Chris Mcquade

When Chelsea signed Michael Ballack as a free agent in the summer of 2006, it was regarded as a coup. With both Manchester United and both Milan clubs apparently tracking the dynamic German Midfielder, reports actually indicated a fear for Lampard’s presence in the Chelsea midfield.

The official 23-man squad who will lead Germany into the World Cup in South Africa has been announced. Goalkeepers Manuel Neuer Tim Wiese Hans-Joerg Butt Defenders Philipp Lahm Dennis Aogo Holger Badstuber Jerome Boateng Per Mertesacker Serdar Tasci Arne Friedrich Midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger Sami Khedira Piotr Trochwoski Marko Marin Mesut Ozil Toni Kroos Marcell Jansen […]

Newly-promoted St. Pauli have today signed experienced German international and Schalke striker Gerald Asamoah. St. Pauli made it their first priority during this transfer window to add to their firepower, and the signing of an experienced striker like Asamoah will surely add to their chances of staying up next season. St. Pauli are on of […]

Heiko Westermann suffered a broken bone in his foot during Germany's recent friendly with Hungary. The injury will rule the versatile defender out for weeks. Westermann's injury comes on the back of injuries to key players in the Nationalelf team, like Simon Rolfes, Christian Traesch, Michael Ballack, and Rene Adler. Westermann's presence will be missed […]

Germany's warm-up match against Hungary on Saturday proved to be a successful run-out for the Nationalelf, and a good assessment tool for head coach Joachim Low, just before this summer's World Cup. As I predicted yesterday, Germany finished with three goals in the bag and did it with relative ease. A penalty from Podolski, a […]

Battling midfielder Hanno Balitsch has completed his move to Bayer Leverkusen from Hannover 96 on a free transfer. Balitsch will fit wonderfully into Jupp Henckyes side, and will cover the space usually occupied by Simon Rolfes, who is rather injury-prone. Rolfes will not feature in this summer's World Cup because of injury problems, and so […]

In what will be Germany's last warmup before the World Cup, it will be interesting to see how the Germans lineup, and who will ultimately deserve their place in Low's final 23-man squad. Hungary, who miss out on this year's World Cup after being beaten to qualification by Denmark and Portugal, will still prove a […]

Following the withdrawal of Michael Ballack, who has captained his national team since 2004, Joachim Low faced the task of having to appoint a successor to the injured ex-captain. Reportedly, the armband was expected to go to either Bastian Schweinsteiger, who occupies a similar position on the field to Michael Ballack, and also plays with […]

An experiment that was first tried in the Europa League both this year and last will now graduate to Europe's elite competition. Two extra referees will be present in all Champions League ties coming up next season. The officials will be placed behind either goal, to correctly judge calls for handball, penalties, and disallowed goals. […]

Diego Contento, one of Bayern Munich's most promising young players, has today secured a new 3-year deal with the Bundesliga champions. Contento graduated from Bayern's youth system in January of this year, and made his first Bundesliga appearance for the club against FC Nuremberg, where he started in the place of an injured Daniel Van […]

Newly-appointed Wolfe boss Steve McClaren spoke at a press conference on Wednesday about his intentions at Wolfsburg and answered a few important questions journalists had about the team. Coming off of his title-winning season in the Eredivisie with FC Twente, McClaren has finally tasted success and is hungry for more. McClaren arrived in the Netherlands […]

Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben has undoubtedly had a fantastic season with the Champions League runners-up. Robben's ability to run at defenders and create just as much as he scores, as well as his sympatico relationship with Munich team-mate Franck Ribery, has made Bayern Munich one of the most exciting sides to watch in all of […]

After being sacked by last season's champions Wolfsburg for a string of poor results midway through the season, Veh certainly has his work cut out for him at Hamburg. Hamburg are a team rich in talent, from younger stars like Dutch internationa Eljero Elia and Manchester City transfer target Jerome Boateng, to the old guard, […]

Chelsea's magnificent league and cup double came at a heavy price for Germany captain Michael Ballack – no World Cup. Like the legendary Achilles, who did not heed the warnings of the Gods before marching into a war that would be the end of him, Michael Ballack, too, will have to sit out on the […]

Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery has agreed terms with the Bavarian giants for a new 5-year deal at the club, which will see him turning out for the Bundesliga Champions and Champions League runners-up until the age of 32. Franck Ribery has been under intense transfer speculation since his move to Munich from Marseille in 2007. […]