Matchday 1: Promises

By: Jan | August 14th, 2007

Kloni Some belated thoughts on what was on offer this weekend.

Drawing any conclusions from just one matchday worth of Bundesliga football is a bit difficult, but it has been done nonetheless. Some think they could sense the humble beginnings of a new era of league wide attacking football. Though, whether that holds true, once the first handful of clubs manifest themselves as relegation candidates, remains to be seen. And then there are those clubs, who are hopeful to storm into the top of the table, like Bayer Leverkusen who played well and were held to a goalless draw against Cottbus nonetheless. Since it’s the results that dictate the table, it will be interesting to see how many clubs will remain true to their idea of positive football, once they are in danger of missing out on their goals for the new season. But casting all those questions and doubts aside, it indeed was an entertaining first weekend.

As could be expected, Bayern Munich received most of the attention and they delivered. Hansa Rostock has to be congratulated that they only lost 3-0, in a match that was probably even more one sided, than the one Bayern played against third division heroes Burghausen in the DFB Cup. It’s the taking part that counts against Munich. And as Miroslav Klose scored a brace and got the assist for Luca Toni’s first Bundesliga goal, the two already picked up a collective nickname: Kloni. Beating the favourite team to get relegated has been enough for some people to declare that Munich will run away with the title and distance the competition by a double digits margin.

Yet, there are others - including me - who were hopeful, that a handful of clubs might come up with a performance, that leaves some hope for a more open title race. As of matchday one, they can be reduced to Hamburg, Stuttgart and Schalke. Stuttgart delivered a positive example of why pre-season form doesn’t have to mean a thing. Together with Schalke they played an entertaining season opener, and the two clubs showcased their ability to play fast paced quality football. The emphasis in Schalke’s game was to break down Stuttgart’s attacking efforts and deliver sharp counter attacks, which isn’t always the most attractive way to do things, but also makes them very difficult to beat. Their two promising midfield youngsters Özil and Rakitic also played exactly as advertised: promising. Rakitic stole the show though by scoring the equaliser from a great solo effort. This performance should have helped to reassure Kuranyi and his teammates, who worried that Schalke might not be competitive, following Lincoln’s move to Istanbul. Sporting director Andreas Müller nonetheless presented his Mister X on Monday - the rumoured backup solution, should the Stephen Appiah transfer fail. His name is Großmüller who, going by his name, could have featured in any respectable German national team of the 70s. His first name is Carlos though, he comes from Uruguay and is said to give the team more options in the midfield. Stuttgart’s play reassured, that they shouldn’t have a problem to reenact their free flowing attacking style of last season. Coach Armin Veh is confident, that there is still more to come, with three starting XI regulars missing in that match. He is also hopeful that his team can surprise in the Champions League.

For someone who closely followed Hamburg’s preseason and their Intertoto adventure, the strong match against Hannover didn’t come as much of a surprise. But it did for the odd pundits, who without further ado declared that this team might be in for a surprise this season. So, all could be well in Hamburg, who are even free from the major injury blows that decimated their squad last year - except for Sorin everybody is on board. Yet, Valencia has managed to seriously disrupt the peace- and joyful atmosphere by sending in a fax, offering to buy van der Vaart for €14m. It is a well publicised fact that playing for one of the big clubs in Spain would be a dream come true for the Little Angel, whose mother is Spanish. Hamburg is keen to keep van der Vaart for one last season though and swiftly rejected Valencia’s offer. Something van der Vaart wasn’t too happy about. Let’s hope this doesn’t develop into a stupid soap opera. His Dutch team and national teammates at Hamburg have already held appeasement talks with him. One thing is for sure: Hamburg can’t find a suitable van der Vaart replacement so close to the end of the transfer period.

Bremen delivered the opposite proof, that pre-season form can very well reflect their subsequent league performance. Thomas Schaaf’s team was held to a draw against Bochum and still has some way to go, before they can challenge for anything. Something that really worries me ahead of their Champions League qualifier against Zagreb. To add insult to injury: Tim Borowski again picked up a knee injury and will be out for a couple of weeks.

Finally, Dortmund delivered a negative example of why pre-season form doesn’t have to mean a thing. Inquire Steven over at the Dortmund Offside for more information.