Schlagwort-Archive: Werder Bremen

Betting’s easy – with hindsight!

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There are some games in the Bundesliga that seem to follow all my predictions to the letter. These are the games with nothing unexpected, no surprise goals – and there were enough of them on the 16th match day this season to make me wish I’d gone to the betting shop beforehand!

tippensoeinfach

For a start, the table toppers at Borussia Dortmund won 2:0 against Werder Bremen: no surprises there, then. Then Leverkusen won 4:2 against HSV, a team currently in serious crisis. Meanwhile, last year’s champions Bayern München held the upper hand against St. Pauli, newly promoted up from the second league this year. Oh really? If Germany’s record holders in terms of Bundesliga wins can’t beat newcomers to league, then I’m a monkey’s uncle.

Hoffenheim drew against Nuremburg 1:1, whilst Kaiserslautern did likewise with a 0:0 at Wolfsburg and Freiburg smashed Mönchengladbach 3:0: none of which was surprising considering recent form. The only thing I didn’t expect, in fact, was for Cologne to win against Frankfurt: but the slim 1:0 victory was hardly a complete shocker!

The 2:1 victory that Hannover wrote up against Stuttgart was surprising: for Stuttgart! Yet Hannover shows you just how much sheer determination can achieve when the players work together nicely as a team. Hannover’s relatively average squad is playing freely and are rewarded with 3rd place in the table, whilst Stuttgart’s stable of impressive international players are essentially playing against themselves: the fact that so many of them are national squad members pales into insignificance if the team can’t stick together. So it’s not surprising that Stuttgart are changing their coach for the second time this season, with Jens Keller packing his bags after just 59 days. Bruno Labbadia is taking over instead, although after his failures in Hamburg and Leverkusen I remain sceptical here, too.

The only result that really surprised me was the Mainz-Schalke game, with Schalke chalking up a 1:0 victory away. Before the season, I too would have expected Schalke to win – we are talking about a Champions’ League team, here, whilst Mainz are the minnows of the Bundesliga. Based on recent form, however, I actually had Mainz down to win here: but hey, you can’t be right all the time!

Given the amount of times I was right this week, though, I reckon I can make some cash, so I’ll be down at the bookies’ before the 17th match day. Then again, another bet I’d make is that the minute I put down a bet, the results will start getting crazy again and we’ll have 4:4s and 6:5s all over the shop. Murphy’s Law! Betting’s always easier after you’ve seen the results…

Results Matchday 16:
Hannover 96 – VfB Stuttgart 2:1
Bayern München – FC St. Pauli 3:0
Hamburger SV – Bayer Leverkusen 2:4
1899 Hoffenheim – 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1
1. FC Köln – Eintracht Frankfurt 1:0
1. FC Kaiserslautern – VfL Wolfsburg 0:0
Borussia Dortmund – Werder Bremen 2:0
SC Freiburg – Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:0
1. FSV Mainz 05 – FC Schalke 04 0:1

Table:
1 Borussia Dortmund 43 P
2 Bayer Leverkusen 32 P
3 Hannover 96 31 P
4 1. FSV Mainz 05 30 P
5 SC Freiburg 27 P
6 Bayern München 26 P
7 1899 Hoffenheim 24 P
8 Eintracht Frankfurt 23 P
9 Hamburger SV 21 P
10 FC Schalke 04 19 P
11 1. FC Nürnberg 19 P
12 Werder Bremen 19 P
13 1. FC Kaiserslautern 18 P
14 VfL Wolfsburg 18 P
15 FC St. Pauli 17 P
16 1. FC Köln 15 P
17 VfB Stuttgart 12 P
18 Borussia Mönchengladbach 10 P

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Tippen ist so einfach – hinterher

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Es gibt Spieltage in der Fußball-Bundesliga, die laufen wie nach exakter Voraussage ab. Ohne große Überraschungen. Der 16. Spieltag war einer, auf den hätte ich eigentlich bei einem Buchmacher Ergebnistipps abgeben müssen.

Spitzenreiter Dortmund (Foto: Nuri Sahin) gewann gegen Bremen 2:0 – das darf keine Verwunderung hervorrufen. Der Tabellenzweite Leverkusen siegte beim kriselnden HSV 4:2 – verblüfft muss man da nicht sein. Bayern München behielt gegen Aufsteiger St. Pauli mit 3:0 die Oberhand – das kann vom Rekordmeister verlangt werden. Hoffenheim gegen Nürnberg 1:1, Kaiserslautern gegen Wolfsburg 0:0 und Freiburg schlägt Mönchengladbach 3:0 – zumindest in der Tendenz hätte man auf solche Ergebnisse tippen können. Allenfalls dass Köln gegen Frankfurt mit 1:0 gewann, würde ich als kleine Überraschung werten.

Nicht aber den 2:1-Sieg von Hannover gegen Stuttgart. Nach dem bisherigen Saisonverlauf herrscht nur in Stuttgart darüber Fassungslosigkeit. Hier sieht man, was allein mit mannschaftlicher Geschlossenheit und zueinander passenden Charakteren erreicht werden kann. Hier die befreit aufspielenden Hannoveraner, mit Tabellenplatz 3 belohnt, dort die sich gegenseitig zerfleischenden Stuttgarter, mit einer Vielzahl an Nationalspielern nicht in der Lage dem Abstiegskampf zu entrinnen. Und so ist es dann auch nicht erstaunlich, dass Stuttgart bereits zum zweiten Mal in dieser Saison den Trainer wechselt. Jens Keller muss nach 59 Tagen seine Sachen packen. Es übernimmt Bruno Labbadia – mit der Empfehlung von gescheiterten Engagements in Hamburg und Leverkusen.

Erstaunt hätte ich nach diesem Spieltag höchstens von dem Ergebnis aus Mainz sein dürfen. Schalke gewann auswärts 1:0. Vor der Saison hätte auch das erwartet werden können, immerhin spielte hier der Champions League-Teilnehmer gegen einen Liga-Zwerg. Doch die bislang gezeigten Leistungen der Teams ließen einen Mainzer Sieg logischer erscheinen. Falsch gedacht. Mainz stagniert, Schalke marschiert.

Also, nächste Woche wird getippt. Mit ordentlichem Geldeinsatz und auf alle neun Spiele. Der fette Gewinn wartet förmlich auf mich. Wobei, dann spielen die Herren Profis wahrscheinlich wieder 4:4 oder 6:5. Tippen ist so einfach – hinterher.

Die Ergebnisse des 16. Spieltags:
Hannover 96 – VfB Stuttgart 2:1
Bayern München – FC St. Pauli 3:0
Hamburger SV – Bayer Leverkusen 2:4
1899 Hoffenheim – 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1
1. FC Köln – Eintracht Frankfurt 1:0
1. FC Kaiserslautern – VfL Wolfsburg 0:0
Borussia Dortmund – Werder Bremen 2:0
SC Freiburg – Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:0
1. FSV Mainz 05 – FC Schalke 04 0:1

Tabelle:
1 Borussia Dortmund 43 P
2 Bayer Leverkusen 32 P
3 Hannover 96 31 P
4 1. FSV Mainz 05 30 P
5 SC Freiburg 27 P
6 Bayern München 26 P
7 1899 Hoffenheim 24 P
8 Eintracht Frankfurt 23 P
9 Hamburger SV 21 P
10 FC Schalke 04 19 P
11 1. FC Nürnberg 19 P
12 Werder Bremen 19 P
13 1. FC Kaiserslautern 18 P
14 VfL Wolfsburg 18 P
15 FC St. Pauli 17 P
16 1. FC Köln 15 P
17 VfB Stuttgart 12 P
18 Borussia Mönchengladbach 10 P

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My opportunity. What do you think?

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Millions against mini-budget, record-holders against relegation candidates, favourites vs. underdogs: the contrasts s loaded up onto the game at the top of the league could not have been greater. Bayern München, a financially high-powered team who are favourites to take the title played against Mainz 05, genuine underdogs who have surprised everyone by going to the top of the table this season – and staying there.

And not even the hitting power of Bayern München a.k.a. Croesus was enough to take them down, with the shoe-string-budget team taking down the giants 2:1. That’s six games, six wins for Mainz, who play down the field as if they are on some kind of football wonder-drug and who take coach Thomas Tuchel at his word when he says “offense is the best form of defence”. Bayern’s tackling was poor, leaving Mainz to shine with their fitness, single-mindedness and will to win. Bayern president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge at least had the decency to congratulate Mainz, and even if it was through gritted teeth, I think it was great of him to do so.

The Ruhr area saw another David-and-Goliath-clash, at least in financial terms, and few observers would have predicted that Borussia Dortmund would make it to the top this year, unlike their rich rivals Schalke04. Yet Dortmund are in second place and doing well; after losing the first game of the season, they’ve won the last five, seeing to FC St. Pauli with a 3:1 defeat this time round. Just five years after nearly going bankrupt, they are once again dreaming of the Championship, and much of this is thanks to the Japanese player Shinji Kagawa, who cost just 350,000 Euro and arrived from the second league in his home country to become, within weeks, the bulwark of the Dortmund attack; his partners in crime are Mario Götze and Kevin Großkreutz from the Dortmund youth team.

In crass contrast to Dortmund’s team-on-a-shoestring are the rivals Schalke04, who are throwing money around like nobody’s business. Despite this, they drew 2:2 with Mönchengladbach after a disastrous start to the game that saw the behemoth Schalke 0:2 behind at one point. The money wasn’t entirely wasted, though; the goals came from Huntelaar and Raul, both of whom cost figures with seven digits.

Now that one fifth of the season has been played, the league table is starting to take on form, even if it is a surprising one. Mainz and Dortmund are right at the top, but I wouldn’t have reckoned with Hannover being in third place and Bayern in ninth, nor with seeing Schalke and Stuttgart right down at 17 and 18 either. Nevertheless, here’s my opportunity to show you what an expert I am and to give a few predictions.

Mainz, currently in first place, will probably end up at the top of the mid-range between 6 and 8. They may have some great strikers but, if you ask me, they will start to get out of breath soon. Dortmund, currently number 2, has definitely got the potential to qualify for the Champions’ League, whilst Hannover (3) will probably slip back to 8 or 10, without going anywhere near the relegation zone, though. Hoffenheim (4), Leverkusen (5) and Wolfsburg (6) are, in my opinion, already in the spots they will be occupying in eight months’ time. They might even go up one or two. Freiburg (7) will slip down to around 13, but without worrying about relegation; HSV at 8 are where they should be. They’re too strong for the bottom of the table, not strong enough to beat ambitious teams.

Bayern, meanwhile, at 9, will soon be back on top; Robben and Ribéry will drive the assault in the next round of play. St. Pauli (10), Kaiserslautern (11), Frankfurt (13), Nürnberg (14), Cologne (15) and Mönchengladbach (16) are, however, not going to be joining them are about where they will remain for the rest of the season; they will be suffering from latent fear of relegation. Bremen, however, belongs higher up than 12, although I don’t see them as being particularly strong in terms of competition for entry into the European cup. They are lacking genuine creativity, too (see Özil). Schalke (17) and Stuttgart (18) meanwhile, will soon start their march towards the top of the table, too, although I see this taking longer for Stuttgart than for Schalke. But neither of them will make into the top 3.

Then again, I could be wrong. What do you think?

(Stefan Reichart/Brian Melican)

Results Matchday 6:
1. FC Köln – 1899 Hoffenheim 1:1
Bayern München – 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:2
FC Schalke 04 – Borussia Mönchengladbach 2:2
VfB Stuttgart – Bayer Leverkusen 1:4
Eintracht Frankfurt – 1. FC Nürnberg 2:0
FC St. Pauli – Borussia Dortmund 1:3
Werder Bremen – Hamburger SV 3:2
VfL Wolfsburg – SC Freiburg 2:1
1. FC Kaiserslautern – Hannover 96 0:1

Table
1 1. FSV Mainz 05 18 P
2 Borussia Dortmund 15 P
3 Hannover 96 13 P
4 1899 Hoffenheim 11 P
5 Bayer Leverkusen 11 P
6 VfL Wolfsburg 9 P
7 SC Freiburg 9 P
8 Hamburger SV 8 P
9 Bayern München 8 P
10 FC St. Pauli 7 P
11 1. FC Kaiserslautern 7 P
12 Werder Bremen 7 P
13 Eintracht Frankfurt 6 P
14 1. FC Nürnberg 6 P
15 1. FC Köln 5 P
16 Borussia Mönchengladbach 5 P
17 FC Schalke 04 4 P
18 VfB Stuttgart 3 P

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Surprises courtesy of Lothar Matthäus and Mainz 05

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Matthäus has been caught with another partner! What? Who? A Bulgarian! No? Oh right, you mean the Bulgarian national football team! That’s right: not many of you young ‘uns know this, but once, a long, long time ago Lothar Matthäus used to actually play world-class football. Then he joined other famous German sportsmen – like Boris Becker – in the gutter press with an unending string of cheap girls and even cheaper stories.

That’s why Matthäus never achieved his dream of managing Bayern München. After all, what Bundesliga team wants their coach’s sex-life splattered all over the pages of Germany’s notorious tabloid, Die Bild-Zeitung? And that’s why Matthäus’ only chance is in countries where people don’t read it: Serbia, Brasil, Israel, Hungary, and now Bulgaria.

The team he wanted to manage, however, have also done what they are well-known for in the Bundesliga: they won a game just before the final whistle. This knack of pulling off last-minute wins is something that strikes fear into the hearts of opposing team, and hatred into the hearts of opposing fans. Yesterday, it looked for a while like 1899 Hoffenheim might pull off a draw, having started well with Ibisevic’s goal in the very first minute. Nevertheless, Bayern just got stronger and stronger; Müller drew it even and then – just as everyone was packing up to go home, van Buyten put one in the net with his upper thigh and that was that. I’ve got a question here: is this what we want in Germany? Or isn’t this more like the English and Spanish leagues?

In these leagues, the fans complain about how boring it is because, either Chelsea or Manchester United always win the Premier League and the Spanish Primera División has for years been divvied up neatly between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Germany is getting like this too, but it’s worse, because Bayern always win.

Nevertheless, there is a difference: in the Bundesliga, smaller teams are sometimes allowed to climb up to the top of the table and sometimes, just sometimes, they stay there too, like Wolfsburg last year.

This year’s surprise table-toppers are FSV Mainz 05. They run around like crazy, mark everyone and work as a team; the coach, Thomas Tuchel, was the youth team manager in 2009 and did well with players who were at a dead-end elsewhere or could only get a gig at Mainz. The end result was astonishing: 9th place in their first year in the league. Now things are going even better, thanks in no small part to a few gifted players like the 20-year-old Lewis Holtby, who had been passed around from Aachen to Schalke and then to Bochum, back to Schalke and now down to Mainz. Two goals against Cologne were where it started, and now he’s made it into the big leagues; it’s such a shame that Schalke will want him back, since they’re on a bad losing streak.

Then again, they took their first step back towards normal play yesterday, with their first win of the season against Freiburg. They paid millions for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and he repaid them with the winning goal. Holtby would do the team good, but really they want to get their defence sorted out first, if you ask me. I’ll be interested to see whether Holtby does land back there next season.

And what else was there? Werder Bremen got badly beaten away at Hannover by 1:4, which – and I know the Hannoverians are going to hate me for writing this – is more to do with Bremen being bad than Hannover being good. Just look at their other games: 2:1 against Eintracht Frankfurt, 2:1 against Schalke: all the teams they are playing at the moment are in crisis. Due to injury, Bremen is missing Naldo, Mertesacker and Pizarro; that’s like playing against a team with six and half men. And in terms of injury, Bayern paid dearly for its last-minute-win against Hoffenheim, with star winger Franck Ribéry now off injured for four weeks. What bad timing: they’re up against table-toppers Mainz on Saturday. Meanwhile, newly-promoted Kaiserslautern’s Bundesliga honeymoon was rudely trampled all over by Borussia Dortmund, who sent them packing with a 0:5 score sheet and some serious match analysis to be getting on with.

(Stefan Reichart/Brian Melican)

Results Matchday 5:

1. FSV Mainz 05   -  1. FC Köln  2:0
1899 Hoffenheim   -  Bayern München  1:2
Hannover 96   -  Werder Bremen  4:1
Bayer Leverkusen   -  Eintracht Frankfurt  2:1
Borussia Dortmund   -  1. FC Kaiserslautern  5:0
Hamburger SV   -  VfL Wolfsburg  1:3
Borussia Mönchengladbach   -  FC St. Pauli  1:2
SC Freiburg   -  FC Schalke 04  1:2
1. FC Nürnberg   -  VfB Stuttgart  2:1

Table:

1   1. FSV Mainz 05    15 P
2   Borussia Dortmund    12 P
3   1899 Hoffenheim    10 P
4   Hannover 96     10 P
5   SC Freiburg   9 P
6   Hamburger SV    8 P
7   Bayer Leverkusen    8 P
8   Bayern München   8 P
9   FC St. Pauli 7 P
10   1. FC Kaiserslautern    7 P
11   VfL Wolfsburg    6 P
12   1. FC Nürnberg   6 P
13   1. FC Köln     4 P
14   Werder Bremen    4 P
15   Borussia Mönchengladbach   4 P
16   VfB Stuttgart    3 P
17   Eintracht Frankfurt  3 P
18   FC Schalke 04    3 P

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The way through a minefield

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Last week must have been difficult for all of you Bundesliga junkies: the season had just got going, and suddenly there was a pause for international games; and they weren’t even high-adrenaline games, either. We were forced into watching teams like Denmark, Belgium and Azerbaijan. That’s all over now, though: play started again on the weekend – and if you’re anything like me, you couldn’t wait!

After all, what is the point of all these silly international games? They give you nothing but trouble. Injuries, for example, with Bremen’s Per Mertesacker being back-handedly brought to the floor by an Azerbaijani player, Dzavadov; now “Merte”, as he’s known, was forced to sit out the exciting game this weekend against Bayern München. To add insult to his injury, the referee in the international game didn’t even have the decency to dole out a yellow card to Dzavadov for his wandering elbows. They should get the video footage out: he deserves a red and, if you ask me, should be on a match-ban until Merte is fit again.

Nevertheless, Bremen held their own without Per Mertesacker, mainly thanks to the Frenchman Mikael Silvestre. Anyone hoping to see Bayern play their best was disappointed: the two top-teams finished the game on 0:0, with the only real excitement having come before the starting whistle as Franz Beckenbauer fans sung “Happy Birthday” to him on occasion of his 65th!

Excitement has to come from other quarters; from the swathes of new international signings like Ribéry, Robben, Raul, van Nistelrooy, Diego and the debutants of the third match-day, Silvestre, Wesley, Camoranesi and Huntelaar. Then again, this more embarrassing than exciting: how do you pronounce these guys’ names? Fans and reporters alike are feeling their way through a minefield: just how do you pronounce the double-A in Huntelaar? Things don’t get easier with time, as the example of Wolfsburg’s top goal-scorer Grafite shows: German commentators still can’t make their mind up if he’s pronounced Graffiti, Graphite or Grafish.

Regardless of any linguistic difficulties, however, Huntelaar did not disappoint on the field, running himself ragged for his new side Schalke. He couldn’t secure them a victory, though, and the biggest-spending side in Bundesliga left Hoffenheim with a 0:2 defeat and the continuing embarrassment of being in the relegation zone of the results table, joined by Diego’s employers Wolfsburg and Stuttgart, who signed the other new boy, Camoranesi.

Meanwhile, Micheal Ballack too is on a run of bad luck. Having missed the World Cup due to injury, he’s now not playing in the qualifiers for the European Cup, either. On the weekend, he managed to get himself a shin fracture in the 2:2 draw between his side, Leverkusen, and Hannover. Six weeks sick-leave. It looks like his decline is continuing.

Part of the problem for a lot of unsuccessful sides this weekend was the pause in proceedings due to the international games. Teams that had settled into a good rhythm were suddenly seen struggling. Both Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FC Kaiserslautern had been unbeaten, with Borussia even having played their Rhenish rivals Leverkusen into 6:3 oblivion. Now they are playing poorly, getting beaten by Frankfurt by 4 goals to 0. Kaiserslautern, who just two weeks ago beat reigning champions Bayern München 2:0 came away from their local Rhineland-Palatinate rivals Mainz hurting thanks to a 1:2 defeat.

And what else happened on the weekend? Wolfsburg lost to Borussia Dortmund, with the Wolves being somehow reminiscent of the English national 11 under Steve McClaren – i.e. luckless. Hamburg played disappointingly against Nuremburg and drew 1:1, whilst Freiburg surprised Stuttgart with a 2:1 triumph. Lukas Podolski, meanwhile, finally reminded us why he might be suitable for the German national team by helping his side Cologne to a 1:0 win against St. Pauli.

And now that we’ve got the Bundesliga up-to-date, I thought we’d take a quick look at two former Bundesliga players now in Spain. Both Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira looked convincing in Real Madrid’s 1:0 victory against Osasuna, with Özil being crowned king by the press. Khedira, meanwhile, was mentioned by the trainer Mourinho. Bayern manager Christian Nerlinger admitted that both players had been on his list of ones to watch; he couldn’t sign them, however, because the board at Munich was unsure as to how they would stand up at the very highest level of international competition. Well, now we know: very, very well. We also know how all of Bayern’s other signings over the last couple of years have managed: Mario Gomez, Edson Braafheid, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Jan Schlaudraff, Andreas Görlitz, Christian Lell – see my point?

Anyone still interested in the correct pronunciation of Huntelaar, by the way?

(Stefan Reichart/Brian Melican)

Results Matchday 3:
1899 Hoffenheim – FC Schalke 04 2:0
Borussia Dortmund – VfL Wolfsburg 2:0
Hamburger SV – 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1
Borussia Mönchengladbach – Eintracht Frankfurt 0:4
SC Freiburg – VfB Stuttgart 2:1
Hannover 96 – Bayer Leverkusen 2:2
Bayern München – Werder Bremen 0:0
1. FSV Mainz 05 – 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2:1
1. FC Köln – FC St. Pauli 1:0

Table
1 1899 Hoffenheim 9 P
2 1. FSV Mainz 05 9 P
3 Hamburger SV 7 P
4 Hannover 96 7 P
5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 6 P
6 Borussia Dortmund 6 P
7 SC Freiburg 6 P
8 Bayer Leverkusen 4 P
8 Borussia Mönchengladbach 4 P
10 Werder Bremen 4 P
11 Bayern München 4 P
12 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 P
13 FC St. Pauli 3 P
14 1. FC Köln 3 P
15 1. FC Nürnberg 2 P
16 VfL Wolfsburg 0 P
17 FC Schalke 04 0 P
18 VfB Stuttgart 0 P

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Die Krux mit fremden Namen und Länderspielpausen

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Bundesligajunkies, die Pause ist vorbei! Kaum hatte die neue Saison angefangen, schon gab es ständig diese Länderspielpausen. Fußball auf Sparflamme. Dänemark, Belgien, Aserbaidschan – jetzt ist es mal gut. Ich will Bundesliga sehen. Freitags bis Sonntags. Mit neun heißen Duellen an einem Spieltag.

Denn was bringt die Länderspielerei? Verletzungen! Wie die von Per Mertesacker. Vom Aserbaidschaner Dzavadov hinterlistig zu Boden gestreckt, verpasste „Merte“ ausgerechnet den Schlager Bayern München gegen Werder Bremen am Wochenende. Ein Skandal, dass der Schiedsrichter nicht einmal die gelbe Karte für den Ellenbogenschlag zückte. Das hätte Rot geben müssen für den Übeltäter! Mein klares Votum für den Videobeweis und Rot-Sperren für den Sünder bis das Opfer wieder in der Lage ist Fußball zu spielen

Bremen hielt sich auch ohne Per Mertesacker, dafür mit dem Franzosen Mikael Silvestre, gut. Wer auf die große Bayern-Show gehofft hatte, wurde enttäuscht. 0:0 ging das Spitzenspiel aus, das seinen Höhepunkt vor der Partie erlebte, als die Zuschauer zu Franz Beckenbauers 65tem Geburtstag „Happy Birthday“ anstimmten. Ein Hoch auf den „Kaiser“!

Schöne neue Bundesliga-Welt, gespickt mit internationalen Stars. Ribéry, Robben, Raul, Van Nistelrooy, Diego und neu am 3. Spieltag Silvestre, Wesley, Camoranesi und Huntelaar. Doch da fangen die Probleme an. Wie spricht man die Namen aus? Fans wie Reporter grübeln. Keiner will sich blamieren. Huntelaar? Chuntelaar? Hüntelaar? Seit drei Jahren spielt zum Beispiel Wolfsburgs Top-Torjäger Grafite in der Bundesliga. Doch die Namensaussprache gibt bis heute Rätsel auf: Grafité? Grafit? Grafitsch? Alles schon gehört.

Huntelaar jedenfalls enttäuschte nicht in seinem ersten Spiel für Schalke in Hoffenheim. Doch mit einem Sieg wurde es dennoch nichts: 0:2. Und so rangiert Schalke trotz Millioneninvestitionen nach drei Spieltagen auf einem Abstiegsplatz, flankiert von Diegos Wolfsburgern und Camoranesis Stuttgartern.

Vom Pech verfolgt bleibt Michael Ballack. Die WM verletzungsbedingt verpasst, von EM-Qualifikationspflichten bis auf weiteres entbunden. Jetzt in Hannover beim 2:2 seiner Leverkusener mit einer Fraktur im Schienbeinkopf ausgewechselt. Sechs Wochen Pause. Ballacks Stern sinkt.

Dass eine Länderspielpause einer erfolgreichen Mannschaft den Rhythmus rauben kann, erlebten Borussia Möchengladbach und der 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Nach zwei Spieltagen noch ungeschlagen, setzte es Niederlagen am dritten. Mönchengladbach hatte vor zwei Wochen noch in Leverkusen sensationell gespielt und 6:3 gewonnen. Jetzt agierten die Gladbacher indiskutabel und verloren gegen Eintracht Frankfurt 0:4. Kaiserslautern reiste mit der Empfehlung eines 2:0-Sieges gegen Bayern München nach Mainz. Das Rheinland-Pfalz-Derby stand an. Doch trotz Führung mussten sich die „roten Teufel“ dem Nachbarn aus der Landeshauptstadt mit 1:2 geschlagen geben.

Und sonst? Wolfsburg in Dortmund 0:2 unterlegen. Der VfL erinnert an die Nationalelf Englands damals unter Trainer Steve McClaren: Glücklos. Hamburg enttäuschte beim 1:1 gegen Nürnberg. Freiburg schockte den VfB Stuttgart mit einem 2:1-Triumph. Lukas Podolski zeigte endlich einmal eine länderspielreife Leistung und führte Köln zum 1:0-Sieg über St. Pauli.

Noch der neugierige Blick rüber nach Spanien zu Mesut Özil und Sami Khedira: Beide überzeugten beim 1:0 von Real Madrid gegen Osasuna. Özil wurde hernach von der Presse als Geigenvirtuose gepriesen, Khedira heimste das Lob seines Trainers Mourinho ein. Bayern-Manager Christian Nerlinger hat in der vergangenen Woche geäußert, beide deutschen Nationalspieler hätten auch auf der Beobachtungsliste des FC Bayern München gestanden. Von einer Verpflichtung habe man aber abgesehen, weil die Verantwortlichen nicht sicher waren, dass beide auf höchstem internationalen Niveau bestehen könnten. Ach ja? Ganz im Gegensatz natürlich zu den Top-Bayern-Einkäufen der letzten Jahre Mario Gomez, Edson Braafheid, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Jan Schlaudraff, Andreas Görlitz, Christian Lell…?

Und die Auflösung: HÜNTELAAR, mit Ü! Wer’s nicht glaubt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZdFkKp_qig

Die Ergebnisse des 3. Spieltags:
1899 Hoffenheim – FC Schalke 04 2:0
Borussia Dortmund – VfL Wolfsburg 2:0
Hamburger SV – 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1
Borussia Mönchengladbach – Eintracht Frankfurt 0:4
SC Freiburg – VfB Stuttgart 2:1
Hannover 96 – Bayer Leverkusen 2:2
Bayern München – Werder Bremen 0:0
1. FSV Mainz 05 – 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2:1
1. FC Köln – FC St. Pauli 1:0

Tabelle
1 1899 Hoffenheim 9 P
2 1. FSV Mainz 05 9 P
3 Hamburger SV 7 P
4 Hannover 96 7 P
5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 6 P
6 Borussia Dortmund 6 P
7 SC Freiburg 6 P
8 Bayer Leverkusen 4 P
8 Borussia Mönchengladbach 4 P
10 Werder Bremen 4 P
11 Bayern München 4 P
12 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 P
13 FC St. Pauli 3 P
14 1. FC Köln 3 P
15 1. FC Nürnberg 2 P
16 VfL Wolfsburg 0 P
17 FC Schalke 04 0 P
18 VfB Stuttgart 0 P

Stefan Reichart

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Watch out! Musical chairs and surprise wins! 2nd match day

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Kommentar

Come on, quick! Now’s the time to get rid of players you don’t need and then go and get some new ones! Why? Because after the qualifying games for the Champions League and the European Cup, it’s clear that all the German teams involved have made it into the group phase of the continental competitions. There’s new money available, the first games are out of the way and decisions about location have been made: so now it’s a game of musical chairs, with Bremen hoping Silvestre will set down on their seat, Hannover wanting to tempt Hajnal from Dortmund, Wolfsburg grabbing Diego and Demichelis looking to sit down anywhere except at Munich – he doesn’t get along well with the trainer. Really, any team with ambitions to take the Champions’ League should be looking to sign him: after all, ex-Bayern defenders are as close as you can get to guaranteed title success (see Lucio at Inter Milan last season).

The most active player in transfer musical chairs is Schalke 04. With the amount of fluctuation in the squad (26 changes!), it’s hard to believe that they were vice-champions last year. You’d think that coach Magath would just sit back and let a successful team have another go, but at the moment, I’m not at all sure whether the team we saw this week will still be there in seven days time! It’s certainly making life difficult for autograph-hunters, who are best advised to hang around airport departure areas if they’re looking to get signatures from players like Tore Reginussen (Tromsö – Schalke – Lecce).

The latest Schalke-signings are a Romanian named Ciprian Deac and the wing defender Hans Sarpei from Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile, negotiations are at fever pitch surrounding Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Milan and Rafael van der Vaart, currently at Real Madrid, where Schalke have been faithful customers of late. The only question is, whose money is it that they are spending? We can only hope that Magath still has a close eye on the bank balance – and on the wording of the contracts. Albert Streit, for example, who was signed by Schalke on an easily misinterpretable contract is still laughing all the way to the bank.

Anyway, all this cash flying around doesn’t seem to have had much effect on the performance of the teams involved. Just look at Schalke, and wealthy counterparts Wolfsburg, on the second match day this season. They both played poorly, with Schalke losing 1:2 to Hannover. The newly-formed defence based on Sarpei and Metzelder was weak; Schalke haven’t lost their first two matches since 1987, and this was the year in which they went down a league. My tip for Magath: it’s a good idea to have a whole functioning team before the start of the season.

Meanwhile Wolfsburg, who’d got the cheque-book out for Diego, did actually manage to make a good start and were 3:0 ahead of Mainz after just 30 minutes. Nevertheless, Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel just didn’t give up and his team fought back: 1:3, 2:3, 3:3, 4:3. This should prove more than anything else the old adage that “money can’t buy goals”, and whilst Chelsea and Madrid might seem to contradict that rule, it’s still the case that money doesn’t always win.

There was even more corroborating evidence for this in the form of Kaiserslautern’s astonishing victory against Bayern Munich. It was a big fight with a lot of effort and a bit of luck that got the newly-promoted players their victory against last season’s champions. The man of the match was without doubt Ivo Ilicevic. In the space of two minutes, he’d scored one goal and laid the groundwork for another. This has put him on the list of players Bayern want to sign for the sole reason that it will harm their opponents.

“We had a great talk and he’s on the right path. The aim is to get him back to top fitness; until them, we won’t nominate him for the first European Cup games.” That’s what Joachim Löw said last Friday about Michael Ballack, now at Leverkusen. The coach doesn’t seem to be convinced yet. My advice to you Michael, try and get back on track in the everyday matches: that 3:6 home defeat against Mönchengladbach just won’t do; it makes you and Hyypiä look less like old masters and more like stumbling pensioners!

What else is going on then? Well, the award for caring and sharing goes to the Bremen trainer Thomas Schaaf. He managed to integrate the new player, Marko Arnautovic, into the successful squad, and got the thanks he was looking for in the form of two goals in the 4:2 victory against Cologne. This was, by the way, one of the only two home wins this time round, with Kaiserslautern being the other team to win in their own stadium. No draws, by the way, and seven away wins, breaking all Bundesliga records in this category. What a match day!

(by Stefan Reichart and Brian Melican)

Results Matchday 2
1. FC Kaiserslautern – Bayern München 2:0
FC Schalke 04 – Hannover 96 1:2
Werder Bremen – 1. FC Köln 4:2
VfL Wolfsburg – 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:4
Eintracht Frankfurt – Hamburger SV 1:3
1. FC Nürnberg – SC Freiburg 1:2
FC St. Pauli – 1899 Hoffenheim 0:1
Bayer Leverkusen – Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:6
VfB Stuttgart – Borussia Dortmund 1:3

Table
1 1899 Hoffenheim 6 P
1 1.. FC Kaiserslautern 6 P
3 1. FSV Mainz 05 6 P
4 Hamburger SV 6 P
5 Hannover 96 6 P
6 Borussia Mönchengladbach 4 P
7 FC St. Pauli 3 P
8 Borussia Dortmund 3 P
9 Werder Bremen 3 P
9 Bayer Leverkusen 3 P
11 SC Freiburg 3 P
12 Bayern München 3 P
13 1. FC Nürnberg 1 P
14 VfL Wolfsburg 0 P
15 FC Schalke 04 0 P
16 Eintracht Frankfurt 0 P
17 1. FC Köln 0 P
18 VfB Stuttgart 0 P

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