Die Bundesliga Thread

I agree.  I still think Bayern's gonna win the league in the end.  I also agree on Lucio also.  Overall I think he's descent and serviceable defender but he has tendency to make crucial mistakes in big games and those are costly in that position.  Whatever happened to van Buyten?  Did he lose out his job to Demichelis or hurt?  I thought van Buyten was gonna develop into the back bone of that defense.  Even Demichelis is not a natural center back, is he?

After all their struggles Stuttgart is only 4 points behind 4th place.  Assuming Karlsruhe and Hannover will drop off eventually, they have to fend off Leverkusen, Schalke and Hertha and take down either Hamburg or Bremen.  I think they can do it.  Basturk reminds me little bit of Deco, little prickly guy getting in the mix, controlling the tempo, forcing the issue.

Right now if I have to predict how they're gonna finish I would go with
1. Bayern Munich
2. Werder Bremen
3. Stuttgart
4. Hamburg
5. Schalke
6. Leverkusen
7. Hertha Berlin

Podolski will be a good player for Bayern for years to come, as is Klose. Good acquisition.

The winter break of the Bundesliga ended on friday. Munich defeated Rostock by 2 goals to 1 at the re-opening game.

never! Bremen will stop them. 

Big weekend for Bundesliga. 

Borussia Dortmund at Bayern Munich
              Schalke 04 at Werder Bremen
         VfB Stuttgart at Bayer Leverkusen

It probably is too late for any team to catch up Bayern Munich, but if any team can they are gonna need big help from Dortmund this weekend.  As Temujin mentioned in the Champs League thread, I think Dortmund is capable of slaying the Holy Roman Trinity of Toni, Klose, Ribery. 

Reason #1:  Many of Munich's players must be tired from that overtime thriller against
                     Getafe.   Not only that was an intense extra 30 mins but also it was a
                     Thursday game, not Tuesday or Wednesday match.  I know all those guys
                     are trained athletics and even I have played back to back full field pick up
                     games in one afternoon but not at that level.  Not having one or two more
                     extra day from an away game like Getafe can affect the recovery/preparation
                     time and general weekly biorhythm.

Reason #2:   No Van Bommel.   He is  suspended for this game after getting kicked out
                     against Bochum last week.  This might not sound as critical as losing Ribery,
                     Toni, Klose, Lahm or Kahn but Van Bommel is truly the unsung hero of this 
                     team.  If Ze Roberto is the Chaser in that central defensive midfield on this
                     team, Van Bommel is the Banger.  And he's got a neck for stepping up big
                     time offensively on crucial games.  Of course, Altintop is a fine alternate for
                     that position but I've heard he's not 100% either. 

Reason #3:  Dortmund isn't as bad as people think or their record shows.  Sure, I wouldn't
                    call them one of the elite in that league but they are really not that far away
                    Schalke or Leverkusen.  In fact they are coming off of the win against
                    Leverkusen last week.  Not only that, they have already tied with Bayern 0:0,
                    although it was way back in October.

These are not the reasons that they WILL beat  Bayern,  but the reasons why they Can.  Of course Bayern is clearly better, deeper and more consistent team than Dortmund and the game is in Munich.  But Dortmund is also very proud club and this is the most important game for them.  And also a win here with a few ties and Losses from the teams ahead of them can even put them on a UEFA Cup spot target range.   That would mean so much for this club.

Schalke at Bremen?  Who the hell knows what you gonna get out of these two on any given moment?  Schalke's coming off the midweek loss to Barcelona and I wanna say they are heartbroken but I don't think they expected to get through that far themselves anyway.  I think they can use a better striker than Kuranyi, if not another at his level.  But I like Asamoah, Ernst, Rafinha and the other Altintop.  Jermain Jones and Ratikic(?) showed some flash of promises also.   Everyone in this thread already know that Bremen is my favorite team and Diego is my favorite player in Bundesliga.  I think injuries have hurt this team more than any other team in the league, especially Frings, Klasnic, Wome and Borowski's.  But still they should have gotten more than 1 point out of 3 game stretch against Wolfsburg, Bielefeld and Duisburg last month that pretty much killed their shot at keeping up with Bayern.   Every game from now on will determine whether they will stay on Champs League or even getting knocked out of UEFA Cup spot.  But they are coming off of the win against Hertha and I will not bet against them.

I got to see only a couple of Leverkusen games this season but I'm glad they are back on the upper eschelon.  I didn't see Gekas against Zenit, is he hurt?  Bulykin is a physical specimen but locks the touch.   Stuttgart  went through so much this season but after all that they are only 2 points out the Champs League spot.    Getting Basturk back in the mid season was key for them.  What happened to Mario Gomez and Magnin?   Love Hilbert and Hitzlsperger.  Coming off of the good win against Hamburg last week.  I wish they still have Lahm.  I will take Stuttgart on this one.

Speaking of Hamburg, they got it easy this weekend, Duisburg.  So while all the other top teams are beating up on each other, they can just glide right into the second place.   Unless though, Ailton decides he had enough of buffet ambient and start running, not likely though.  Love Van der Vaart.  He's my second favorite after Diego in Bundes, Ribery coming in at close third.  I like Kompany, De Jong and Guerrero also.  Zidan's alright too but he's an E (ternity) away from living up to his name.  I like Sorin a lot too but he hasn't solidified his spot on this team yet.  A very versatile player though, he can play any position  except center forward and center back.  A Ze Roberto, Camoranasi type player.

Before I forget big kudos for Karlsruhe.  Nobody expected them to stay at the top level as long as they have.   Coming out of nowhere, they have good shot at finishing at the middle of the table.  This year's Getafe of Bundesliga.  Good job, guys!

PS.  Reason #4: Lucio.  Do I need  to explain this one?  I think not.




Edited by King Kang of Mu - 12-Apr-2008 at 06:05

AE News ticker.......Schalke lost by 1:5 at Bremen. A real good day....

Stuttgart vs Leverkusen coming up right after this game.  I didn't think I could get all four games I wanted watch this weekend.  I love satellite tv!  Except on a stormy day, of course.

Second Half.

Bremen keeper saves another almost empty net situation.  How many saves he's got already 8? 9? 10?.  Well, he's a keeper. 

Diego's carving up Schalke like a Sushi chef with a light sabre. 

Kuranyi screws up another golden chance, a header from 3-5 m. 

Rosenburg scores off of yet another Borowski's cross.  When did he start to play out on the wings so much?

Asamoah came in and made a good cross to Kuranyi.  He should have taken it in himself.  Why didn't he start?    

Klasnic came for Rosenburg.   Rosenburg already earned his paycheck for the day.

With Jermain Jones carrying an yellow, Ernst's gotta cover Diego and run the offense same time.  An Uberman's task.

Rafinha came in.  Too little too late.

Fourth from Diego to Klasnic.  Time for brews and brats in Bremen.

Another great save from Wiese.  He came out of the box and stoled the high bouncing ball with his head from Altintop or Kuranyi, I couldn't tell, they got same hair cut today.

I've heard Diego is the most hated player in the league?  They say he flops and dives too much and he gets the calls that he shouldn't.  I think there is some truth in that.  But in Diego's defense, he keeps the ball on the ground and his feet more than anyone else in the league, imao.  The longer you posses the ball, the more fouls you gonna get.  Also German refs' somehow favor this Brazilian Wonder Boy over other players?  As T-Mobile commercial cheer leader girl would say, 'whatever!'.    I think most Germans just don't like Brazilians unless they play for their team.  Then, they love them.

Klasnic scores another.  Nice nutmeg. 

Game over.

what a crappy sunday. bayern annihilated Dortmund and Leverkusen beat Stuttgart due to our inexperienced goalie... we had the chance to leave Hamburg behidn but in the end got out of the top 5... at least Bremen killed Gazprom 04, too bad Slomka had to leave though, i think he was a rather good coach.

Originally posted by King Kang of Mu PS.  Reason #4: Lucio.  Do I need  to explain this one?  I think not.

i love that one!


Edited by Temujin - 14-Apr-2008 at 17:59

On Saturday the grat revenge will take place, might be, or rather not, i think.

bad week for Dortmund. my only hope now is that Bayern doesn't win the UEFA Cup....