Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal has admitted his frustration at
the continued unavailability of Franck Ribery.
The Frenchman missed much of the first half of the season due
to injury but it was hoped he would be able to take advantage of
the winter break to recover completely from his ailments, but that
has not been the case.
Both of the 26-year-old's big toes swelled after a light jog
in Munich last week and he has been unable to put on a pair of
boots since.
Van Gaal has already ruled him out of next Friday's first
Bundesliga match of 2010 against Hoffenheim and admitted the latest
injury is annoying.
"I am annoyed because he has not been able to take part in a
very good training camp and we have not had the chance to integrate
him into the team," said the Dutch coach.
"That is disappointing. We are now going to have to integrate
him during a competitive period and that is tough for him, for me
and for the team.
"This week would have been very important for him, but he has
not been able to take part.
"Now he will have to train on his own again and it is going
to be hard for him to catch up."
Nevertheless, Van Gaal has been satisfied on the whole with
his side's training camp in Dubai and claims they are now ready to
launch an assault on silverware.
"The aim is the title," he declared.
"We are two points behind (Bayer) Leverkusen and one behind
Schalke, but at one stage we were eight adrift.
"I think we have already come a long way."
Bayern can move to the top of the Bundesliga for the first
time since May 2008 with a win over Hoffenheim next Friday night.
They will however have to await the results of Leverkusen's
game with Mainz and Schalke's fixture with Nurnberg before learning
if that would be enough to see them end a whole round of Bundesliga
matches at the top of the pile for the first time in 52 attempts.
