Peretz’s comments when speaking to Israeli channel Sport 5 are actually rather curious as it was clearly stated that Peretz was meant to compete with regular HSV starter Daniel Heuer Fernandes. Peretz delivered an especially poor training camp with HSV and, as a result, was not tapped to even earn a start in Hamburg’s opening round cup fixture. 

“It’s obvious that I’m disappointed that I’m not playing in Hamburg,” Peretz told the Israeli broadcaster. “I didn’t expect not to be playing. It was actually clear that I would be playing. But the things that are happening right now are no longer under my control. I am responsible for my own behavior and conduct. Maybe there will be a change in January, because I really want to play.”

HSV sporting director Claus Costa has already responded to Peretz’s comments in an interview with transfermarkt.de. Costa reiterated that Peretz simply lost the training camp battler against Daniel Heuer Fernandes and denied that any specific promises had been made. 

“We offered him some prospects, but it was also completely clear that we already have an absolute top man in ‘Ferro’ [Heuer Fernades],” Costa said. “Up until the very end [of training camp], it was a really close race between the goalkeepers. The outcome is not satisfactory for him and his disappointment is understandable. Anything else would have surprised me.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

“One felt valued and worth something,” Streich said of his old daily routine. “And suddenly all of that was gone. No structure and purpose. It’s wasn’t unforeseeable. Luckily, I found the right person to talk to. Someone who had experience with it. The one advantage coaches who are fired regularly have is that they only stay in one place for two or three years and have a natural distance. I was totally involved at that club.“

Streich retained his trademark modesty when asked about his reputation as German football’s “philosophical conscience“. At one of his final Freiburg press conferences, Streich roundly rejected labels such as “cult” or “elder statesmen“. Streich famously insisted that “cult” status belonged to figures like Mick Jagger and the true “elder statesmen” were the German political figures he worked with at Germany’s Federal Assembly. 

“No, no,” Streich answered with a shake of the head before answering the question from the moderator about being the “conscience of German football” or a “moral authority“. “I’m no ‘conscience of German football’. A ‘moral authority’ is Mahatma Ghandi. A ‘moral authority’ is a woman in Northern Bayern or South Baden who ministers people and serves everyone.

“I was of the opinion late on that football was decaying,” Streich continued. “That it was being squeezed too hard [commercially] like a lemon until there was nothing left. I thought to myself, ‘They’re destroying this game’. Now I know better. This game. They can produce 500,000 commercialized documentaries. They can exploit every last figure. They can stick cameras everywhere. They can promote it to death.

“At the end of the day, as long as kids are out there kicking a ball, they can never destroy this game,” Streich concluded to a round of applause. 

When the moderator asked Streich himself to recall how he once fell in love with football as a child, the Weil-am-Rhein native fondly recalled the days of growing up in a small Südbaden town. After breakfasting at his parent’s butcher shop, Streich could hardly wait to head outside and hit the pitch. 

“To this very day, there’s nothing better than finishing off one’s bread and mounting one’s bike after one heads outdoors,” Streich said. “It’s a shame that I can’t kick anymore as I always loved it. That hasn’t been physically possible for some time. It was so much fun because one could forget about all of one’s problems. The game is so complex that one can’t think about anything else.

“My parents didn’t have time to come and see me,” Streich added. “But it didn’t matter, because I was free.“

The inevitable question as to whether Streich would ever coach a team again cropped up. 

“I don’t think that I’ll coach another Bundesliga team,” Streich said. “Though I won’t rule anything out. When you’ve been in a profession for so long, it’s inevitable that someone will come up with the idea: Maybe he could work for us too. There’s been some interest. Part of the truth is that my assistant coaches in Freiburg were so good that I wouldn’t have dared to go anywhere on my own without them.”

Since his retirement, Streich has been traveling, giving a few motivational lectures, and even completed an internship on bicycle repair. The latter activity constituted one of Streich’s specific goals for his newfound free time. In an interview with Kicker shortly after he announced his retirement in May 2024, Streich memorably stated that he wished to “learn how to repair a bicycle properly“.

Bicycle repair will still never supplant football as the absolute love of Streich’s life. Near the end of the interview, it was time for the legend to offer up some choice words on what he found to be “the best thing about football“. After taking only a few nanoseconds to think about it, Streich went with the ball itself. 

It was time for the rhythmic cadence of old “Streich der Woche” days!

“The ball is round and the earth is round,” Streich said. “The ball is the small world and the big world at the same time. Whenever we were on the pitch with this ball, that can be used anywhere in the world, we brought the world to our small patch of grass. Just a bunch of lads and lasses on the pitch putting together a little world.”

GGFN | Peter Weis

As recently as the end of June, Coman had made it clear he had no intentions on seeking a move away from Germany, once declaring: “I want to stay at Bayern.” Nevertheless, just a matter of weeks later, he was packing his bags and leaving the German champions to join Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.

Even now – two months into this new chapter of his career – Coman admits he could have easily imagined staying in Munich. “By the end of the transfer, there were certain things – I won’t get into details – that made everything more complicated. It wasn’t that I was forced out, but the club made it clear that, financially, they were open to me leaving.”

Incidentally, Bayern’s board member for sport, Max Eberl, had already floated the idea of selling him a year earlier – a move which Coman had refused at the time. However, this summer it was different – he said he still felt “the love of the coach, the fans, and some board members,” but not from everyone. “There was a part of the club that wanted to see me go, and that really weighed on me,” the 29-year-old admitted.

Coman joined Bayern from Juventus in 2015, going on to win nine Bundesliga titles and score the winning goal in the 2020 Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain. Over the course of 330 appearances in all competitions, the winger scored 72 goals and provided 71 assists – not bad for a player who also had to battle several repeated injuries throughout his Bayern career.

Despite his mixed feelings surrounding his departure, Coman insisted there was no bad blood between him and his former club, declaring: “I’ll come back one day to say goodbye properly. I spent nearly ten years there and the club still means a lot to me.”

Coman has enjoyed a strong start to life as an Al-Nassr player, claiming two goals and four assists in his opening four league games. Such performances have seen him make a return to the French national squad for the October internationals, after having missed out on playing the Nations League’s final stages earlier in the year.

Having received the call-up from France coach Didier Deschamps, Coman insists the move hasn’t changed his level: “Twenty minutes per game at Bayern or playing every week here – which is better?” he asked rhetorically.

“I’m the same player I was in Munich. I’m not going to suddenly lose my quality. Al-Nassr has a great team – we’d hold our own in Europe. And here, I get to play regularly. At Bayern, when you only play every other game, your influence fades.”

GGFN | Sam Carey

“I have time and I’m young,” Diomande remarked in a recent interview with transfermarkt.de. “But, I’m also impatient because I want to be among the best. I also need to work on my dribbling, my passing, and my defense, as well as improve my teamwork.“

Despite his young age, Diomande’s professional journey has already brought him to a diverse range of geographical locales. Born in Cote d’Ivoire’s former capital and largest city Abidjan, Diomande moved to the United States at a very young age. Growing up in Florida, he honed his skills both at a private academy and American high school.

“I went to the USA to study and play football,” Diomande noted in the transfermarkt interview. “I tried out for a few [MLS] teams like the Colorado Rapids and Charlotte FC, but it didn’t work out. I eventually realized that [the USA] wasn’t quite right for me. Football doesn’t have the same status there as basketball or American football.”

Diomande ultimately gleaned valuable experience in a private sporting academy in Daytona Beach, the Yulee High School varsity team, and AS Frenzi of the United Premier Soccer League. There was also a brief audition with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership. The youngster emphasized that he had learned a lot from such experiences, even if they didn’t end up working out. 

“I was far away from my family and it was difficult to live alone,” Diomande said. “I had to learn to control my emotions. Now I’m more relaxed and can cope better with being far away from home. That helps me here at RB Leipzig.“

Before the summer transfer window brought him to Germany, Diomande travelled to Spain in order to fully begin his professional career with La Liga outfit CD Leganes. That too, proved an immensely helpful experience for him. Last may, his performances in the Spanish top division led to him being able to represent his native country at the highest youth level. 

“In Spain, it’s more about spending time on the ball,” Diomande said when commenting on that particular chapter. “In Spain, I only had to worry about playing football, but here I have to go to the gym. You have to push yourself harder on the pitch. I go to the gym to get stronger because it’s much more physical here.”

Leipzig and the Bundesliga have thus far proven a very good fit for Diomande. As soon as German footballing journalists began to scout the young talent RB paid €20m to acquire (despite a €1.5m estimated market worth) in training camp, it quickly became apparent that something special was brewing. Diomande scored in the opening round Pokal fixture and has started under Ole Werner in three of the club’s six Bundesliga fixtures. 

Even though reporting late cost him a start against Borussia Dortmund last Saturday, Diomande made an excellent impression off the bench. The left-winger’s progress on the national level also continues apace thanks to a call-up to the Ivorian senior men’s national team during the current October international break.

Diomande will serve alongside Bundesliga veteran Sebastien Haller and Hoffenheim’s Bazoumana Touré on the roster of the defending African continental champions. If he’s able to make an excellent impression, Diomande will get a chance to help Cote d’Ivoire defend their title at AFCON 2025 this January.

“It’s great to be on the senior team,” Diomande noted in his interview. “I’m proud because that was my dream. A very big dream. I always wanted to play for my country in the senior national team and today I’m there. I’m very excited.

“Leipzig was the best option for me,” Diomande added of his current club station. “Willi Orban and Castello Lukeba are my favorite teammates. We challenge each other. They may be defenders, but they challenge me in training and make me a better player. I like that about them.

“We have a young team that has undergone many changes this summer,” Diomande said of the Leipzig project in general. “Our collective goal is to qualify for European competition. My ultimate personal goal is the Champions League. I came to Leipzig to play in the Champions League. That’s why I’m here.”

GGFN | Peter Weis

“I was always proud to represent the DFB Juniors,” Castrop told Kicker’s Oliver Bitter. “My mother left the decision up to me. It was a very difficult decision, and I thought about it for a long time. But I see myself as very Asian in terms of my character traits. I used to take taekwondo and being competitive is a very Asian trait of mine.”

When it comes to learning the language and culture, the German-raised 22-year-old admitted that he had to make some big adjustments. That nevertheless didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for his assignment one bit. Castrop found it an absolute privilege to play for the South Korean team against opponents like Mexico and the USMNT in the states last month.

“We played courageous Korean football,” Castrop said of recent friendlies played in New Jersey and Tennessee. “It was a really intense experience. In New York [where the team camped ahead of the USMNT match] it was basically a home game for us because there are so many Koreans there. South Korean fans seek physical contact with you and shed tears when you pass by. It’s extreme.

“Learning Korean isn’t like learning English or French,” Castrop said of the linguistic learning curve. “The structure of the language and the characters [are different]. I can now read things online, but I can’t understand those who speak Korean. Fortunately, everyone speaks English and I have an interpreter at team meetings. My mother can also teach me a lot, so I’m making progress.

“Everyone is very polite and bows when greeting one another,” Castrop said when talking about locker room culture. “There is a very clear hierarchy in terms of age. There is generally great respect for older people. As a young player, you’re the last to get into the elevator and you bring the others fruit after meals. No one leaves the table until everyone has finished eating.

“He is Korea’s hero,” Castop added what it felt like to play alongside Son Heung-min “The great leader leads the team, gives the speeches, and holds the whole team together. He talks to everyone and has a very close and good relationship with everyone. He really is an incredible personality and is a great person.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

It is still early days, but Hamburger SV players and management believe it is a sign of their development.

Penalty hero, Heuer Fernandes could not hide his delight at full-time, telling the media that his defence did well to stifle the strong Union attackers.

“I’m happy that I was able to save the penalty, because it would have been tough to fall behind early on against a team like Union. We were then able to control the game and had a lot of possession, but unfortunately without creating any really big chances, even though you always felt like something was going to happen.”

It feels good to have given so little away, had some opportunities ourselves and picked up a point against a team as strong and physical as Union, especially as we knew that their powerful forwards don’t need many chances to score. We dealt with that well.”

Lacking the clinical touch

Nicolai Remberg put in a disciplined, if not creative, performance in the centre of midfield for Hamburger SV, but felt that something is still missing up front:

“We played really well in the first half and had lots of good attacks where we made promising runs at the defence, but unfortunately we were just lacking that final decisive pass. We’re doing well going forward, but we simply should have scored a goal today. A point here at this stadium is okay in principle, but we could have come away with more today. It’s almost a little bit disappointing that we’ve only got the one point in the end. Still, we’ve picked up five points from five matches and shown that we’re definitely travelling in the right direction.”

“We deserved more”

Swiss midfielder, Miro Muheim was more positive about the performance in defence and attack:

“That was a very good team performance. We gave very little away defensively apart from the penalty kick, and Ferro of course saved that superbly. Other than that, we were very solid and defended compactly. We created some good chances too, but sadly we didn’t take them. That’s why we’re slightly disappointed that we couldn’t get the three points. We would definitely have deserved an away win.”

A Point Gained

HSV Head Coach, Merlin Polzin was equally effusive about his sides performance and saw the trip as a point gained, rather than three points lost:

“We started the game well apart from the penalty incident. We have to thank Ferro for keeping us in the game. He saved the spot kick brilliantly. The reaction to that was also great, with all the players coming together. By that point, we had definitely arrived in the game.

“I saw a very focused first-half performance from us when we had the ball. We managed to exploit the space and made it difficult for the opponents to pick up our players. We could have played out one or two chances better than we did. We knew that, as the game went on, the power of the Alte Försterei could come back and play a part. We dealt with that well, and you could say that we became more and more of a team unit. I’m more than satisfied with the performance and we’ll take the point with us.”

Overall, HSV can be hopeful about their development.

The goalless draw stemmed a tide that had seen them concede 11 goals in their previous four games, but scoring remains an issue.

HSV have managed just two goals so far this season, a Bundesliga low, and they will now look to build on this performance against Mainz 05 next week.

GGFN | Oscar O’Mara

Earlier in the week, Wirtz had spoken about his initial teething problems with the league leaders, considering the noise surrounding him. 

Now, he has dived further into his first couple of months in England. 

The 22-year-old spent the start of his professional career at Leverkusen, a club that is admittedly on the smaller side, as it is found in the Rhein region, a town outside of Köln and is also near Borussia Mönchengladbach. 

On the difference in moving between Leverkusen and Liverpool, Wirtz said: 

“I loved playing for Leverkusen . I loved the fans, the club. When you’re in the stadium in Liverpool, you realize: This is just a little bit above and beyond. It’s impressive when ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is played at Anfield. It does something to you when so many people sing that song. It definitely gets under your skin.”

Wirtz has moved for a lot of money; at the time, it was a British transfer record before Liverpool broke their own record with the arrival of Alexander Isak from Newcastle, and Wirtz was also the subject of a transfer saga between Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

On what helped him choose to move to the reigning Premier League champions, the 22-year-old said: 

“I had in mind that Liverpool is a family-oriented club. But of course, what convinced me most was the football aspect.”

The price that Liverpool paid has also been spoken about alot when it comes to Wirtz’s earlier-season performance. The German international is seemingly not worried about it: 

“It is what it is. We’re not used to Liverpool spending so much. They haven’t done that in recent years, and then they were able to do it this summer. Of course, it’s not normal for a player to cost that much. Everyone knows that. But at the moment, it’s just paid for. The coach told me that here in the squad, you don’t have to put any pressure on yourself about how much you cost or didn’t cost, because it feels like everyone around you could cost just as much if they were playing somewhere else.”

Wirtz’s early struggles at Liverpool:

Most of the pressure around Wirtz is being built up on social media. While he may have struggled to score or assist in the opening few games of the season (he assisted in the Community Shield against Crystal Palace), he has been progressing as he gets used to the differences in the league to the Bundesliga.

On why he may be struggling in the earlier stages: 

“It could be that I’m trying to pass the ball faster. I recently talked to the coach about it, and he suggested why I might not be able to get into the situations I normally get into. That is, that I’m making the game fast with a dribble or a pass. He said it could be because we press a lot and I run a lot. For example, the running stats: I’m always at the top there because I try to push hard and do what the coach asks. I need a lot of strength and energy for that. When I have the ball, I might be lacking a little bit. That it will simply come step by step, as I play more games, get fitter, be able to do things more easily, and then, when I have the ball, be fit enough and recovered enough to push hard.”

Finally, Wirtz was asked when he could be at 100% in terms of the player he was in the past couple of seasons at Leverkusen: 

“That’s difficult to say. I’d like to know, too, but it can take some time until you really arrive somewhere and settle in and are familiar with everything, and I’ll allow myself that. I just hope that at some point the time will come when I feel truly comfortable, at home, and ready.

It is clear that everyone, except fans of rival clubs, are patient with Wirtz and when his arrival in the Premier League will happen. At the weekend, Liverpool plays Crystal Palace. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan

This has of course put Kane in the spotlight this week. Newly appointed Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank spoke of a possible return to north London for Kane, saying: “There are many Tottenham fans, myself included, who would love to have Kane back. But, to be honest, I don’t think he’ll do that now. 

“He’ll likely remain at Bayern and continue to play well. He was [the Bundesliga’s] top-scorer last year, won the title, and is in fantastic form.”

Max Eberl and Vincent Kompany discuss Harry Kane’s future

Speaking in Thursday’s press conference ahead of Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga game against Werder Bremen on Friday night, Vincent Kompany spoke about Kane’s future and Frank’s statement.

“Harry is in an excellent phase,” said Kompany. “The last thing I want is to open the door to other discussions.”

Max Eberl added: “He wants to win titles, and he can do that with us. Our wish is to be very successful with Harry.”

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

The two teams met in pre-season, which proved to be an intense affair, and Stuttgart head coach Sebastian Hoeneß expects a similar match.

Speaking in Wednesday’s press conference, Hoeneß said: “Why should it be any different this time? Back then, it was just a friendly. Tomorrow it’s much more important.

“A floodlit game, 60,000 fans – everyone knows what that does to Stuttgart.”

Last year, Stuttgart played in the Champions League, but Hoeneß expects VfB’s fans to be as raucous as ever, reiterating that their involvement in a European competition shouldn’t be taken for granted: “Being able to play internationally is the icing on the cake. That can never, and must never, become the norm.”

Does Atakan Karazor return for Stuttgart?

Against St. Pauli in Matchday 4 of the Bundesliga, Hoeneß opted to start Chema Andrés alongside Angelo Stiller in midfield ahead of club captain Atakan Karazor.

When asked whether or not Kazaror would return to the starting line-up, Hoeneß remained tight-lipped: “I won’t comment on the starting line-up. We’ll see tomorrow.”

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

Since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for €125m, there has been criticism aimed at Wirtz for his lack of goals and assists in the Premier League and Champions League, despite assisting ex-Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitiké in the Community Shield. 

In his interview with Sky, Wirtz received a message from former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. 

Klopp’s first words were: “Stay cool”

On if it is difficult to stay cool, Wirtz said: 

“No, not for me. Yes, of course I would have liked to have scored a goal or collected a few points. But no matter what anyone says, I’m staying cool. I know what I’m capable of, and I also know that I’ll really bring it to the pitch at some point, so I’m just staying cool. That’s a good advice.”

The ex-Liverpool manager then said: “People give you time”

When pushed on this, the 22-year-old replied: 

“Yes, I hear it often. I don’t want to hear it all the time: “Give it time, give it time.” Instead, I simply try to do better each time than before. And sometimes there are phases where things might not go well for you; I haven’t had that very often in my career. Once I get through it—that’s perhaps harsh, because I’m not playing badly, I just haven’t got the points yet—it will come eventually, and then everything will be fine.”

While Klopp’s final words of advice were: “give yourself time” 

On his slower start to the season, Wirtz said:

“It’s no secret that I’d like to have more so far, but I’m patient, and as I just said, I know full well that I can play football well. Sooner or later, I’m sure that will return to normal.”

Considering Klopp spent nine years at Liverpool and built them back into the club they are today, there is no better person to provide Wirtz with the advice. 

Has Wirtz been poor for Liverpool?

If you base football solely on what you see on social media and the arbitrary numbers that football rating apps give out, then possibly yes. But, if you actually have watched Liverpool play, Wirtz has not been bad at all. 

It is natural for a player to get used to a new league, a new team and a new style of play, and you can see in Wirtz’s performances that he is getting better game by game and that a goal or an assist is coming soon. In Liverpool’s 3-2 win in the Champions League opening round, the 22-year-old was one of the Premier League leaders’ better players and several times created chances that should have resulted in a goal. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan