FEATURE: Reclaiming the lost glory of the German Bundesliga – The way forward

Growing up in my small village of Asante Bekwai in the early 90s in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, all I knew was Football Made in Germany, and by the age of ten, I was already in love with Borussia Dortmund because of their unique yellow and black colours.

My Islamic School teacher was always in the colours of the Dortmund because of Ghana international Ibrahim Tanko, and the story of my love for the Yellow and Blacks passionately begun.

Documentaries on German football (club and country) were almost always available on free to air television, and I enjoyed watching the German game and the sense of attachment was always increasing.

But as I grew to love the game more and to understand the basic rudiments of its mechanizations better, Football Made in Germany gradually waned away, sinking my love for what I admired most.

Other football brands – The English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and the Italian Serie A tested the waters, felt the passion of Africans for football and gradually captured the market.

But the German Bundesliga can still reclaim the lost glory.

Following my visit to Germany from the 28th of March to the 8th of April courtesy Bundesliga International and broadcast giants StarTimes, I had a strong feeling that the German Bundesliga will reclaim its lost place as the best league in the world but not without pragmatic and strategic steps.

Despite the classic footballing talent on the field, the electrifying atmosphere on game days, the swashbuckling fan culture and the stupendous use of technology in developing the game, the German Bundesliga is still rated behind the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga considering the dominance of these leagues in European club competitions, availability of star players and the recent vociferous presence on social media.

I have identified four key areas the German Football Association (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL) must consider strengthening to make the Bundesliga primus inter pares.

Blending production and development with buying big and sustaining quality: The first approach to the emancipation of the Bundesliga and making it a dominant force in Europe is the marriage between production and development, and luring stars in to the league as well sustaining the few ones already in there.

It’s an undeniable fact that the model of operation of the Bundesliga is more of producing and developing players than keeping big stars or inviting already made star into the league. This approach is only good at producing the best of talents and dashing them out to other clubs who aim at winning top European club trophies – UEFA Champions League and the Europa League.

Statistically, the German Bundesliga has the youngest average age of players in all the top European leagues with an average age of 24.7 in the 2018/19 season, with U-21 players accounting for about 15% of the total playing time of the league.

Clearly, a league with 99% brand awareness in the country and an average attendance of 43k per game, and with an average age of 24.7 only indicates that the production and development of talent are top priorities compared to winning trophies on the international scene.

But for the German Bundesliga to weave its way through the hearts of ordinary fans and to reclaim its lost glory, certain class of players must be sustained in the league while other top players are lured in to increase its marketability and to sustain the interest of fans all over the world.

The Bundesliga has turned a feeding ground for clubs in the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga, and these two leagues have always managed to scoop the best from the Bundesliga.

If the Bundesliga had been able to sustain the players below, the competitive advantage of clubs in the Bundesliga would have been amazing and perhaps, an European trophy could have been won after Bayern Munich’s Champions League title triumph in 2013.

Kevin de Bruyne, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Leroy Sane, Granit Xhaka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Aturo Vidal, Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita, just to mention a few.

The trend of syphoning the Bundesliga of the best has continued for a very long time and if the DFL is able to regulate that, the Bundesliga will surely reclaim its lost glory.

In recent times, Cristiano Ronaldo has proved why it’s absolutely essential to have top class players in the league to increase its popularity and also enhance the probability of a club in winning the UEFA Champions League. After winning the trophy with Manchester United, he’s won it 4 times with Real Madrid and is likely to win it again with Juventus.

Sustaining the best is what will make you the best and the Bundesliga must adopt that model. Even if clubs can’t buy big stars, sustaining the stars made in the Bundesliga must be a top priority.

Following his wonderful outing for RB Leipzig last season, Timo Werner was a subject of a transfer to Liverpool in January. Already Christian Pulisic has completed a move to Chelsea and many more players will leave. But this will not make the Bundesliga the best as all passionate fans will want it to be.

Entertainment vs Competition: The German Bundesliga is impregnated with quality football, magnificent technique, staggering goals, stupendous comebacks, swashbuckling skills and many more, yet clubs in the Bundesliga are suffocated when they appear on the international scene.

It’s mind-boggling to see Bundeliga clubs struggling against mid-table English or Spanish clubs when they meet either in the Champions/Europa League.

Is it not sickening to see only one club – Eintracht Frankfurt – holding the flag of German club football high in Europe this season when Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Schalke, Leipzig and Hoffenheim have all fallen off?

The earlier point made, is a key factor but the Bundesliga appears to be geared towards satisfying the quest for quality football by the passionate fan instead of competing to win laurels on the international scene.

With 15% of playing time limited for U-21s, obviously the experience to compete at the highest stage will be limited, satisfying fans with fascinating youthfulness on the pitch and romantic display of football by these youngsters.

But of course, the aura to compete will surely be missing making the Bundesliga play second fiddle to other top leagues.

The DFL does not need to completely abolish the entertaining aspect of the German game as it is unique and classic but can integrate it with the competitive aspect as well.

Let the youth play, keep the top names, sustain the quality of play and buy influential and top stars into the Bundesliga, and the dominance over the European club competition will automatically show up.

The Bayern Munich Dominance: The dominance of Bayern Munich has been escalating only in the Bundesliga but they have consistently failed in the Champions League after their triumph in 2013. Bayern’s financial muscles have made them the super power in the Bundesliga, attracting every great talent and not even Borussia Dortmund are able to resist that.

The financial strength has two huge effects on clubs in the Bundesliga that have the potential of competing well in Europe. While they limit the quality of the other clubs, they also inject the other clubs with the defeatist mentality as they struggle to compete with the Bavarians.

As a result, clubs like Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkussen and Schalke 04 only show signs of readiness to compete but lack the quality to stage a proper fight.

From Matt Hummels to Robert Lewandowski to Leon Goretzka to Benjamin Pavard, and now to Timo Werner, all the best materials in the Bundesliga head towards the Allianz Arena.

With the modus operandi of Bayern Munich, the other Bundesliga clubs are restricted in the quality of materials at their disposal to compete with Bayern Munich and to also compete with other top European clubs.

The Bundesliga can, however, pose a huge threat to other European clubs in the Champions League or the Europa League if the other clubs are able to sustain player exodus, especially moving to Bayern Munich, to also build strong sides capable of competing.

If the trend continues, Bayern will consistently render the other clubs impotent while they fail to compete well in the Champions League because they are already kings at home.

Social Media Presence: Social media today is a powerful platform that comes with less cost but yields huge dividends. The presence of the Bundesliga on social media is highly limited, allowing the other leagues to take advantage of the social media space to maximize their output.

The Spanish La Liga started airing games LIVE on Facebook and Twitter, and as of the time of writing this article, the La Liga is boasting of close to 53million likes on Facebook and 390k followers on Twitter.

The English Premier League has 42million likes on Facebook and 19.2million followers on Twitter while the Bundesliga can only boast of 7.2million likes on Facebook and 828k followers on Twitter.

These numbers are so because the La Liga started streaming LIVE matches on Facebook and now on Twitter. The Premier League is recently adopting that model since it is paying off and giving fans and admirers the platform to still stay in touch with what they are so passionate about.

The Bundesliga is limited when it comes to social media. There is an adage that when all humans are transforming into animals and you fail to comply, you become their prey. So while all the top leagues are adopting the social media model with the Bundesliga not adopting same, the numbers are shifting in their favour with the Bundesliga suffering.

Passionate fans of the Bundesliga, like myself, will be forced to watch La Liga or Premier League games because the space has been occupied by those games and no Bundesliga game is available.

The sumptuous football served by the Bundesliga and the ostentatious display of skills displayed by talented footballers can only be complimented by pragmatic strategies such as these to make the Bundesliga the primus inter pares once again.