10 Things we learned from Matchday 19

By: Jan | February 12th, 2008

1. There are entertaining 1-1 draws.
You could call them borderline exciting draws as well. The top of the table clashes between Leverkusen and Hamburg and Bayern and Bremen didn’t really help anyone in terms of results, but yet you didn’t feel you just wasted 90 minutes of your life either. With some good will - coming from Uli Hoeness in this case - you can even extend the title race to five teams. Now that is something.

2. There are average 2-2 draws.
You could call them hard fought draws as well, which probably works better to sell the positive aspects of such a match. The midtable fixture between Hanover and Karlsruhe at least made sure, that the whole midtable section remains pretty close together. A less nitpicky referee would have overlooked a little scuffle in the box and awarded Hanover a winning third goal. This would have ruined my clever little listing of draws counting from one to three though. Lucky me.

3. There are rubbish 3-3 draws.
Shinji Ono’s impressive debut for Bochum against Bremen attracted a host of Japanese reporters, to see him play his first home match against Cottbus. They had to wait until the second half, but were at least rewarded with Ono setting up a goal from a set piece. Probably the only goal that can be attributed more to skill and less to defensive or goalkeeping blunders. The latter making up the five other goals. Fill the rest of the match with bad football and you successfully dampened thoughts of Bochum already being more than a bottom dweller.

4. A lesson about quantity and quality.
See 1 to 3.

5. Thomas Doll tries hard to pass as a modern/good coach.
I still remember when Jürgen Klinsmann resigned his post as national team coach and Michael Ballack suggested appointing someone like Thomas Doll as his successor. That was a time when Thomas Doll was considered to be among a young breed of progressive coaches. Someone who embraces modern training methods and specialised coaching staff. That was before he shipwrecked Hamburg, before his mental coach went mental and before you questioned yourself, whether the expensive video match surveillance system Dortmund bought for him, actually has any benefit, if the coach has no clue what to make with all the data. It was also before you realised that Thomas Doll is operating within a space of five catch phrases („I’ll continue to go my way.“), which he then willingly explains in more detail if someone dares asking („It’s… that I will follow my path and not someone else’s.“).

6. Only one of last years’s top three coaches still has his job.
Petrik Sander was the first to go. He had kept Energie Cottbus in the Bundesliga against all odds, and was voted third best coach of the year in return. Hans Meyer guided Nuremberg to their biggest success in several decades by winning the DFB-Pokal. This earned him the second place in the vote. He just got fired, after an unconvincing draw with relegation rival Rostock established Nuremberg at the wrong end of the table. Which also means, there’s little reason for me to care too much about Nuremberg anymore. This leaves Armin Veh, coach of the year 2007, as the lone survivor of season 2006/2007. There’s an extra lesson about the eternal laws of the game in there.

7. It’s Groundhog Day for Hertha.
Last minute dealings on the transfer market, a shambolic performance away at Frankfurt, perceived relegation strugglers and an unlikely 3-1 victory at home against Stuttgart. Last minute dealings on the transfer market, a shambolic performance at home against Frankfurt, perceived relegation strugglers and an unlikely 3-1 victory away at Stuttgart. For less predictable content check out Abby’s Hertha Offside.

8. Fenin Fever remains well intact.
Martin Fenin was supposedly to blame that Frankfurt sold an extra 5000 tickets for their first home game of the year. He didn’t emulate his hat trick, but was instrumental setting up Frankfurt’s first goal against Bielefeld and scored the second one himself. That should be enough to keep ticket sales rising.

9. Schalke win the double.
As Dave informed us, neither Dortmund nor Schalke managed to win the Revierderby double since 1997. Schalke’s 3-2 victory over Dortmund changed that and a Champions League spot was the just reward. If Schalke are ready for more heartbreak, they should start hoping to catch Bayern again, who are only five points away.

10. It was a smart marketing move to buy Japanese.
Bochum wasn’t the only club swamped with Japanese media representation. It was the same in Wolfsburg, where Makoto Hasebe gave his starting XI debut. Bochum, Wolfsburg and Frankfurt aren’t the most flashy Bundesliga clubs yet, but judging by the current interest, they might steal a few Japanese fans away from Manchester United or Oliver Kahn.