Malik Tillman has no idea if Michael Beale was talking a bit of Ballacks. The new Rangers boss may have issued some pretty high praise after likening his Bayern Munich loanee to another talented German playmaker last week - but it mostly went over the Nuremberg-born American international’s head.
Those of a certain vintage will know all about Michael Ballack and his storied career both in his homeland and down south. With four Bundesliga titles, a Premier League crown, three FA Cups and a World Cup runners-up medal, the former Kaiserslautern, Leverkusen, Bayern, Chelsea and Germany midfielder was one of the biggest names in world football during the naughties.
But given 20-year-old Tillman - a former German youth international before switch his allegiances Stateside - was still in his short lederhosen at the time, the scale of his manager’s exalting comparison has pretty much passed him by. But he’ll take the compliment none the less.
