Bundesbag - Most popular for 2008
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When Tim Borowski went to bed last Friday, he may have dreamed about scoring two goals for Bayern
against his old team Werder Bremen the following day. If so, his dream did indeed come true as he
scored a second half brace at the Allianz Arena. As long as we finish the story there, we can all
rest assured that occasionally people's dreams do become reality and learn the true meaning of the
Oktoberfest.
You never quite know how a returning hero will be greeted in football. I remember when Ian Wright
was sold from Palace to Arsenal he got a right earful from the fans. He replied by
scoring the goals that got The Eagles relegated and celebrated as though he'd won the World
Cup.
Other players have a much better relationship with supporters of their old clubs.
There's a line from the Simpsons when Principal Skinner and Groundskeeper Willie meet up after the
summer holidays. Skinner asks Willie how his summer went to which he replies "I made millions
in Software and blew it all on the track". Every time I think of Dietmar Hopp, I think of that
line.
Hopp is the ex-footballer and software billionaire owner who bought TSG Hoffenheim and took them
from non-league obscurity to the Bundesliga in a few years.
Historians have argued for centuries the exact date Miroslav Klose last scored a goal. It's been
that long. The big man himself was starting to feel the pressure during the game against Berlin
last Sunday. After missing another chance, he lost his cool and took a swing at the goal post.
Fortunately for Klose he missed.
According to his Wikipedia page, Hertha Berlin's Gojko Kacar is from a family of Olympian boxers.
There was a Kasar at the Moscow and Montreal games. Gojko himself played for the Serbian national
team earlier in the year in Beijing. Kacar also enjoys the distinction of being Hertha's top scorer
this season with three goals - not bad for a 21-year-old defensive midfielder.
Bundesliga fixtures announced
No sooner have the Mannschaft returned to a heroes welcome (the Germans have acquired a taste for
gallantry - Good PR) but the Bundesliga have published their fixtures for the season. What better
way, then, for the Bundesbag to introduce itself to Some People Are On The Pitch than with a look
ahead to the first weekend of the season?
A scrap has been developing in Germany between the Government and the Bundesliga over a new TV deal
which has led to a national institution coming under threat.
The start of the 2009/10 season could be an important time for the Bundesliga. The current TV deal
finishes at the end of this season and the league's representatives, headed up by Leo Kirch of all
people, are looking to line up a multi-billion euro deal with pay-TV giants Premiere for exclusive
coverage of the league.
Of all the tedious long running English gags about Germany, surely the second most tedious is the
Hoff (we don't mention the first). There's something about the power ballad crooning, robot car
driving recovering alcoholic 80's refugee that tickles the collective funny bone. And they say our
humour is sophisticated.
It is now part of Some People Are On The Pitch.
"F**k off Hoffenheim!" said Tobias as he swayed against the rhythm of the ICE train to
Dortmund, his equilibrium hindered by an excess of alcohol. There were six of us standing in the
train bar minding our own business when Sp3ktor went to order some beers and "befriended"
Tobias, a Stuttgart fan on his way to the same game as we were.
Borussia Monchengladbach coach Jos Luhukay was under some severe pressure prior to the big derby
game against Koln. The two teams met for the first time this season after having been promoted
together last season. Luhakay may have eyed this fixture as a must win. The board definitely did
and more. The result finished 2-1 to Koln and resulted in the 'Gladbach board handing the man who
got them promoted in one season his cards.
They say that after ten games a league table starts to take shape. If that's true then Hoffenheim
are due to be mentioned in the opening paragraphs of many a Bundesbag throughout the rest of the
season. Last Sunday was The Big One as they traveled north to Hamburg for a first versus second
clash. Not only did they win but they ran away with the game, leaving dust in the leaders faces.
To the best of my knowledge, the Baden Derby between Hoffenheim and Karlsruhe has never taken place
before. It certainly hasn't happened in the Bundesliga. Whether it endures depends chiefly on a
couple of things: can Karlsruhe keep swimming against the Bundesliga tide and stay in the division
over the long term and is Dietmar Hopp about to announce that all has cash was tied up in Hedge
Funds and has lost the lot after taking a misplaced punt on Volkswagen going down the tubes.
Wolfburg's Brazilian attacker Grafite is a fine player. Strong, good first touch, very fast, knows
where the back of the net is. Had he been five years younger he may have had hungry, jealous eyes
watching him from across the water in England. As it is, he's 29 and if he's going anywhere after
the Wolves, its Bayern.
It's almost impossible not to feel a frisson of nostalgia when 'Gladbach and Bayern play each
other. In the 1970's these two giants of the game fought like titans for Bundesliga supremacy.
Think of those days and you think of Franz Beckenbauer and Gunter Netzer. These days its Bayern
with the upper hand.
I suppose the writing had been on the wall for Armin Vey for some time. The Stuttgart boss' last
day Bundesliga title triumph two years ago was followed by an indifferent league season and an
atrocious Champions League campaign. This season has simply not been good enough given the players
at his disposal.
There are fewer finer sights in football than Werder Bremen in full flow. One day, they'll have a
decent start to the season and the rest of Europe will see what they can really do in the Champions
League as they outscore their opposition until they hit some tedious brick wall of doom like
Chelsea or Inter or Real.
In the end it was route one. A lump up the field by Michael Rensing, Luca Toni's easily won header,
a rare moment of sloppiness in the Hoffenheim defence gifting the ball back to the Italian who
gratefully put the ball through the keeper and into the net. It was the 92nd minute and Bayern had
completed their comeback to deny Hoffenheim the point they thoroughly deserved.
Bayern don't like it up 'em, do they? The build-up to last Friday's Big One against Hoffenheim was
all about snide remarks between the two camps. The game itself was a cracker and even prompted and
unprecedented Bundesbag match report in the early hours of Saturday morning.
However, the sniping has continued after the game which suggests that the Hoff have really riled
the champs.
The unofficial Autumn Championship may not be the most prestigious title in world football.
However, it is Hoffenheim's title and no one else's. Mind you they clinched it in a pretty
unconvincing way with a 1-1 draw against Schalke who were down to nine men.
The Bundesbag was bold enough to predict that the Hoff would come unstuck in this fixture and was
proved right in a way (although in a more accurate way I was wrong, but never mind).
