It was
Tim Vickery who said that of all the unimportant things in the world, football is the
most important. So while Germany comes to terms with the death of
Robert Enke, let us take a
few moments to reflect on trivial yet happier matters, namely last weekend's Bundesliga action.
Click to continue reading...
Every league experiences them, sometimes more than once. That's a weekend where the championship
contenders all contrive to lose the initiative.
We'll begin with a shock defeat to Hamburg who were at home to
'Gladbach. A fixture, rare in
the Bundesliga as one in which you should have been able to put the house on a home win.
Click to continue reading...
Spätestens seit letztem Freitag weht ein unangenehmer Geruch durch Karlsruhes Straßen. Der
faulige Geruch der dritten Liga hängt über der Fächerstadt.
Nach der erneuten Niederlage gegen Fortuna Düsseldorf sollte es jedem klar sein, auch wenn
viele es nicht wahrhaben wollen: Der KSC spielt gegen den Abstieg.
Click to continue reading...
It is very likely that
Stuttgart coach
Markus Babbel may be out of the job after the
forthcoming weekend. He received the
dreaded vote of confidence after their 1-0 defeat to
improving
Hannover 96 last Saturday but the club's Sporting Director
Horst Heldt made
it clear that he was looking for a response against the 2 Bundesliga side
Greuther Furth in
the German Cup (DFB Pokal) on Tuesday.
Click to continue reading...
I think the jury is still out on
Bayer Leverkusen as title contenders. So far this season
Jupp Heynckes team have beaten Hoffenheim, Freiburg, Bochum, Wolfsburg, Koln and Nurnberg.
Of those six results, only two were against teams from the top half of the table. More pertinently,
when they have played fellow contenders Bayer have come up short.
Click to continue reading...
There is something reassuring about a 1-0 win, particularly in top of the table clashes. 1-0 says a
keenly-contested game between two well-matched teams. 1-0 says attrition, tension, hard work and
good defending. 1-0 says a hard-fought, well-earned win. Unlike your 4-3 which says knockabout
hi-jinks and grown men wearing party hats.
Click to continue reading...
When
Thomas Tuchel took charge of
Mainz on the eve of the Bundesliga season, eyebrows
were raised and concerns expressed. What chance would a newly promoted club have? What chaos must
they be in to change managers before a ball is kicked? Well, it looks as though we needn't have
worried.
Click to continue reading...
Public displays of fake unity are never entirely convincing. Take Brown and Blair in the 2005
election campaign or Ritchie and Madonna in the final days of their marriage. However, the
post-goal celebration between
Franck Ribery and his boss
Louis van Gaal was
positively coital in its intensity.
Click to continue reading...
Der Karlsruher SC macht Ordnung. Neuer Trainer ist da, scheinbar ein Mann mit Erfahrung, Markus
Schupp mit Namen. Weil niemand ihn wirklich kennt, wird er kurzfristig zum Wunschkandidat erklärt,
der badische Traditionsverein legt doch seine Mannschaft nicht in jedermanns Hände. Keeper Miller
endlich wieder da, wo er hingehört, nämlich im Tor.
Click to continue reading...
There is a good reason why I'm a mere football blogger and Louis Van Gaal is a successful football
manager and here's it is. When the news broke that Arjen Robben was signing for Bayern Munich I
scoffed. "Pah!" I said "What do Bayern need another winger for. They need an attacking central
midfielder, not competition for Franck Ribery.
Click to continue reading...
Anybody who uses the phrase "Hat's off!" is my kind of fella. That's why I like
Mainz coach
Thomas Tuchel. Not only has he taken control of his squad with less than a week's notice
prior to the start of the season following the dramatic dismissal of his predecessor, but when he
masterminded his team's magnificent 2-1 victory over the mighty
Bayern Munch at the weekend,
he proudly uttered the words "Hats off to my team".
Click to continue reading...
The Offside 25 August @ 10:10 AM EST
Funds are hard to come by for a number of football clubs these days. Funds have been particularly
hard to come by for bold German side Union Berlin, whose fans famously chipped in and hammered up
to help the crisis earlier in the year. Making it to the 2. Bundesliga was a great leap forward in
[...]
Click to continue reading...
OK so we're only two games in but could we be seeing the early signs of how the new Bundesliga
season is going to shape up? At the end of last season, most pundits believed that Wolfsburg might
dip somewhat following their magnificent success last season and the inevitable departure of their
best forwards, not to mention that of Svengali coach Felix Magath.
Click to continue reading...
There are few sweeter occasions in the football calender than the opening day of a northern
European season. The sun shines down on the supporters of every club who turn up in their droves to
welcome the players back. The players themselves, grateful to be back in business after the tedium
of pre-season, can't wait to get started.
Click to continue reading...
TSV 1860 München, commonly known as 1860 Munich is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria.
The club's football team plays in the Second Bundesliga, after relegation from the Bundesliga at
the end of the 2003/04 season. They finished the 2008/09 2nd Bundesliga season in 12th position.
TSV 1860 München are currently in the news [.
Click to continue reading...
DSC Arminia Bielefeld (full name: Deutscher Sportclub Arminia Bielefeld e. V.; also known as "Die
Arminen" or "Die Blauen" is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club
is most commonly known for its professional football team which will play in the 2. Bundesliga
during the 2009/10 season after having been relegated from [.
Click to continue reading...
Kinder, diese Saison wird es wieder richtig spannend beim Kampf um den Auf- und Abstieg. Die
Relegation ist zurück! Der Drittletzte der 1. Bundesliga muss gegen den Drittplatzierten der 2.
Bundesliga antreten und in zwei Spielen die Saison zu einem guten oder schlechten Ende führen. Das
gleiche Prozedere durchlaufen auch der Drittletzte der 2.
Click to continue reading...
Ewald Lienen übernimmt mit sofortiger Wirkung das Traineramt bei 1860 München. Damit hat Uwe
Wolf, der bisherige Interimstrainer nach der Entlassung von Marco Kurz, bereits ausgedient. Die
Notizblockhersteller reiben sich schon die Hände - das Geschäft für das zweite Halbjahr 2009
scheint gesichert.
Click to continue reading...
Also langsam nimmt die Situation beim F.C. Hansa Rostock komödiantische Züge an. Schon
bald wird René Rydlewicz wieder im Ostseestadion auf dem Platz stehen. Rydlewicz, ehemaliger
Manager von Anker Wismar und noch Ende der letzten (Abstiegs-)Saison größter Kritiker der
Rostocker Führungsetage, wurde erst vor kurzem als sportlicher Leiter an Board geholt, um
Hansa noch vor [.
Click to continue reading...
Für alle die das Krawall-Spiel vom FC St. Pauli gegen Hansa Rostock verpasst haben, hier noch
einmal die schönsten Momente des fussballerischen Leckerbissens kompakt zusammengefasst. Viel
Spaß dabei!
Click to continue reading...
Es lohnt sich immer einen Blick in die zweite Bundesliga zu werfen. Im Moment trumpft da gerade der
18-Jährige David Hoilett groß auf. In den letzten drei Spielen traf der rechte offensive
Mittelfeldspieler sage und schreibe 5x. Damit schmiss er nicht nur Dieter Eilts vom Trainerstuhl
der Hanseaten, nein auch Pauli ist dank des Dribbelkönigs [.
Click to continue reading...
I never heard of Goldman Morgenstern & Partners Financial Intelligence Service before, but they
published a press release which lists the turnover of each Bundesliga club for the 2007/2008
season. The data seems to come from an article in the print edition of Kicker magazine. Said
article supposedly dealt with the official Bundesliga report for [.
Click to continue reading...
Eight teams went in, four went out and on the surface the romance of the cup is alive and well. On
the inside, those teams "surprisingly" eliminated are in a deep crisis. Mainz 05 1-0
Schalke 04 Is there anyone still keeping track of the number of setbacks Schalke has to endure this
season? They are [.
Click to continue reading...
Kaiserslautern's Martin Amedick has the second funniest name in world football. (The World Game)
Spot it: which Bundesliga team is featured in this old Hip Hop video? (YouTube) How a Schalke and a
Dortmund fan experienced the 133rd Revierderby. (Bundesliga Talk) The story of adidas as told by an
adidas commercial.
Click to continue reading...
Eilts? Ja es Eilt! Es müssen endlich Punkte her, egal wie. Die Anhänger von Hansa Rostock
sind momentan nicht zu beneiden. Letzte Saison der Abstieg, obwohl man zur Saisonhälfte nicht
so schlecht da stand und jetzt wird man in der 2. Bundesliga auch nur noch als Punktelieferant
gefeiert.
Click to continue reading...
Er ist wieder zurück! Peter Neururer ist seit gestern Nachmittag endlich wieder Trainer eines
Bundesligavereins. Mit dem MSV Duisburg versucht der Fußball-Idealist erneut eine Mannschaft
auf Touren zu bringen. Besonders aufgefallen ist Neururer bisher vorallem durch Berg- und
Talfahrten seiner Mannschaften und seine markigen Sprüche.
Click to continue reading...
Nachdem Hansa Rostock heute erst bekannt gab, dass Trainer Frank Pagelsdorf gemeinsam mit
Co-Trainer und Timo Lange beurlaubt wurde, hat man scheinbar sehr schnell einen Nachfolger
gefunden. Schon am morgigen Dienstag will der Vorstand Weltmeister Lothar Matthäus als neuen
Cheftrainer in Rostock vorstellen.
Click to continue reading...
Nachdem Hansa Rostock heute erst bekannt gab, dass Trainer Frank Pagelsdorf gemeinsam mit
Co-Trainer und Timo Lange beurlaubt wurde, hat man scheinbar sehr schnell einen Nachfolger
gefunden. Schon am morgigen Dienstag will der Vorstand Weltmeister Lothar Matthäus als neuen
Cheftrainer in Rostock vorstellen.
Click to continue reading...
Wir sind in der 2. Bundesliga. Saison 2004/2005. Der FC Saarbrücken wird von Trainerlegende
Horst Ehrmanntraut trainiert und spielt gegen 1860 München. Ehrmanntraut, der Mann der bei
Eintracht Frankfurt gerne die Spiele von einem weißen Plastikstuhl beobachtete, ist etwas
sauer über die Schiedsrichterleistung und gibt dies auch lauthals bekannt.
Click to continue reading...
West Germany in 1974. Bayern were busy winning their European Cup triple. The German national team
was busy winning the World Cup. Kraftwerk were busy minimalising their Autobahn record. The
Bundesliga Offside blogger Jan was busy weaving the threads of fate to get his parents to date and
multiply a bit quicker, fearing he could [.
Click to continue reading...
The DFB-Pokal Round of 16 draw took place on Sunday, and the UEFA Cup group stage draw just
concluded an hour ago. DFB-Pokal Round of 16 SC Freiburg - FSV Mainz 05 VfB Stuttgart - Bayern
Munich Bayer Leverkusen - Energie Cottbus Hamburger SV - 1860 Munich Karlsruher SC - SV Wehen
Wiesbaden VfL Wolfsburg - Hansa Rostock Carl Zeiss Jena - FC [.
Click to continue reading...
For a goal of the month quality goal by Jan Schlaudraff we need two ingredients: a = a chipped ball
over an onrushing goalkeeper. We'll take Hannover's second / Jan Schlaudraff's first goal against
Borussia Mönchengladbach from this weekend (5-1). b = a great little run from left to right,
dribbling past the entire back line of [.
Click to continue reading...
Bruce...the full gamut of human emotion
Premiership -- We got a welcome early opportunity to witness the Steve Bruce Incredulous Face on
MotD after Wigan's defeat at West Ham. He claimed that even Hammers' fans would admit that his side
had been superior and, for once, his assertion was justified.
Click to continue reading...
The new Bundesliga season is about to kick-off in a few minutes. There are the usual new teams, new
coaches and new players to be excited about. There is a lot of football and a few trophies to be
excited about. And finally, for the footie nerds, there are also some organisational changes to be
[...]
Click to continue reading...
