Die Bundesliga Thread

Borussia vs Werder goals:

 

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=CzPx_oCVY2Q

Originally posted by King Kang of Mu What's wrong with Stuttgart?  Losing to a Scottish team in Champs League and now get embarrassed by Bremen?

I also aks myself that question... I can only blame the new goalkeeper and some unexplainable problems in the defense. the match vs bremen could just as well has ended 6:1...

Stuttgart has let me down again and Bremen is on acid or something... 

Too bad I missed out on Bremen game this week.  Watched Bayer vs Bayern, though.  Very good competitive game.  Klose's goal was least a meter over the line but the referee missed it.  Maybe it's time to put that microchip in the ball?  Or instant replay review?  No, I like the game the way it is.  More room for interpretations, controversies, hence more poetic than logical.  Karma has its own way to sort out the justice like England vs Germany in 1966 final was balanced out by 'the Hand of God' of 1986.  Or injustice to Italy in 2002 was head butted out in 2006.

Anyway, Leverkusen played much more competitive game against Bayern than I thought they would.  If there is such thing called a moral victory, I think Leverkusen played well enough to take one home.  Friedrich was solid as rock.  It's still too early but they should be considered as a serious contender for a champs league spot, though my bets would be on Bayern, Schalke and Bremen at this point.
 
Couldn't see Bremen's game but saw the highlights.  8:1!  Bielefeld is not just a bunch of chumps either.  Almeida is continuing his success from last week.  Sanogo is showing the strength of his game, jumping.  Good to see Rosenberg finally contributing.  And you all know how I feel about Diego.  This team will only get better as the season goes on, as they get healthier.

Yeah, I still can't figure out Stuttgart's struggle.  Against Hansa Rostock, come on!   At this point, it might be more than just a simple streak of bad lucks.  I really don't see the fundamental flaw in their roster or tactics though.  Yes I would agree that they might have overachieved a little last year but they were still one of the top teams.  Majority of this team is still very young.  Actually wasn't that the youngest team ever to the Bundsliga last year?  Maybe they are still little too emotional.  Hopely they can just play their way out of this funk.

I'm not quite sold on Karlsruhe yet.  Wins against Dortmund and Stuttgart looks impressive on paper but both teams are struggling right now.  Next match against Schalke will be another chance to make more believers.

pssst, no more words about the teams of Dortmund and Stuttgart.

Watched Dortmund vs Bochum and the 2nd half of Stuttgart vs Hannover.  No Bremen game for me again this week.  

A good win for Dortmund scoring the winning goal with a man down.  That's always an emotional win but in Dortmund it's a pendemonium.  Dede played great game on the both side of the field.  It's amazing Dortmund debuted three teenagers for their first Bundesliga game.  All looked like they belong in the big league least on the bench.  N'jambe(?) looked like he could be a first team material right away.  With all their injuries they need him to be.  Worns got two yellows and kicked out.  He was dominant in almost every corner kick situations while he was in the game though.  One of his many headers turned into Tinga's rebound slam in.  It was good to see them digging themselves out of the League basement short handed.  Federico scored good looking half volley off of another mishandled corner kick.  Bochum dominated possessions but their last passes and finishes unimaginative.

Don't wanna say too much about Stuttgart accept Magnin played another great game.   What else is there to be said accept patience.  Remember though, they were struggling up until this point of the season last year also, even if last season seem so far away past for them by now.

Too bad I didn't get Bremen game again this week.  I missed out on Ailton's goal too.  He wants to eat the rest of Germany.  Good to see Bremen back on the top part of the table. 

Hamburg is also surging too aren't they?  Van der Vaart is starting to making people think he's the best player in Germany.  Top 5 for sure.

Last week, I said something like if Karlsruhe beats Schalke this week they will make more believers for them.  What do you know, they beat Schalke.  Be care for what you wish for I guess.  I didn't really believe that it could happen when I wrote and I don't think I still do.  With Bielefeld, Hansa and Duisburg coming up they might hang in the top part of the table for least another month.

For Bayern at this point, it's not whether they will win Bundesliga but whether can they go undefeated.

The german unification had not a big effort on football, cause the football was and is dominated by western teams. Franz Beckerbauer predicted after the german vicory at 1990 wc, that the german would be unbeatable for the net coming years, but he disproved very soon.

Thanx Ulrich. 

Looking at the map, maybe Hansa Rostok and Energie Cottbus are East German origin?  Neither are really powerhouses of Bundesliga are they?  Perhaps sports arenas are the last places that feeling the actual effect of the reunification?  That's so ironic because it's often the football stadiums that you see so much political, economical, cultural, regional and racial tension.
 
Wasn't Ballack a East German youth system product?  I think I heard that somewhere.

Looking at WC 2006 venues, out of 12 cities Leipzig was the only venue from East Germany(counting Berlin as neutral)?  It's understandable because West German cities already had stadiums ready for their Bundesliga teams.  Probably they only needed minor renovations for WC.  Although, didn't Schalke build new stadium for WC?  I think investing on a couple of more world class stadiums in East Germany would have helped boosting local economy, tourism, football culture.  South Korea built 10 new stadiums for WC 2002, all the venues are less than a year old at the time, including Seoul which already had a fairly new and great stadium from 88' Olympics.   All those stadiums looked great but  most of them are getting wasted now because K-League has hard time filling those seats, exception of maybe FC Seoul and Suwon Samsung Bluewings.  Most Korean football fans are only interested their national team and some of the European teams that Korean players play for.  Btw,Suwon Samsung Bluewings are coached by Cha Bum Kun, some of you might remember who he is.  So there, I just contradicted myself.  I guess building a new stadium and drawing tourism for a city doesn't necessarily translate well into the domestic league and the football culture of the city, though it would hurt.


Edited by King Kang of Mu - 08-Oct-2007 at 19:42

small update now. Stuttgart is back, significantly defeating Bayern in yesterdays match. Gomez is worth gold! last saturday he made a world class goal. even though we're definately out of the CL, things in Bundesliga start getting better, we now share 19 poitns with Schalke (!). also, this was Bayerns first defeat this season and Hamburg and Bremen are on their heels. looks like its not going to become a borign season afterall.

well, i don't think Bayern is going to lose against Woflsburg, but maybe Magath still has a joker in his sleeve. if Frankfurt can draw with bayern, then wolfsburg can too.

but the current bayern performacne should not come a sa big surprise, the problems of last season are still there. the real surprise was the strong start of Bayern. the problems of bayern are in the defense, namely Lucio (which was also evident on saturday) and other youngsters lacking experience. their strenghtening of the offense and Ribery as midfielder got them victory often enough to cover those flaws but as was to expect, it would not always work out this way. also, now there are tensions in the leardership, which can turn out worse if not handled fast and descisive.