Matchday 5: Relieved

By: Jan | September 18th, 2007

Manuel Neuer Collective Sighs of Relieve
Bayern Munich was held to a draw again. This time it was Schalke’s turn to proof, that Bayern Munich won’t be winning each and every game by at least a three goal margin, as some people had feared or hoped. Even Oliver Kahn is relieved that the two draws calmed down the annoying euphoria surrounding his club. But those who are relieved that the Bundesliga promises to be more open and competitive again, failed to notice the big advantage Bayern Munich now have over their competition. Ok, they lost two points each against Hamburg and Schalke, but the same is true the other way round. All in all, this was the chance for Bayern’s competition to close the points gap in the table. But no one really did. Stuttgart and Bremen each bagged three points from two games and thus only gained a one point advantage over Bayern but are still four points behind. Schalke drew both games and stays four points behind. Hamburg actually lost a point to Bayern and are four points behind as well. So Bayern’s competition is dropping points left and right and most notably, they often do so against the minnows of the league. Before I declare the competition to be open again, Bayern needs to start loosing against the small clubs as well. A draw here and there achieved by one of the big four won’t do it. It’s also worth pointing out that Bayern has already played against three main rivals and can now watch how they are going to take points from each other as well. Next up will be Bremen and Stuttgart next weekend…

It’s all doom and gloom at the moment, unless you disagree with my arguments or are a Bayern supporter. Speaking of which, as you might have already noticed, we now have one by the name of Angela here at The Offside. Be sure to check out the new Bayern Munich Offside.

Jet-lagged or Exhausted
Hamburg’s coach Huub Stevens could have told his colleagues that it is less than ideal to play the Bundesliga’s Friday fixture after an international break. Hamburg suffered a 2-1 defeat against Bochum a couple of weeks ago, and blamed part of it on the fact that Bochum had fewer national team players. And with players often just returning from their national teams the same day and with only one day of rest between matches, Hamburg might have a point there. Though, Bremen won’t be able to blame their 3-0 defeat against Dortmund on the international calendar alone, as Dortmund had to deal with a number of absentees as well. What was unfortunate for them, was probably the fact that Diego just came back from Boston, where he didn’t get a lot of playing time for Brazil but might have picked up a proper jet-lag. At least I’m willing to offer this as an excuse for his weak performance, different to his teammates who played just as bad. Or as Steven put it: Werder Bremen sucks.

Bayern Munich have yet to play a Friday fixture but nonetheless publicly criticised the match calendar and suggest to play the second international fixture on Tuesday instead of Wednesday giving players an extra day to recover.

4 Strikers and 3 Goals
Finally a proper result for Stuttgart who beat Cottbus 3-0 with goals by Gomez, Cacau and Ewerthon. Which leaves Ciprian Marica as Stuttgart’s lone striker that still needs to score. But this result should hopefully provide a boost ahead of their Champions League match against Glasgow Rangers on Wednesday.