Schalke go 0 out of 4 to slip from crisis to meltdown. Wolfsburg and Stuttgart grab their first wins. Other top clubs keep stuttering. The little ones keep rocking the table.
Schalke 1-3 Dortmund. Schalke had lost their previous matches as well, but at least there was something of an upward spiral, with hints of better attacking football or a slightly more stable defense.

Bald startet die Bundesliga in die Rückrunde der Saison 2009/2010. Am 15.01. werden Bayern München und 1899 Hoffenheim um 20:30 Uhr das erste Spiel der Bundesliga im Jahr 2010 bestreiten. Bis dahin müssen die Spieler wieder gezielt vorbereitet sein – etwas länger Zeit haben dagegen die Angestellten bei den Vereinen, welche für Neuverpflichtungen zuständig sind.

Bald hat die bundesligafreie Zeit wieder ein Ende – am Freitag werden der FC Bayern München und 1899 Hoffenheim die Rückrunde der Saison 2009/2010 eröffnen. Dann wird es erst so richtig ernst, denn an den noch ausstehenden 17 Spieltagen müssen die Mannschaften ihr ganzes Potential abrufen, wenn es wieder darum geht, welche Mannschaften den Gang in die zweite Liga antreten müssen, wer in der nächsten Saison international vertreten sein wird und natürlich wenn es um die Frage aller Fragen geht: Wer wird den Titelkampf für sich entscheiden können?

Die Zeit des Wartens hat ein Ende – heute Abend um 20.30 Uhr rollt der Ball wieder in der Fußball-Bundesliga. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt werden der FC Bayern München und 1899 Hoffenheim die Rückrunde der Saison 2009/2010 eröffnen. Aber seien wir ehrlich: So lang war die Wartezeit nun auch wieder nicht, da die Winterpause aufgrund der im Sommer anstehenden Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft in Südafrika verkürzt wurde.

Im Dezember des vergangenen Jahres entschieden sich die Verantwortlichen des VfB Stuttgart zu personellen Konsequenzen und entließen Teamchef Markus Babbel – sein Nachfolger: der Schweizer Christian Gross. Nun, nachdem dieser seit über einem Monat auf der Bank der Schwaben Platz nimmt, lässt sich dessen bisherige Bilanz durchaus sehen.

Eier, Eier...wir brauchen Eier! Was schon ein bekannter ehemaliger Fussballtorwart in einer Spielanalyse seinen Mitspielern vorgeworfen hat, haben die Spieler der TSG 1899 Hoffenheim jetzt umgesetzt. Das Ganze ist jedoch nur ein kurzes Vergnügen, denn Eier gehen bekanntlich ja schnell kaputt. Ein wenig Schimpfen muss ich mit den Jungs aber auch noch, denn schon meine [.

Ten-man Bayern beat Schalke, to reclaim the top of the table. Ten-man Leverkusen lose against Frankfurt, to reclaim their choke label. Dortmund suddenly face the possibility of Champions League football. Hertha suddenly face the possibility of Bundesliga survival.
Bayern. Bayern's top of the table clash with Schalke lived up to the hype for the first 45 minutes, at least as far as intensity and drama went, which in times of regular let downs by top games, was good enough.

Leverkusen lose at last and do it in style. Bayern drop points and keep the top spot. Schalke emerges from the shadow. Hannover stop the downward spiral for the moment.

Leverkusen. In hindsight, it's easy to say it had been coming. What's certain though is, that Leverkusen's defeat at the hands of Nuremberg (2-3) was preceded by a number of draws and victories, that were no longer confident, but rather bumpy and lucky at times.

German Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim has launched its Puma 2010/11 kit collection. However, only its away and third kits will differ from last year's. The Hoffenheim Puma home kit used launched for the 2009/10 season will remain as the club's primary strip until the end of the 2010/11 season. Hoffenheim's 2010/11 white away jersey [.

Wir haben einen Kreis von acht Spielern, mit denen ich mich ein-, zweimal in der Woche treffe und austausche. Diese Spieler sollen mir immer wieder signalisieren, wie Dinge bei der Mannschaft ankommen und wie die Stimmung aussieht.

Ralf Rangnick, Trainer von 1899 Hoffenheim, erklärt im Radio Regenbogen seine Pläne für die kommende Saison.

But if it does, now would be the time. Hoffenheim take the first step towards their maiden Bundesliga title, while newly promoted Kaiserslautern and St. Pauli will be eager to protect their place in the Champions League. Bremen, Dortmund and Stuttgart face a tough battle for Bundesliga survival.

Bayern Munich 2-1 Wolfsburg.

Goals galore, upsets, epic comebacks and all-winning away teams except for the one that was expected to win and then fell to a newly promoted side.

Kaiserslautern 2-0 Bayern Munich. The Friday night match unfolded as everybody expected. Bayern took the ball. Bayern kept the ball.

Bundesliga: 1899 Hoffenheim 2-0 Schalke 04 Title contenders eh, Schalke? is a post from: Just Football

On the evidence of this 2-0 defeat against 1899 Hoffenheim, Schalke 04 will not cause much of a stir in their Champions League group this season. Any watching scouts from Olympique Lyonnais, Schalke's first opponents, will have wondered what all the fuss is about.

Bundesliga: 1899 Hoffenheim 2-0 Schalke 04 Title contenders eh, Schalke? is a post from: Just Football

On the evidence of this 2-0 defeat against 1899 Hoffenheim, Schalke 04 will not cause much of a stir in their Champions League group this season. Any watching scouts from Olympique Lyonnais, Schalke's first opponents, will have wondered what all the fuss is about.

Schalke and Wolfsburg, this summer's biggest spenders, start their campaigns with zero points out of nine. Somewhat vindicates Stuttgart's austerity, who spent €30m less and still achieved the same result. At the other end of the table, a couple of relegation or midtable bound clubs wonder what they are doing up there.

Matchday 4 produced a couple of statistical firsts.

0. Bayern scored 0 goals in their past three Bundesliga games. The last time Bayern went without a goal for three Bundesliga matches was 12 years ago. The goal drought combined with just 5 points from four matches tops last season's bad start, making this one the worst in 34 years.

Bereits gestern Abend wurde der 6. Spieltag der Fußball-Bundesliga vom 1. FC Köln und von 1899 Hoffenheim eröffnet. Zwar brachte Nationalspieler Lukas Podolski "seinen" FC in der ersten Halbzeit mit 1:0 in Führung, doch in Hälfte zwei konnte Demba Ba im Trikot der Hoffenheimer zum 1:1-Endstand ausgleichen.

Cover Photo: Paul Rudderow

Union

The Union, along with its youth development partner YSC, will unveil its academy structure for youth players aged 8–18 on Tuesday, November 23, at 6:30pm at YSC's brand new state-of-the-art facility in Wayne. According to the press release on the Union's website, "The Union/YSC Model is unlike any youth soccer development program in the United States, providing free training and competition opportunities for elite youth players under a "club-neutral" format.

Miroslav Klose scored twice in FC Bayern's 6-3 win over VfB Stuttgart

To finish the year there has been domestic cup action this week throughout Europe. Some matches were called off due to bad weather in northern Europe including the entire first leg fixture list in Belgium's Coupe Cofidis but, overall, there has been good quality football played in Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey.

The Philadelphia Union announced on Tuesday the signing of 15-year-old Zach Pfeffer as the club's first Homegrown Player.

Pfeffer has represented the US at the U-14 and U15 levels. Earlier this year, Pfeffer trained at the IMG Academy in Brandento, Florida.

Prior to training with the Union, the Pfeffer was a member of the U-15/U-16 USSF FC Delco Academy, as well as the Upper Dublin, Cheltenham, YMS, and Montgomery United youth clubs.

The first half of the Bundesliga season has been perhaps the most surprising in the competition's 47-year history.

While it is not unusual for one or two teams to upset the odds or disappoint, for pretty much everyone to either outperform expectations or fall well short is extraordinary.

Schalke go 0 out of 4 to slip from crisis to meltdown. Wolfsburg and Stuttgart grab their first wins. Other top clubs keep stuttering. The little ones keep rocking the table.
Schalke 1-3 Dortmund. Schalke had lost their previous matches as well, but at least there was something of an upward spiral, with hints of better attacking football or a slightly more stable defense.

Matchday 4 produced a couple of statistical firsts.

0. Bayern scored 0 goals in their past three Bundesliga games. The last time Bayern went without a goal for three Bundesliga matches was 12 years ago. The goal drought combined with just 5 points from four matches tops last season's bad start, making this one the worst in 34 years.

Schalke and Wolfsburg, this summer's biggest spenders, start their campaigns with zero points out of nine. Somewhat vindicates Stuttgart's austerity, who spent €30m less and still achieved the same result. At the other end of the table, a couple of relegation or midtable bound clubs wonder what they are doing up there.

Goals galore, upsets, epic comebacks and all-winning away teams except for the one that was expected to win and then fell to a newly promoted side.

Kaiserslautern 2-0 Bayern Munich. The Friday night match unfolded as everybody expected. Bayern took the ball. Bayern kept the ball.