Talking Fussball

Remember the Royal Blues? They're the second-biggest membership club in Germany, they're a club with one of the most vaunted youth academies in Europe, they're one half of the biggest rivalry in the Bundesliga...and as of this season, they play their football in the 2. Bundesliga. Nik Wildhagen rounds up freelance journalist Ron Ulrich to get an update on what's going on with FC Schalke 04 in thei...

Is it time to take a break already? I suppose if we really want to have a World Cup in Qatar next year (debatable), we'd better get cracking on qualification. And while that means the Bundesliga has to go into standby mode for a couple weeks, at least many of the league's top teams gave us plenty to cheer about on MD3. Matt Hermann rings up Marie Schulte-Bockum to talk about Wolfsburg's solid star...

Some of you will be pleased with your haul from the first three match days...and some will not. In either case, Match Day 3 will be the last one before you can either sand off a few edges, or engage in a total tear-down of your squad. That's right, UNLIMTED TRANSFERS are just around the corner! Listen in as JT and Flo get you ready for the weekend's action, and give you tips on how to renovate ove...

Want an hour on the 2. Bundesliga? You've come to the right place on this week's Talking Fussball Extra. Nik Wildhagen sits down with Jasmine Baba and Maik Krükemeier to dissect the opening weeks of Germany's second tier, which this year features a staggering string of the country's biggest clubs. Buckle up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another goal-filled weekend of Bundesliga football - Jesse Marsch and Leipzig topped Pellegrino Matarazzo's Stuttgart in Germany's first face-off between two American head coaches, Leverkusen may have surprised even themselves by how convincingly they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Cologne were far sprier than expected despite falling to FC Bayern. Matt Hermann and Terry Duffelen take in all t...

Another match day, another massive score from Erling Haaland. Or was it? If the big Norwegian is going to rack up points through assists as well as goals this season, JT and Flo may need to re-think his role in their fantasy universe. Plenty of other points to ponder from the opening weekend, including how much to trust your RB Leipzig stars, whether Stuttgart can keep up their blistering shot rat...

FC Bayern München and German National Team legend Gerd Müller died this past Sunday - his influence on both of those sides is difficult to overestimate. Der Bomber's otherworldly goalscoring record, his preternatural ability to appear at precisely the right place at the right time, and his down-to-earth personality made him one of German football's all-time icons. For this episode of Talking Fussb...

A boffo Bundesliga weekend in front of fans - it turns out that's what we'd been missing. We got goals galore, some head-scratching results, a few VAR controversies, goalkeeping heroics, and much more. Matt Hermann sits down with Nik Wildhagen to talk through the biggest goings on of Match Day 1, including Erling Haaland's latest stupefying actions, Bo Svensson's continued sorcery in Mainz, and an...

And now...the second installment of our 2021-22 Bundesliga preview! This time out Matt, Nik and Terry profile the teams that finished from 7th place on down last season - and share in their predictions that they think a number of them may crack into the top six next year. Find out who the gang reckon bought well, hired poorly, and which coach they can reveal may have been a flat cap guy all along....

Welcome back Talking Fussballers! If you're not already counting the hours to the big Bundesliga kick-off on Friday, now would be a great time to start. To help you shave off one of those hours, here's the first installment of our two-part preview for the 2021-22 season. Matt Hermann sits down with Nik Wildhagen and Terry Duffelen to take in all the off-season doings at the heavyweights of the Ger...

We're counting down the days until the 2021-22 - not only because so many of our favorite clubs and players are set to get back at it, but also because we can start playing Official Fantasy Bundesliga! Whether you're a committed player or a first-timer, this podcast is a great place to start when putting together your squad and selecting a team for Match Day 1. Listen in as JT and Flo break down t...

To cap off our four-part series on Bremen's demise, TF's two passionate Werder followers have decided to look forward to what they hope will be brighter days ahead. Which players could move on to lighten the wage bill? What moves need to be made to assemble a squad that can execute new coach Markus Anfang's system? And most of all, how long a stay in the second tier should fans expect? Listen in a...

The new 2. Bundesliga season is just about here, and for the first time in four decades, Werder Bremen is one of the clubs taking part. How precisely did the northern giants get there? If you've heard the last two episodes of Talking Fussball, you'll have heard our two crestfallen Werder fans Niklas Wildhagen and Florian Reinecke walk down memory lane through the good years of the 80s, 90s, and 00...

Where did it all go wrong for Werder Bremen? After last week's deep dive into the illustrious history of the club, this episode is all about the last decade-plus of decline. TF mainstays Nik Wildhagen and Florian Reinecke (both lifelong Werder fans) try to work out where it all went wrong. Strap in for a discussion about all the transfers gone wrong, all the coaches who never should have been hire...

Next season's Bundesliga will feature a Werder Bremen-shaped hole after the storied northern club failed to beat the drop this past May. For plenty of fans of the German game, that's a shame; for Talking Fussball's Nik Wildhagen and Flo Reinecke it's something closer to a tragedy. Both of them are life-long Werder fans, so they naturally have a lot to reflect on at the moment. So much, in fact, th...

Well...Germany's group stage finale vs Hungary was a little dicier than Jogi and the boys had hoped, but the job got done. Now they just have to get ready to play England, at Wembley. Matt and Nik sit down to talk another ropey performance over, as well as what might be learned in time for Tuesday's round of 16 game. They also reflect on Robert Lewandowski and Poland's exit, Denmark's inspirationa...

It's been an up-and-down tournament for Germany thus far - perhaps more down-and-up, to be honest. Hungary, meanwhile, have only picked up one point but have put their fans in good spirits. The team's tireless defending (and occasional forward threat) meant they've been very much in the game with both Portugal and France, and they hope to make life difficult for Germany too. To find out more, Nik...

And they say history doesn't mean anything. Germany had been mostly rubbish coming into Euro 2020 (in 2021), but as soon as you pit them against Portugal, they dazzle. No surprise, according to precedent - Die Nationalmannschaft have absolutely owned Portugal throughout Cristiano Ronaldo's otherwise storied international career, handing CR7 FIVE losses in major tourneys. The victory means Matt and...

It was not a rousing start from Die Nationalmannschaft in Euro 2020 (in 2021), as Jogi and the boys went down 1-0 to France. They pushed the ball around more or less at will, but when it came to creating chances, they weren't able to get much going. But did that have more to do with Germany or with France? Matt Hermann rings up Matthew Marshall, who's been following the tournament for PortuGOAL, a...

It's been an eventful first few days here in Euro 2020 (in 2021)-land. Viewers around the world were reminded just what a piffle the whole affair is compared to a person's life and well-being, a host of players (and even whole countries) have scored their first European Championship goals, and Germany are about to get off the mark against World Cup holders France. Matt Hermann rang up his old frie...

Ready for the Euros? Matt and Nik just about are, so they thought it was time to get together and get their heads around what's at stake for Bundesliga fans. Can Jogi Löw turn the narrative and go out on a high with a good performance from the Nationalmannschaft? What Bundesliga stars on other teams are likely to make a big impression on the tournament? And why does everybody have to criss-cross t...

We're skipping the Best XI, and going further than naming a player of the season. The Bundesliga is done for the summer and Matt and Marie have been watching a lot of basketball, so they thought why not give out awards in the spirit of the NBA. What Eintracht player is our Most Improved Player? What speedy winger took home our Rookie of the Year? And is there even a question who was the MVP? Liste...

Matt, Reiss and Nik had to give Bayern's Polish striking icon his due to open the show after surpassing Gerd Müller's seemingly unbreakable record, but let's be honest - Werder going down is a big deal too. What once was a club who regularly competed for titles has turned, over the past decade, into husk of its former self. Nik's naturally got a lot to say about that, so Matt makes sure to give hi...

What a season it's been. Record-setting exploits from FC Bayern München and Robert Lewandowski; overachievement from the likes of VfL Wolfsburg, 1. FC Union Berlin and VfB Stuttgart; deep despair for fans of FC Schalke 04. There's one more shot at redemption, not only for the three sides still in relegation trouble (including Flo's beloved Werder Bremen) but also for every fantasy manager who's ju...

Did you ever expect anybody to hit that 40-goal mark again? The one that had stood for 50 YEARS? We weren't convinced it would even happen, but Robert Lewandowski didn't get the message. He drew level with Gerd Müller's mark with a game to spare on Match Day 33 and, well, that's kind of a big deal. Matt and Terry come together to praise the peerless Pole, suss out how Dortmund managed to save thei...