I’ve now completed the first season of my three-year adventure in Germany on Championship Manager 99/00. My efforts to deliver success to Bayer Leverkusen have thus far been… er, without success.
After that agonising end to the 1999/2000 season (which you can read about here), I’m hoping it’ll be second time lucky in 2000/2001. As you can probably gather, I’ve spent big in my attempts to win a Bundesliga, a DFB-Pokal, or even a Champions League (okay, that last one might be a big ask).
So… let’s see who I’ve brought in! (Expect to see a CM99/00 cult icon or two.)
PRE-SEASON TRANSFERS
After coming 3rd in the Bundesliga and narrowly missing out on the DFB-Pokal last season, the Bayer Leverkusen board are quite optimistic about our hopes for 2000/2001. The directors “expect great success in every area” this season.
Sounds like I’ll have to win something then. I’d also imagine my job would be in jeopardy if we failed to qualify for the Champions League. Thankfully, as Germany has been awarded an extra spot in next season’s competition, we can finish as low as 4th in the league and still be amongst Europe’s elite.
My initial transfer budget of £17.5million was increased by shifting some of our dead wood, as you can see below:
We already knew that Adam Matysek was taking his clown act to Switzerland, and that Stefan Beinlich was heading to Berlin. Other summer departures from Leverkusen included backup keeper Dirk Heinen, who crossed the border into Austria. Right-back Jörg Reeb was no longer needed and joined second-tier Bochum for a cut-price £1million.
Our biggest sale was that of Paulo Roberto Rink. In real-life, the Brazilian-born forward became a popular figure at Leverkusen. In this universe, he has swapped an unconvincing loan spell back home at Santos for a permanent move to Berti Vogts’ Blackburn. I hear that Alan Kelly’s missus cooks a mean Lancashire hotpot, Paulo.
Also note that backup striker Thomas Reichenberger was released, but that the legendary Ulf Kirsten wasn’t. After much thought, I decided to give the 34-year-old hotshot one more season – one more opportunity to finish a glittering career at the BayArena with some silverware.
Those are the outs, but who’s coming in?
If you know CM99/00, you know Andri Sigþórsson. The Icelander might not be the most clinical finisher, but his work rate, stamina and teamwork make him a magnificent support striker. He was a £325,000 steal from KR Reykjavik, though we faced stiff competition from Portuguese giants Sporting for Siggi’s signature.
Derby’s relegation from the Premiership allowed us to bring their versatile defender Stefan Schnoor back to Germany for just £1.6million. I’d actually been tracking the energetic and fearless stopper for the best part of a year. Expect Schnoor to see plenty of action, mainly at right-back.
And I’m sure you’ve all heard of this young Brazilian lad. Ronaldinho cost us a hefty £10million from Grêmio, but it’s a price worth paying for an enigmatic attacking midfielder who could transform us into contenders. Ron has pace to burn, incredible technique… and a knack for taking bewildering free-kicks.
My other senior signing was 32-year-old Holger Hiemann – a solid backup goalkeeper who arrives on a free transfer from Wolfsburg. Meanwhile, I beefed up our reserves by recruiting striker Thomas Fröhlich (17) from Stuttgarter Kickers for £1million, and Spanish free-agent midfielder Francisco Martín (18).
SQUAD & TACTICS
That’s the state of our first-team squad going into the season-opening DFB-Ligapokal. Let’s quitely ignore the fact that about a third of our team is away on international duty and instead quickly go through each player – and where they fit into my plans.
The agile Italian goalkeeper Massimo Taibi has been a pivotal part of our squad since last autumn and now wears the number 1 jersey. Hiemann will be his deputy this term, with Frank Juric now stuck in the reserves.
Robert Kovac has formed a rock-solid central defensive partnership with captain Jens Nowotny over recent years. Croatian Bob’s international colleague Boris Zivkovic is also a regular in our back four, though the versatile Zoran Mamic played only a peripheral role last season. Torben Hoffmann is another decent option for the heart of our defence.
While Zivkovic and new boy Schnoor battle for a place at right-back, Markus Happe remains our undisputed first choice on the left. Happe was capped twice by Germany last season and has been praised for his positional awareness. Slovakian backup Vratislav Gresko is now 23 and needs to kick on soon.
We’re not short on defensive midfield options, but Carsten Ramelow is comfortably the best. The tough-tackling workhorse is a calming presence and has attracted transfer interest from Newcastle. Michael Ballack has been disappointing so far, but at 23, time is still on his side. I’ve also welcomed Poland anchor man Adam Ledwon back to the fold after a year on loan with Fortuna Köln.
Vice-captain Emerson enters his fourth year at the BayArena as a key component of our midfield, thanks to the Brazilian’s work ethic and selflessness. Those are qualities I hope he can instill in his young, precocious compatriot Ronaldinho. Speaking of fresh-faced Samba stars…
…it’s hard to believe Robson Ponte is still only 22. His remarkable technique and dribbling skills make him a joy to watch on the right flank. The same goes for Zé Roberto on the left flank, though the latter is more experienced and slightly more consistent.
Iranian prospect Darioush Yasdani will hope to provide some competition for Zé Roberto in what could be a crucial year in his development. Back on the right wing, Frankie Hejduk has an impressive scoring record but lacks creativity. Big things will be expected from Bernd Schneider after a frustrating first year in Leverkusen.
And who else should lead our attack but Oliver Neuville? His 22 goals last season prompted some huge transfer bids over the summer from the likes of Bayern München and even Real Madrid. I batted them all away, but if Neuville explodes again this term, it’ll become even more difficult to retain his services.
Much like the Renegade Master, fans’ favourite Kirsten is back once again with the ill behaviour. Inevitably, Ulf’s physical ability has declined noticeably as his 35th birthday approaches. Thankfully, we have plenty of fresher blood up front in the form of Sigþórsson, Ersin Demir (23) and Thomas Brdaric (25).
Tactically, I pretty much only used the standard 4-4-2 last season, but I’ve now adopted its wide diamond variant as an alternative. I’ve also taken note of Dortmund’s and Bayern’s dominance last season and switched to a short passing game. Apparently, playing John Beck-style direct football isn’t as effective in the Bundesliga as in the Football League.
So what about pre-season? Things started well enough on our tour of Hungary, as Sigþórsson’s debut double secured a 3-1 win at Debrecen. We then fell 2-0 behind early on to BVSC Dreher before fighting back to prevail 4-2. Our last match of that tour was against local champions Ferencvaros, who looked set for a goalless draw until they scored an injury-time own goal.
Our streak continued with another 1-0 victory – this time against Chelsea, who finished 4th in the Premiership last year. Zé Roberto rifled in a 7th-minute opener, which proved to be enough against a Blues side who lacked firepower.
After falling behind to an early penalty in our final friendly against regional-league Paderborn, teenager Landon Donovan drew us level on the stroke of half-time. Yasdani then snatched a second Leverkusen goal late in the second half, making it five wins from five. Everything was nice and rosy, wasn’t it?
It wasn’t. Demir pulled his hamstring in that last friendly and would miss the first few weeks. We would also go into the season-opening DFB-Ligapokal without EIGHT senior players who were on international duty at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Among them were three of our Brazilian stars and three Germans (including Nowotny and Neuville).
And who would we play first up in the Ligapokal? Bayern München. God give us strength…
AUGUST 2000
Let’s talk about this year’s DFB-Ligapokal, because it’s a logistical car crash. We were scheduled to play Bayern in the first Quarter Final in Darmstadt on 1 August. At the same time, Dortmund would host Kaiserslautern in the first Semi Final.
If we did beat Bayern, we wouldn’t find out our next opponents until 9 August, when VfB Stuttgart played their Quarter Final against HSV – in Hannover. As our Bundesliga opener at home to SC Freiburg was scheduled for 12 August, that meant the second Ligapokal Semi wouldn’t be played until after the league season had begun!
Championship Manager scheduling bugs. You’ve got to love ’em.
BAYERN MÜNCHEN 1-2 LEVERKUSEN (DFB-Ligapokal – Quarter Final)
If you thought we were weakened by Olympic call-ups, spare a thought for Bayern. With many of his stars out in Australia, Ottmar Hitzfeld had to name FOUR greyed-out players in the starting XI! One of them was the wonderfully-named Willi Beer, who twice hit the woodwork in the first half.
Another Bayern grey – centre-half Markus Krämer – headed in a 53rd-minute equaliser shortly after Ponte had fired us into the lead. We did get back ahead ten minutes before half-time, when Sigþórsson delighted the Leverkusen faithful and sent us through to the second Semi Final.
Meanwhile in the first Semi, Dortmund beat Kaiserslautern on penalties to qualify for the Final, which will eventually be played in 2003 (weather permitting). Nothing much happened, except that Kaiserslautern winger Ratinho pushed the referee and got banned for six months. Stupid boy.
While we waited to find out which of Stuttgart and Hamburg we would play in our Semi, focus turned towards another cup competition. We were entered into the final qualifying round for the Champions League, where Georgian champions Dinamo Tbilisi stood between us and a return to the competition proper.
LEVERKUSEN 3-0 DINAMO TBILISI (Champions League – Qualifying Round 3, Leg 1)
We were as good as through already. Kirsten needed just nine minutes to break the deadlock, while Neuville netted twice in the second half upon his return from Sydney. Poor Dinamo couldn’t even muster a single shot at goal in response.
While that was going on, HSV beat Stuttgart 1-0 (thanks to Thomas Gravesen) and booked a Ligapokal date with us for the following week. That long-awaited Semi Final would take place after the Bundesliga campaign got up and running.
LEVERKUSEN 0-0 SC FREIBURG (Bundesliga – Match 1)
This was a bruising encounter for both teams’ strikers. Sigþórsson twisted his knee late in the first half, while Freiburg later lost Adel Sellimi to a wrist injury just before half-time. Though Neuville and Kirsten threw everything they had at the visitors in the second half, keeper Richard Golz just wouldn’t be beaten.
That match saw Ronaldinho make his competitive debut for Leverkusen, having left Brazil’s Olympic squad early due to a minor injury. Emerson and Zé Roberto were our last players to return from that tournament, where they had collected silver medals with the Selecao (losing out on gold to France). Could they now get to another Final with their club?
HSV 0-0 LEVERKUSEN (4-1 PSO) (DFB-Ligapokal – Semi Final)
No. Hamburg were too tough to beat, not least because they tried to field two goalies. ‘Grey’ midfielder Carsten Hanke was sent off for deliberate handball in the 73rd minute, while actual keeper Hans-Jörg Butt shut our attackers out to force a penalty shoot-out.
As Hamburg coolly dispatched all their penalties, Butt tipped over Emerson’s spot-kick before Zé Roberto skied his over the bar, effectively sealing our fate. Joakim N’Tsika-Compaige secured Die Rothosen’s place in the Final with the next penalty, and our pursuit of early-season silverware was over.
LEVERKUSEN 0-1 DORTMUND (Bundesliga – Match 2)
This was also disappointing. Dortmund showed why they were champions at the BayArena, never looking back after Giuseppe Reina had headed them into a 4th-minute lead. Our fleeting hopes of a fightback were wiped out with the loss of two players – Ballack to strained knee ligaments, and Happe to a second booking early in the second half.
Having claimed one point from our first two league games, we were already playing catch-up with Dortmund, who went on to beat HSV in the Ligapokal Final. At least we still had the Champions League to fall back on, right?
DINAMO TBILISI 0-2 LEVERKUSEN (0-5 agg) (Champions League – Qualifying Round 3, Leg 2)
After writing that last sentence, I was half-expecting us to inexplicably lose 4-0 in Georgia. In truth, Dinamo never really threatened a fightback – and certainly not after midfielder Gela Iniashvili was sent off for clobbering Emerson in the 28th minute. Kovac broke the hosts’ resolve five minutes later, with Zé Roberto sealing victory after the break.
I was never expecting an easy pool in the first group phase, but the draw gave us a tricky one to say the least…
In other news, I loaned out our fifth-choice striker Brdaric to Darmstadt for the season. The misfiring 25-year-old hasn’t scored in a dozen appearances for us, but hopefully the regional leagues will be more to his liking. If not, then Thomas really needs to rethink his career choices.
DUISBURG 1-2 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 3)
I was rethinking MY career choices just three minutes into this match, as left-back Jörg Neun’s free-kick gave Duisburg an early lead. It took us 20 minutes to come up with a response. Neuville volleyed in a superb cross from Schneider, who only ever seems to play well against the Zebras.
Things then got a bit dicey, with the referee issuing EIGHT yellow cards before bringing out the red. 20 minutes from time, Neuville was brought down in the Duisburg area by goalkeeper Gintaras Stauce, who was sent off. Replacement goalie Carsten Krämer couldn’t keep out Kirsten’s spot-kick, and with that, the game was ours.
Our first league win of the season saw us finish August in 9th place on four points – just behind Bayern, who’d also made a surprisingly shaky starts. Frankfurt and Dortmund were the early pacesetters on three wins apiece.
SEPTEMBER 2000
September didn’t start well. Not only did our only decent goalkeeper dislocate his shoulder, but Ramelow strained his groin, AND our new Brazilian toy broke on international duty. That’s right – Ronaldinho’s out for two months with a dodgy calf.
We also had to stave off interest from Dortmund for Zé Roberto. £14.5million was a lot of money to turn down, even for a player of his calibre, but I fear their next offer might give me a bigger headache.
And then there’s Mamic and Ledwon, who were both unhappy because they wanted new contracts. I’m not too fussed about the latter, but I opened discussions with Mamic… and he said he didn’t believe that I could meet his demands. No new contract for you, Zoran.
1860 MÜNCHEN 1-2 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 4)
Hiemann didn’t exactly do a good job filling in for Taibi in the third minute, when a dipping shot from the evergreen Thomas Häßler escaped his reach. That sent 1860 München into a narrow half-time lead, but Zé Roberto sparked us into life after the break. Assists for Kirsten and Neuville at either end of the second period turned another tricky away game in our favour.
Now it was time to begin the Champions League group phase by pitting ourselves against Barcelona’s dream team at the Nou Camp. Just look at who Louis Van Gaal had in his squad: Alessandro Del Piero, Josep Guardiola, Rivaldo, Javier Zanetti… and Alen Peternac! You remember Alen Peternac, don’t you?!
BARCELONA 0-0 LEVERKUSEN (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 1)
After losing their Croatian marksman early on, Barcelona threatened to fall apart. In the 19th minute, their right-back Frédéric Déhu was booked for holding back Zé Roberto’s shirt. Déhu accepted the booking in good grace – by trying to kick Zé’s shins off, thus earning himself another! Barça were down to 10 men!
The weakened Catalans then wasted several scoring opportunities, while our own counter-attacks also lacked bite. A cagey draw was the outcome, just like in the other group game between Sparta Prague and Celtic.
NÜRNBERG 0-1 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 5)
Our next match was at the Frankenstadion, and at times, it felt like I was watching a horror film. Emerson suffered a gruesome facial injury late in the first half, and Nürnberg left-back Knut Reichardt gashed his leg early in the second. It looked like we would endure a torturous 0-0 draw against the newly-promoted hosts, but Neuville struck on 76 minutes to give us a happy ending.
Things weren’t looking so good a few days later, when Zé Roberto damaged his neck in training. With Ronaldinho still injured and Yasdani unregistered for the Champions League, that meant I had to field Gresko at left-wing when we hosted Sparta Prague. Oh, and Neuville was too tired to start. Fantastic.
LEVERKUSEN 1-0 SPARTA PRAGUE (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 2)
It’s never easy managing Bayer, that’s for sure. Sparta somehow bossed us in the first half, and had their striker Horst Siegl been more clinical, they would surely have won.
We should have won the game in the 76th minute, when Kirsten stepped up to take a penalty after visiting sweeper Zdenek Svoboda was sent off for handball. Unfortunately, Ulf’s spot-kick was saved by Michal Calhoun. Fortunately, Sigþórsson DID win us the game in stoppage time, getting above Calhoun to head in a killer cross from Schnoor.
Meanwhile in Glasgow, Celtic scored a 90th-minute winner of their own – through Eyal Berkovic – to stun Barcelona. That set up a mouthwatering top-of-the-group clash at Celtic Park the following week, but before then…
LEVERKUSEN 2-1 BIELEFELD (Bundesliga – Match 6)
…we laboured to another narrow league win, this time at home to second-from-bottom Bielefeld. Our penchant for slow starts continued when Markus Sailer’s 3rd-minute punt sailed past an unwitting Hiemann. After that, though, we knuckled down and started playing some lovely football, with Sigþórsson and Hejduk each scoring to turn the game on its head.
Though Siggi dislocated his shoulder shortly after the second half began, Bielefeld were already mentally beaten. We moved level on 13 points with Bundesliga leaders Dortmund and Frankfurt, and we headed to Scotland in high spirits (well… all of us except Mamic and Ledwon, obviously).
CELTIC 2-0 LEVERKUSEN (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 3)
We have to stop turning up late for matches. Mark Burchill headed in a Henrik Larsson cross in the first minute, putting us on the back foot immediately. Unlike in previous games, though, there was no Leverkusen fightback, as we couldn’t get to grips with the Celtic manager’s tactical masterplan:
“You’ve got to hold and give but do it at the right time. You can be slow or fast but you must get to the line. They’ll always hit you and hurt you, defend and attack. There’s only one way to beat them, get round the back.”
In the 64th minute, a free-kick from Juninho (the ex-Middlesbrough one, that is) got round our defensive wall and into the back of Hiemann’s net. With that, the Bhoys took control of Group E, and we were left with plenty of work still to do.
HERTHA BSC 0-1 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 7)
Back in Germany, we returned to our typical boring winning ways. The man who knocked down the Berlin wall was makeshift winger Gresko, who thundered in his first Leverkusen goal after 25 minutes. Sigþórsson suffered a setback in his return from a shoulder injury, lasting only two minutes before being substituted, but it was otherwise a decent day at the office.
We thus moved up to 2nd – trailing only Frankfurt, who’d recorded a stunning 4-2 win over fellow frontrunners Dortmund. We have the joint-best defensive record in the Bundesliga, though I’d obviously love to see us start scoring more goals. After all, Neuville can’t do everything by himself!
After that positive start, I hope you’re looking forward to more. There’ll be another chapter next Monday, as ever. In the meantime, don’t forget to hit the ‘Follow Fuller FM’ button and/or follow me on Twitter @Fuller_FM.
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