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Haha, nice
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Brilliant- unfortunately, I skipped the BL on Saturday due to the tragedy of team being torn apart by a fantastic Gladbach side..:(
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Except for that one play, Saturday was largely forgettable, so it was a good time to do some mourning.
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Nice article, Jan…:) I loved it. I had a bit of a nightmare weekend with both Bayern and Arsenal losing and Dortmund winning. I am glad Leverkusen won though. Dutt’s squad is much better than the performances they are giving. Despite Gladbach’s thrashing of Bayern, I kind of believe the BL top four should be: Bayern, Schalke, Leverkusen and Dortmund to compete in the long term in the CL.
Oh and of-course:
Julian Draxler- OOOHHHH
Patrick Hermann – AHHHHEnough said..:)
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Thanks!
Personally, I always like to give different clubs a chance to cash in on the CL for a season and then let them try to use the extra money to build a strong team in the long term. Some do all the right things (i.e. Dortmund) while some couldn’t build on the momentum (Stuttgart, Hamburg).
I like the idea of populating the Bundesliga with as many strong teams as possible instead of having a breakaway big three or four. Even if that would increase chances in the CL.
I personally wouldn’t mind giving teams like Gladbach (or maybe Hannover or whoever in the future) a chance to prove what they can do with the extra money. I would be really looking forward to see what Eberl and Favre could do with €17.5m for Reus + €20+m from the CL.
And tbh, Leverkusen or e.g. Wolfsburg, are too dependant on their company backed background. They both have a rather small stadium and a small fanbase to build on. Winning over new sponsors under such circumstances is much more difficult. The fact that both clubs are heavily linked to VW and Bayer in people’s heads and not other sponsors doesn’t make it easier.
Even if teams like Gladbach are someway off Leverkusen financially, they have far more leverage.
And:
I love seeing Draxler and Hermann doing so well as well It’s really great that there are a couple of breakthrough performances of young players in the Bundesliga each season in recent years. -
Hey, Jan- I never thought of the CL and qualification that way- I think I agree with you on that- especially because of the extra money factor. I guess because I am also an Arsenal fan alongside being a Bayern and Bundesliga fan, that I was drawn into the idea of a top four. I will be watching Gladbach just like you over the coming years and see how they make use of the money- it is a pity Neustadter is leaving on a free though. Well, the points you mention about Leverkusen and Wolfsburg are true but I for some reason have always liked Leverkusen- to me they can be the team of the neutral fan of the Bundesliga. Gladbach definitely has more leverage also due to past glories.
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I understand what you mean about Leverkusen being the team of a neutral fan. I’m a hardcore Hamburg fan (it’s painful right now, I know), but I would prefer to see a team like Leverkusen win the title occasionally rather than Bayern or Dortmund. I don’t know what it is about Dortmund, but I just can’t get interested in them. But Leverkusen, or maybe even Schalke this year would be pretty cool.
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I think Leverkusen have lost too much ground in the Hinrunde and are anything but a settled squad with Dutt under fire too. So they’ll probably have to win the title another season. But Schalke would be pretty cool. Though, I would love it the most to see Gladbach do what Favre couldn’t quite do with Hertha.
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Hey, Jan,
Great stuff as usual. With Dortmund top, I am starting to doubt Bayern but two 2-0 wins gives me hope that we can get back to the top again and win the Buli. As for the cup, I didn’t want us to draw Gladbach- but what can you do?
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Great post Jan- Michael Preetz- oh man- I am laughing my head off right now at the ongoings at Hertha. Leverkusen killed my spirit a bit today though. Hope Bayern gets a decent result against Basel next week. If Bayern wins the CL and finishes second in the Buli, I will have no complaints..:)
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Does Hertha Berlin not have a good youth academy? It seemed to have produced quite a few good players like the Boateng brothers, A. Dejagah, etc, if I remember correctly. How come it has not been able to harness their youth talents more effectively?
And why do clubs like to name former players to be sporting directors even if they have neither experience nor competence? -
@samrin: thanks. I didn’t watch the Leverkusen game. Just heard Dutt was criticized for his overly cautious tactics. I think Bayern won’t have a problem against Basel, and from there onwards we’ll have to see. Would be cool to see Bayern win it in Munich.
But they’ll definitely have to fine-tune their tactics for that. Some Bundesliga coaches have developed reliable tactics to beat Bayern, which other CL teams could use as blue prints… -
@PR: Hertha were among the first to invest in their youth academy, and produced some good players. Most notably, as you said, the Boateng brothers, but they couldn’t get them to sign long term contracts, and sold them off. The output has seemingly dried up recently. Their best young prospect (Lasogga) isn’t from Berlin, but came through Leverkusen’s excellent youth setup.
Maybe they need to take a closer look at their youth setup and see, where they can make improvements and adjustments.
I fear that the current management might not have the required level of competence though. :/
I don’t know why unexperienced/incompetent former players so quickly are given roles as sporting director. Maybe clubs like to use former players, to give their club a face and an identity. And it has worked well enough in many cases, whether it’s Hoeness at Bayern, Zorc at Dortmund etc. So it’s not a negative thing as such. But Hertha look like a club, who even more so than a good coach, need a modern and competent management first.
Just imagine what a slightly better management at the top and Lucien Favre on the sidelines could have done with Hertha by now…
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Hey, sth interesting for you: its about Hoeness and Bayern: http://www.thehardtackle.com/2012/bayern-munich-bundesligas-misunderstood-samaritan/
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Hi Samrin, thanks for the article. Certainly the best part of Hoeness reign at Bayern. He’s given the club a warm and caring human core. I knew these things already, but a good read nonetheless.
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Although Labbadia did not do well in Hamburg, and even though his team has beaten us a couple of times this year, I would like to see him do well in Stuttgart and get better as a coach. I hate watching coaches get fired all the time (maybe being a Hamburg fan is silly for me then), and Labbadia seems like he is almost there in terms of being a quality coach. I think he needs to work on training a bit better to prevent injuries, but he certainly delivers some exciting teams when they are healthy and working well.
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I really loved the football Hamburg played under Labbadia in the first few months. At that point I was ready to blame all his problems at Leverkusen on a team with a dysfunctional structure and hierarchy. Then, when Hamburg just started mirroring Leverkusen’s decay, I thought “Ah ok, then it was Labbadia’s fault after all.”
Now I really struggle to judge him as a coach.But I would love to see more consistency at any Bundesliga club. I’m so tired of clubs hiring a manager, then buying players he needs for his tactics and formations, then firing the manager, then hiring a new manager, then relegating the new players to the bench because they don’t fit the new system, then buying new players that do, then firing the manager again and so on…
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Hey Jan,
Seven goals in two consecutive matches has me smiling as you might expect but I don’t really expect my dear Bavarians to go ahead and win the treble now- and yes, I don’t expect them to make the final of the CL either. Now, here is someone finally talking sense about Leverkusen- they are the toughest side to write about. And this won’t change any time soon. They make so mad sometimes- they embarrassed the BL pretty badly in UCL- how about 4-0?- still not as bad as 7-1- My God! The description you gave about HSV is the most accurate one I have seen so far and well done to Augsburg for breaking the gap for FCB to five points. All in all, I would say its been a perfect week..:) But now comes an away game- uh oh! -
Hi Samrin,
certainly a good week for Bayern fans.
I think the CL draw was kind to Bayern as well. It’s not a foregone conclusion that Bayern will beat Marseille, but they are beatable for sure. Though, in all likelihood Bayern will then face Real Madrid in the semis. I personally think Mourinho would easily out coach Heynckes in that tie, but let’s just wait and see and hope.:) -
Hey Jan,
While I am already biting my nails off ahead of Bayern’s second leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday, I will have to tip my hat off to Dortmund. Congrats to the German champions! We will get you next year! As far as the bench goes, it was not really that Bayern had a poor bench- it was that Jupp didn’t trust them until it was too late. All will be forgotten if Jupp delivers CL (by some accident) but if not, this season will be a failure.
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Hey Samrin,
should be a great match! I hope Bayern can hold on to their advantage. Also, CL semis, BL runner up, and DFB-Pokal finalist (so far) is not a season I would call a failure.
That’s a great performance. Of course a bit of silverware would be the icing on the cake. Have fun tomorrow!
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So Jan, do you think Bayern can beat Chelsea? Great CL matches this week!
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It was a great CL week for sure.
To be honest: I have absolutely no clue how the CL final could play out, who is favorite or not etc.
Bayern have the chance to experiment with potential line-ups for the CL final in the last two meaningless Bundesliga matches. But what about the DFB-Pokal final? Play their strongest line-up and then switch back for the CL final. Or play the same team that will face Chelsea in the DFB-Pokal final? So many questions.
And I haven’t watched Chelsea play at all this season except for their CL matches. They could grind out a victory against Bayern the same way Inter did two years ago.
We’ll see.
Certainly would be a great end to a great season if Bayern lift the CL trophy in their own stadium. -
Hey Jan,
Great stuff as always and well done to Borussia Dortmund. You know, reading what you wrote above about Bayern, I think Jupp will use the Pokal final as experimentation. Bayern has won the Pokal 15 times, the last coming 2 years ago. What better way to prepare for the CL final than by playing Dortmund in a final?
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Ya, CL is so much bigger – especially since they aren’t going for the treble anymore. Winning both cups would be great, but CL at home is huge. I think he can go with his probable best 11 for the Pokal and just tweak it for the CL, unless he already figures out who should sub in for the suspended players. Might as well use them in the Pokal if he thinks they will help.
I don’t usually cheer for Bayern, but I will support any German team in European competition, and this is also a special year!
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