Bundesliga Talk » FC Energie Cottbus

Wolfsburg Finish Off Miracle Season!

Double Pivot — Sat, 23 May 2009 16:00:34 +0000

Congratulations Wolfsburg, Champions of the Bundesliga!

Wolfsburg’s magical triangle all scored as the Wolves beat a deflated Werder Bremen 5–1 at home. Their home form was paramount in their unlikely title run as they took an incredible 49 points out of 51 during the campaign. It was incredibly important, as they didn’t start winning on the road until the second half of the season. Wolfsburg will also make their first appearance in the Champions League next year; however, they will not be joined by another new team: Hertha Berlin.

Only needing a win to ensure a Champions League spot, the team from the capital fell apart at Karlsruhe, 4–0. While they still have Europa League football next year, it is going to be difficult to canvas for replacements of their two forwards: Pantelic and Voronin without the benefit of Europe’s top competition. But will Lucien Favre now face the axe after taking so few points from the final four games to end their championsip aspirations and a chance at Champions League cash?

With the victory, Karlsruhe almost made a mini-miracle escape. They jumped two spots to the playoff position at the half, but Cottbus came charging back in the second half of their match with Bayer Leverkusen, scoring three goals after Arturo Vidal was sent off. Now Cottbus will face Mainz or Nuremburg for another year of top level football. Under current form, they should be favored. Arminia Bielefeld looked to have that playoff spot early, but squandered a lead at home to Hannover to end up bottom.

Gladbach ensured their survival with a draw at home against Dortmund, which ended Dortmund’s hopes of Europe as Hamburg won 3–2 late at Frankfurt. The Dinosaurs overcame the devastation of the encounters with Werder, which ended their Champions League aspirations and chances at DFB and UEFA Cup finals. A late goal by Piotr Trochowski sent Martin Jol’s men to fifth and another year of European football.

As for the match that should have meant more, the clash between Bayern and Stuttgart, a terse 2–1 victory for Bayern, was rendered inconsequential by Wolfsburg and Karlruhe’s large early leads. But Bayern do get automatic group stage Champions League next year, and that was the exact reason
they replaced Klinsmann with Heyneckes. And as for Stuttgart, despite the loss, they still made an impressive charge from mid-table under Markus Babbel to return to the Champions League next year. Not as impressive as 2007, but it still deserves huge praise.

Champions League Automatic: Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich
Champions League QUalifiation: Stuttgart
Europa League: Hertha Berlin and Hamburg
Promotion/Relegation Playoff: Energie Cottbus
Relegated: Karlsruhe and Arminia Bielefeld

Score One For the Bundesliga!

Double Pivot — Thu, 14 May 2009 05:23:30 +0000

Have goals ever been so important? With two games remaining, points are only marginally more important than goal difference in the hunt for survival, Europe and even the Meisterschaft.

Wolfsburg silenced the critics and showed their professionalism by keeping their outstanding home-form (remember the only points dropped at the VW were back in August) by crushing the hottest team in the Bundesliga: Dortmund. Despite the imminent departure of trainer Felix Magath, Wolfsburg showed that they are the team to beat in the Bundesliga. The 4–1 win was even more significant because Magath’s abandoned men lead Bayern on goal difference alone. With two more goals than the Bavarian giants, the Wolves seem destined for their first championship with weak opposition in the final two matches.

But just as I said Wolfsburg could afford a loss at Stuttgart and still carry the title, the margin of that loss (3 goals) means they could win their two remaining games and still lose the title. Two one goal wins and Bayern only need to wallop Hoffenheim at home and scrape by Stuttgart to pull off another championship. However TSG is back on form and Stuttgart is probably the best team in the Bundesliga at the moment.

With one point separating them from Bayern and Wolfsburg, one would think their inferior goal difference might count the Swabians out. But a big win at home to lowly Cottbus and it could take as little as a two goal win at the Allianz (and betting against the possibility would be as foolish as having picked Schalke to win the title this year) if Wolfsburg stumble as well. However unlikely, Stuttgart’s goal difference still plays a part. With one point separating them a Hertha in 3rd, Stuttgart’s eight point lead in that category could be the difference between the fiscally wealthy Champions League and the lower middle class Europa League.

Speaking of the poorer but funner European competition, Hamburg lead Dortmund for the final spot by three points; however, Jurgen Klopp’s side has a vastly superior goal difference. A slip-up by the Dinosaurs and Dortmund could snatch Europe from Martin Jol because his forwards weren’t up to the task.

Finally at the bottom of the table, Cottbus are hampered by poor goal difference. Without a win, they can’t avoid relegation. Even a draw would level them on points with Bochum, but they would still face a relegation playoff on goal difference. Arminia need a win as well to avoid the playoff. However with Bochum’s poor form, they could get a draw and catch Bochum on goal difference which is only 3 goals in favor of VfL at the moment. Gladbach could only be drawn back into the relegation zone with no points and an Arminia win or two by Cottbus. But even in that worst case scenario, they have Bochum as a cushion and would have to lose both of their final matches significantly.

This year, more than ever, goal difference matters.

The Set: Why My Spending Habits Didn’t Doom Wolves

Double Pivot — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:28:39 +0000

I did not cost the Wolves the title this weekend. I didn’t! Sure, this was the weekend that I finally bought my first German car. When I say German, I don’t mean that it has a German name, I mean it has to be made in Germany. If I wanted a car made in Mexico, I would buy a Pontiac and wonder why it keeps breaking down and they are now out of business. I wanted mine from the country of origin. But here in the states, that requires buying high-end: Audi, Porsche, most Mercedes and BMW’s and the most expensive of the VW line. Having ridden in a pretty sad little car for a number of years (my AC/heat switch was a vice-grip), I decided enough was enough and bought myself a Passat Komfort: built in Wolfsburg.

So having finally gotten a car of desire (it’s not the Audi R8), I feel that my purchase on the same weekend that Felix Magath’s side slipped up 2–0 against lowly Cottbus is too coincidental to ignore. But rather than incur the wrath of the Wolves faithful (and the thanks from VW employees is this economy), I have decided to make my case as to why it wasn’t my fault that Wolfsburg lost.

Grafite and Dzeko just had one of those days. It happens to any striker that they are going to have a day when they can’t hit a stationary luxury sedan from a meter away. This was just one of those days.
But when they or any midfielder did get a shot on target, Gerhard Tremmel was there to save Cottbus’ neck. Seven outstanding saves from the keeper, most of them coming during the hectic 10 minute period after the break, when Wolfsburg made their big push to take command of the match, were as important to the outcome as either goal.
My new car could have done a better job of marking in the box than Barzagli and Simunek, who decided that Rangelov’s inability to stay on-side meant he wasn’t necessary to mark. And my Passat could have done so with Tiptronic transmission.
Mariusz Kukielka’s return to the Cottbus lineup gave Energie a physical presence. He dogged both Misomivic and Grafite the entire game and helped neutralize two of the reasons that Wolves are a goal machine this season. And his 1.8 liter turbo engine never stopped running the entire game.
Bojan Prašnikar’s tactics took the attack to the flanks and he was able to negate Josue’s influence over the game. And the number of long chances from the flank by Skela could have won the game at a much earlier point. This tactic was so instrumental that Magath changed his formation at half to neutralize the wing play of Cottbus.
While Helmut Fleischer is one of the most experienced refs in the business, he did allow Cottbus to engage in way too much simulation. Had he put a stop to it by brandishing a yellow, the flow of the game would have suited Wolfsburg much better. I don’t begrudge Cottbus their cheeky play, as their entire operating budged costs about as much as Barzagli and Zaccardo, and they are fighting for their survival; however, had Dr. Fleischer taken this out of the game, then my car might not have to worry about being a hex.
History is history. No team has ever won more than 10 on the trot in the Bundesliga. This is about the same time as last season that Cottbus pulled off their miracle against top side Bayern last year. And let’s be fair, other than this run Wolves have not been a prolific road side this campaign. With 3 of the last 5 at the VW, they are still in the driver’s seat. Much like me:)

die Tabelle lügen nicht! (a look back at round 20 of the Bundesliga)

Double Pivot — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:47:56 +0000

1. Hertha Berlin (2–1 home win against Bayern)

Just think how good this team could be with half their starters back. Actually it probably wouldn’t be much better as those injuries haven’t been significant to their back line, and that is where the strength of the Old Lady lies. I will say, that after giving Raffael a hard time last week, he was very good this week. I’m glad he’s reading the site.

2. TSG Hoffenheim (1–4 loss at home to Bayer)

Isn’t it fun to write them off? However the last time they got stuffed by Bayer, they went on to dominate the league for 3 months. If they forgo Sanogo for Wellington, this team can still win the league.

3. Hamburg SV (won 2–0 at home against Bielefeld; 0–3 road win against Nijmegen)

I was happy to see Gravgaard come back after such an auspicious debut. I saw a lot of crappier performances by players during Jol’s tenure at Spurs and he never called them out. It was out of character, what he did last week. But it may well have been the affable gaffer showing evolution in his man management and that might be the what brings glory back to the second biggest club in Hamburg.

4. Bayern Munich (2–1 road loss to HBS)

Munich’s goal showed tenacity against the stubborn Drobny, but Frank Ribery’s reaction to the eventual goal by Klose said it all. And there I mentioned them without using the dreaded “crisis” word. D’oh!

5. Bayer Leverkusen (1–4 road win against Hoffenheim)

Maybe they should have moved to Rhein-Neckar rather than the LDU temporarily, as Labbida’s Lads (that’s trademarked!) were Barcelona mesmerizing at Hoffenheim’s new home. Dusseldorf hasn’t been as accommodating. They should call it Dusseldon’t (that’s trademarked too!)

6. VfL Wolfsburg (0–2 road win in Frankfurt, 2–0 loss to PSG)

Their first road victory in the Bundesliga this season was followed by a pathetic performance in the Parc de Princes. They should call the Wolves UEFA Cup tie with PSG the pre-fab darby, as Wolfsburg was a pre-fab industrial town created to house VW workers and PSG is just a pre-fab club with no history.

7. VfB Stuttgart (3–3 road draw with 96, 2–1 loss at Zenit)

It’s hard to say whether this was a good week or a bad week. On one hand they threw away two points by allowing a 2–0 lead slip at AWD Arena and they face an aggregate deficit against the holders in the UEFA Cup. On the other hand, they managed a point late against Hannover and they got a precious road goal is abhorring conditions against the holders. I’ll let Diana decide.

8. Borussia Dortmund (drew 1–1 at home with Cottbus)

It is my opinion that Young-Pyo Lee’s red card was bred from his frustration that he is the only former Tottenham player who was not bought back by the North Londoners.

9. Schalke 04 (2–1 loss at Bochum)

You know why Rutten is on the hot seat? He tried to turn everybody on his team into a defensive mid. Yet the only two DM’s he actually had in Ernst and Kobiashvilli, one he sent packing and the other he subsequently turned into a left-back. If he were a mechanic, he would fill your engine with anit-freeze for shits and giggles.

10. Werder Bremen (1–1 home draws with Gladbach and Milan)

Two poor results again this week. A road goal for the Italian giants seems to indicate that Werder will limp out of Europe once again, and the draw with Gladbach makes it likely that the chance of a revival are remote. However, the silver lining is that they dominated both of these games and took 77 shots in the two matches. If Schaaf can only sort his limp forward issue, this season isn’t lost quite yet.

11. FC Cologne (scoreless draw at home with Karlsruhe)

Their poor start to the second half of the season could get worse when they pay a visit to Podoslki’s Siberia. A result in that game would be nice, but they really need to start winning again at RheinEnergie.

12. Hannover 96 (3–3 home draw with Stuttgart)

Is it me or was that Jan Rosenthal’s best game since he seemed like the new kid on the block, two seasons ago?

14. Eintracht Frankfurt (lost 0–2 at home to Wolfsburg)

Sure, Leonard Kweike should have kept his hands closer on that free kick – TECHNICALLY. But he’s was looking away and protecting his kibble’s and bit’s when Wolfgang Stark decided to drag Frankfurt back into the relegation battle.

15. Arminia Bielefeld (0–2 road loss to HSV)

It just isn’t your day when the only guy that has scored for you all season misses a penalty. But Wichniarek shouldn’t sweat the road loss to one of the top six. It’s results against the bottom teams that are going to matter.

14. VfL Bochum (2–1 home victory over Schalke)

Six points so far in the second half is more than half the points the scored in the whole of the first. Is this just a blip or is adding a target man (Klimowitz) into the mix enough to change thier fortunes?

15. Energie Cottbus (drew 1–1 at BVB)

Nice job Atan. Not only did you score a crucial goal, but when fouling Sebastian Kehl recklessly in the box, you had the common decency to keep your hands off his shorts. We salute you!

17. Karlsruhe (scoreless road draw with Cologne)

Note to the Hoffe, do not let your best player go this summer. It seems that one player can make a huge difference. At least they have provided us Dino Drpic, who is more entertaining than a team that once was.

18. Borussia Monchengladbach (1–1 draw in Bremen)

While the talk was about Michael Bradley’s cross-Atlantic hat-trick; the real story was Logan Bailly. The ex-Genk man is already the best buy of January in the Budesliga and if he keeps up his pace of saves, the old power may well escape relegation. And returning, for a moment to Bradley, if the NYT had taken time to notice Bremen’s 35 shots, they would know that the kid had a bad game.

Your Bundesliga XI

Bundesliga Winter Break Review: Energie Cottbus

Mark — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:03:50 +0000

Energie Cottbus
Rank: 16th
Preseason Prediction: 18th
What was I thinking? Have you ever had a gut feeling that something was absolutely going to happen? In this case for me it was Cottbus being relegated. It’s no certainty, but that was my feeling before the season started and it remains unchanged. As you may know, I’m also a sucker for historical precedent and that doesn’t bode well for Cottbus. Every three years, without fail, for the past two decades they’ve switched leagues. That even includes their time in the GDR. It’s a macro-trend I can’t explain and unfortunately for Cottbus, there’s only one way to go and they’re halfway there.

Season High: 1–0 victory at home to Karlsruhe on September 15th. Yes, Cottbus did beat Hertha (and Gladbach, but that’s no accomplishment this season), admittedly a better team than Karlsruhe. Yet in tight situations (like facing relegation) these matches effectively become six-pointers.

Season Low: Well, I’ll go a little unorthodox here and say, “Every time Cottbus plays at home.” I’m referring to Cottbus’ attendance numbers, which you can see after the jump, that aren’t too pretty. For a league that prides itself on spectators, Cottbus sticks out like a sore thumb. Their average home game is filled to only 67.6% capacity which comes out to just over 15,000 people. That doesn’t even exclude away contingents who make the journey out East.

Why Cottbus Might Not Be Relegated: Away from the not-so-friendly confines of the Stadion der Freundschaft Cottbus actually looks (and performs) respectable. They’re solid mid-table quality away from home, earning a respectable point per game, which would suffice for 9th in the table. As mentioned, they’ve performed very well so far against their bottom-dwelling neighbors on the table. In fact, against the two teams currently above and below them (Bielefeld, Karlsruhe, Bochum, Gladbach) they earned 8 out of a possible 12 points. Very respectable.

Why Cottbus Will Be Relegated: Somehow just having an old (non-Berlin) East German team in the topflight doesn’t feel right. That might have something to do with there being only 7 (including Berlin) East German clubs in the three professional leagues. That’s as many as North Rhein-Westphalia has in topflight alone. And there’s Cottbus’ problem, much like the GDR’s, of collapsing in the end. More than 2/3rds (21 of 29) of the goals Cottbus conceded this season came in final 45 minutes. Taking things a bit further Cottbus have scored 7 of their 12 goals in the first half hour while only conceding 3. While admittedly the squad is not as talented as others, this speaks to me of coaching and/or conditioning issues. The 2–3 defeat to Frankfurt epitomized this. After going up 2–0 in the first quarter of an hour, complacency kicked in as Frankfurt scored 3 unanswered goals in a game that looked all but in the books for Cottbus early on.

After the jump, stats and more stats.

Totals
Attendance — 121,917
Goals — 12
Shots — 175
Shots on Goal — 52
Fouls — 359
Corners — 55
Offsides — 45
Yellows — 33

Average/Game
Attendance — 15,240
Goals — .71
Shots — 10.29
Shots on Goal — 3.06
Fouls — 21.12
Corners — 3.23
Offsides — 2.65
Yellows — 1.94

die Tabelle lügen nicht! (Bundesliga Week 12)

Double Pivot — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:58:29 +0000

Edin Dzeko Against Cottbus

1. Bayer Leverkusen
The subtitle to their season should be “how we got to the top with a crap defense”. They conceded goals by a misdirect from the wall on a free kick, allowing Tim Sebastian to waltz freely on another and letting 5’9 Iashvilli outjump a defender. If it weren’t for Adler’s saves, they could have lost this game. Half their back four are loanees. Perhars they should replace the other two with loans in January.

2. TSG Hoffenheim
And now you know why the Cleveland Brown’s always blow chunks. Brown and Orange are meant for leaves, not uniforms.

3. Bayern Munich
Well things seem to back on track. Oh except Lucio wants to leave. And Toni Kroos. And Ze Roberto (to the MLS at that). And Van Bommel. And Schweinsteiger. And Van Buyten. And Podolski. It seems the only person that wants to stay is the only person they want to get rid of: Michael Rensing.

4. Hamburg
Will Frank Rost’s five saves in this matched have massive repercussions at season’s end for the Dinosaurs? If any of their summer signing such as Thiago Neves, Alex Silva, Janssen and Pitroipa ever start playing, I think they will.

5. Hertha Berlin
Who would have thought in August that HBS beating a promotion side at home would be one of the biggest shocks in Europe? Not the guy mentioned in 11, that’s for sure.

6. Schalke 04
You know if Rutten replaced Kuranyi, Altintop, Farfan and Rakatic/Sanchez with DM’s he could play his dream formation of 4–6-0 with six holding mids.

7. Wolfsburg
Sure Grafite scores his first hat-trick which he dedicates to his father; however, I can’t help but feel that the real story at Wolfsburg is Edin Dzeko’s constant diving. He makes Ronaldo look like a man’s man.

8. Köln
5 wins in 7 for the one-time powerhouse has them above Dortmund, Bremen and Stuttgart, fighting for a shot at Europa. Has any team taken better advantage of corners this season?

9. Borussia Dortmund
Not a good week to display a Croatian flag in Dortmund. After getting scorched by HSV’s Olic and Petric, Robert Novac gets a straight red card post match for complaining. This means that they go into this week’s game with a threadbare back line with Hummels already MIA.

10. Werder Bremen
Are you kidding me? I go away for a few weeks and Thomas Schaaf, the man who has been at Werder Bremen longer than I have been alive, is under pressure. The man who has been around for three of their four titles in some capacity; the man without a defense; the man who loses his best player each year to FC Bayer; the man with no consistency from Diego, Ozil or Frings; yet the man that has them mid-table is somehow to blame for a slow start? Sure they suck in Europe. They always suck in Europe. That’s part of the gig. If they fire Schaaf, I will lose my faith in the Bundesliga.

11. Stuttgart
Next week Bundesliga Talk will feature an exclusive interview with the last known person to be unaware of Mario Gomez’s desire to leave the Swabians……oh scratch that, I have been informed that he has just slipped back into his coma.

12. Eintracht Frankfurt
If Jens Lehmann quits because of what he perceives as a missed call in this game, I will buy an Eagles shirt with Liberopoulos’ name, hang in on my wall and worship it like it’s Baal and this is 499 B.C.

13. Hannover 96
Mike Hanke scores in the league for the first time since last April. Oh, it was an own goal. Hanke is a very streaky forward. But this is the kind of purple patch that will give Dieter Hecking an ulcer.

14. Borussia Monchengladbach
Guess who is out of the relegation zone after Hans Meyer’s 50th Bundesliga victory? 50 victories! No wonder Hans Meyers has so much relegation experience. But this week is all about Marko Marin’s first Bundesliga goal, which was a superbly taken free kick. It’s the first of many more, such as his second half brace.

15. Karlsruhe
They had a spirited comeback against table topping Bayer at the weekend, but let’s give credit to one of the hardest working, yet most overlooked players in the Bundesliga: Alexander Iashvili. The diminutive Georgian scored the leveler but he has been working his tail off all season and nobody is more upset than Schalke’s Kobiashvili, who once felt unique.

16. Bochum
That’s now just one win in 12. That’s the kind of form that will guarantee you a playoff game come season’s end. Now that St. Pauli is contesting the third spot in the Zweite, I suddenly don’t like this new rule.

17. Arminia Bielefeld
This week’s winner of the “Mario Gomez’s You Can’t Friggin’ Possibly Miss That” award goes to Artur Wichniarek.

18. Energie Cottbus
You’ve been Lutzed, as in Lutz Wagner. Talk about the victims of poor referring decisions! First he calls off the Cottbus opener by Marco Kurth for obstruction of the goalkeeper’s line of site. Since when is this a law? Rangelov was onside and at least 2 meters away from Diego Benaglio. But if this wasn’t bad enough, Edin Dzeko falls due to a strong breeze as the ball is rolling out of play, and he awards the Wolves a penalty. Wagner is fast becoming Germany’s equivalent to an English ref.

die Tabelle lügen nicht! (International Break Edition)

Double Pivot — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:15:24 +0000

Please click on picture to see all the caricatures of German footballers from Pit Hammanns

Hamburg SV
The Dinosaurs face Schalke in the most intriguing game of the weekend. They have lost three of the last four matches against the Royal Blues at Nordbank. Chances for this weekend’s game don’t seem great with Nigel de Jong out with knee problems and Marcell Jansen out six weeks with a muscle tear.

TSG Hoffenheim
With success comes rumor. Vedad Ibesevic is being targeted by Tottenham Hotspur. Why the Bosnian, who is the only success story from the MLS developmental system, would want to play in the second division in England is the question I would ask.

Stuttgart
Just as Sami Khedira looked ready to make the attacking mid position his own, he tweaks his ankle in the U21 draw with France and will be sidelined for three weeks.

Bayer Leverkusen
Guess who has a €20 million release clause in his contract? He is also Germany’s new #1. I’ve been saying that Adler will eventually become of the most expensive keepers in the world. I wonder if Bayern or United are willing to test this clause and prove me right.

Schalke 04
Not content with Rafinha being the biggest douche at die Knappen, Kevin Kuranyi’s antics against Russia have him poised to challenge the Brazilian in classlessness. However, here’s the kicker! His national team form has been so non-existent, that nobody cares. In fact, for most fans of the Mannschaft, they just learned he was still being called up by Löw. If a tree falls in the woods, as the saying goes.

Borussia Dortmund
West Brom Albion is rumored to be after Marc-Andre Kruska. They must have been impressed with his marginal performance against France midweek. Perhaps they mixed him up with Kringe and heard about his four goal outburst this week against FC Herdecke/Ende. Perhaps they should check that it’s a 9th division team and the final score was 25–0.

Werder Bremen
They lose Martin Harnik, Daniel Jansen and Markus Rosenborg to injury for the important clash against Dortmund this weekend. In addition, Per Mertesacker is serving the second of his three game suspensions. With Naldo and Prödl as the central pairing, Valdez has been smiling all week.

Hertha Berlin
In a good bit of news, Lucio’s knee is recovering and he could play by the new year. In a bit of bad news, Arne Freidrich wants a lot of money, and more Nutella, to stay, and the Old Lady could be soon selling their captain.

Wolfsburg
Cristian Zaccardo tore a ligament in his right ankle during a friendly match against Furth. And thus, you have the only news on the Bundesliga’s biggest summer flop so far this season.

FC Köln
If they win at Cottbus, they will have 13 points and be in the top half of the table a quarter of the way through the season. Not a bad return to the Bundesliga for the Billy Goats. With the likes of Petit and Geromel, they should be safe from relegation worries.

Bayern Munich
Okay, can we please stop with the Jurgen in lederhosen pictures? We get it. He’s a joke at the moment.

Karlsruhe
A win at home this Saturday, and Edmund Becker’s side can go above Bayern Munich in the standings. Then again a draw and a win at Frankfurt midweek would do the same thing, and KSC could kill off two managers in a span of five days.

Hannover 96
While Enke’s injury has seriously dented his hopes of tying down the #1 role for the Mannschaft; it is truly going to play havoc for trainer Dieter Hecking, who is above the relegation zone mainly due to his captain’s exploits between the sticks.

Bochum
Was their comeback against Bayern about their ability or Bayern’s ineptness? A home match on Friday against Gladbach should help sort that out. Personally, I think it’s a little of both and it’s time we started paying attention to Dennis Grote.

Arminia Bielefeld
Someone better learn to keep the ball in midfield or Josue is going to have them for lunch this weekend.

Energie Cottbus
Seriously, I’ve got nothing.

Eintracht Frankfurt
They face five games in sixteen days as they face Bochum in the Madonna match midweek and next week is an English week, with a full slate of midweek games. Three of their opponents during this span include Cottbus, Gladbach and KSC, so Funkel’s position should be either safe or gone by the 2nd of November. With CEO Heribert Bruchhagen now faced with fan ire, anything less than 8 points will most likely see the manager fired.

Borussia Mönchengladbach
Who do you call upon when you are in a relegation dogfight? A man with experience! In Gladbach’s case it’s the return of the entertaining Hans Meyer, who was last seen taking Nuremburg to the Zweite. However his C.V. includes keeping Hertha afloat in their 2004 flirtation with the drop and, of course, gaining the once mighty giants reentry into the top flight after the unthinkable in 1999.

die Tabelle lügt nicht: Week 5 (Now w/ the Bundesliga XI)

Double Pivot — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:12:53 +0000

Here’s this week’s Bundesliga XI. It is packed with Bayer 04, Hoffenheim and Werder players. It does include a special shoutout to the man who ended Energie’s goal drought, an under appreciated defender from Arminia and a goalkeeper who lost.

1. Schalke 04
Now 10 of their last 13 have been scored by defenders. This time it was Patrick Ochs. Unfortunately for the lad, he plays for Eintracht.

2. TSG Hoffenheim
I guess you can hassle the Hoff. First it was Gladbach and now Dortmund fans. BVB was forced to apologize for protests that threatened violence to Dietmar Hopp. It’s no wonder the clubs voted against scrapping the 50+1 rule a fortnight ago.

I find it rather infuriating that fans are getting their knickers into a bind over a club’s patron. It’s within the rules of the game, and is no different that Bayer 04 or Wolfsburg. I think the issue is that Hoffenheim are building their club properly from the ground up. They aren’t just buying expensive talent, but good young talent as they establish their infrastructure, ground and academy. This worries the supporters of clubs who know their clubs are not making the same investments in these critical areas.

3. VfB Stuttgart
Thoroughly dominated their fierce rivals to go third in the league. Mario Gomez has rebounded well from a poor Euro campaign.

4. Hamburg SV
If you keep leaking early goals, its bound to catch up with you. While they pressured Wolfsburg relentlessly in the second half, the goals needed for another comeback were just not there. But as always, at least Martin Jol provides entertaining football.

Chairman Bernd Hoffmann presented a budget that puts the Dinosaurs third to Bayern and Schalke in revenue. He is also seeking to connect with three local investor/patrons to create a new club fund to help buy stars in the future. It has been dubbed “kick ³”, and could be a new innovation in the Bundesliga. Dortmund fans now have two to kill.

5. Bayer Leverkusen
Anyone still taking bets that Bruno Labbadia will be the first trainer fired this season? Bayer are playing a fantastic brand of football and keeping pace with the leaders. Their dismantling of Hannover was a complete team effort from Augusto to Helmes to Henrique.

6. VfL Wolfsburg
A thirty minute barrage against Hamburg sees Magath’s side creep up the standings and remain one of the few unbeaten sides this campaign.

In another piece of good news for the club, they had absolutely no players in Bild’s list of worst haircuts from the 80’s and 90’s.

7. Werder Bremen
The good news: they own Bayern in Munich and they are through in the cup. The bad news: Hoffenheim and Inter are next.

8. Bayern Munich
The good news: Ribery is back! The bad news: he will be deployed as a wing-back!

9. Hertha Berlin
Having had success in Serbia with Gojko Kacar, who is putting in goals along with sweeping up in front of the back four, apparently Hertha are headed back for Partizan’s wunderkid Zoran Tosic.

10. Borussia Dortmund
Valencia’s Timo Hildebrand has been linked with a move to BVB after being frozen out of the Valencia squad by new coach Unai Emery. I have never been convinced by Weidenfeller and view this as a great move by Klopp, but an even better move by Timo, who should have a role in the national team.

11. VfL Bochum
They are going to regret dropping five points against fellow travelers KSC and Cottbus so far this season. Their next seven games include matches with Bayer 04, Bayern, Stuttgart, TSG, Dortmund and Werder. A home tie against Gladbach may be their only chance at full points over that period. Expect them to drop faster than the Dow.

12. Arminia Bielefeld
I thought Artur Wichniarek’s clinching goal this weekend against Koln was candidate for goal of the season. He had a beautiful touch on the long delivery that took the ball away from the charging Mondragon. He then cut right to pick up the ball left by Breko and Matrip who were rushing back to cover the net and chipped the two players. Had he directly shot on goal, one of them would have stopped it. It was fantastic.

13. FC Köln
Things are not good for the Billy Goats. Daum can’t settle on a midfield and thus it has been poor all season. Wome is a complete and utter liability. They were hammered by Arminia and Mainz within 5 days. And now comes rumors that they are trying to get trouble maker Albert Streit back from Schalke.

14. Hannover 96
On the plus side, the flu eventually runs its course. But the Reds need their current pandemic to end sooner rather than later as it has effected at least seven squad members.

15. Karlsruhe
I thought they could cope without Eggimann. They can’t. Funny thing is that he looks absolutely pants for Hannover. But so does Stefano Celozzi.

16. Borussia Monchengladbach
The win against Werder is looking like an aberration. Inconsistency from players such as Marin and Alberman and even the tactics of Jus Luhukay, who can’t figure out if he wants to play a 4–4-2, 4–5-1 or 4–3-3, are the main cause. On the plus side, Jus has ended his feud with defender Steve Gohouri over injury treatment.

17. Eintracht Frankfurt
After another loss left, which left them in the relegation zone, was followed by an exit from the Cup at the hands of Hansa Rostock, rumors were spreading that there were crisis talks between Bruchhagen and Funkel. This is not good news for Eagles supporters as the last time they fired a trainer mid-season, they were relegated.

18. Energie Cottbus
They got their first goal and first point of the new campaign. Their midweek cup win was a gluttony of goals for Energie as they put three past Gladbach. We won’t mention that they were all from the spot.

die Tabelle lügt nicht! (Bundesliga Week Four)

Double Pivot — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:51:21 +0000

1. Hamburg SV

HSV have just opened up a cemetary next to the Nordbank Arena. With Martin Jol leading the way, Hamburg top the table for the first time in nine years. Meanwhile, the big man’s old club are in last place in the EPL. Supporters of Tottenham Hotspur are putting in inquiries to a plot for their beloved Director of Football, so he knows his place: beneath Martin Jol.

2. Bayern Munich

After two draws, they have beat up on weak opponents to crawl near the top. There are worrying sings at Bayern though, because Lucio has forgot his position and may well become a problem for Klinsman’s team, who can’t afford to have their most experienced defender leaving their young keeper exposed.

3. Schalke 04

Yes he allowed three goals, but stand-in Ralf Fahrmann made a solid debut. He was not at fault for any of the goals, and made a brave save that preserved the points. Some good news, after their collapse against BVB, is that Orlando Engelaar played in their midweek victory over Nicosia.

4. Borussia Dortmund

I have stated that Klopp needs an upgrade over Kringe on the left wing; however, he was the perfect player to have in this tense derby. He was a tenacious hard-man down the left flank against Rafinha and dished out some bruising tackles.

5. Stuttgart

Jan Simak was a handy signing for Armin Veh. He had excellent movement and was a tireless worker in the impotent display by the heavily injured Swabians. He and Lehmann were the only positives.

6. TSG Hoffenheim

They thoroughly deserved a win against Stuttgart. Who would have thought that a point would be a disappointing result for die Hoffe against the recent champions? Their midfield was able to dominate although they were effectively outnumbered by two due to Veh’s odd lineup. Sejad Salihovi? found acres of space in a congested midfield.

7. Bayer Leverkusen

I have to question the decision to adjust to Freidrich’s dismissal by replace Djakpa with Kladec. Why a defender for a defender, when you have a lead? Replacing Keissling or Helmes with Kladec would have made much more sense as it wouldn’t have ruined the midfield shape as either forward can play alone. Labbadia’s choice effectively took Augusto, who dominated the first half hour, out of the game and gave midfield dominance to Hamburg.

8. Wolfsburg

They break a five year drought in the capital and are close to matching their longest streak without a defeat. Yet, you get the feeling that they are doing it with smoke and mirrors. The defense is much shakier than last year, which is a worry considering who they signed in the summer.

9. Werder Bremen

was the game changer for Werder as he replaced Frank Baumann in the 63rd and three goals followed. Will he be a supersub or can he be that dynamic for 90 minutes? A lackluster showing against Famagusta points to the former.

10. Hertha BSC

On Saturday, Lucian Favre had designated Cicero to be the penalty taker. This had to do with the fact that Marko Pantelic had missed his last three penalties. When a penalty was awarded in the first half, Pantelic demanded the ball and subsequently missed number four and probably cost The Old Lady the game. The biggest question I have is what was their captian Freidrich doing during the argument over the ball?

11. Bochum

Bochum won their first game at home since last March. This is a positive step forward for Marcel Koller’s men if they hope to avoid relegation.

12. Hannover 96

Jan Schlaudraff had been Hannover’s best performer this season, but hadn’t been able to score yet. He scored a brace in the Reds romp over Gladbach as retribution against the team that once sold him to Aachen.

13. FC Köln

Playing Kick and Rush football against one of Europe’s elites is usually a recipe for disaster. Novakovic was left stranded and Petit was absent from the game as the Billygoats had only 43% possession.

14. Karlsruhe

The good news is that they didn’t lose their third straight.

15. Borussia Mönchengladbach

The only referee to have a worse weekend than Lutz at the Reiver-Derby was Markus Schmidt, who gave away two awful penalties against Gladback this past week. Unfortunately, the penalties were the least of the Foals problems as their midfield was overrun, especially on the right.

16. Eintracht Frankfurt

Only Eintracht could be involved in a controversy involving Madonna that didn’t involve sex.

17. Arminia Bielefeld

They are off to their worst start in 24 years and have now made it 400 days without a road victory.

18. Energie Cottbus

Bojan Prasnikar has taken his team to train at a local brothel. You know the rest.

Bundesliga Statistics: Week Two

Mark — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:30:18 +0000

Welcome back to Bundesliga Statistics for week two. Standing alone at the head of the table? Newly promoted TSG 1899 Hoffenheim with two wins from their first two games. Astounding stuff, but we’re here to talk numbers not newcomers. Last week five categories were featured, this week it’s been expanded to eight. Furthermore the categories have been expanded to include season tallies and averages for everything covered. Some items I haven’t been able to find a reliable source for, such as freekicks. What do you think, how does it look this week? I still haven’t included shots on goal and for the time being have left out the “fewest” categories where a large number of teams all share 0 (such as red cards). There’s a lot of info here (perhaps too much), but I’ve got plans for more. As always leave any suggestions you might have for future weeks concerning both style and content.

Attendance
Total — 366,891
Season Total — 708, 591
Season High — 366,891 (Week 2)
Season Low — 341,700 (Week 1)
Average/Game — 40,766
Season Average/Game — 39, 3666
Season High Average/Game — 40,766 (Week 2)
Season Low Average/Game — 37,967 (Week 1)
Highest — 80,552 (Dortmund vs. Bayern)
Lowest — 17,000 (Bochum vs. Wolfsburg)

Goals
Total — 18 goals
Season Total — 47
Season High — 29 (Week 1)
Season Low — 18 (Week 2)
Average/Game — 2
Season Average/Game — 2.61
Season High Average/Game — 3.22 (Week 1)
Season Low Average/Game — 2.00 (Week 2)
Most/Game — 4 (Bochum vs. Wolfsburg)
Season Most/Game — 5 (Leverkusen vs. Dortmund, Week 1)
Fewest/Game — 0 (Hannover vs. Cottbus)

Penalties
Total — 1
Season Total — 3
Average/Game — .11
Season Average/Game — .17
Most/Game — 2 (Bayern vs. Hamburg, Week 1)
Made — 0
Season Made — 2
Season Average Made — .67
Missed — 1 (Roda Antar 39′, Köln)
Season Missed — 1
Season Average Missed — .33

Shots
Total — 201
Season Total — 416
Season High — 215 (Week 1)
Season Low– 201 (Week 2)
Average/Game — 22.33
Season Average/Game — 23.11
Most/Team — 27 (Hertha)
Season Most/Team — 27 (Hertha, Week 2)
Season Team Total High — 42 (Hoffenheim)
Fewest/Team — 6 (Cottbus, Bielefeld)
Season Fewest/Team — 4 (Köln vs. Wolfsburg, Week 1)
Season Team Total Low — 11 (Köln)

Corners
Total — 98
Season Total — 177
Season High — 98 (Week 2)
Season Low — 63 (Week 1)
Average/Game — 10.89
Season Average/Game — 9.83
Most/Team — 14 (Bayern)
Season Most/Team — 14 (Bayern, Week 2)
Season Team Total High — 16 (Bayern, Wolfsburg)
Fewest/Team — 0 (Köln)
Season Team Total Low — 3 (Köln)

Offsides
Total — 53
Season Total — 117
Season High — 64 (Week 2)
Season Low — 53 (Week 1)
Average/Game — 5.00
Season Average/Game — 6.5
Most/Team — 6 (Bochum, Cottbus)
Season Team Total High — 11 (Bochum, Gladbach)
Fewest/Team — 0 (Bayern)
Season Team Total Low — 3 (Hoffenheim, Karlsruhe)

Yellow Cards
Total — 45
Season Total — 80
Season High — 45 (Week 2)
Season Low — 35 (Week 1)
Average/Game — 5
Season Average/Game — 4.44
Season High Average/Game — 5.00 (Week 2)
Season Low Average/Game — 3.89 (Week 1)
Most/Game — 7 (Hannover vs. Cottbus, Bochum vs. Wolfsburg)
Season Most/Game — 7 (Hannover vs. Cottbus, Bochum vs. Wolfsburg; Week 2)
Fewest/Game — 1 (Bremen vs. Schalke)
Most/Team — 5 (Wolfsburg)
Season Most/Team — 5 (Wolfsburg, Week 2)
Season Team Total High — 7 (Gladbach, Leverkusen)
Fewest/Team — 0 (Bremen)
Season Team Total Low — 2 (Bremen, Hertha, Schalke)

Red Cards
Total — 2
Season Total — 2
Season High — 2 (Week 2)
Season Low — 0 (Week 1)
Average/Game — .22
Season Average/Game — .11
Season High Average/Game — .22 (Week 2)
Season Low Average/Game — 0.0 (Week 1)