David Beckham: From Hero to Zero

Bayern Munich legend and former director Franz Beckenbauer has praised current manager David Beckham for having "spirit" after the 42-year-old English boss led his Die Bayern team to their first DFB Pokal victory since 2010.

Bayern won 3-1 thanks to goals from Siyanda Xulu, Marco Verratti and Jack Grealish.

Beckenbauer, who retired from being a director at Bayern Munchen in 2014, said, "I am delighted that Bayern have managed to win the DFB Pokal again. I think Karl made the right choice to hire him.

"In less than a season he has proven that he is going to be better than Rafa Benitez."

Beckenbauer is known to have disagreed with the Bayern board over the hiring of Rafa Benitez as manager. The former Liverpool manager eventually joined the club from Manchester City but could only lead Bayern to a disappointing 7th placed finish in the Bundesliga.

"David has spirit as you can tell from the way he is so passionate about football. There are also a lot of his former players at Aston Villa that speak well about him publicly. I think he is a perfect fit for Bayern Munchen.

"I hope David will stay with us for years to come and establish himself as a club legend."

Beany & Louis: Thanks guys

TSO: That, I will!

Arvind: What the hell mate?

Bayern Munich manager David Beckham, speaking to Aston Villa TV yesterday after flying into Birmingham for an end-of-season break after his squad won the DFB Pokal, has paid tribute to Aston Villa coach Ricky Sbragia after the Scot announced he would be retiring from any football business on his 62nd birthday, which passed yesterday.

The former Sunderland manager linked up with Aston Villa and held dual roles with club and country, being the manager of the Scotland Under-19s, and was Beckham's first assistant manager from 2012 to 2014. Sbragia then made way for the incoming Ryan Giggs, but continued to work with the club in the capacity of a first team coach.

Various players at Villa have hailed Sbragia as a very patient man who was easy to communicate with.

"Ricky was a very good man," Beckham told AVTV. "When I started out here I wasn't very familiar with anything but Ricky helped me a lot. Even after I've learnt everything I could he was still fantastic and continued to help me.

"Standing here now as a successful manager I think I owe a lot to Ricky. He'll be a big miss for Aston Villa and I wish him a good retirement."

England boss Stuart Pearce has announced his final 23-man squad for the World Cup 2018, and unfortunately Bayern winger Jack Grealish is not among the final cut.

Despite the calls of fans to include the 22-year-old, Pearce has gone with other options instead.

Grealish is understood to have predicted this outcome, yet is still massively disappointed.

On the bright side though, there are others who will be participating in the World Cup this summer.

England 23-Man Squad

Goalkeepers
Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Fraser Forster (Celtic)
Alex Smithies (West Bromwich)

Defenders
Kyle Walker (Tottenham)
Kyle Naughton (Newcastle)
Martin Kelly (Manchester City)
Phil Jones (Tottenham)
Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City)
Steven Caulker (Liverpool)
Ryan Bennett (Norwich)
Leighton Baines (Manchester United)

Midfielders
Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)
Jonjo Shelvey (Manchester United)
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
Tom Huddlestone (Liverpool)
Jordon Mutch (Cardiff City)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Aston Villa)
Tom Ince (Newcastle)

Forwards
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Andy Carroll (Stoke City)
Daniel Sturridge (Newcastle)
Gabby Agbonlahor (Celtic)

Players Excluded
Duncan Romeo (Tottenham)
Chris Smalling (Chelsea)
Jack Cork (Aston Villa)
Will Hughes (Aston Villa)
Ross Barkley (Everton)
Jack Grealish (Bayern Munich)
Mason Bennett (Derby)

Sad to see Grealish overlooked :'(

It was quite an end to the season as Bayern finished May unbeaten. David Beckham's men finished 2nd in the Bundesliga, a vast improvement from last season's 7th, and they will be looking to wrestle back the title from Schalke next season.

Bundesliga

Bayern 4 - 1 Koln
Kroos
Ademilson
Ademilson
Verratti

Dortmund 2 - 2 Bayern
Kroos
Ramirez

Bayern 4 - 1 Dusseldorf
Ramires
Jong
Verratti
Grealish

DFB Pokal Final

Bayern 3 - 1 Koln
Xulu
Verratti
Grealish

FC Bayern Munich Player of the Month

Marco Verratti has been immense this month, dictating the central of the park like a true talent. A 30-yard screamer in the DFB Pokal Final against FC Koln only confirmed his current importance within the Bayern team, and it probably won't be long until he returns to international duty with Italy if he continues to keep up his form.

Player Worthy of a Mention

Siyana Xulu has been fantastic in defense this month and even managed to score a brilliant header in the DFB Pokal Final against Dusseldorf, a goal which contributed to their 3-1 win. His assured performances in defense now make him seem like a bargain, with Rafa Benitez having signed the South African on a free transfer two years ago.

A good end to the season there mate and definitely time to build on that and go for the title!

David Beckham: From Hero to Zero now has 50,000 views Thank you to everyone who has read, commented and liked this story so far. I hope to hit 100,000 soon!

Bundesliga 2017/18

Bayern Munich: 2nd

Champions: Schalke
Runner Up: Bayern Munich
Champions League Qualification: Schalke; Bayern Munich; Bayer Leverkusen
Europa League Qualification: Borussia Dortmund; Freiburg
Relegated: Dusseldorf; Kaiserslautern; VfL Bochum

Bundesliga 2017/18 Awards

Various Bayern Munich players won end-of-season awards. Siyanda Xulu clinched Defender of the Year, Manuel Neuer won the Goalkeeper of the Year while Toni Kroos was awarded the Midfielder of the Year. All three aforementioned players were subsequently awarded with a place in the Bundesliga 2017/18 Team of the Year.

Goalkeeper of the Year

Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)

Defender of the Year

Siyanda Xulu (Bayern Munich)

Midfielder of the Year

Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)

Striker of the Year

Nelson Oliveira (Schalke)

Footballer of the Year

Robert Lewandowski (Dortmund)

Goal of the Year

Daniel Adlung (Cottbus)

Manager of the Year

Luigi de Canio (Schalke)

Players' Manager of the Year

Luigi de Canio (Schalke)

Team of the Year

Neuer; Schelotto, Xulu, Matip, Stafylidis; Sissoko, Kroos, Pfeffer, Großkreutz; Lewandowski, Oliveira

Bundesliga Golden Boot

Robert Lewandowski (Dortmund)

Schalke will be tough to knock of their perch but I have faith in you!

2013-05-19 20:27#102549 DeanByrne1995 : Schalke will be tough to knock of their perch but I have faith in you!

Let's knock them off their bloody perch

I am too confident that you will manage to dislodge Schalke from the top spot. It shows I haven't looked at this story for a while as I thought you were still with Aston Villa! Haha. I will follow a lot more closely from now on.

Great season, and some wonderful commentary on that cup final

2017/18 Bayern Munich Awards

Following the end of the season for FC Bayern Munchen, a club awards dinner was held, with Bayern players and honorary fans in attendance.

Top Goalscorer

Toni Kroos (18 goals)

Top League Goalscorer

Romelu Lukaku (10 goals)

Top Assists

Toni Kroos (19 assists)

Fans' Player of the Year

Siyanda Xulu

2017/18 Best Eleven

Neuer; Boateng, Xulu, Musacchio, Radu; Sylla, Ramires; Muller, Kroos, Ramirez; Ademilson