Dortmund demonstrate desire in title clinching victory!

What a week for all things Deutsch. This Saturday saw Dortmund finally clinch the Bundesliga crown. Despite seeing Dortmunds prior imperious points tally crumble to a more modest cleveage, victory was still comfortably cemented this weeked, with Leverkusens late charge crumbling quicker than a digestive in a hot beverage against Cologne. When any Bundesliga title race reaches it's climax, so do I, and at times like this, I feel it's easier to let my boy Wiz deliver my words of congratulations to the champions.

This weeks results.

FC Kaiserslauten 2-0 St Pauli.

Werder Bremen 0-1 Wolfsburg (Silvestre was again awful)            

Dortmund 2-0 FC  Nuremberg

FC Koln 2-0 Leverkusen

 Hamburg 0-2 SC Freiburg

Hannover 0-1 Monchengladbach

FSV Mainz 3-0 Frankfurt

Hoffenheim 1-2 Stuttgart

Bayern Munich 4-1 Schalke

This week's post will see us breifly analyse Munich's game against Schalke.

On a day at the Allianz arena which saw the majority of Bayern fans holding banners (call it disrespectful or not) saying "Wilkommen (Manuel) Neuer" it was clear that already the thoughts are of next season for Bayern, despite their crucial remaning task this year of securing the third and final champions league posistion. With Bayern Munich in the run up to the game declaring publically that Neuer was their player, and with Neuer publically stating that Munich is his certain destination this summer, many will be quick to attribute this heavy defeat assymetrically towards the young German keeper. This is an unfair assesment however, and it was clear as soon as Arjen Robben poked home a death finish on the 6th minute that this was an apathetic and lethargic Shalke side in general following their essentiall elimination against Manchester Utd in Gelsenkirchen.  Thomas Muller put in a great performance for Bayern and again showed his fantastic technique with two goals (13th and 84th) I think both with his weaker left foot. On the 19th Minute Muller flicked a header over Neuer with Mario Gomez tucking the ball away to further his tally for the season, in which he will most likely win the golden boot, an unthinkable thought at this point last season for the former Stuttgart frontman. This was a day where frustration was clear to see on Neuers face. Despite this, the Bayern defence he will most likely be behind next season will need a radical overhaul if we are not to see similiar reactions from Neuer next season. I know that there will be a new look backline for Bayern next season with Dutch starlet Gregory Van der wiel, and even English full backs such as Glen Johnson and Leighton Bained being rumoured targets for Bayern. Despite these defensive cracks, as we saw against Leverkusen, and again on Saturday against Schalke, Bayerns forward line is over flowing with talent and irrelevant of their defence they are more than capable of demolishing most Bundesliga outfits.

Player profile: Marko Marin. Number 10. Posistion, Winger/creative midfielder.

Marko Marin is a Bosnian born German footballer, who sports his trade for my beloved Werder Bremen. In a similiar mould to Mark Albrighton of Aston Villa, Marin is an energetic winger who often cuts inside from either flank and often also takes free kicks. While not possesing the tekkers of former team mate Ozil, or former Werder wizard Diego, Marins pace and intelligence on the ball mean he is certainly the most giften player in Bremens current crop. For me personally however it's what Marin represents as a commodity more than a player that really depresses me about Werders future. Marin's story mirrors his creative predecessors such as Ozil or Diego, where on the verge of greatness for Bremen, they were unfortunately sold to "bigger" european teams. In this same vein, it has been widely speculated that my boy Marko could be leaving the Werserstadion this summer, yet I feel on the condition of Bremens current squad he will be much relieved. With Ozil last season, Bremen were able to achieve 3rd place in the Bundesliga and secure Champions league football. This season Bremen have been plagued with Injuries to key players such as Naldo, and forced to sell (then) top goal scorer Hugo Almedia to Besiktas in January for a small fee due to his expiring contract. All of this has left Bremen at times looking like they might have fallen into the relegation/playoff spot, with their champions league campaign at the start of the season remaining a forgotten luxury.

While Bremen have previously proved astute in the transfer market when rescuing Diego from Porto, or Ozil from Schalke and Marin from Gladbach, Bremen have of late failed to secure that diamond in the rough. At the start of the season it was thought this could be FC Twente's Marko Arnautovic (signed in the summer quite a big fee), yet while this season has been more impressive than his short loan stint at Inter, in terms of goals he is still carrying little of the burden felt by key Bremen talisman Claudio Pizzaro. Ignoring that slight digression, I believe Marko Marin will indeed prove to be a crucial player (if he stays-unlikely) for Werder Bremen and the German National team, despite his unsuccessful World cup campaign and faltering season in a stagnating Bremen side.

Playing us out this week is a video of my favourite Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Alexander Meier.

auf wiedersehen!

Let us begin a journey

The date is Monday the 25th of April 2011, I'm facing the most important few months of my life, with university finals looming only weeks away. Despite this stress, I feel there has been no better time to begin my life's mission as an Englishman. That mission being the proselytizing of all things German football. This mission came to me many moons ago, when I found out the dirty secret of my own domestic football culture. While most of today's football fans have a relatively complete knowledge of todays game, I'm sure if I asked many of my mates to name Freiburg's leading goalscorer in the Bundesliga this season I would meet a room of silence. This blog is an attempt to feel this cultural vacuum, the empty dialogical space that should be filled with debate on Europe's most competitive football league. Despite this, I know for certain that what I'm about to undertake is not purely an illumination for todays common football fan, but also for myself. While many find it weird that I often refer to Werder Bremen Captain Torsten Frings as if he were a religious deity, I too accept that the Bundesliga remains an enigma for me also, shrouded in a murkey haze. My ambition then is not purely to use this blog to attack Mikel Silvestre as a footballer, or heap praise upon Hoffenheim, but to curtail the myth that the Bundesliga lacks the attraction of Europes top leagues in la liga and the Premiership and hopefully convey what this glorious division has to offer. With Season tickets limited and prices lowered, allowing average day fans to get match day tickets, its clear that we are witnessing a resurgence in the German game. Combined with this tickets come with in bulit train tickets, and on match day your allowed to drink beer and sing! Is this the future template for football, are we going to see children in Africa walking around with FC Kaiserslauten jerseys? I doubt it. But as a match day framework and with its clear success, will the German game soon challenge La liga and the Premiership for status, especially with Germany's increased status in international football of late (a new generation an all that shit)


Here are my top three Bundes classics.(match day songs) 
1.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAxJgtsliUo&playnext=1&list=PLEF2C2CA45F7EA708
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK_bRU_FrHI
3.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVKjwfFUHrI&feature=related



This weekends results. 
Bayern Leverkusen {2-1} 1899 Hoffenheim
Frankfurt {1-1} Munich
Schalke {0-1} FC Kaiserslauten
FC St. Pauli {1-3} Werder Bremen 
Stuttgart {3-0} Hamburg
Borussia Monchengladbach {1-0} Borussia Dortmund 
Woflsburg {4-1} Koln
FC Nuremberg {0-0} FC Mainz. 

Wolfsburg triumph in a rare victory that salvages survival hope. 


As you are aware, to cover every match in detail is unachievable given my current if failing academic calender. Given this, I will focus each week on what I believe to be perhaps the most important game of the week. This week we travel to former club manager and international umbrella stand, Steve McClaren's club Wolfsburg, and ask the question; how can a team that only won the title in 2009, be staring relegation in the face. Is this purely testament to Steve McClaren's managerial ability, the anarchic nature of the league, or like Gazza with a fishing rod and a chicken sandwich, are we witnessing a more internal (club) breakdown. In sum, from what I understand, McClaren never held the dressing room, or the board room, but despite this and his decision to sell Dzeko most argue that like all failing clubs this is a mixture of on and off field instability. Off the field is always a difficult point to analyse so we must look on the field. Arguably, Wolfsburg haven't invested wisely, or at least their signings haven't delivered. The two key culprits being Diego (15 million euro's), who formerly bossed the Bundesliga in his stint at Werder bremen <3, and simon Kjaer (I think it was about 9 million euro's), who, though has clear quality has failed to offer the security in defense that was expected. As well as this, key arrivals were brought in at January in former Leverkusen ace Patrick Helmes and Stoke magician Tuncay, with both arrivals seemingly still adjusting to the rough currents of Wolfsburg. With the convincing victory over Cologne however, Wolfsburg now need to push on in their next crunch game against my struggling team Werder Bremen who remarkably impressed in their match on saturday against St Pauli. With only three games left of the season, Wolfsburg will need to secure at least 6 points in order to keep their first division status. In next weeks post I will be analyzing the spirited Werder Bremen winger, Marko Marin.