http://bundesliga.theoffside.com News from The German Bundesliga Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:47:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The big freeze produced one big winner. Germany's winter so far: a mild December was followed by a warm January was followed by a frigging cold February. It's probably some strange global warming phenomenon again, or 2012, or... It meant that matchday 20 took place under arctic circumstances. The low ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/1-bundesliga/five-conclusions-from-matchday-20.html Marco Reus finds all the right answers to Bayern's trash talk. Reus' announcement to move to Dortmund in the summer, triggered a series of trademark taunts from down south during the winter break. Reus supposedly demanded a guaranteed starting spot at Bayern. He chickened from trying to fight for his ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/1-bundesliga/five-conclusions-from-matchday-18.html Gladbach coach Lucien Favre is visibly delighted with his team's performance against Bayern Munich. (Photo by Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images) http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/photos/photo-starry-eyed.html Draxler cuts the pass → Marica → Raul → Draxler → Raul → Huntelaar → Draxler → Goal! This is one of the better team goals you'll see this season. And what makes it even more remarkable, is the small fact, that it was scored by a team coached by all ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/1-bundesliga/schalkes-team-goal-vs-stuttgart.html Na tactics can compensate for individual mistakes. Bayern's 3-0 win over Cologne was rich in absurdity. Ribery blew a fuse. The match ball blew out. Cologne blew a one man advantage. You could add Solbakken's one-off idea to bring back the five man backline to this list. Except, that it ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/1-bundesliga/five-conclusions-from-matchday-17.html 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 ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/1-bundesliga/five-conclusions-from-matchday-16.html The Bundesliga doesn't get the concept of extra time. On paper the Bundesliga referees get it. It's up to them to decide, how much time was wasted through substitutions, injury delays, time wasting or excessive goal celebrations. It's OK for them to routinely add only one or two minutes or ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/1-bundesliga/five-conclusions-from-matchday-15.html Bayern are catching up with Barcelona. Philipp Lahm may speak the truth but his sense of timing is really a bit off this season. Whether it is publishing memoirs in the middle of his career, or making bold claims a day ahead of embarrassing defeats for both Barcelona and Bayern. ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/1-bundesliga/five-conclusions-from-matchday-14.html There are ways to make life easier for referees. This weekend was dominated by a lot of talk about the difficult and ungrateful job a referee has to make. There has been a lot of talk about pressure. None of that talk might actually help Babak Rafati, as it's mere ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/1-bundesliga/five-conclusions-from-matchday-13.html Kyle Barber wrote a review of Ronald Reng's recently translated book about Robert Enke. (Bundesliga Lounge) Nick Amies examined the reasons behind Mario Gomez' Super Mario form... (Deutsche Welle) Ryan Bailey wrote about how Union Berlin is planning to sell shares of its' soul. (Dirty Tackle) Chris Wright cursed the day he saw ... http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/links/links-09-11-11.html