Great to win in Dresden [IMO one of the toughest places to go this season] specially after it looked like we had no chance when Dresden equalised. Bunjaku is looking like a beauty of a signing as well.
8 points from first 4, I'll take it :cool:
On the other hand, Köln look more like relegation candidates then promotion challengers
Great to win in Dresden [IMO one of the toughest places to go this season] specially after it looked like we had no chance when Dresden equalised. Bunjaku is looking like a beauty of a signing as well.
8 points from first 4, I'll take it :cool:
On the other hand, Köln look more like relegation candidates then promotion challengers
Looking really good so far, and I'm hopeful that it only gets better when Baumjohann and Torrejon get familiar with the others. Another addition in Riedel today, who at the very least adds some needed depth, and could put some pressure on our full backs. I'll definitely take it.
I always thought that Köln would not play a major role in the promotion race this season. For a team going down, their roster sucks, even though I thought Maroh, Lehmann and Bröker were pretty good signings for a second division team. There was just sooo much trash on that team, it's unreal. However, I can't really see them remaining this bad for too long. Them actually going down to 3rd league? It's hard to put that picture into one's head. That would be a new dimension, even for a club that's quite used to devastating their fans. Who would probably still go if things went down that way.
Well, at the very least, they got Mainz' Ujah on a loan deal today. They were lacking a forward the entire summer, failed to act on that forever, paid a price early in the season. I think Ujah is a very good find for them, but I don't see him pulling them up as far as being seriously in the promotion race.
Looking really good so far, and I'm hopeful that it only gets better when Baumjohann and Torrejon get familiar with the others. Another addition in Riedel today, who at the very least adds some needed depth, and could put some pressure on our full backs. I'll definitely take it.
I always thought that Köln would not play a major role in the promotion race this season. For a team going down, their roster sucks, even though I thought Maroh, Lehmann and Bröker were pretty good signings for a second division team. There was just sooo much trash on that team, it's unreal. I can't really see them remaining this bad for too long. Them actually going down to 3rd league? It's hard to put that picture into one's head. That would be a new dimension, even for a club that's quite used to devastating their fans. Who would probably still go if things went down that way.
Well, at the very least, they got Mainz' Ujah on a loan deal today. They were lacking a forward the entire summer, failed to act on that forever, paid a price early in the season. I think Ujah is a very good find for them, but I don't see him pulling them up as far as being seriously in the promotion race.
Agree, Baumjohann you can tell is half a second behind the pace at times given he's hardly played last couple of years, but that was a beauty of a touch to Bunjaku for the opener. I'm really excited by Torrejon. Yahia/Hajri don't good enough IMO, Simunek is a walking medical bill, and Heintz does have a lot of promise, but very young and risky to have too much expectation on him for a promotion push. And agree with Riedel, more depth and puts pressure on Dick as well, which is good to keep him on his toes.
Really have to start winning at home though, hopefully that starts with Duisburg, if we can't win that one I'm afraid we'll never win at home this season
Totally agree with Köln, I was surprised so many people thought they could win the 2.BL, they basically gutted the team and hardly replaced these players, I think they'll end up mid table, just floating in no mans land pretty much. They sort of remind me of Kaiserslautern after the relegation in 2006 to be honest.
Gladbach is playing with all 3 of Nordveit, Xhaka and Cigerci on the field. Leverkusen also played a 3 man midfield earlier today. I've been wondering if we'd see more true midfield trio's in the bundesliga this season rather than the double-pivot and creator/second striker model we've been seeing.
Hoffenheim and HSV looked horrible today! Fink is way too offensive minded imo, it was that way at Basel too but he could get away with it in Switzerland.
You still think Dortmund will be title challengers even with the loss of Kagawa?
Most certainly. While he's a different player, they added an outsanding replacement in Reus. I do think they'll suffer from the loss a bit, but I'd be surprised to see them fall far enough to not be a title challenger, at the very least. Sahin was a comparably big loss a year ago, and they apparently didn't suffer too much from that, either. I don't see them putting together another campaign quite as consistent in the league as their recent record-year, but that won't (wouldn't) be as much about losing Kagawa as it would be about such consistency simply being rather impossible over that many years.
Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke are the three challengers, IMO. Then we have Leverkusen, then the rest. But I'm sure there will be some surprises, as usual.
You still think Dortmund will be title challengers even with the loss of Kagawa?
Oh they'll be better this season than last, Bayern to, so that may not be enough, but Reus is a better player than Kagawa, and they're a deeper n more experienced side. Gundogan won't need half a season to settle in, Lewandowski's already established, Goetze is getting healthy again, etc.
Oh they'll be better this season than last, Bayern to, so that may not be enough, but Reus is a better player than Kagawa, and they're a deeper n more experienced side. Gundogan won't need half a season to settle in, Lewandowski's already established, Goetze is getting healthy again, etc.
I'd like to look at that in a bit more detail. I agree in the sense that I think they'll be better at their best than they were last year. That best wasn't world-beating, as evidenced for example in the CL. The best was enough to beat last year's Bayern three times, sure, but those weren't exactly Bayern's better games, and a couple of those could have went quite differently. (Not trying to take anything away from them, though.) What made them outstanding was their consistency week by week, and it lead them to a record number for points in the Bundesliga. I am sure that they won't improve on those numbers this year, yet again.
I'd like to look at that in a bit more detail. I agree in the sense that I think they'll be better at their best than they were last year. That best wasn't world-beating, as evidenced for example in the CL. The best was enough to beat last year's Bayern three times, sure, but those weren't exactly Bayern's better games, and a couple of those could have went quite differently. (Not trying to take anything away from them, though.) What made them outstanding was their consistency week by week, and it lead them to a record number for points in the Bundesliga. I am sure that they won't improve on those numbers this year, yet again.
That's absolutely fair and what I was trying to get at with the "that may not be enough" part. A better team doesn't always get better results, and last year's Dortmund just got results. But I do think that they're a stronger team now, will be better at their best and the squad has more quality depth.
4:0 after 56 minutes. This is crazy. I wish I was in Wolfsburg right now.
No matter which forward we get, they score, Ya Konan, Moa, Diouf and now Sobiech.
Watching how Hannover have torn Wolfsburg apart and thinking about their EL run last year, makes you wonder how far they'll go this year. They're depth up front is fantastic, even with last year's star man Diouf hurt. They've got similarly strong depth in midfield with Andreason coming back from injury and Huszti gives them a nice creative spark. Add to that Mirko Slomka's very organized defense behind it all and I'm very excited to see what they manage in europe this season.
Anybody watching Bayer vs Stuttgat? 4 spectacular goals in the 1st half.
Yeah, Bayern are clearly not happy with the way last year ended. Stuttgart have made some mistakes, but Bayern have jsut been lethal. They even had a penalty that should've been called but wasn't.
Yeah, Bayern are clearly not happy with the way last year ended. Stuttgart have made some mistakes, but Bayern have jsut been lethal. They even had a penalty that should've been called but wasn't.
The problem with Munich is, and has been since the mid 2000s, their mid-season form is pretty terrible. They lose focus and stop playing like a hungry team; they fall prey to FC Hollywood.
Schweinsteiger (my scapegoat of the year) is pretty much guaranteed to start off hot, be touted as the best non-Barca midfielder in the world, and then trail off until he's absolutely useless. Don't think Martinez and his 40m pricetag was just bought to accompany Schweini, the bosses up top realized that even though they've made their bed with the "silver-duo" of Lahm and Shweini, there's still time to instill a sense of competition in the squad and make them work for their absolutely overpaid 175k a week salary.
The problem with Munich is, and has been since the mid 2000s, their mid-season form is pretty terrible. They lose focus and stop playing like a hungry team; they fall prey to FC Hollywood.
Schweinsteiger (my scapegoat of the year) is pretty much guaranteed to start off hot, be touted as the best non-Barca midfielder in the world, and then trail off until he's absolutely useless. Don't think Martinez and his 40m pricetag was just bought to accompany Schweini, the bosses up top realized that even though they've made their bed with the "silver-duo" of Lahm and Shweini, there's still time to instill a sense of competition in the squad and make them work for their absolutely overpaid 175k a week salary.
Bayern fans already turning on the team in September?
EDIT: Or maybe your not a Bayern fan, which will be disappointing.
