Five Conclusions From Matchday 16

By: Jan | December 12th, 2011

Bayern Munich are Autumn Champions. Barring a highly unlikely flurry of goals for and against the right teams. More than the virtual trophy, Bayern will cherish the three-point gap, they opened up at the top of the table, taking maximum advantage of the slip ups of both Borussias. Neither of the three teams played up to their level, but in these cases Bayern’s extra bit of individual class secures the win. While the Borussia’s class was only sufficient for a draw and a loss respectively.

Playing in the Europa League pays off. The unloved, often ignored step child of the Champions League can have its’ upsides. Like accidentally stumbling upon a great and cheap player. If Schalke hadn’t been drawn against Helsinki in the Europa League play-offs, they wouldn’t have signed Teemu Pukki. They would have an extra €1.5m in the bank. But they would be under bigger pressure to think about possible replacements for Raul and Huntelaar. They probably wouldn’t have won against Hertha either. Pukki might even help Schalke get back into the Champions League. All thanks to the Europa League. Who would have thought?

Freiburg might be better off selling Cisse in the winter. There won’t be a shortage of suitors and Freiburg can command a higher fee than in the summer. More importantly, Cisse’s class alone doesn’t seem to be enough to save Freiburg anyway. Freiburg dropped to last place, following a 4-0 drubbing in Cologne, with the hosts not even needing to excel to run up the score. Cisse managed to get four not particularly threatening shots on goal. His transfer fee on the other hand, could help make signings, that can secure another year in the Bundesliga.

Hanover got stuck in the middle of the table. Three draws in a row. 8th place in the table for the same time period. Hanover are slowly loosing touch with the Europa League places. At least their form curve is showing up again. After being lucky to escape with a point against Freiburg and Hamburg, they were unlucky not to win against Leverkusen. The good news didn’t end here. Jan Schlaudraff decided to get stuck in Hanover for another four years. Now they only need to start winning again.

Bowling doesn’t improve your defense. Felix Magath reacted to the non-progress of his team, with a mid-season training camp and a round of bowling. That didn’t help fix the team’s defensive problems, following another drubbing away from home. With a squad of only 34 players, chances are slim, that Magath will find the right players for the job. The winter transfer window can’t come soon enough.