Bundesliga review part 2. the new one :)

[LHarper]

Re: Bundesliga review

Interesting couple of paragraphs about the atmosphere at the Allianz Arena:

It's not that simple. The fans in the kürve (I can't bring myself to use the revoltingly trendy buzzword "ultras") do themselves no favours either with the flares and bengal fire etc. The club has to obey the rules just as other clubs do, one group of fans cannot be seen to be more important than the others however much noise they make.
The likes of Club 12 and Shickeria are no different to SK 73 twenty years ago. Yes it's nice to have a decent atmosphere but what is far more important to the majority of fans is success on the pitch and we can hardly complain about that atm, if club nr 12 want to throw a tantrum and stay outside for twenty minutes that is their right, let them do so.

Thanks for the post. I assume Club Number 12 is a very small representative of the match going contingent? Do you think fans not in the group are angry, happy or indifferent to what's happening to the fans that go in the kürve?

Interesting game tonight, can see Bayern being exposed against quick, counter attacking teams if the full backs push on into the attacking third with only one holding midfielder.

 

[Alex - City Matters]

Re: Bundesliga review

Expect a very good Bundesliga season this year. Obviously title race between BVB and Bayern, maybe Schalke and Leverkusen at a push. But the most interesting part, like last season will be the battle for the other CL spots and Europa league places.

I expect all of these teams to be challenging for some sort of European place at some time of the season; Schalke, Leverkusen, Freiburg, Eintracht, Wolfsburg, 'Gladbach, Hannover, Stuttgart, HSV and Mainz at a push. For around 4 or 5 spaces it makes for a good watch.


Teams I'd look out for would be, 'Gladbach, with the editions of Max Kruse and Rafael paired with a fit Luuk De Jong, key players such as Marc André Ter Stegen, Martin Stanzl, Juan Arango and Patrick Hermann could make for outsiders once again for the Champions League.

Stuttgart, after a few disappointing seasons they have strengthened a lot over the summer, with acquisitions of Gōtoku Sakai on a permanent deal, Daniel Schwaab, Mohammed Abdellaoue, Sercan Sararer and the 2 year loan signing of Moritz Leitner from BVB although not the best of players, combined with the current squad could make for an all round team capable of a Europa League finish.

Teams who I think may struggle,

The obvious Eintracht Braunschweig similar to Greuther Fürth last season, they have managed the unachievable and beaten the likes of Köln and Kaiserslautern to get promotion to the Bundesliga. But with a squad of their talent with no disrespect is quite poor and I expect them to finish bottom with no more than 20 points.

FC Augsburg, again a smaller club with limited resources, although they have 2 (?) Bundesliga seasons under their belt, they have struggled at best and I think this time they will not be as lucky.

Others who could do well would be Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, and others who could struggle could be Hoffenheim and Werder.
Overall I expect and Bundesliga season that was even better than the last, so we should all be in for a good watch! I expect the Champions to be Bayern, followed by BVB but a smaller gap, the Schalke and Leverkusen. Frankfurt, Stuttgart and 'Gladbach for the Europa league and Hoffenheim and Braunschweig to go down. The two teams to come up, Kaiserslautern and St. Pauli with Düsseldorf beating Augsburg in the relegation/promotion playoff.<br /><br />-- Fri Aug 09, 2013 8:59 pm --<br /><br />

Bayern look good for going forward, but can be exposed defensively. I believe Kroos can be molded into a central midfielder, but suspect defensively at the moment.

Disagree with that, the reason they look shaky is because its a completely different system for them to play, also against a half decent side. They don't go from conceding under 20 goals last year to being poor defensively.

Well they do if they change the system and leave out a defensive midfielder. The full backs push up a lot more and Lahm in particular tucks into midfield. The centre backs are higher up and of course they don't play with Martinez. These are very big changes.

Good spot with that, I expect them to sort it out soon ;) Pep out!

 

[Rhineland]

Re: Bundesliga review

2. Bundesliga: Rather surprising results:
Düsseldorf lost at home (1-2 vs 1860 Munich) and so did Dresden (1-3 vs Union Berlin). FSV Frankfurt beat Bochum 1-0.

 

[Alex - City Matters]

Re: Bundesliga review

2. Bundesliga: Rather surprising results:
Düsseldorf lost at home (1-2 vs 1860 Munich) and so did Dresden (1-3 vs Union Berlin). FSV Frankfurt beat Bochum 1-0.

Interesting! In my opinion 1860 are a big team and have underachieved for a while, but beating Düsseldorf away is a very good result.
How do you think Aue will do? And also Ingolstadt, do you rate their young Austrian Knasmullner?

 

[bayern blade]

Re: Bundesliga review

Thanks for the post. I assume Club Number 12 is a very small representative of the match going contingent? Do you think fans not in the group are angry, happy or indifferent to what's happening to the fans that go in the kürve?

Interesting game tonight, can see Bayern being exposed against quick, counter attacking teams if the full backs push on into the attacking third with only one holding midfielder.

A - I see it from both sides. I was an opinionated clever twat too in the 80's so I can see it from their side but yes, club nr 12 are a minority albeit a noisy one.
On the other hand they do put a lot of time and effort into supporting Bayern, they ARE real fans.
Most other fans, even in the kürve are fairly indifferent to it imo though.

B - Great game tonight from two good sides. Absolute world class display from Ribery. Pep has got things going along the right lines, 3-1 win and a good start for us.

 

[Ruhr]

Re: Bundesliga review

Expect a very good Bundesliga season this year. Obviously title race between BVB and Bayern, maybe Schalke and Leverkusen at a push. But the most interesting part, like last season will be the battle for the other CL spots and Europa league places.

I expect all of these teams to be challenging for some sort of European place at some time of the season; Schalke, Leverkusen, Freiburg, Eintracht, Wolfsburg, 'Gladbach, Hannover, Stuttgart, HSV and Mainz at a push. For around 4 or 5 spaces it makes for a good watch.


Teams I'd look out for would be, 'Gladbach, with the editions of Max Kruse and Rafael paired with a fit Luuk De Jong, key players such as Marc André Ter Stegen, Martin Stanzl, Juan Arango and Patrick Hermann could make for outsiders once again for the Champions League.

Stuttgart, after a few disappointing seasons they have strengthened a lot over the summer, with acquisitions of Gōtoku Sakai on a permanent deal, Daniel Schwaab, Mohammed Abdellaoue, Sercan Sararer and the 2 year loan signing of Moritz Leitner from BVB although not the best of players, combined with the current squad could make for an all round team capable of a Europa League finish.

Teams who I think may struggle,

The obvious Eintracht Braunschweig similar to Greuther Fürth last season, they have managed the unachievable and beaten the likes of Köln and Kaiserslautern to get promotion to the Bundesliga. But with a squad of their talent with no disrespect is quite poor and I expect them to finish bottom with no more than 20 points.

FC Augsburg, again a smaller club with limited resources, although they have 2 (?) Bundesliga seasons under their belt, they have struggled at best and I think this time they will not be as lucky.

Others who could do well would be Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, and others who could struggle could be Hoffenheim and Werder.
Overall I expect and Bundesliga season that was even better than the last, so we should all be in for a good watch! I expect the Champions to be Bayern, followed by BVB but a smaller gap, the Schalke and Leverkusen. Frankfurt, Stuttgart and 'Gladbach for the Europa league and Hoffenheim and Braunschweig to go down. The two teams to come up, Kaiserslautern and St. Pauli with Düsseldorf beating Augsburg in the relegation/promotion playoff.

-- Fri Aug 09, 2013 8:59 pm --

Disagree with that, the reason they look shaky is because its a completely different system for them to play, also against a half decent side. They don't go from conceding under 20 goals last year to being poor defensively.

Well they do if they change the system and leave out a defensive midfielder. The full backs push up a lot more and Lahm in particular tucks into midfield. The centre backs are higher up and of course they don't play with Martinez. These are very big changes.

Good spot with that, I expect them to sort it out soon ;) Pep out!

Don´t see Hoffenheim that much in trouble. Their coach Gisdol is very familiar with the local situation and made the turnaround already at the end of last season. Many expect Hamburg and Bremen with a difficult season, also Freiburg after losing some of their best players

 

[Alex - City Matters]

Re: Bundesliga review

Expect a very good Bundesliga season this year. Obviously title race between BVB and Bayern, maybe Schalke and Leverkusen at a push. But the most interesting part, like last season will be the battle for the other CL spots and Europa league places.

I expect all of these teams to be challenging for some sort of European place at some time of the season; Schalke, Leverkusen, Freiburg, Eintracht, Wolfsburg, 'Gladbach, Hannover, Stuttgart, HSV and Mainz at a push. For around 4 or 5 spaces it makes for a good watch.


Teams I'd look out for would be, 'Gladbach, with the editions of Max Kruse and Rafael paired with a fit Luuk De Jong, key players such as Marc André Ter Stegen, Martin Stanzl, Juan Arango and Patrick Hermann could make for outsiders once again for the Champions League.

Stuttgart, after a few disappointing seasons they have strengthened a lot over the summer, with acquisitions of Gōtoku Sakai on a permanent deal, Daniel Schwaab, Mohammed Abdellaoue, Sercan Sararer and the 2 year loan signing of Moritz Leitner from BVB although not the best of players, combined with the current squad could make for an all round team capable of a Europa League finish.

Teams who I think may struggle,

The obvious Eintracht Braunschweig similar to Greuther Fürth last season, they have managed the unachievable and beaten the likes of Köln and Kaiserslautern to get promotion to the Bundesliga. But with a squad of their talent with no disrespect is quite poor and I expect them to finish bottom with no more than 20 points.

FC Augsburg, again a smaller club with limited resources, although they have 2 (?) Bundesliga seasons under their belt, they have struggled at best and I think this time they will not be as lucky.

Others who could do well would be Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, and others who could struggle could be Hoffenheim and Werder.
Overall I expect and Bundesliga season that was even better than the last, so we should all be in for a good watch! I expect the Champions to be Bayern, followed by BVB but a smaller gap, the Schalke and Leverkusen. Frankfurt, Stuttgart and 'Gladbach for the Europa league and Hoffenheim and Braunschweig to go down. The two teams to come up, Kaiserslautern and St. Pauli with Düsseldorf beating Augsburg in the relegation/promotion playoff.

-- Fri Aug 09, 2013 8:59 pm --

Well they do if they change the system and leave out a defensive midfielder. The full backs push up a lot more and Lahm in particular tucks into midfield. The centre backs are higher up and of course they don't play with Martinez. These are very big changes.

Good spot with that, I expect them to sort it out soon ;) Pep out!

Don´t see Hoffenheim that much in trouble. Their coach Gisdol is very familiar with the local situation and made the turnaround already at the end of last season. Many expect Hamburg and Bremen with a difficult season, also Freiburg after losing some of their best players

Oh yes, I forgot about Freiburg losing their best players.. Should have really dawned on me when I mentioned Max Kruse above. I still think they'll be alright, maybe mid table, I like their coach.
On a tangent, is Robbie Kruse still at Düsseldorf. I like the 2. Bundesliga, it's a very interesting league to watch.

 

[bayern blade]

Re: Bundesliga review

Don´t see Hoffenheim that much in trouble. Their coach Gisdol is very familiar with the local situation and made the turnaround already at the end of last season. Many expect Hamburg and Bremen with a difficult season, also Freiburg after losing some of their best players

Bremen are shite, if Braunschweig beat them tomorrow they could go tits up.

 

[Alex - City Matters]

Re: Bundesliga review

Don´t see Hoffenheim that much in trouble. Their coach Gisdol is very familiar with the local situation and made the turnaround already at the end of last season. Many expect Hamburg and Bremen with a difficult season, also Freiburg after losing some of their best players

Bremen are shite, if Braunschweig beat them tomorrow they could go tits up.

Agree, but I doubt Braunschweig are capable of it. Braunschweig will be like Fürth last year, good experience but ultimately not good enough.

 

[Bembeltown]

Re: Bundesliga review

Expect a very good Bundesliga season this year. Obviously title race between BVB and Bayern, maybe Schalke and Leverkusen at a push. But the most interesting part, like last season will be the battle for the other CL spots and Europa league places.

I expect all of these teams to be challenging for some sort of European place at some time of the season; Schalke, Leverkusen, Freiburg, Eintracht, Wolfsburg, 'Gladbach, Hannover, Stuttgart, HSV and Mainz at a push. For around 4 or 5 spaces it makes for a good watch.


Teams I'd look out for would be, 'Gladbach, with the editions of Max Kruse and Rafael paired with a fit Luuk De Jong, key players such as Marc André Ter Stegen, Martin Stanzl, Juan Arango and Patrick Hermann could make for outsiders once again for the Champions League.

Stuttgart, after a few disappointing seasons they have strengthened a lot over the summer, with acquisitions of Gōtoku Sakai on a permanent deal, Daniel Schwaab, Mohammed Abdellaoue, Sercan Sararer and the 2 year loan signing of Moritz Leitner from BVB although not the best of players, combined with the current squad could make for an all round team capable of a Europa League finish.

Teams who I think may struggle,

The obvious Eintracht Braunschweig similar to Greuther Fürth last season, they have managed the unachievable and beaten the likes of Köln and Kaiserslautern to get promotion to the Bundesliga. But with a squad of their talent with no disrespect is quite poor and I expect them to finish bottom with no more than 20 points.

FC Augsburg, again a smaller club with limited resources, although they have 2 (?) Bundesliga seasons under their belt, they have struggled at best and I think this time they will not be as lucky.

Others who could do well would be Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, and others who could struggle could be Hoffenheim and Werder.
Overall I expect and Bundesliga season that was even better than the last, so we should all be in for a good watch! I expect the Champions to be Bayern, followed by BVB but a smaller gap, the Schalke and Leverkusen. Frankfurt, Stuttgart and 'Gladbach for the Europa league and Hoffenheim and Braunschweig to go down. The two teams to come up, Kaiserslautern and St. Pauli with Düsseldorf beating Augsburg in the relegation/promotion playoff.

-- Fri Aug 09, 2013 8:59 pm --

Disagree with that, the reason they look shaky is because its a completely different system for them to play, also against a half decent side. They don't go from conceding under 20 goals last year to being poor defensively.

Well they do if they change the system and leave out a defensive midfielder. The full backs push up a lot more and Lahm in particular tucks into midfield. The centre backs are higher up and of course they don't play with Martinez. These are very big changes.

Good spot with that, I expect them to sort it out soon ;) Pep out!

Pretty good analysis, however I am a bit worried about "us" (Frankfurt), seeing that a lot of our players have overperformed last season and all that while our rivals couldnt win either when we had a horrible streak of games in the second half of the season.

I hope that Veh somehow manages to work his magic again, however I fear we might end up midtable especially as we are not used to play in Europe. Our Play Off game will be held a good 3000km away from home and collides with our already pretty harsh first couple of games (freshly promoted Berlin and Braunschweig as well as Bayern and Dortmund).
I hope we still somehow manage to get our hands on that promising czech striker from Prague (Vaclav Kadlec) and then we should be pretty much sorted in terms of the squad. But getting that striker would be crucial as Veh seems to try and play 4-4-2.