the bundesliga's "yankees" problem

If you think money in baseball is a problem, then you certainly wouldn't be a big fan of European football. Yesterday, in a matchup between the two best teams in the Bundesliga, FC Bayern Munich beat SV Werder Bremen 3:1 to go five points up in the standings. I like Werder and was angry about the result, because I can't stand Bayern. Why? Because they are destroying German football.

FC Bayern is the only club in the Bundesliga that can afford to stock their roster with top flight European talent; everybody else has to bring people up through the youth system. This is fine, money is boss in every single European soccer league. However, unlike other club powers, Bayern poaches almost exclusively from other German teams. This has the two-fold effect of making Bayern essentially another version of the German National Team (check Deisler, Kahn, Ballack, Schweinsteiger) and pushing down other clubs so it's almost impossible to compete.

Compare this to Spanish teams like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Real has Ronaldo and Rivaldo from Brazil, Zidane from France, Beckham from England while FC Barcelona has Ronahldino. With this, Real can improve and dominate la Liga without crippling the rest of the Spanish teams' chances of doing well in the Champions League and UEFA Cup. It's a little different in England, where Manchester United certainly does try to buy everybody (see Rooney, Wayne). However, there are other English teams rich enough to buy top players from other countries. Arsenal with Henry comes to mind, but Liverpool and Chelsea are also very well off.

So while Bayern thinks they may be pulling off a coup, what they are doing is really terrible for German football. And it makes it a lot less fun to watch as well I hope to see Werder win the Bundesliga and Schalke win the Champions League. Screw Bayern.