Canucks in Germany - January 2009

[Guest Ed]

Traditional start to the post-Christmas training - lactic acid / fitness test.

Here's Josh from today:

Some comments from Paul Stalteri as 'Gladbach get their training underway, from www.express.de:

Express: "Did you talk to Rob Friend about transferring to 'Gladbach'?"

P.S.: "Yes, he told me that 'Gladbach is a big traditional Bundesliga club with lots of potential. Staying up is always difficult for a promoted club. If we can do that, we could move up to the level of some of the big Bundesliga clubs."

Express: "What is expected of you and the other new signings with the club?"

P.S.: "Stabilize the defence. Thirty-five goals against is simply not good enough to get positive results".

Express: "Do you expect your crosses to put Rob Friend on the scoresheeet?"

P.S.: I know Rob's play well from our national team and I know he can score if crosses are put it into the box. I hope to provide some quality crosses as I did in qualifying."

[nolando]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

Traditional start to the post-Christmas training - lactic acid / fitness test.

P.S.: I know Rob's play well from our national team and I know he can score if crosses are put it into the box. I hope to provide some quality crosses as I did in qualifying."

I have a fair degree of respect for Stalteri, and this may have been taken out of context, but doesn't that last line sound a big self-aggrandizing? The Paul Stalteri I saw in WCQ last year was often one of our worst men on the pitch.

[Grizzly]

As much as I like Stalteri, I have to agree he was poor in WCQ and I can't recall many if any good crosses that he put in for Friend. I couldn't find the original article on the site you gave and don't know whether it is a translation or not but his answer to question 1 is pretty strange as well. It makes him sound like a player who never played in the Bundesliga and knows nothing about Borussia Monchengladbach while in actuality he would have played against them numerous times with Werder Bremen and be fully aware of what a big, traditional club it is.

[Guest Ed]

He was excellent in Edmonton against Mexico, playing wide right, getting in crosses. And he doesn't refer to specifically to crosses to Friend in the interview.

An excellent article today, from the website 11freunde.de, liberally (and quickly) translated by moi.

http://www.11freunde.de/bundesligen/116881

Cool picture!

How Paul Stalteri's Experience Can Rescue Gladbach

Text: Alex Raack Picture: Imago

The best days of Paul Stalteri's career are behind him. Nonetheless, he will strengthen the relegation threatened Borussia Mönchengladbach. In England, he learned how to survive in the relegation zone.

Paul Stalteri, a name almost forgotten in Germany. The 31 year old played at Werder Bremen for 8 years, 2 1/2 of those years for the reserve team. His trainer there, Thomas Schaaf. Schaaf changed the talented striker, whose first football experience was in the USA with Clemson University.

He gave Stalteri his debut in the first game of the 2000/01 season against Energie Cottbus, when Stalteri's friend and roommate on the road, the eccentric Ailton, had injured himself. Stalteri played alongside the Peruvian Claudio Pizarro in his historic debut. Not only had he, along with Kevin McKenna from the opposite side, become the first Canadians to start in the Bundesliga, but also he scored to make it 1-1, the first goal by a Canadian in the 37 year history of the Bundesliga. And, but for the play of his countryman, he would have had another but referee Wolfgang Stark called Stalteri's 2nd goal back on a foul on McKenna.

Schaaf made great use of Stalteri, putting the striker in at right back and even playing him on the left at times. Under his mentorship, Stalteri became a fan favourite in Bremen up until his transfer in 2005 and was no longer a 12th man.

In the championship season of 2003/2004, Stlateri was the starting right back. Beside the talented centre backs Kristajic and Ismael, he had an outstanding season and showed himself to be confident and reliable. Characteristics highly sought after in the Bundesliga.

The Canadian did not extend his contract with Bremen in 2005 and transferred instead into the English Premier League, to Tottenham Hotspurs. Two hard years followed a quite acceptable initial season (33 games). First a stubborn injury set him back and then he had to sit with the signing of one of the best right backs in the EPL, Frenchman Pascal Chimbonda. Stalteri's days with Spurs were numbered. He was loaned out to relegation candidate Fulahm in the winter of 2008. "I had never been in a relegation battle - a completely other kind of stress", said the defender after his arrival. "If you are with a club fighting for its survival, you take that stress and strain home with you everyday."

A 1-0 result against Portsmouth on the last day of the season ensured that Fulham would stay up. "I would have happily stayed", says Stalteri looking back, who, since his games with Fulham, has captained the Canadian team. But with Tottenham, Stalteri sat on the bench this season, a frustrating situation which Gladbach's trainer Hans Meyer has rescued him from.

PART TWO!!

Meyer knows his new signing cannot win games alone. But will not lose games. With Stalteri, the relegation threatened 'Gladbach get an experienced international and veteran team player whose capabilities they can use well. The 31-year-old has a reputation for being sure and safe, characteristics that were missing for Gladbach in the first half of the season. And that Meyer signed another player, Thomas Galasak, with similar experience, speaks for itself.

With Stalteri on the right side, he will provide the security that the defense has not had. With his experience as a striker, he can provide attacks down the flank, which can only improve the lifeless offensive game. His time in England in the top flight has made the combative Canadian an even stronger competitor as he has become tougher and uses his body more. Another plus: Thanks to the education by Thomas Schaaf, Stalteri is more or less useful in every position. Whether to the right or to the left, centrally, or in the defensive midfield: Meyer now has a flexible all-rounder available, well known in the league.

With Fulham, Paul Stalteri has already helped avoid relegation. If the Canadian can do the same in Mönchengladbach, then one thing must be done at Borussia staduium. In 2005 when he entered the Weser stadium for the last time in a Bremen jersey, the fans swung wooden signs with the familiar red and white maple leaf. And in big letters: "Thanks, Paul!"

[Guest Jeffery S.]

Imhof's Bochum have signed Klimowicz, which I hope helps them get some more goals and stay up in B1.

[Guest Ed]

^ He's a character. Should provide some punch up front as the Spaniard was terrific in the past with Wolfsburg but seemed to have dropped off the pace a bit with Dortmund.

Also, Imhof's major rival in the holding midfielder role, Zdebel, has been released by Bochum.

Also of note to CONCACAF fans, another Mexican gone from the Bundesliga, as Galindo will not have his contract extended at Eintracht Frankfurt.

[Guest Ed]

Nik Ledgerwood in training in Munich:

[nolando]

Appreciate the translation, Ed.

[trueviking]

thanks for the translation...

i think diesel will do well at BM...he is what they need...i watched every game he played at fulham and he did stabilize their back line...i hope he does concentrate on defence though because his crossing was often horrible and at time embarassing...

i dont know if it is a coincidence or not but fulham's goals against average dropped by a full goal per game after he started playing with them....as well, the year he played full time at spurs they had their lowest goals against in 2 decades...a full goal lower than the very next season.

he is not a fan favourite because he is slow and often makes some obvious gaffes in the forward end of the pitch, but he almost never gets beaten...only once in the entire half season at fulham did he get beat for a goal (and it was a slough foot by the offensive player)...if given time to settle in i am betting he will do well....here's hoping.

i also think that while friend has started well, he needs to convert a few more of his chances...he misses three clear opportunities for every goal he gets...he is such a crucial part of their attack, that i think if he doesnt get at least 13-15 goals this season, they will drop.

we need to get GOLTV to show more BM games now...i am looking forward to the second half.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by trueviking

he is not a fan favourite because he is slow and often makes some obvious gaffes in the forward end of the pitch, but he almost never gets beaten...only once in the entire half season at fulham did he get beat for a goal (and it was a slough foot by the offensive player)...if given time to settle in i am betting he will do well....here's hoping.

Well he didn't start the season very well in that department a couple of years ago vs Sunderland and Everton, the latter match being a particularly poor one against Arteta. And he got skinned pretty easily by Robinho in Seattle and on the third Honduran goal at San Pedro Sula.

I think his defensive strength is positionally within the back line as a whole: he reads play well and generally covers for his centre backs effectively. That's where he's going to help BM defensively.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA

Well he didn't start the season very well in that department a couple of years ago vs Sunderland and Everton, the latter match being a particularly poor one against Arteta. And he got skinned pretty easily by Robinho in Seattle and on the third Honduran goal at San Pedro Sula.

I think his defensive strength is positionally within the back line as a whole: he reads play well and generally covers for his centre backs effectively. That's where he's going to help BM defensively.

I think that game sharp and in the groove with his team he should be able to perform like Klukowski, but he'll have to take his game that notch up.

Now going around talking about defenders never making mistakes is equivalent to asking for seasons of scoreless ties.

[Guest Ed]

Paul Stalteri running alongside Rob Friend from training in Moenchengladbach yesterday. They play an exhibition game locally against 3 Liga SC Paderborn and fly to Grand Canaries on Monday (two days earlier than originally planned).

Josh Simpson and his teammates at FC Kaiserslautern flew to Cyprus this AM.

Nik Ledgerwood and his teammates at 1860 Muenchen are off to the Grand Canaries tomorrow, joining them is Sascha Roesler, released from Borussia Moenchengladbach.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

^ He's a character. Should provide some punch up front as the Spaniard was terrific in the past with Wolfsburg but seemed to have dropped off the pace a bit with Dortmund.

I couldn't figure out what you were saying about the Spaniard, but looked it up and see he has a Spanish identity card, but when he was here he was considered Argentine (Italian-Polish origins).

Bochum start tomorrow in the resort near Alicante and play Hoffenheim this Sunday afternoon, a bit too far for me to go to watch (7 hours each way plus tolls). Then they play a Chinese top flight side and head back to Germany.

[Guest Ed]

^ Regarding Klimovic, I always see him listed as Spanish so assumed he was born & bred there.

You'll be missing Dani F. there with Bochum.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

^ Regarding Klimovic, I always see him listed as Spanish so assumed he was born & bred there.

You'll be missing Dani F. there with Bochum.

Maybe I'll try to visit him in the spring, I have cheap flights to Dortmund from here.

[Guest Ed]

Paul Stalteri goes 59 minutes and picks up a yellow card in a 2-1 loss by Moenchengladbach to SC Paderborn, with Rob Friend playing only the first half. Was 1-1 at the break, the winner coming after both Canucks were subbed out.

[Guest Ed]

Looks like Lucas Podolski may well be on his way back to FC Koeln to join Kevin McKenna. Great move by Koeln if so, as he is a local boy and a real star attraction in Koeln. Bayern haven't played him as much as most would like and with Donovan on loan, Podolski wanted desperately to move on to get more playing time.

[frank]

A 45 minutes canadian derby at Cyprus. In a exhibition match between K´town and St.Pauli, both David Hoilett and Josh Simpson started for their teams. And both were subsituted after 45 minutes. perhaps they had a beer after the game;) At the end K´town won 4:2.

[Guest Ed]

Rob Friend, Paul Stalteri and the rest of Borussia Moenchengladbach had a scary landing in Tenerife yesterday as they had to abruptly pull up on their first approach as another plane was still on the runway.

Here is Borussia's starting 11 based on training:

Bailly, Stalteri, Gohouri, Dante, Daems, Galasek, Jantschke, Bradley, Matmour, Friend, Marin.

On the 1860 Muenchen front, Nik Ledgerwood is nursing a slight knee injury and is not actively training yet.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

Rob Friend, Paul Stalteri and the rest of Borussia Moenchengladbach had a scary landing in Tenerife yesterday as they had to abruptly pull up on their first approach as another plane was still on the runway.

Here is Borussia's starting 11 based on training:

Bailly, Stalteri, Gohouri, Dante, Daems, Galasek, Jantschke, Bradley, Matmour, Friend, Marin.

****, could've been a Tenerife disaster 2 in term of airplanes colliding on the Tenerife runway. Glad nothing bad happened.

[Guest Ed]

^ Oops. Mistake on my part. That was a landing in the Grand Canaries 'Gran Canaria'. 1860 are in Tenerife, a different island altogether.

[Kurosawa1555362267]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

Rob Friend, Paul Stalteri and the rest of Borussia Moenchengladbach had a scary landing in Tenerife yesterday as they had to abruptly pull up on their first approach as another plane was still on the runway.

That happened to me a couple of years ago in Montreal. the guy beside me was scared as hell, he could'nt say a word.

[Guest Ed]

Two articles in the German press today featuring Paul Stalteri.

The first (from Express.de): http://www.express.de/nachrichten/sport/fussball/gladbach/pauls-rettungsformel_artikel_1225960130436.html

Maspalomas – New signing Dante is first choice in Borussia's interior defense. Fighting for the other centre back position beside the Brazilian are Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker and Steve Gohouri.

Back in Gladbach, Thomas Klein is working to make his comeback on the 31st of January.

Set for the back round opener in Stuttgart, the outside defenders are: Left back Filip Daems and right back Paul Stalteri.

Canada captain: "Fulham stood a year ago six points out of safety and had not won an away game for two years.

Nevertheless I let myself be loaned out of Tottenham to there and we stayed up - with nine points out of the last three away games. "

With Borussia, he now plans to take up the relegation fight. "Two things you must never lose: Belief and self-confidence. If one loses that, the relegation struggle is over.". Stalteri's safety formula: "Fighting spirt and the support of the fans – so like in Gladbach."

Also Hans Meyer was a reason for his transfer: "I knew the trainer already out of my time in Bremen, where we usually won against him. He can organize a team well. He spends a lot of time on tactical practices, so we should give up less goals in the back round."

After his return from the training camp, Stalteri must still move his family from London to the Rhineland: "My wife and both children still live in London. I will seek something for us in Gladbach or Dusseldorf."

And the next, from WestdeutscheZeitung: http://www.wz-newsline.de/?redid=404417

Gran Canaria. Paul Stalteri is not a soccer player who decides games on his own. But the 31 year old Canadian can help a team not lose games.

Therefore trainer Hans Meyer has brought the international defender to the national league cellar dwellers Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Stalteri comes in as a Bundesliga right back. "35 goals against are simply too much for a team to get positive results", says the captain of the Canadian national team.

Under the sun of Gran Canaria, the island of the eternal spring, Stalteri these days is being integrated into the Moenchengladbach team, together with new signings Logan Bailly, Dante and Tomas Galasek.

"I am a positively thinking person, a team Player. It is my job to help Borussia. If the team has success, I am satisfied", the former striker describes his its role in Meyers' overall scheme.

In England, Stalteri learned how to deal with the pressure of relegation battles as a pro. The father of two left Werder Bremen in 2005 to Tottenham of the Premier League.

Stalteri was not able to keep a spot as a starter and was transferred on a loan basis in the beginning of 2008 to relegation candidate Fulham – and managed to help the team stay up as a team player with Fulham on the last day of play.

With no experience in such a situation, he joined the team in its relegation struggle. Said the defender, it's "a completely other type of stress".

And how does a player deal with it?? "In all pressure, there are two things you cannot lose. The team spirit and its self-belief. He who does not create that, has no chance", Stalteri offers his anti-relegation forumula. Experience on which VfL Borussia now relies.

"Gladbach is one of the big German clubs. It was an easy decision to return to Germany", says the 31-year old. His Bremen years he says were "overwhelming", and are still in large font on his homepage, with thrilling photos of the Double at the Weser in 2004.

With the celebration with Werder, a new positive chapter should ensue in the Lower Rhine. "We will stay up at the end of the season", maintains Stalteri.

On May 31st, a Sunday, at the latest, it will be known whether Stalteri's hopes were fulfilled. That's the date of the home match in the relegation playoff between the 3rd to last team in the Bundesliga 1 vs the 3rd best team out of the Bundesliga 2.

[Guest Ed]

And yet another snippet on Paul Stalteri, courtesy of Rhein-Post online version:

http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/moenchengladbach/660667/Meyer-und-die-Systemfrage.html

Questions re Meyer's System.

Borussia's new right defender Paul Stalteri knows how to rescue a team from relegation from his time with Fulham. "One must believe in himself", he says. Meanwhile his trainer in Maspalomas searches for the suitable game variant for the team.

Paul Stalteri knows how important it is not to give up. When he was loaned at the beginning of 2008 by the Tottenham Hotspurs to FC Fulham, his interim employer was five points out of safety in the English Premier League.

"The bookie's odds on us staying up were about 100:1", remembers Stalteri, Borussia's new right defender. "But we never stopped believing in ourselves", says the 31-year old. The story came to a good end. Fulham, who had not won away in three years, won 3 away games down the stretch and stayed up.

No communication problems

Stalteri would like a repeat of this experience in Borussia. Here, only two points separate Gladbach from Karlsruhe SC, sitting in 15th place, where they would avoid relegation. Stalteri, who along with his experience from England also has the experience of 151 Bundesliga games for Werder Bremen, should be a principle figure in the rescue mission.

He should settle the right back position and add attacks down the wing. The Canadian had feared a communication problem with the "Belgian" dominated defense (goalkeeper Bailly, Daems, Dante, all out of Standard Lüttich): "Everyone speaks English together. And I had French in school."

[non-Cdn content removed]

The defensive back four is set for Meyer (ed. note - Dante injured yesterday). How the formation up front will look like has yet to be determined by the coach. A midfield diamond formation with two strikers.? Or the 3-3? "Both systems, the 4-4-2 and the 4-3-3, have advantages and disadvantages. What makes the difference is having the right players for the system", says Meyer.

The week in Maspalomas should bring more insight into which formation is used by the "new" Borussia. "With three attacker, you need two strong outside strikers", knows Meyer. Marko Marin and Karim Matmour could get the job, but dribbler Marin always has a tendency to the middle. Meyer has the correct striker for the 4-3-3 in any case: Rob Friend, the 1.95 meter tall Canadian. "He is a real central striker", says Meyer.

If he decides on two strikers, Friend would have either Roberto Colautti, Oliver Neuville or Matmour at his side. Then Meyer needs two wing players, who supply attacks from the back, and a "number 10", Marin probably, or Alex Baumjohann. The "six" will be Tomas Galasek in both systems Tomas Galasek – alone or in tandem with another holding midfielder.

"That is what is planned for him", says Meyer. In different training, the tactics are studied in Maspalomas and will be tested in exhibition games against Zurich (tomorrow) and Donzek (Saturday). "Is important that the team finds its balance in either system. But we have enough time", says Meyer.

Also time for relaxation. The trainer wants to give the players one free afternoon this Friday. "It's been almost a week of training without a break. One needs to take a break.", says Meyer.

[Keegan]

Neuville isn't a starter anymore with Gladbach?