The Bundesliga Show - Leverkusen Extra

Jon Hartley talks to Eurosport commentator & uefa.com reporter Ian Holyman about Bayer Leverkusen's dramatic win over Chelsea in the Champions League to secure their place in the next round of the competition.

The Bundesliga Show - Leverkusen Extra by soundoffootball

Dutt-Struck Luck This Time

In the interest of full disclosure, the following words come from a bitter Bayer Leverkusen fan. Jon & Terry neither endorse this sort of knee-jerk analysis nor ascribe to the slightly deranged opinions mentioned below. Or they could--I just didn't ask them. 

Bayer 04 should give those three points back to Valencia and someone should tie a knot in Robin Dutt's scarf out of spite. Yes, Leverkusen rallied to nip three points off the Spaniards in a crucial Champions League tie at BayArena, but honestly, the victory does not feel deserved. The more important points, though, were matters of an ongoing nature, and the final outcome--which finds Werkself sitting on 6 points and 2nd in the group--glosses over these concerns like whitewash on a dirty and rotted wooden fence. Perhaps this is being overly critical of the club and its trainer only a few matches into the Bundesliga season and the alternate legs of European fixtures still to come, so take this with a grain of salt.

There are three points to the bad that can be taken from that Valencia match, and they are unlikely to be addressed before Bayer 04 take on Los Che at the Mestalla nor in the preceding Bundesliga matches against Schalke 04 (massive) and Freiburg. That realisation is more frustrating than what transpired against the Vampire-Bats, or whatever it is Los Che means.

To begin, what purpose did Michael Ballack serve on the pitch? Yes, this is a pinched nerve with Leverkusen supporters, but overall he was dreadful against Valencia. Having read the Bild story about how "Captain Ballack" dragged the club back with a brilliant 190 seconds of work, one would get the impression he had a good match. Isolating on him, though, it appeared he played most of the match at a trot slower than a farm horse with a broken back and couldn't be too bothered about tracking back defensively, or moving beyond the speed of a submarine turning around in the water.

About the only thing that was right about the Bild story was he pretended to be a part of the match for a little over three minutes.

With Ballack in a more advanced position and doing virtually nothing other than looking for his Valencia defender and sticking close to him in case he had a snack or something, Ballack deprived both the attack and the defense throughout the match. At several points during both halves, Stefan Kießling was to be found having to track back considerably to assist on defending out wide--perhaps where "El Capitan" should have been. Further, there are too many times when Kießling was seen actually running past a lethargic Ballack far too deep in the midfield from his striker's position to pressure an opponent on the ball or streaking in for a loose ball, then having to turn back to goal and dribble in to restart the attack. Isn't that what Ballack should have been doing the whole time, with Stefan positioned somewhat more dangerously?

The trickle-down effect--Reaganomics works people!--was that Simon Rolfes was made largely irrelevant where he was positioned. Ballack was occupying an area of the pitch Rolfes could have made some contribution out of in terms of being able to better link the midfield and the forwards, but instead he played a bit further back defensively in the 4-2-3-1 formation, which was of no help to anyone else wearing red and black on the evening. While there are some who will question his true worth, it is a certainty Rolfes would have done more playing in the more advanced CAM Dutt had Ballack occupy.

In actuality, Rolfes did little more than get in Lars Bender's way and quite often forced him to perform the lion's share of the dirty work on a night when at least two of Leverkusen's elder statesmen couldn't be bothered. Judging by the number of times Bender committed to a tackle or slid to sneak an errant pass from Valencia's midfielder, perhaps Rolfes was concerned that, given his age and injury history, he'd crack a hip doing the same thing.

And he probably would have, which begs the question: why was Rolfes one of your holding midfielders while Ballack played up top Herr Dutt? Surely he spotted this same comedy of errors taking place and adjusted accordingly, right? Nein. Instead, the incongruity was allowed to continue, and in truth, the two goals where created mainly through the quality of Schürrle and Sam. Andre's shot was a thunderbolt that punished Los Che for not moving out of their own penalty area quickly enough whereas the second came about because Sidney had the speed to get to that lazy pass from Ballack faster than his defender. Other than those moments, the remainder of the match was like a flaming bag of dog poo placed on the front porch by those meddling kids.

It is the season for tricks and treats, after all. For Leverkusen fans, let's hope Dutt's got new tricks available soon, because there will not be too many more treats such as the one given Wednesday evening either in Champions League or Bundesliga.

The Bundesliga Show Episode 35 - Matchday 8 and the Northern Entertainers

A short but sweet Bundesliga Show this week, where Terry Duffelen and Jon Hartley talk over Matchday 8, Bayern's draw, Derdyok's wonder goal and the Northern Derby cracker between Hannover and Bremen.

Also in the show, a chat with Tim Röhn from Bild about the never boring boys from Bremen.

The Bundesliga Show Episode 35 - Matchday 8 and the Northern Entertainers by soundoffootball

And So It Begins

Charging forward like a locomotive fueled by ambition and belching steam from all the euros that clubs burned to reach this much celebrated stage, the Champions League begins this week. At least, it feels a bit like group play of the 2011/12 competition has rushed upon us after having seemed so far away previously, still stuck at the station, waiting for more passengers prior to departure. This season's Bundesliga participants might not be entirely ready for this oncoming freight train either, but the time has passed for flagging down the conductor and asking him to slow down. The whistle is about to blow for things to start--they will just have to hope they weren't left looking for postcards in the station's gift shop before getting on board.

Of course, Bayern Munich have ridden these rails so often, the Bavarians were already enjoying cocktails in the dining cart before anyone else in their group took a seat. Jupp Heynckes already had to tell Mario Gomez to stop giggling when Philipp Lahm was asked to show proof of age in order to buy a pint. Twice.

No, Bundesliga's other two participants, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, might be the ones looking a bit out of sorts before this Champions League play starts. Both sides have had their share of glory and--yes, in the case of Leverkusen--almost glory in this competition, but for both it has been a few years since either have returned to the grandest European contest; this lack of inexperience will likely show at some point during group play one would imagine. The same could be said for the trainers of both clubs, although Dortmund's rather animated coach Jürgen Klopp has managed Europa League ties, with Mainz 05 (in ye olde UEFA Cup days) and with the Borussians last season. Werkself's trainer Robin Dutt was just plucked out of the Black Forest not too long ago, though, so he might find the glare of the Champions League spotlight rather bright at Stamford Bridge.

Then again, both BvB and Bayer 04 finished above Bayern in last season's Bundesliga, so obviously there is top quality in both squads--why should either be given short shrift just because they lack a certain experience? After all, Tottenham Hotspur and Harry Redknapp showed for a time in this competition last season that sometimes all you need to do is run about and things might go your way. A key problem with this rationale, however, is that neither Dortmund nor Leverkusen are the same sides that finished first and second respectively to qualify. Both lost arguably their best players in the close season, with Nuri Sahin becoming the latest Bundesliga acquisition of Real Madrid while Arturo Vidal headed south to join the Old Lady. In fact, Vidal's so good, they even built a new home stadium just for him at Juventus.

Also, don't look up that fact for accuracy.

In short, both these sides lost the midfield engines that brought them such great success last season and thus far have been hard-pressed to replace the attributes they exhibited on the pitch. For BvB, Sahin was a perfect link between defence and attack, sparking offensive movements of his own deep in his own half at times and pulling off passes only he could see finding the proper target. As for Vidal, he developed into one of the best tacklers in the German top flight last season, and his confident control on the ball allowed his teammates to re-position themselves appropriately to pose either a scoring threat or be better placed to effectively defend. These types of skills will likely be sorely missed when going up against some of Europe's better squads, and Bundesliga observers must hope neither side will have their shorts pulled down about their ankles as Werder Bremen did last season.

Still, both could be set to ride this Champions League train for a while given the groups in which they have been placed. With Woolwichmund approaching (because it seems labeling the Arsenal v BvB encounters "Arsemund" is something rather disgusting) and the Gunners not in the greatest of shapes entering group play, Klopp and Dortmund might have the early upper hand at the Westfalenstadion. Really, in Group F the other three sides are all out of sorts thus far, with Arsenal having recently been humbled by an 8-2 drubbing from Manchester United in the Premiership, Olympique Marseille having yet to record a win in Ligue Un, and Olympiakos...uh...for playing in the Greek league?

This is a Bundesliga site, not a Hellenic one--please be gentle. What this could mean, though, is Group F looks set to be evenly matched at the outset, and Borussia Dortmund could find themselves blitzing through as group winners should Klopp employ the frenetic, lung-bursting attacking style his squads seemed built to do.

As for Bayer Leverkusen, the Werkself might have less of a chance with Chelsea and Valencia expected to top Group E. The Michael Ballack farewell tour appears to have the makings of a mucky midfield scrap, and  if AVB employs the proper tactics befitting his reputation, Dutt might ask to borrow his chalk board. Bayer 04 might have thought they received a reprieve when midfielder Juan Mata was allowed to leave Valencia, but he'll be opposing them at Stamford Bridge for the Blues instead. Rene Adler will likely be out until at least October, and while Bernd Leno has performed well in goal for Leverkusen in Bundesliga, he will be manning the net against extremely seasoned Champions League campaigners without an equally experienced centre back pairing in front of him to act as a security blanket.

The hope for Bayer, perhaps, lies in the Torres factor. Having recently had his comments regarding his Chelsea teammates come under club scrutiny, along with his rather poor rate of return following January's sensational transfer from Liverpool, Fernando Torres has yet to discover how to win friends and influence his neighbours in London. He came on as a substitute in Chelsea's most recent Premiership match, perhaps with an eye to saving him for this Champions League encounter with Leverkusen. With the club investigating his disparaging remarks about the squad and with Didier Drogba unavailable, might AVB opt for a forward partnership that includes young Daniel Sturridge instead of Torres, or does he start Torres and hope everyone plays nice?

Mario Gomez is still giggling in the dining cart, by the way.

As for Bayern Munich, what could be said as they prepare for Wednesday's trip to El Madrigal? Considering the Red Shorts just completed putting seven past SC Freiburg and Villarreal began their La Liga campaign by shipping five to Barcelona, this might be the least intriguing Champions League match involving a Bundesliga side. Expect much to be made of their tussle with Manchester City in a few weeks instead, when Germany's No. 1 squares off against England's No. 1 at the Allianz Arena. This week, however, one might imagine the Bavarians should sink the Yellow Submarine and announce to the other clubs they will be fighting for the second spot in Group A.

So, the train has left the station. How far will Bundesliga's representatives be riding it? For those of us following the fates of these clubs, here's hoping none of their campaigns become derailed too soon, particularly when the final destination stops in Munich.

Thunder Bernd

Across the pond, we have a delightfully horrid beverage known as Thunderbird. A fortified wine, it is intended to get you properly inebriated while simultaneously providing you with a curious sensation of having just licked asphalt after consuming the bottle's contents. An occasional side effect includes discoloration of your lips, just to add a bit of comic relief to your evening should you find yourself venturing anywhere else from the parking lot of the liquor store from where you purchased said Thunderbird. Of the prime reasons why it still exists and is sold in an age when bathtub gin is no longer a prerequisite for getting tanked, Thunderbird is incredibly cheap and ready to be used almost immediately upon procurement.

It even comes in a tiny brown paper bag that can be recycled, which is good to Mother Earth and all.

This leads us, completely unnaturally, to Bayer Leverkusen's current man between the sticks, Bernd Leno. When the young player was taken on loan from VfB Stuttgart 10 August following the mess David Yelldell made in Werkself's 1st round loss in the DFB Pokal and a concussion suffered by Fabian Giefer in the 2-0 league loss to Mainz,he was immediately thrown into the starting XI against a tricky Werder Bremen side. One clean sheet and a win later, he remained the No. 1 and was put up against those very same Swabians who had loaned him out the previous fortnight. The result was identical--another clean sheet for Leno, another three points for Leverkusen. Certainly, facing last season's champions in form of Borussia Dortmund, complemented with all the attacking verve to make even the most seasoned Bundesliga GK sweat through his gloves, Leno would be caught out, right? Yet again, Leno produced a clean sheet, making some remarkable saves along the way in a tense affair likely to be remembered when those two sides meet next at the Westfalenstadion.

Leno was ready to intoxicate, right out of the bag, and came relatively cheap too. Let's hope he doesn't make Robin Dutt feel like he's been licking a dirty street later by falling out of form.

Anyone listening to the English commentary of that BvB match might have been struck by some of the hyperbole spilling forth later in the 2nd half, when Leno's performance was being compared to that of Manuel Neuer. To begin, Dortmund attacking players did not seem to all be dancing to the same rhythm beat out by Juergen Klopp on the day, which made the 19 yr old's day considerably easier. Further, this was only his third senior Bundesliga match, and neither Werder nor Stuttgart were considered overwhelming favourites in his opening two matches. Still, though, his display against the reigning Bundesliga champions and his third straight match without allowing a goal might suggest young Bernd might be a bit special going forward, but perhaps Neuer comparisons should be tempered just a while longer.

For a young keeper, he has thus far demonstrated considerable skill in anticipating when a troublesome cross is coming his way and where he should be positioned. He also has displayed alacrity with respect to decisions on when to come off his line and smother a loose ball, rather than deferring to his defenders to see off a threat. It has even been remarked by teammates like Hanno Balitsch that Leno has no fears over being vocal from the back and appears confident in the decisions he makes, both in training and during the match. Perhaps the most difficult adjustment for a young, inexperienced keeper in any top flight to make--particularly in Bundesliga--comes down to positional awareness and a lack of fear in taking charge of his penalty area. With the higher quality opposition in Germany's top flight often widening their attacks and sending in crosses from the wings for other players to dart into the centre for a quick strike, these are two qualities essential for success for GK in Bundesliga.

Just ask Thomas Kraft about that, after his good but not so great time with Bayern Munich last season.

Next for young Thunder Bernd--yes, this is a nickname I am considering using for him, so you will have to abide--is newly promoted Augsburg. While this side appears to pose little challenge to Bayer 04, their early season play suggests the gameplan is to go wide and confuse the opposition's keeper so that he forgets Sascha Molders is standing right there on his doorstep ready to crack a shot past him. Here again presents a new challenge for Leno and, should he perform similarly to his previous three performances, Rudi Voeller will likely be in contact with VfB hashing out the details of a permanent move for the lad rather than ending his loan spell with Bayer 04 at the winter break.

After all, when you have discovered Dom Perignon was filled in that bottle of Thunderbird you purchased at the last minute in a fit of desperation, you don't want to have to go back into the store and run the risk of buying actual Thunderbird, do you? That is, unless you needed to get something for Yelldell to drink to go with the hash he made earlier?

A 2011/12 Bundesliga Preview: What Happens to Idle Hands & An Adled Brain

In truth, there are many websites and blogs about that would present a more thorough and likely informative preview of the league, delving specifically into each club's strengths and weaknesses. My guess is by the time this is posted, Jon & Terry will have done that very thing in a podcast format, so I'm at a distinct disadvantage. The other excellent contributors to this site would also be much more qualified to present an overall primer for the upcoming 2011/12 Bundesliga season. So why have I done so instead, risking general scorn and derision with something that is certain to be far off the mark?

Well, the computers were down at my office, and I was bored. So, let's begin with last season's top clubs and proceed forward.

Borussia Dortmund
The electrifying display by BvB last season led to a league title for Jürgen Klopp's lads that no one saw coming. With Nuri Sahin guiding the attack from the midfield, Shinji Kagawa and Mario Götze flashing across the goal, Großkreutz, Lewandowski, or Kuba bombing down the flanks, along with exemplary defensive work by central defenders Subotic & Hummels, Dortmund withstood a slight sag in their final form to take the Hubcap for the first time since 2002.

One of the keys to that campaign--along with breathtaking offensive play & solid defensive work--was home form. Westfalenstadion was treated as a virtual fortress by BvB, with only 1 loss at home all campaign--the opening fixture to Bayer Leverkusen.

Might they have the chance to repeat? The Special One swooped for Sahin but Klopp reloaded with former 1.FC Nürnberg midfielder Silky Ilkay Gündogan taking Sahin's spot alongside solid defensive midfielder Sven Bender. Silky's a promising young player and should fit in nicely with the squad built by Klopp--which remained mostly intact--but he is not as similar player as Sahin when it comes to playmaking.

Gündogan can, at times, get bogged down in a midfield that Sahin would glide through more easily because his vision is considerably developed for a player his age. Further, Silky's not as proficient at dropping back to help out a fullback or CB in distress, as Nuri demonstrated with aplomb last season. Finally, Sahin's passing skills are remarkable--again, that vision thing--and anyone who would have been brought in to replace him would simply not be able to provide the same level of quality to Dortmund's dazzling 2010/11 form.

Also, BvB now must contend with Champions League competition as well. Last season, Klopp's charges bowed out of Europa League and the DFB Pokal Cup play quite early and were able to concentrate just on their league play. So, while BvB will likely not be repeating as Bundesliga champions--after all, this is Bundesliga, champions and managers change by the minute--the side should still be battling near the top of the division rather than mid-table or below. Potentially the 2011/12 Bundesliga champion will be...

Bayer Leverkusen
Kidding. Supremely kidding. Die Werkself have a good bit of work to do if they wish to stay in the upper tier of the top flight. Jupp Heynckes has gone back to manage Bayern Munich, Sami Hyypiä retired, Arturo Vidal's gone south to Juventus, and Stefan Kießling is still, well, Stefan Kießling. Think of him as Peter Crouch sans Robot Dance and with slightly better accuracy with his noggin.

And while the club did attempt to replace the fabulous Finn with talented young defender Ömer Toprak from SC Freiburg, nothing has been done to shore up the fullback positions, notably at RB. Bayer 04 has already been knocked out of the German Cup in the first round by newly promoted 2.Bundesliga club Dynamo Dresden by a score of 4-3. In case you hadn't heard, Leverkusen lost that affair despite Dresden spotting them a 3 goal lead. The comeback came about largely because of mistakes made from RB Hanno Balitsch along with GK David Yelldell.

That's right, David Yelldell has been deputized as Bayer's No. 1 in Rene Adler's absence, and he had a rather difficult time between the sticks in Leverkusen's first competitive match of the season. So, at the beginning of this campaign Werkself have two glaring weaknesses that most of Bundesliga and whomever they face in the Champions League group stage will tear apart should continued defensive issues not be addressed prior to the end of the close season or if Adler's recovery time is more extensive that initially believed.

It won't matter how many goals offensively-gifted newcomer Andre Schürrle or that little sparkplug, Sidney Sam, can score from the flanks if Leverkusen's fullbacks consistently find themselves pinched in and leave Toprak, Stefan Reinartz, or Manuel Friedrich at the mercy of Bundesliga's top wing players with less than reliable hands behind them.

As for new manager Robin Dutt, well, we'll see. He performed minor miracles over the years for a small SC Freiburg side that had spent most of its history in the 2nd division rather than in the top flight as it does today. And, given time, Dutt should be able to impress at Leverkusen, but likely not this year. This is truly his first "big" job managing in German football, so being slightly unproven at a top club with the additional headaches of Champions League group play ahead, there are enough doubts about Dutt to suggest there will probably be a slight downward adjustment to Bayer Leverkusen's aspirations this campaign. Qualifying for a Europa League spot would be a successful season, methinks.

Wait, a manager taking the reins of his first big-time football club, a slightly dodgy US keeper who's replaced a very good keeper that sometimes makes brilliant saves yet makes a hash of easy ones, problems at RB, likely finishing between 5th & 7th, and a lanky centre forward with slight accuracy problems? Bloody hell--I support the Tottenham Hotspur of Germany.

Bayern Munich
Here are your favorites to reclaim the Hubcap this season. The Bavarian braintrust was slightly perturbed at Louis van Gaal's handling last season, so they brought back a trusted old hand in Jupp to be a bit of a caretaker for a club that's brimming with enough quality to truly dominate the league and make a deep run in the Champions League. If you recall, this year's CL Final takes place at Bayern's stadium, and die Roten want to be at the Allianz as participants rather than simply hosts. It has already been a decade since FC Hollywood last won that jug-eared cup, and Nerlinger, Hoeneß, and Rummenigge want it back, regardless of cost.

Which of course, brings us to Bayern's biggest transfer activities of the summer. While they were unable to get their hands on Vidal--Rudi Völler flat out refused to sell the Chilean to Bayern regardless of price--the Bavarians splashed out over €19 million to bring in Germany's No.1 GK Manuel Neuer, and shelled out nearly €12 million to return Jerome Boateng to the land of his birth after his ill-fated Manchester excursion. Along with other transfers, including an intriguing ones that brought former Gamba Osaka MF Takashi Usami in for less than €300 thousand, Bayern Munich have already spent 1/3 of the total transfer purchases debited to Bundesliga clubs this summer.

The cash is flashing, and it's not yet done, as there are rumors about regarding a possible move for Chelsea's defender Alex.

Does money buy you a title? Not necessarily, but when you're Bayern Munich, it probably does. The club still has a depth of talent littered about the midfield along with solidly reliable wee captain Lahm, so for them, they probably could score enough goals to win after forking over a lot of euros to Schalke 04 for the best keeper in the league to stop all he sees. Some things never change, though, as Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry have already picked up early injuries from action in pre-season friendlies, so the winged duo might be slowed at the start of the season.

Honestly, it should be down in the standard manager's manual to bubble-wrap those two and not unwrap them only when league play starts.

Those Being Notables
One of the biggest reasons for believing Bayern Munich will likely finish as league champions this season, though, is because the other pretenders to the throne seem to have been weakened by the summer transfer season. Dortmund and Leverkusen have already been mentioned, and other potential upper tier clubs like Hamburg and Schalke 04 have not appeared to have strengthened enough to truly challenge just yet. Until Wolfsburg sort out Diego and Felix Magath finds a way to re-educate young Simon Kjaer on how to play defense, die Wölfe are likely too far out. Bruno Labbadia will likely reach his expiration date with VfB Stuttgart, derailing that club's chances at the top, and Hannover 96 will remain quietly just hanging around, much as they did last year.

As for Mainz 05, in addition to losing Schürrle and Lewis Holtby in the off season, they will be competing in Europa League after last year's fantastic campaign. Much like BvB last year, Thomas Tuchel had nothing but the league to focus on, so it would be difficult to imagine the Carnival Club being back amongst the leaders this season while trying to balance a smallish squad with the rigors of an additional cup competition. Any finish somewhere mid-table in front of the supporters at their spanking new Colface Arena should be considered a success.

Outside of 1.FC Köln--which might surprise under new manager Ståle Solbakken--my pick for a club poised to make a run this season is 1899 Hoffenheim. Long-serving FC St. Pauli manager Holger Stanislawski was named the new boss at the Sinsheim club prior to the end of last season, and for some reason I think his arrival might finally kick 1899 out of its mid-level funk and seriously push further up the table this campaign. For some unknown reason, something tells me Stanis will find a way to get the best out of Icelandic heartthrob Gylfi Sigurðsson and sort out Ryan Babel to become a somewhat reliable scorer. Look for Germany's richest village club to be more dynamic this campaign and be nearer the European spots near season's end than perhaps you might imagine.

Just try to ignore the fact they still have Edson Braafheid in the squad.

Those Needing Potent Potables
As for the rest? If SC Freiburg lose Papiss Demba Cissé by the end of the month--and considering they already signed Garra Dembele earlier anticipating his departure, it's expected to happen--the Breisgau-Brasilianers are possibly headed for a return to 2.Bundesliga. Remember, no Robin Dutt anymore. Newly promoted club FC Augsburg will likely be joining them, as the step up to the top flight will be too much for a club that has spent most of its history hovering about the third division. 1.FC Nürnberg might find themselves in the 16th position as they did a couple seasons ago, but most probably would win a relegation playoff--again, as it did a couple seasons ago. The other clubs finish somewhere in between, but accurately predicting where is like getting me to appreciate Mario Gomez.

It's just not going to happen.

There you have it--a far too long preview for the 2011/12 Bundesliga season that had virtually no worth. If you read down this far, congrats. You either actually care about German football, don't mind being slightly insulted, or your computer systems were down at work like mine.

The Bundesliga Show 27 - First Round Cup Folly, the big Bundesliga kick-off and Jim Proudfoot

The Bundesliga is almost back, but before the big kick-off there was the return of the DFB Pokal to wet our appetite's - Jon Hartley and Terry Duffelen round up the results from the German Cup 1st Round.

The show also welcomes its first special guest of the new season, commentator Jim Proudfoot, who looks ahead to the season opener between Dortmund and HSV and also gives his thoughts on the up coming campaign. 

The Bundesliga Show 27 - First Round Cup Folly, the big Bundesliga kick-off and Jim Proudfoot by soundoffootball

Profile: Arturo Vidal

It’s turning into a tough night in San Juan. Chile are embroiled in a surprisingly difficult Copa America match with a surprisingly obstinate Mexico side. It is a night where Chilean international Arturo Vidal finds himself apologising to his team mates, once again. After an ill conceived volley has almost gone out for a throw in, a few minutes later some edge-of-the-box trickery has resulted in another hasty and fruitless shot. Mexico are defending a one-goal lead and despite their dominance, Chile are running out of options.

Eventually, the Chileans strike back with two set-piece goals. In a Copa America tournament where the favourites are struggling, Chile laboured to narrowly beat a massively under strength Mexico team. The second goal was a bullet header from that man Vidal. As the whistle blows, relieved and elated, Vidal celebrates with his team mates. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Germany, some very anxious people in Leverkusen and Munich are waiting for Vidal's return as they'd like his help in resolving a transfer issue, namely his.

Vidal is one of those players who confounds the tacticians. Technically, he’s supposed to be a defensive midfielder. However the ten Bundesliga goals and eleven assists to his name last season suggests a slightly more rounded player, to put it mildly.

In fact, Vidal is the epitome of the kind of modern midfielder who can do pretty much everything a modern football coach asks of him. They may be different players in many respects but in terms of football values, he is similar to Nuri Sahin or Luka Modric. More than an all-rounder, in the sense of a utility player. More like the cricketer Ian Botham who was brilliant with the bat, ball or in the field, Arturo Vidal is a jack of all trades and master of all, to boot.

There is an element of romance about his back story. Vidal hails from San Joaquin, a working class community in Santiago. No doubt he had to emerge from a congested field of hungry boys, desperate to fulfil their dreams of professional football and improve their lives. Vidal joined the youth ranks of the Santiago giants, Colo Colo. Two Aperturas and one Clausura later, he made the move to Europe and Bayer Leverkusen.

Needless to say, as a Leverkusen player, he has found domestic honours somewhat hard to come by, although he has come pretty close to the Bundesliga title since his arrival in 2007. Last season, however, was his big season and Vidal, perhaps benefiting from his experience in Marcelo Bielsa’s Chilean World Cup team, has matured into one of the best midfielders in the Bundesliga. Next season, he should be regarded as one of the best in the world as he takes his place in the UEFA Champions League. The question is, for which club will he be playing?

Vidal’s contract is up next year with no suggestion that he intends to renew. Leverkusen’s position is that they plan to keep him for the remainder of his contract, even if that means letting him go for no transfer fee. Presumably, the rationale behind this is that if he helps last season’s League runners up finally win the Bundesliga title and steers them into the Second Round of the Champions League then he will have easily made back the roughly €10 million that Bayern Munich have offered to take him a year early. Alternatively, Sporting Director Rudi Völler is making big noises to try and extract more money.

An added complication is a bid from Italian club, Juventus. However, to what extent Vidal can be lured by the prospect of Serie A football and no Champions League may depend on whether the Old Lady can convince him that at 23 he still has time to grow into a renewed Juve or how much cash they are prepared to offer him.

At the time of writing, the smart money seems to be that he will stay at Leverkusen for another season before joining his old boss Jupp Heynckes at Bayern Munich. However, for all we know he could arrive at the airport to take him back to Germany from Argentina, with or without a Copa America winner’s medal, only to find a Learjet waiting for him on the runway containing a well known sausage merchant holding a flight plan to Munich.