Stefan Bienkowski

Very frustrating time for Bremen fans. And for neutrals like me that want to see them do well!

Which, clearly, will have huge financial implications on Scottish football in the long term.

Essentially, Scottish clubs are taking the easy option to outsource their player development. Many will say they have no choice (especially if Eng clubs are scooping up any decent academy player) but it means Scottish clubs don't develop their own players and then profit from that.

That, obviously, comes at the expense of young players at the Scottish clubs trying to break into the first team. In many cases the players coming back on loan are actually Scottish, who were signed by English clubs at 16/17. So it seems perfectly normal. But the scale of it is really troubling.

Why is that an issue? Well, 61% of those 36 players are aged 21 or under. So we're not talking about older players filling in gaps in squads. What's really happening here is Scottish clubs giving game time and developing young players for English clubs.

As far as I can tell, in January alone Scottish Premiership clubs have loaned ten players from English clubs. Across the entire season that number balloons out to 36 players. Which means, on average, every Scottish top-flight club has three players on loan from an English club.

Aston Villa's Ben Broggio will become the 𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗛 player Falkirk have take on loan from English sides this season. And all but one of them is under the age of 21.

Not to pick on the Bairns specifically, but this is the perfect example of a huge problem in the Scottish Premiership.

RB Leipzig have signed Brighton (and former Mainz wonderkid) Brajan Gruda on loan for the remainder of the season.

There is no option to buy included in the deal. Just a straight loan deal.

I said Dortmund would win the Bundesliga this season.

You’re all welcome…

Wow... Steady now! Keep talking like that around the Westfalenstadion and Dortmund may be forced to sell you to Bayern or Man City.

LIVE NOW: Bundesliga matchday 20 review: Bayern stumble in Hamburg, BVB pass Heidenheim test Stefan Bienkowski on Substack

Discussing Bayern drawing with HSV, Dortmund beating Heidenheim to close the gap at the top to six points and Werder Bremen sacking Horst Steffen LIVE with
@manuelveth.bsky.social and @danwighton.bsky.social: substack.com/live-stream/...

Dortmund win. Somehow. Heidenheim could have scored six goals tonight. Especially two in extra time. Perhaps one of the most entertaining games of the season.

Niko Kovac’s side have stumbled through, bagged all three points and now sit just six points off Bayern in the Bundesliga table.

Guirassy misses from the penalty spot to put the game beyond doubt. Here comes the implosion…

a man wearing headphones sits in a chair with the words " time to get serious " behind him ALT: a man wearing headphones sits in a chair with the words " time to get serious " behind him

Dortmund have just scored two goals in two minutes

Can confirm that Dortmund are Dortmunding all over the shop this evening.

After Bayern dropped two points to HSV last night, Dortmund have thrown a 1-0 lead and are now losing 2-1 to a Heidenheim side that have won just three games this season…

Welp. The second one was far less of a penalty.

Feels like Fulham got away with that penalty on a technicality.

Yeah I think that’s the issue I have with it. The Isak pursuit eventually felt like an obligation after such a public campaign to sign him.

I think a lot of people probably assumed Ekitike would be some sort of understudy to Isak. It’s a fair point, but Ekitike is only three years younger than Isak. And didn’t join Liverpool to sit on the bench.

I know Liverpool needed bodies up front. But what was the end goal? Even if both strikers hit the ground running, was Slot supposed to play 4-4-2? Ekitike tends to drift out left, but he’s still a striker. Who gets into the penalty box. To score goals. Where Isak would presumably be standing,

Buying Alexander Isak 40 days after they bought Hugo Ekitike may become one of the most bizarre transfer decisions in the history of Liverpool.

Yeah because a great defence definitely concedes two goals to this HSV team.

Bayern currently drawing 2-2 with HSV right now…

To be honest, I’m not even sure BlueSky would be any different if it was as popular as Twitter. It’s still an algorithm. It’s still Silicon Valley libertarian weirdos in charge.

I say we all just go back to forums and buy print media.

(But you’re on BlueSky, so you already knew that…)

Twitter became X, which became 4chan.

I’ve got no idea why people still try to take it seriously.

Transfer round up show: Goretzka, Riera and answering listener questions! On the second bonus show of the week, Manu and Stefan break down the latest Bundesliga transfer rumors.

New #Bundesliga Gegenpressing Pod. The transfer show with @sbienkowski.bsky.social:

🦅Eintracht Frankfurt have found a new head coach
🇪🇸Leon Goretzka headed to Atlético Madrid?
🐝Dortmund to sign Brazilian wonderkid?
🇩🇪Plus! Listener questions.

gegenpressing.substack.com/p/transfer-r...

Drowning in slop.

I just stuck a search query into ChatGPT and it spat out a pretty extensive answer. When I clicked the link to double-check, it led me to Twitter/X.

I assumed the link was a reference to someone's tweet. It wasn't. It was a link to ChatGPT asking Grok my question. And linking to what Grok said.

Why Michael Carrick knows just how important Kobbie Mainoo is to Man Utd Ignored by Ruben Amorim, the young midfielder is now thriving under a kindred spirit in the Old Trafford dug out

Kobbie Mainoo is no defensive midfielder or playmaker. He’s the player in between.

That’s something that Ruben Amorim never seemed to understand, but it’s clear that Michael Carrick sees the midfielder as a crucial cog in his Man Utd machine.