Cleavers has covered many points.
When I first went to watch football in Germany I was really impressed. The size of the crowds, cost of tickets, facilities etc.
Since that first trip Schalke, I have been to Eintracht Frankfurt, Hamburg and Bremen and sadly what I noticed is my experience every time was exactly the same. The stadiums were configured the same, (except Bremen), the ground was located out of the town (Except Bremen), the fans sang in a choreographed way, but there was no passion, it was not a reaction to the events on the pitch, to the elation of scoring, the anger of conceding just a continuous montone. It was led by fan 'leaders' who had so little interest in the team they would barely watch the game, instead focusing on the continuation of the monotony of noise by the little kids who follow him and act on his every word.
Football is not pefect in England and for me the fan experience from the perspective of atmosphere, mentality of fans is a long way from watching City 20 years ago. The cost of tickets and the changing fanbase is the consequence of that. However I would prefer the spontaneity of english football fans everyday over the roboticness of the german supporters. Whether it be the 'Alan' chants, fake 'goal' celebrations, humour of my fellow supporters I would take that over the monotony of consistent chanting. That in itself adds to the match day experience, and can make a dull game memorable.
For the reasons statrd above I did not go to Moengengladbach but unsurprisingly I have just viewed pictures and it looks exactly the same as Schalke, Hamburg, Frankfurt and the other stadiums I have seen. Enjoy your fan experience but do not kid yourself or patronise others in the belief that your experience is better.
Oh yes who do you think will win the league in Germany this year? Exactly, it is not even Christmas and everyone already knows the answer....boring.
