Bundesliga review part 2. the new one :)

[supercrystal7]

Bayern deserved to win. They were the better team and created the better chances. Dortmund worked hard, but losing Hummels was a blow. You cannot find a harder working team than Dortmund, but effort and hard work is not everything. They lack quality. Too many average players. Durm deserves a sustained break. Robben was class as always as was Neuer, Boateng and Benatia. An improvement for Dortmund considering the likes of Reus and Gundogan are not fully fit, but they are now in the relegation zone. It will be hard for them to make top 4.

 

[Maldeika]

@supercrystal7

As I told you before. It was not about performances - or they just played partly a role in the Kroos story. Success in sport is not only about the abilities of the players but has a lot to do with the team and team structure. Kroos did not and has not the abilities to play a leading role in Bayern's hierarchy - but wanted to be paid like it.

Well when you replace Kroos with a player of equal quality that can also provide the leading role you want then I will call it good business. At the moment Kroos has gone to one of the few clubs bigger and more successful than Bayern in Madrid.


I feel like a fool after saying that Di Matteo plays good football, because all he did was play defensive since he has got to Schalke. That being said it's too early to judge, especially since Schalke foolishly gave the new manager no preseason. At the least he has gotten good results. Schalke were poor yesterday. The most annoying thing for me was Meyer's attitude. Constantly throwing his arms in the air when he did not get a pass (though Obasi was terrible and selfish), losing the ball and not trying to get it back. He has been around Kevin Prince Boateng far too long. He needs a serious change in temperament.

Höwedes was critisizing the attitude of the younger players in an interview last week. There is the story with Donis Avdijaj, too, one of their greatest talents who last week wrecked an 158.000 EUR Mercedes in an illegal race...

Schalke ain't a good place for coaches - a lot of media presence and a team that is built together by a lot of different managers.

Bayern looked very good. You cannot get Dortmund not too have any chances if you do not build a wall by yourself. And yes, Robben and Müller need new shooting boots. If they would have converted normally the match could have been highscoring in the Bayern direction.

 

[supercrystal7]

@supercrystal7

As I told you before. It was not about performances - or they just played partly a role in the Kroos story. Success in sport is not only about the abilities of the players but has a lot to do with the team and team structure. Kroos did not and has not the abilities to play a leading role in Bayern's hierarchy - but wanted to be paid like it.

Well when you replace Kroos with a player of equal quality that can also provide the leading role you want then I will call it good business. At the moment Kroos has gone to one of the few clubs bigger and more successful than Bayern in Madrid.


I feel like a fool after saying that Di Matteo plays good football, because all he did was play defensive since he has got to Schalke. That being said it's too early to judge, especially since Schalke foolishly gave the new manager no preseason. At the least he has gotten good results. Schalke were poor yesterday. The most annoying thing for me was Meyer's attitude. Constantly throwing his arms in the air when he did not get a pass (though Obasi was terrible and selfish), losing the ball and not trying to get it back. He has been around Kevin Prince Boateng far too long. He needs a serious change in temperament.

Höwedes was critisizing the attitude of the younger players in an interview last week. There is the story with Donis Avdijaj, too, one of their greatest talents who last week wrecked an 158.000 EUR Mercedes in an illegal race...

Schalke ain't a good place for coaches - a lot of media presence and a team that is built together by a lot of different managers.

Bayern looked very good. You cannot get Dortmund not too have any chances if you do not build a wall by yourself. And yes, Robben and Müller need new shooting boots. If they would have converted normally the match could have been highscoring in the Bayern direction.

Can't disagree with how strong Bayern looked. Very impressive just like against Roma. There are two stand out teams in Europe and when Bayern have their full strength team, they are the best in the world. Just very impressive.

As for Schalke I am not surprised by the problems. I agree they too have far to many players. If I was to compare Schalke to any club here it would be Tottenham.

I still have no idea why they did not get Tuchel, but if not him then Mancini might have been the man to change the culture at the club. He managed to do it at Manchester City. Just looking at the attacking midfielders they have: Draxler, Meyer, Farfan, Clemens, Sidney Sam, Obasi, Boateng, Choupo-Motig and arguably Goretzka. That's 9 players. I mean compare that with Chelsea who have Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Willian and Salah. It's crazy.

No surprise that Wolfsburg and Gladbach are 2nd and 3rd given their managers and squad planning.

 

[Maldeika]

Well when you replace Kroos with a player of equal quality that can also provide the leading role you want then I will call it good business. At the moment Kroos has gone to one of the few clubs bigger and more successful than Bayern in Madrid.


I feel like a fool after saying that Di Matteo plays good football, because all he did was play defensive since he has got to Schalke. That being said it's too early to judge, especially since Schalke foolishly gave the new manager no preseason. At the least he has gotten good results. Schalke were poor yesterday. The most annoying thing for me was Meyer's attitude. Constantly throwing his arms in the air when he did not get a pass (though Obasi was terrible and selfish), losing the ball and not trying to get it back. He has been around Kevin Prince Boateng far too long. He needs a serious change in temperament.

Höwedes was critisizing the attitude of the younger players in an interview last week. There is the story with Donis Avdijaj, too, one of their greatest talents who last week wrecked an 158.000 EUR Mercedes in an illegal race...

Schalke ain't a good place for coaches - a lot of media presence and a team that is built together by a lot of different managers.

Bayern looked very good. You cannot get Dortmund not too have any chances if you do not build a wall by yourself. And yes, Robben and Müller need new shooting boots. If they would have converted normally the match could have been highscoring in the Bayern direction.

Can't disagree with how strong Bayern looked. Very impressive just like against Roma. There are two stand out teams in Europe and when Bayern have their full strength team, they are the best in the world. Just very impressive.

As for Schalke I am not surprised by the problems. I agree they too have far to many players. If I was to compare Schalke to any club here it would be Tottenham.

I still have no idea why they did not get Tuchel, but if not him then Mancini might have been the man to change the culture at the club. He managed to do it at Manchester City. Just looking at the attacking midfielders they have: Draxler, Meyer, Farfan, Clemens, Sidney Sam, Obasi, Boateng, Choupo-Motig and arguably Goretzka. That's 9 players. I mean compare that with Chelsea who have Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Willian and Salah. It's crazy.

No surprise that Wolfsburg and Gladbach are 2nd and 3rd given their managers and squad planning.

Do not forget Hoffenheim. I really like Gisdol a lot - and he plays an attractive football and has the defensive problems settled this season. It will be hard for Dortmund to get anywhere near the CL places this season as the two mentioned teams plus Hoffenheim look like they have a decent match idea against all kind of systems and there is Leverkusen and Schalke, too - who might be underperforming right now, too. De Bruyne really starts to show his talent. He has been great lately - if Wolfsburg add e.g. Podolski in summer for their offense or some other good striker they will have a really great team.

Dortmund plays Gladbach next - and I can see Gladbach winning this match. Then Dortmund could even land on rank 18 (if Freiburg makes a win against Cologne and Bremen scratches a point next weekend) with 13 to 16 points behind the other competitors for the CL spots.

2010/11 Dortmund started with there match plan that gave them success in the league in the first seasons - and still in Europe. A lot of other teams in Germany followed (that is why I always tell that the Bundesliga ain't that easy). But - with the time the other teams started to find recipes against that match modell even if Dortmund got even better in it. I haven't seen Southhampton - but from what I read they follow a similar match plan and it seems to be very successful in the EPL, too - even without (or especially without) star players. Dortmund struggles because of that - Leverkusen with a similar modell looked good in some of the matches but recently have problems, too, and only seem to score really good with Calhanoglu's set-pieces.

 

[supercrystal7]

Do not forget Hoffenheim. I really like Gisdol a lot - and he plays an attractive football and has the defensive problems settled this season. It will be hard for Dortmund to get anywhere near the CL places this season as the two mentioned teams plus Hoffenheim look like they have a decent match idea against all kind of systems and there is Leverkusen and Schalke, too - who might be underperforming right now, too. De Bruyne really starts to show his talent. He has been great lately - if Wolfsburg add e.g. Podolski in summer for their offense or some other good striker they will have a really great team.

Dortmund plays Gladbach next - and I can see Gladbach winning this match. Then Dortmund could even land on rank 18 (if Freiburg makes a win against Cologne and Bremen scratches a point next weekend) with 13 to 16 points behind the other competitors for the CL spots.

2010/11 Dortmund started with there match plan that gave them success in the league in the first seasons - and still in Europe. A lot of other teams in Germany followed (that is why I always tell that the Bundesliga ain't that easy). But - with the time the other teams started to find recipes against that match modell even if Dortmund got even better in it. I haven't seen Southhampton - but from what I read they follow a similar match plan and it seems to be very successful in the EPL, too - even without (or especially without) star players. Dortmund struggles because of that - Leverkusen with a similar modell looked good in some of the matches but recently have problems, too, and only seem to score really good with Calhanoglu's set-pieces.

Yeh I agree about Hoffenheim as well. I think what might hold Wolfsburg and Gladbach back is the Europa League. Both teams can go deep in the tournament and will be interesting to see how they cope with the rotation. I agree that things will be difficult for Dortmund. They basically have to go on title winning form from now to the end of the season. Wolfsburg should go for someone better than Podolski though. He has been very poor at Arsenal and barely played.


Yeh Southampton followed the model and got lots of great praise. Last season a lot of their players left for the bigger clubs, much like Dortmund. Liverpool bought three of them, but they have struggled to adjust to a different system much like the Dortmund players did. Since then they have got a new manager and new players. I have only seen highlights of their games this season and I am not sure if they play the same style.

As for Calhanogolu, he is one of the best at set pieces in the world for me. Whenever I have seen Leverkusen they have missed a lot of easy chances though and their defence looks weak. I reckon they should top their CL group. In fact apart from Schalke all the Bundesliga teams should.

 

[Maldeika]

Gladbach have some rotation players and Favre has rotated a lot even in the recent matches - and in difference to Schalke and Dortmund they don't have a lot injury problems.

And Wolfsburg has Arnold coming from the bench right now and Schäfer who played for Rodriguez at Thursday was doing really great then.

Poldi ain't the greatest player - but he is clinical. Wolfsburg creates a lot of chances but sometimes misses that. Poldi might not be the greatest player for a top address - but he is too good to be so often on the bench for Arsenal. I think that he would match into the team with his character. Finding good strikers - especially in the winter window - is difficult.

 

[Ruhr]

Dortmund now officially in the relegation zone

1 Bayern München 24 23:3

2 VfL Wolfsburg 20 20:9
3 Bor.M'gladbach 20 15:5

4 TSG Hoffenheim 17 14:10

5 Bay.Leverkusen 16 17:15
6 Hannover 96 16 7:11

7 SC Paderborn 15 16:13
8 FC Schalke 04 14 14:13
9 FSV Mainz 05 14 13:12
10 FC Augsburg 12 11:12
11 1.FC Köln 12 7:8
12 Etr.Frankfurt 12 17:19
13 Hertha BSC Berlin 11 15:19
14 Hamburger SV 9 4:12
15 VfB Stuttgart 9 14:23

16 SC Freiburg 8 9:14

17 Bor.Dortmund 7 11:17
18 Werder Bremen 7 12:24

 

[Maldeika]

Dortmund now officially in the relegation zone

1 Bayern München 24 23:3

2 VfL Wolfsburg 20 20:9
3 Bor.M'gladbach 20 15:5

4 TSG Hoffenheim 17 14:10

5 Bay.Leverkusen 16 17:15
6 Hannover 96 16 7:11

7 SC Paderborn 15 16:13
8 FC Schalke 04 14 14:13
9 FSV Mainz 05 14 13:12
10 FC Augsburg 12 11:12
11 1.FC Köln 12 7:8
12 Etr.Frankfurt 12 17:19
13 Hertha BSC Berlin 11 15:19
14 Hamburger SV 9 4:12
15 VfB Stuttgart 9 14:23

16 SC Freiburg 8 9:14

17 Bor.Dortmund 7 11:17
18 Werder Bremen 7 12:24

When you saw Gladbach last week and today I fear (or don't...) that they might be still on 7 points with a worse goal difference next weekend... Bremen plays at home against Stuttgart next weekend - they could do a draw or win...

 

[supercrystal7]

The Bundesliga teams have done well, but Schalke let them down. Di Mateo is really making me look foolish, but I still think we will see what he can do after the January break. Qualifying from the group is going to be very tough. They probably have to go and beat Maribor away, which as today shows won't be easy. Touch and go with them.

Bayern were impressive today, especially considering the players they were resting. Rafinha still not good enough. Ironically considering how people say the Bundesliga is so weak, but apart from Madrid; a fully fit Dortmund are probably the biggest threat to Bayern.

 

[Maldeika]

The Bundesliga teams have done well, but Schalke let them down. Di Mateo is really making me look foolish, but I still think we will see what he can do after the January break. Qualifying from the group is going to be very tough. They probably have to go and beat Maribor away, which as today shows won't be easy. Touch and go with them.

Bayern were impressive today, especially considering the players they were resting. Rafinha still not good enough. Ironically considering how people say the Bundesliga is so weak, but apart from Madrid; a fully fit Dortmund are probably the biggest threat to Bayern.

Schalke always seems to win the matches you think they will not - and they loose the matches which you think they should easily manage. Somehow I have a sympathy for them (do not tell my brother who is a big Schalke fan who drives through Germany or Europe to watch a lot of their matches) that I do not have for Dortmund or Leverkusen.

Alaba picked up a medial collateral ligament injury - more they know tomorrow morning - and will be out for the rest of 2014.