Never thought i would see hertha berlin again. Nice to see them back hope they have a better season than the season they got relegated from

Don't particularly like Hertha. When I go to see a game here I usually like to see Union in the 2nd Bundesliga. Great stadium, great fans, great atmosphere. I will though, go to the Olympic stadium in July when Real Madrid is in town to play against Hertha in a friendly. They payed 1,5 million for that match, so I hope for Hertha, that it's going to be a decent game.

In Euro's?

Hope for their sake Madrid take some of the stars over to play.

In Euros. Madrid always make a nice profit with their summer friendlies. But Hertha will make some profit as well I think. Sponsors like the Deutsche Bahn paid more than 50% of that sum. And lots of people will watch that match (it's already sold out I guess). So, 70.000 times 15...

Yep, it's a trend. Hajduk of Split in Croatia played the same amount to bring Barcelona for a summer friendly.

Michael ballack is officialy no longer a member of the NT. Löw announced it on thursday. Really weak move by him. Everyone knew right after the WC that he was only waiting for an opportunity to axe Ballack and now he did it, right after the season, just before his vacation, hoping no one would care. Now, Löw has done a great job as coach of our NT, but as a person I can't respect him. Without Ballack the 2000s would have been an even bigger catastrophe for Germany. he should have given him more credit. Löw offered Ballack the friendly against Brazil next fall as farewell. Ballack declined and rightfully so. A man being our most important player for the last decade playing his farewell at a game which was already scheduled last year? Come on...

Agreed, LaPalma. I really dislike coaches who think they are the total authority as long as they are in charge of a team. With such power comes a tons of responsibility, who to play, for how long, how to manage the egos and what not. Ballack may officially no longer be a member of the NT, but unofficially he is perhaps the unluckiest guy I have seen in world football right now.

He has had it hard for quite a while now, all the way from missing the 2002 World Cup final, to injuries at key moments, getting robbed in the CL. The guy sure had a burning desire to win a lot, and none of it came to be.

I agree, but to an instant.

Isn't Ballack also partially to blame? I think the team also had a renaissance with him not playing in the WC? Correct me if I'm wrong but Ballack is in many ways not an easy person and his effect on the team also isn't just positive. I think Löw is just following the general feel of the team. Also, the German strategy isn't suitable for a injury prone and shabby, slow Ballack. The renaissance happened - partially - because of a fast midfield. Ballack would just slow down things.

Also, there is this Looserkusen mentality. I don't buy into that cr@p, but some people are convinced that once Ballack is out for good, Germany will have better chances in wining actually a final or silverware. You gotta admit, the mans record when it comes to lost titles and finals is almost unbelievable.

I just think it's stupid to say you won't pick someone - like Capello's decision with Beckham. What if he scores 20 league goals and they win the league next season because of his performances, is he still not going to call him up? If he's not good enough, don't call him up. But to say you're never going to call someone up for no reason it just makes you seem biased against that person and a total ****.

So, what do you guys think of Heynckens, the new Bayern coach? I'm a bit ambivalent. I got fond of van Gaal. I did rate Heynckens but I consider this to be a step back - he's an old coach who not so long ago was their interim coach. I'm really not sure if he's up to the test, the last time he was coaching such a big club was at Real Madrid, and that was long ago...

To be honest, even though I rate Van Gaal too, he was far from the perfect coach for Bayern. Them seperating was inevitable. Heynckes is a good coach in my opinion, so I find it a good decision by Bayern.

Good coach, that's sure. But is he still top?

I think Heynckes is better than he ever was. He's much more calm, than in his early days. And although he might already be 65 he's still young at heart. Leverkusen played some great football last season and at Bayern with Robben, Ribery, Müller, Schweinsteiger AND Neuer I'm sure Heynckes won't have a problem reclaiming the top spot. And, also very important, he's a very good friends with Uli Hoeneß much unlike van Gaal. And being Ulis friend surely helps a lot.

I wonder how Dortmund will do. With Sahin they lost their most important player to Real Madrid. And what about all the young player like Götze, Großkreutz, Hummels etc. Will they be on top of their game after this very impressing season? For me Dortmund is the only club able to challenge Bayern next year, besides Leverkusen maybe. But then...it's Leverkusen.

Well, here's the thing for me:

1) When it comes to Bayern, they still have a very flawed defense. If they even sign Arturo Vidal, they'll have to bring in also another CB as well. Breno sucks, while van Buyten stopped being good long time ago. Badstuber isn't bad, but not good enough, same goes for Contento. They'd need someone from abroad, someone reliable.

Heynckes is a question mark for me, but I get where your optimism is coming from. It may result in something good, the whole story about his appointment. We'll see.

2) Dortmund is a big question mark too for me. They've got Kagawa back (who was instrumental for the first few weeks) and they've signed Perišić who's supposedly very good and talented, even if I watched him a few times and he was awful in every occasion. I think they need one more signing to make up for Sahin's departure. Who? I'm not sure.

3) I don't think Leverkusen can hold on to their previous results. I'd say Schalke or a reformed HSV, even Wolfsburg - all of them have more chances in becoming dangerous to Bayern. Also, I'm very keen to see Gladbach and Stuttgart trying to start a better season then the last one.

1) I agree with what you said. Most of it at least. Badstuber still lacks experience and I think he's got the talent to become a lot better, unlike Contento. Bayern wants to sign Cities Jerome Boateng and I think he'll be a valuable reinforcement for them to his versatility. He can play CB, WB and DM. Plus, Bayern now has Manuel Neuer and he already proofed that he#s the best possible solution to make up for a lawsy defense.

2) I think Ilkay Gündogan is meant to be Sahins replacement. He's been very good at Nürnberg last season and I'm quite sure he can still improve a lot. But he's not a deep lying playmaker like Sahin is, he's a bit more attack-minded. So I'm curious to see if he can live up to his task as new Pirlo-type midfielder.

3)Leverkusens coach Robin Dutt is a guy I really respect. What he did at Freiburg was exceptional. He's a good tactician who knows how to teach young players a thing or two. Schalke is, for me, the biggest question mark in the league. But I think that they won't be able to achieve anything more than a spot in the Euro league. They lost their iconic leader and best player Manuel Neuer. Their still in massive financial trouble and have to get rid of Magaths legacy 8all the crappy players he bought). Gladbach and Stuttgart will probably be mid-table teams next year, which should be a success for Gladbach. Wolfsburg needs a complete refit to fight for a CL-spot again. After the trouble with Diego in the seasons last week I doubt he'll ever play for them again. Or, I hope so.

Congratz to Fortuna Düsseldorf for winning the Derby-Cup vs Borussia Mönchengladbach and Alemannia Aachen. I didn't watch Düsseldorf vs Aachen, but I did watch Borussia vs Düsseldorf and Aachen. In both halfs (each game existed of one half) Borussia failed to score drewing 0-0. At least vs Aachen Gladbach won the PK shootout, though that game Aachen dominated ruining lots of goalscoring chances. Against Aachen Gladbach played with Stranzl and Dante in central defense, their starters, so not really good to see all those chances for Aachen.

Talking about Dante: most of his hair is gone! He had a bunch of hair on his head (Felliani-ish). Now it's just short and normal.

Stranzl is an excellent PK taker (both times very convincing). And which I already knew Heimeroth is good in saving PK's, Ter Stegen not so much unfortunality.

Bad display from Borussia.

Didn't Dante say he'll cut off his hair if Gladbach stays in Bundesliga?

He did.
Before:



After:

Jerome Boateng from Man City to Bayern Munich - £15m

Dortmund totally dominated yesterdayys opening match of the Budnesliga. Amazing display. It's as if they just play the great football of the last season. Only slightly better. 3-1 against Hamburg and it could easily have been 5-1. Kagawa, Großkreutz and especially 18yo Götze were unstoppable. I swear that this kid, Götze, will become a big star soon. Maybe the most talented German midfielder since Günter Netzer.
Uli Hoeneß was in Dortmund yesterday and he looked a bit scared

Do you fancy Dortmund to go and win it again?

Who replaced Sahin?

I usually prefer anyone else over Bayern. Don't particularly like Dortmund. They were bankrupt a few years ago and should have been relegated due to this, but they (Klopp as a coach and Zorc as manager) did a great job and built an amazing team and didn't spent big. That I respect.


Ilkay Gündogan. Very talented kid who's been playing a good season for Nürnberg before. Not as good as Sahin but certainly on his way up. Löw recently nominated him for a friendly against Brazil.

Schalke-Stuttgart should be interesting today. Two underachievers from last season which both want to be among the top 5 again. I'm going for Schalke on this. Stuttgarts coach Labbadia is an idiot and the most overrated person in german football.

Rightfully so.


Yes. In my opinion they are clear favourites again. After yesterday's game, I can't imagine them not becoming champs again. I can't recall to ever enjoyed a half as much as Dortmund's first half. It was simply amazing, especially Mario Götze. Superstar in the making. It's just sick how good he is for his age, not only yesterday, but also last season. Dortmund plays simply terrific football. It was beautiful. Götze goal with Lewandowski's backflip was wonderful.

Only Bayern has got the potential to avoid them becoming champs again. I don't see it happen, though expect more of them this season obviously. It should be a nice battle between the two. Dortmund are really impressive, just like last season when they proved to do that on a consistent basis which is key for winning the league.


I really don't see Stuttgart finishing top 5. Schalke should though, and I expect them to do so. Since they changed from coach they seem obvious better to me. They should be more consistent now; they have a good squad.

Well, I expect at least 2-3 teams to be near the leading duo - Bayern and BVB. But I'd say Bayern will win this championship. Dortmunds football might be amazing, but they still lack some experience. Only truly great teams can pull off a double. Let's see..


To paraphrase LaPalma, Rangnick is one of the most overrated coaches in Germany. I don't think he has made the needed changes. Their defensive line-up is more then problematic, and Rangnick is know as a coach who's start is good but ends up badly.

Fuchs is the only good player they signed. Beside that (and maybe Fährman), Metzelder, Jones, Raul, etc. all present certain problems that will pop-out during this season.


Hey, hey, hey! I respect Netzer very much, but Andi Möller and Thomas Häßler would be my pick!


Why do you think he's an idiot?

I must say, the last 2 years of Bundesliga are a bit different then in the past when it comes to coaches. Some real good young coaches appeared, but they seem to be a bit too serious, boring. I do miss clowns and weirdos like Neururer, Lorant or Mayer.

I think Dortmund plays better football than Bayern (obviously) and they have the more interesting players. And a more suited coach. Bayern is Heynckes first major job since he won the CL with Real in 1998. He was great at Leverkusen, but the environment at Bayern is a different one. In Leverkusen there's no media that questions your every decision, there's not a lot fans either and the management is very calm. At Bayern it's quite the opposite. I think it's the second hardest job after coaching Schalke. I dunno if Heynckes is up to the task.
Klopp on the other hand seems to become better every year. I didn't rate him a lot when he came to Dortmund. For me he was just a mediocre coach being most popular for his appearances on TV as "TV-coach of the nation". But what he did at Dortmund was big. Dortmunds championship last year is one of the very few in Budnesliga history which was won without spending big. Also Klopp and Zorc seem to be great duo. They can do it again, although Bayern won't give away this Meisterschaft as easily as the last one.



I think he's an expert in tactics. One of the best in the world. But he lacks quality when it comes to deal with players as human beings.


True. But I expect a lot from Julian Draxler. Talented kid. Could become the next Olaf Thon. Also, they didn't have any money to sign players.


I thought about Häßler too. He was very talented but his career didn't live up to the hype. That's why I didn't mention him, cause I hope Götze will live up to the hype.



I think Labbadia would be a great waiter in a nice Italian restaurant. But as coach he's a zero. He failed at Darmstadt in the third league and Fürth hired him as coach in the 2nd Budnesliga. He failed as well and Bayer Leverkusen, one of the top clubs in the Bundesliga hired him. Come on! he failed as well and Hamburg, an even bigger club hires him. He fails again and gets another chance at Stuttgart. Sorry, I don't get it...


Mayer wasn't a clown. I once had the honour to meet him and I think he's the most intelligent football coach in the world. Neururer...yeah, he's a clown, but I like him a lot. Miss guys like him, just like I miss players like Effenberg, Scholl or Basler. Todays players are mostly boring professionals.

Klopp is a brilliant coach. I have always rated him. He is mostly definitely key in Dortmund's success and amazing display. And I am confident he is capable of becoming champs with Dortmund again.

I know. Yet, he's pretty weird, isn't he?

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

Igor is his name!

Hitzlsperger signs for Wolfsburg on a free. Wish we went in for him, though he'd probably get more chance back home.

I'm not sure, kind of uncertain how Magath will find a place for him.

So Hamburg have conceeded 10 in 3 games, what's going on!? And didn't Moenchengladbach nearly go down, why the big change with how they're doing?

The big change lies in Lucien Favre's great tactical knowledge and defensive preparations. I remember how he made Hertha look defensively strong. Their attack always did a good job, Bobadilla, Reus, Hanke and Arango are after all not bad players.

As for HSV - they've got a mediocre coach and still a defensive chaos, too many changes and not little consistency. They still have a good or solid team so I wouldn't tip they'll go down that easily this season.

And well, Robbery did their job well, you can't always expect them to be indifferent.

cuz Frontzeck sucks

Leverkuson vs dortmund:2 red cards to both sides,gotze got one of the red cards,he didn't impress me much,and I won't judge since it was my first time seeing him.Shmilzer was awful,and augusto had some bright moments,one of them passing 1 player,then getting past subotic and getting a fouled very close to the box.leverkusen was the better team.

So, any comments regarding the Pipi Lahm book?

Just turned on the bayern match. They're down 2 to nothing away to Hannover. What's happenign here?

Penalty kick Hannover, red card Boateng... makes an away game tough, doesn't it?

Oh okay..thanks..I don't really now the Bayern lineup too much. I think I've just watched one Bayern game..and they were steamrollering the opposition...so lost interest in their team lineup.

And since I didn't know the lineup, I didn't know who was sent off.

Boateng's red looked a bit harsh from first glance.

Yesterday was Uwe Seelers 75th birthday.
Congratulations to one of the best players in the history of German football. The guy who turned down 1,2 million D-Mark offer from Inter (have in mind, that it was 1961), one of the youngest players to ever play for Germany (made his debut at 17) and one of the finest sportsmen ever.
Congratulations, "Uns Uwe"!

Nice. Appreciate the heads up, LaPalma!

Saw the Bayern game this weekend. What a stupid red card from Tymoshchuk in added time. Horrible tackle.

Just watched the Bayern-Dotmund game. Enjoyable stuff, even moreso because of the result. From what I've seen this season, Neuer has not impressed me at all. Very poor goal to conceed as well today, seemed to not realise where he was in the goal.

There was nothing he could about the goal. It was all Boateng's fault.

He could've saved it fairly easily in my opinion, there was no power on the shot and it was right next to him. It's clear he had his positioning wrong as he acted as if it was going wide. Boateng was at fault for the shot though, yeah.

How much have you seen of Neuer? He surely cannot be blamed for the goal against Dortmund.

We'll have to agree to disagree then. A keeper of his level should be getting to that (in my opinion he usually would but his positioning was way off). I'm not blaming him for the goal, the blame is on Boateng, but he should've saved something that close to him at his near post.

Yeah, but you can hardly say he's been bad this season. Mostly he has nothing to do, and then when he does get to work, he usually does it good.