Weekend Warm-up: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Bayern Munich’s season; Bundesliga predictions; Throwing it back to Oingo Boingo (!?); Discussing series that got axed too early; and MORE!

The final weekend of the Bundesliga season is here…

Bayern Munich is the Bundesliga champion in a season where some fans are feeling satisfied, while others…not so much.

Let’s take a look at the best and worst things that happened during the 2024/25 campaign:

The Good

• A Bundesliga title: The goal for this season was singular — win the Bundesliga. Mission accomplished.
• Michael Olise was a smash hit: Bayern Munich desperately needed a wing to own the position and Olise was extremely good all season. At a time where Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry, and Kingsley Coman could not consistently perform, Olise set the standard for success. Max Eberl and his team deserve a lot of credit for this move.
• Vincent Kompany got the job done: There was a lot of skepticism over the hiring of the ex-Burnley coach, but the Belgian showed he has the chops to handle the job. It was not perfect and there were plenty of decisions that were rightfully questioned, but Kompany proved he was up to the task. Now…can he improve?
• Key contract extensions got done: Max Eberl and the front office group wrapped up Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, Manuel Neuer, and Alphonso Davies. None of those deals were an easy task and the front front office has taken some criticism for not bring able to lower salaries, but the job got done.
• The acquisition of Jonas Urbig: Finally — after a couple attempts — Bayern Munich might actually have a worthy successor to Neuer. Urbig was very, very good in filling for Neuer and while he did have a few “teachable moments”, he showed that he has the natural talent and instincts to be “the next one” at Bayern Munich. Now, it is up to the youngster to keep that upward trajectory going.
• Müller’s send off: If the club did anything right this season, it was the presentation and atmosphere built for Müller’s final game at the Allianz Arena. The crowd was sensational, the ceremony was on-point, and the entire team realized just how big the moment was. Aces all around.

The Bad

• Injuries still hammered Bayern Munich: Bayern Munich just cannot avoid the wrath of the injury gods. Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, Josip Stanišić, Aleksandar Pavlović, Kingsley Coman, Sacha Boey, João Palhinha, Hiroki Itō, Manuel Neuer, Daniel Peretz, and Sven Ulreich (though his situation is still unknown as to why he missed so much time) all missed significant time, while Kim Min-jae played injury for the majority of the season. Maybe this is the norm at Bayern Munich, but it still stings.
• The lack of rotation: Kompany’s refusal to use Eric Dier early in the season led to Dayot Upamecano and Min-jae both wearing down again. Min-jae even played most of the season with Achilles tendinitis, which hampered his performances.
• The lack of young players integrated into the squad: Kompany became the latest Bayern Munich to struggle with ways to integrate young talent. Manuel Neuer’s injuries opened up some time for the young goalkeepers, but otherwise, it was slim pickings.
• Sacha Boey: At a time where Bayern Munich desperately needed a right-back, Boey was either hurt or underperformed — so much so that Kompany leaned on central midfielder Konrad Laimer to man the position. A questionable (and expensive) transfer to everyone except Christoph Freund, Boey has just never found his footing at Bayern Munich and will at least be shopped around this summer.
• The Champions League: Bayern Munich had its moments in the UCL, but was just not good enough against some of its top-tier competitors (and even some of the lesser squads, too). While it — overall — was not horrible, it felt like Kompany was not flexible enough to adjust. The end result — for this season — was…fine, but it was more concerning with how the squad looked at times during the competition.

The Ugly

• The handling of Müller: At one point everyone thought Müller was getting a one-year contract extension (including Müller and Eberl), but “the club” changed its tune at the last minute and did not even entertain a final discussion — or a token offer — with Müller. It was a horrendous look to treat a club legend in that manner.
• The front office buffoonery in handling players via the media: It was bad enough when Thomas Tuchel trotted himself in front of the media to throw subtle (and sometimes not subtle) shade at his players, but for Eberl to follow that act up with his own rendition was…not smart. Call out Leon Goretzka? Oops, you ended up needing him (and he played well to boot). Want to sell off Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman? Well, they probably don’t want to leave. Keep it in-house fellas. Eberl has proven that he can identify talent, but before trying to convince someone to leave through comments or leaking information, think about WWTD (What Would Tuchel Do?) and just do the opposite.
• Hiroki Ito’s metatarsal: An injury, a setback to the initial injury, and then a re-injury…it was awful luck for the versatile Japanese defender.
• Neuer’s red card vs. Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal: You live by the sword and you die by the sword with Neuer’s aggression at goalkeeper. This time, it killed Bayern Munich. It was a reckless and silly challenge from Neuer with little chance of working (okay, no chance of working)

Surely, there are plenty more that could fit into those categories, drop your entries into the comments section.

Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show Season 4, Episode 43

Bayern Munich is rounding into its final week of the Bundesliga season, so you all know what that means — the insanity of the summer transfer window has already begun.

Let’s check in on some of the latest news and tackle where we are at with all of it. This is what we have on tap for the Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show:

• The Bayern Munich Frauen have hired a new coach!
• Xabi Alonso already throwing weight around at Real Madrid?
• Bayer Leverkusen is going to face a mass exodus this summer.
• How are we all feeling about Bayern Munich’s pursuit of Florian Wirtz?
• The dilemma — integrating young players without much hope for playing time or to loan them out? Let’s explore the complexities of this in Bavaria.
• Kim Min-jae might have fallen out of favor at Bayern Munich. Will he he stick with the club if the Jonathan Tah signing goes through?

Song of the Week: “Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo

For some reason unbeknownst to me, I randomly thought of the 80s flick Weird Science starring Kelly Le Brock, Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-0Smith, Robert Downey Jr., and Bill Paxton.

For a kid growing up in the 80s, if you found this move on pay cable, it was like the Holy Grail. Anyway, the song for the move was done by Oingo Boingo and I suddenly could not get the theme out of my head.

Released in 1985, the song accompanied the move, which has become a cult classic of sorts. Anyway, now I hope it gets stuck in yours as well:

As for the movie, if you have never seen it, I will not say it is a cinematic masterpiece or anything, but it is a fun ride through the ludicrous period that was the 80s.

Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show: Hoffenheim vs. Bayern Munich

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich will travel to Sinsheim to square off with Hoffenheim in the final game of the Bundesliga season. The match will also mark the final Bundesliga appearance with Bayern Munich for club legend Thomas Müller.

There is plenty to chat about, so let’s get to it. Here is what we have on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show:

• A look at where each team is in the table and also a look back at the first match.
• A look at the injury and suspension situations for both teams.
• The end is near for Thomas Müller.
• Tom Bischof’s last appearance for Hoffenheim will be against his new team.
• A guess at Bayern Munich’s starting XI.
• A prediction on the match.

Entertainment Rundown

The Last of Us

I did not make it all the way through this week’s episode. I watched very little of it, in fact. Admittedly, I am teetering on this at the moment. We shall see if I complete the episode or just bail out (rarely happens in the middle of a season). Not exactly a cliffhanger you want, eh?

Entertainment Rundown — Side Topic

The Last of Us might be yet another HBO show that gets cancelled early if it does not improve, which led me to think of some of my favorite shows that got the axe early for a variety of reasons.

In no particular order:

1. Arrested Development: This show was a wild and hilarious ride that was groundbreaking for a Fox comedy. The cast was perfect, the writing was sharp, witty, and held on to jokes for long payoffs. The first two seasons were brilliant. The third season was rushed because of the pending cancellation, but still good. When it was picked up by Netflix, I just could not get back into it for some reason. Maybe I’ll give those episodes another try, but the first two seasons were just tremendous and I would even say legendary.
2. Manhunter: A victim of Netflix’s budget constraints, Mindhunter was an awesome journey through the FBI’s serial killer unit. Not exactly a biopic, but based on real life events, Mindhunter only last two seasons, but was terrific. So many people would love to have this series back, but it is not happening. Still, the two seasons that it did produce are worth the watch.
3. Carnivale: A simple premise (good vs. evil) done in a mystic, thrilling way — this is yet another example of HBO wrecking a masterful show because of the budget (it was a period piece, which was expensive to produce, while also having a big cast), Carnivale was building to something that would have been great. The story was really rounding into form (and it was DEEP and intricate) when HBO dropped the hammer. I am still bitter about it to this day. Part of the reason that it did not get the major momentum of other shows is that it was so complex, some folks had trouble following the history of plot. I loved it, though.
4. Deadwood: Another HBO gem — and one of the great series ever produced on the channel. The budget for the ensemble cast, plus the added costs of being a period piece just become too much, but it was awesome. The series went on for three seasons and — eventually — was given a “finale” of sorts with a special movie event, but it was too late. The show deserved a proper ending and just did not get it. There was really no reasons aside of money to cancel this show as it was immensely popular.
5. Glow: The Netflix comedy lasted three seasons and was loosely based on wild 80s wrestling promotion. It was fun, entertaining, and an easy watch. It was given the axe before it could really wrap up the story, which was extremely unfortunate.

There are plenty more, but what were some of your favorite shows that got whacked for one reason or another?

Predictions

Bundesliga

Hoffenheim desperately wants this season to be over and just needs to avoid getting thoroughly shellacked to stay in the Bundesliga for next season. All of that leads to a Bayern Munich win.

Prediction: Hoffenheim 1-4 Bayern Munich

Other Bundesliga predictions include:

• FC Augsburg 2-1 Union Berlin
• St. Pauli 2-1 VfL Bochum
• Borussia Dortmund 5-2 Holstein Kiel
• Mainz 05 0-3 Bayer Leverkusen
• RB Leipzig 3-2 VfB Stuttgart
• SC Freiburg 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
• Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 VfL Wolfsburg
• Heidenheim 1-1 Werder Bremen

Prediction Records

• Last Week Bundesliga: 5-4 (Through Matchday 33)
• Overall Bundesliga: 137-160
• UEFA Nations League: 92-79
• Champions League: 100-86
• DFB-Pokal: 44-18
• Total: 365-343
• Perfect Picks: 53 (when the score and winner is predicted exactly)

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