October 19th, 2009

The Numbers Game: Matchday 9

By: Jan |

It wasn’t a good weekend for exciting football. It was a good weekend for exciting numbers. Or rather, a good weekend for those who can find numbers exciting.
619. Tim Wiese has kept a clean sheet for 619 minutes and counting. Remember, he did so while playing for Werder Bremen. Any other season this would [...]

Category: 1. FC Nuremberg, Arminia Bielefeld, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, FC Bayern Munich, Facts and Figures, Hertha BSC Berlin, Matchdays, Werder Bremen

Tags: 1. FC Nuremberg, Arminia Bielefeld, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Facts and Figures, FC Bayern Munich, Hertha BSC Berlin, Jens Lehmann, Matchdays, Sami Hyypiä, Tasmania 1900 Berlin, Tim Wiese, Uli Stein, Werder Bremen

August 5th, 2009

DFB-Pokal First Round: Famous 45, Heroic 90, Epic 120 and Transcendental 119:57

By: Jan |

1 Comment

There is much to like about the DFB-Pokal.
First of all, its’ format contrasts nicely with all other season long competitions. A pure knockout tournament. 90 minutes minimum. 120 minutes and penalty shootouts if necessary. No draws. No rematches. No second legs. If you are the away team, live with it. If you have a [...]

Category: DFB-Pokal, FC Bayern Munich, FSV Mainz 05, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Hamburger SV, Hannover 96, Hertha BSC Berlin, Matchdays, VfB Stuttgart, Videos

Tags: DFB-Pokal, FC Bayern Munich, Fortuna Düsseldorf, FSV Mainz 05, Hamburger SV, Hannover 96, Hertha BSC Berlin, Matchdays, VfB Stuttgart, Videos

July 17th, 2009

Video Review: Lewis Holtby (Schalke 04)

By: Jan |

2 Comments

It took 18 year old Lewis Holtby just one season to catch up on everything you would expect from a promising young talent and then he improved on it.
He was promoted from Alemannia Aachen’s youth straight to the senior side, skipping the reserves, and quickly became a first team starter. The DFB took note and [...]

Category: Alemannia Aachen, FC Schalke 04, Videos

Tags: Alemannia Aachen, FC Schalke 04, Lewis Holtby, Videos

July 17th, 2009

Reality Check: No You Couldn’t

By: Jan |

1 Comment

There are some clubs in the Bundesliga where even Obama fails.

Energie Cottbus grabbed a lifeline by securing the relegation play-off spot, but ended up having not even close to a chance in their tie against FC Nuremberg, who beat them 5-0 on aggregate to end all eastern German presence in the Bundesliga.

Category: Energie Cottbus, Hertha BSC Berlin, Karlsruher SC, Photos

Tags: Energie Cottbus, Hertha BSC Berlin, Karlsruher SC, Photos

May 23rd, 2009

Bundesliga Season Finale Liveblog

By: Jan |

No Comments

What good is a liveblog in a tape-delayed world? I have no idea. I’ll leave this philosophical question unanswered and let our American readers deal with it.
For everyone else it’s season 46 episode 34 of the Bundesliga. We’ve already been served 2970 minutes high on excitement and low on answers – the latter will [...]

May 18th, 2009

Wolfsburg Close in on Title. Hamburg Close in on Supermassive Black Hole.

By: Jan |

6 Comments

Uli Hoeness predicted that this championship won’t be decided on goal difference, but rather that someone would slip up, and he was right albeit in the wrong places.
Hannover 0-5 Wolfsburg. Except for the sell out crowd there was nothing really derby-ish about this game (and then, the last match at home usually tends to be [...]

Category: 1. FC Cologne, 1899 Hoffenheim, Arminia Bielefeld, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Energie Cottbus, FC Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04, Hamburger SV, Hannover 96, Hertha BSC Berlin, Matchdays, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg

May 15th, 2009

Weekly Dose 15.05.09

By: Jan |

No Comments

There’s a St. Pauli Offside now! There must be a better way to integrate it into the Bundesliga Offside than hoping for an extra quick promotion to the first division. (St. Pauli Offside)
A close Bundesliga title race decided on the final matchday? Happens 50% of the time, so what’s all the buzz about? (ESPN Soccernet)
The [...]

Category: 1. Bundesliga, 1899 Hoffenheim, Borussia Dortmund, FC Schalke 04, FC St. Pauli

Tags: 1. Bundesliga, 1899 Hoffenheim, Borussia Dortmund, FC Schalke 04, FC St. Pauli, Felix Magath, Vedad Ibisevic, Weekly Dose

May 14th, 2009

Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Great Last Minute Escape

By: Jan |

1 Comment

When it all comes down to it, it doesn’t matter how they did it.
There wasn’t all that much football on display in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s last two matches against Schalke and Cottbus, which of course wasn’t Gladbach’s fault alone. Schalke can control a game and dominate possession, but they can’t really score goals or come up [...]

Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Energie Cottbus, FC Schalke 04, Matchdays, Videos

Tags: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Dante, Energie Cottbus, FC Schalke 04, Matchdays, Roberto Colautti, Videos

May 12th, 2009

Guide to the Bundesliga’s Season Finale

By: Jan |

7 Comments

Three matchdays to go and there is still pretty much everything to play for at the top and the bottom of the table. A welcome change to last season, where we had to make do with a little tussle for the UEFA Cup and Intertoto spots and Nuremberg putting up not much of a fight [...]

Category: Arminia Bielefeld, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Energie Cottbus, FC Bayern Munich, Facts and Figures, Hamburger SV, Hertha BSC Berlin, Karlsruher SC, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Bochum, VfL Wolfsburg

Tags: 1. Bundesliga, Arminia Bielefeld, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Energie Cottbus, Facts and Figures, FC Bayern Munich, Hamburger SV, Hertha BSC Berlin, Karlsruher SC, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Bochum, VfL Wolfsburg

March 13th, 2009

The Bundesliga Money League

By: Jan |

4 Comments

I never heard of Goldman Morgenstern & Partners Financial Intelligence Service before, but they published a press release which lists the turnover of each Bundesliga club for the 2007/2008 season. The data seems to come from an article in the print edition of Kicker magazine. Said article supposedly dealt with the official Bundesliga report for [...]

2. Bundesliga