start to take some shape with the side they’ll bring to Russia. Thank you, as always, for listening in! We’ll rejoin you for a round-up after the friendlies with the hope that no one gets hurt before getting back into the heart of the season. Mia San Mia!

MSR-EN022 A loss, some wins, a cat and DFB

The win over Freiburg was not quite as glorious as the Hinrunde victory, but it was still impressive. Especially noting that fact that Bayern played an unfamiliar XI. But before the trio delve in to tactics, Adrian gives a run down of the SCF season so far, and what the team’s reasonable targets are. A 4-1-4-1 without any true wingers is discussed, and with it the suitability of a Juan Bernat/David Alaba left side. The seemingly weekly topic of Arturo Vidal at single pivot rears its ugly head again, before the chat turns a bit more positive as the Sandro Wagner/Thomas Mueller duo proved to be refreshingly fruitful. Moving on past the Freiburg game, the topic switches to the World Cup and the chances for Wagner and Nils Petersen to get to Russia. Along that vein, Sven Ulreich is also making a name for himself to do the same. The podcast closes out with the group kiboshing the Streich to Bayern rumor as ludicrous, before bringing up Jupp Heynckes’ public approval of Thomas Tuchel as his successor, and what that might mean for Bayern Munich going forward. Thanks, as always, for listening! Mia san mia.

MSR-EN021 Streich Back

The pair also discuss the always-present Robert Lewandowski transfer rumors, as well as the possibility of Malcolm coming to the club from Bordeaux. Sadly, they end this week with the horrible news of Kingsley Coman’s surgery. The conversation about the Besiktas match largely revolves around the first half of play where FCB couldn’t really get it going despite being a man up, then moving on to chatting about Hertha Berlin’s ultra-defensive set-up, and how the Reds found it very difficult to pick that lock. Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben didn’t exactly make cases for a contract extension with their play against Berlin, while Chris and Susie decide that they can allow Lewandowski his less-than-clinical goal scoring record for all the positives that he brings to Bayern’s XI. Speaking of Lewandowski, the duo chats about his change in management and what that could possibly mean going forward for the club. Also discussed: what options might be available if the Polish striker decides to leave. The Malcolm to Bayern rumors are heating up, and with that they look at who next season’s wing players might possibly be before moving on to the terrible news of Kingsley Coman’s ankle surgery. Is Bayern’s treble season dashed? How much can Jupp Heynckes depend on Ribery going forward? What changes in formation might Heynckes put forth to deal with the loss of such an emerging talent? Thanks, as always, for listening in! We’ll be back with you next week. Mia san mia.

MSR-EN020 BBC: Besiktas, Berlin, Coman

First up are the Bundesliga matches, both not entirely pleasant or comfortable 2-1 wins for FCB. The Schalke match veered into wildness at times, but Bayern’s wild man-- Vidal-- would be there to take control. The Wolfsburg game came with its own set of problems as the Reds fielded an unfamiliar line up. Next, Anup fields questions from Marc and Susie about both the U17 and 19 teams, how their structure is coming along, and who might we see in the senior side over the next few seasons. Manuel Neuer’s trip to Thailand, and his injury are discussed at length, as well as his treatment by Dr. Mueller-Wohlfahrt (and probably a bit too much about stem cell treatments). The trio leave off with a roundtable discussion on who might be leaving (or staying at) the club next season. Sorry for the delay on this one, folks, but it’s a heck of an episode. Thanks for joining us, as always, and we will be back to chat with you next week. Mia san mia.

MSR-EN019 Schalke, Wolfsburg & the youth

Susie and MSR’s Chris talk about those two matches, plus a bit about future coaching decisions and just what is going on with the Bundesliga these days. Mainz is first as Chris explains their midfield press and how it made life difficult for Bayern initially while Susie questions using a ‘B” side here and bringing out all the guns for the Paderborn game. Sandro Wagner’s first start is worth a mention, but the pair first segue off to chat about the ever-evolving news on who Bayern Munich’s next trainer will be. A very tidy 6-0 victory to reach the semi finals of the DFB Pokal competition is on deck as Susie and Chris discuss what went so much better for FCB here than against Mainz 05. The podcast closes out with a couple of quite important topics: 1) As the team comes to full fitness, who will be starting week in and week out? 2) What the heck is wrong with the Bundesliga this season? Why can’t anyone even attempt to catch up to Bayern at this point? Thank you, as always, for tuning in! We’ll catch up with you after a very tasty Schalke match! Mia san mia. P.S. Please rate us on iTunes!

MSR-EN018 Mainz and Paderborn

Bayern Munich made a rather remarkable comeback against Hoffenheim after going down 2:0, but whatever tactics could be discussed would always be eclipsed by Sandro Wagner’s hilarious goal on the day. Going beyond that, the trio discusses the Leon Goretzka transfer, as well as Serge Gnabry’s return to Bayern, before getting in to the heart of the futures for Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery at the club. Who is leaving in the summer gets some mention until the team talks Uli Hoeness’ fangirling over Jupp Heynckes. Are his quotes about “no plan B” posturing, or? It’s a very entertaining episode that covers a lot more than we initially thought it might. (Or, at least, Susie thinks so.) We hope to be back with you after the Paderborn Pokal match, and as always — thank you for listening! Mia san mia.

MSR-EN017 Go-Go Goretzka

The Bremen match is discussed first by the pair with Jupp Heynckes’ top-heavy 4-1-4-1 drawing scrutiny. It was an entertaining match (if you’re not a Bayern supporter). Ronan takes on the role of devil’s advocate here, as Susie picks apart the space around Javi Martinez and Franck Ribery’s over-earnest effort. Leon Goretzka is finally coming to Bayern from Schalke in July as the team talks about his meaning to Schalke and Bayern, how Bundesliga teams eat each other, and a return to FC Bayern Germany. Ronan and Susie answer a listener’s question about their opinion on FCB “missing out” on Alexis Sanchez and the possible pairing of he and Arturo Vidal (and that exit rumor) before talk turns to the new Nations League competition and what it all means. To be honest, Susie forgot it was even happening, but Ronan breaks it down in a way that everyone can understand. This episode is short and sweet-- tidy, even. Thank you, as always, for listening! We’ll be back to chat again after the Hoffenheim match. Mia san mia.

MSR-EN016 Bremen, Goretzka and Nations League

After getting the unmentionables out of the way, Eric and Susie get in to the match, discussing tactics by Heiko Herrlich going forward. Answering questions from @BundesPL, we talk about about Leverkusen’s three man backline. After all the chat about the match, we talk about the Bayer/Monsanto and the Bayern/Qatar ties, we delve a little bit in to to politics of sport. And there are no solutions. Eric and Susie chat about a whole lot, including California’s natural disasters and the care there of. Just go ahead and listen, you won’t be disappointed. Check it out. We’ll be right back with you soon. Mia san mia.

MSR-EN015 New year, new episode

It’s been a bit of a slog to close out the Hinrunde; thankfully Susie Schaaf has ESPN FC’s Stefan Buczko and Mark Lovell to help her disseminate a couple of close calls and some great front office business. Before the trio delve in to the Stuttgart and Dortmund matches, Sandro Wagner’s signing is discussed, as well as Kingsley Coman’s contract extension. Somehow this all leads to a great chat about who Bayern’s next trainer may be (we promise it all makes sense!). On to Stuttgart, as Susie questions her guests about that Niklas Suele penalty call before getting in to what VfB did right. And it wouldn’t be a Mia San Rot podcast without questioning the pairing of Arturo Vidal and Corentin Tolisso. The highlight of the podcast is the Pokal match and Stefan is, of course, the BVB expert. The three run down an abysmal first half for Dortmund, a stagnant second half for Bayern, and a bit of squeaky-bum-time towards the end of 90 minutes that just might have been a 2:2 draw. Is Jupp Heynckes purposefully throttling the tempo to just do enough to get the job done running to the end of the first half of the season? Why? Was Peter Stoeger’s defensive sub in the first half a wise move? All those questions are answered before both Mark and Stefan opine on where they see Munich and Dortmund at the business end of the Rueckrunde. Thank you, as always, for listening in! We’ll be doing some fun recordings over the break-- so please stay tuned! Meanwhile, we are wishing you and yours the happiest holiday season; however you celebrate and who you hold near and dear. Mia san mia.

MSR-EN014 Uncomfortably victorious

Listen to host Susie Schaaf and rotating panel from the Mia San Rot website chat weekly about all things FC Bayern Munich.

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Miasanrot.com FC Bayern Podcast

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