2024-25 German Bundesliga Thread

[Baphomet]

Harry Kane won the title!

Really happy for him. I'm sure some will downplay it because it's Bayern winning the Bundesliga title and they're expected to do that every season, but at the very least, I hope people will evaluate him more fairly now without the trophy monkey on his back. He's one of the finest strikers we've ever seen.

[The_Brecht]

Kompany!

[-Luke-]

Harry Kane won the title!

Really happy for him. I'm sure some will downplay it because it's Bayern winning the Bundesliga title and they're expected to do that every season, but at the very least, I hope people will evaluate him more fairly now without the trophy monkey on his back. He's one of the finest strikers we've ever seen.

The two years that Kane has now played for Bayern are also the two years in which Bayern have had a real opponent in the Bundesliga (compared to mostly cakewalks before). So it's nothing to sneeze at. Leverkusen literally lost two matches in the last 66 Bundesliga matches.

Kane also seems like a likeable guy off the court, and I don't say that about many Bayern players, so I'm also happy for him. The whole 'no title' story was also a bit exaggerated because Tottenham wasn't Manchester City where you expect trophies every single year. Like foye said in another thread, it would be quite a story if Tottenhams won the Europa League in the same season Kane wins his first title. The second part is now a certainty.

[Baphomet]

Harry Kane won the title!

Really happy for him. I'm sure some will downplay it because it's Bayern winning the Bundesliga title and they're expected to do that every season, but at the very least, I hope people will evaluate him more fairly now without the trophy monkey on his back. He's one of the finest strikers we've ever seen.

The two years that Kane has now played for Bayern are also the two years in which Bayern have had a real opponent in the Bundesliga (compared to mostly cakewalks before). So it's nothing to sneeze at. Leverkusen literally lost two matches in the last 66 Bundesliga matches.

Kane also seems like a likeable guy off the court, and I don't say that about many Bayern players, so I'm also happy for him. The whole 'no title' story was also a bit exaggerated because Tottenham wasn't Manchester City where you expect trophies every single year. Like foye said in another thread, it would be quite a story if Tottenhams won the Europa League in the same season Kane wins his first title. The second part is now a certainty.

Yes, very valid point about Leverkusen's rise. It's nice to see a more competitive league, as the Bundesliga is my favourite to watch besides the PL. And to be honest, the PL has been total rubbish this season so I've found myself watching a lot more football from other European leagues.

Regarding Spurs, this team is so historically awful that I'm not convinced we will get to the final despite being two goals up against Bodo. You're right though, it would be quite a cool symbolic thing to see both Kane and Spurs freed from the trophy curse within a few weeks of one another. The thing is with Kane, some Spurs fans are still feeling a touch bitter about his departure. Personally I think he gave everything for the club. I may have felt differently if he'd gone to another PL club, but I think moving to Bayern was a very respectful and considerate move on his part, so I wish him nothing but the best.

Also, shoutout to Big Eric Dier and Michael Olise too, the latter is one of my favourite players in world football at the moment. Nice to see Thomas Muller leaving Bayern on a high as well, though to be fair most of his football career has been highs.

[-Luke-]

Xabi Alonso confirms that he leaves Leverkusen. Confirmation of a move to Real Madrid will probably only come after the Primera Division season is over.

[-Luke-]

Complete joke that we didn't win against Leipzig. Multiple scenes where it was harder not to score than to score (Leipzig also had some good chances towards the end. Both goalkeepers had a top game. But we should have been up 3-0 when Leipzig woke up). Very good season, never had anything to do with relegation and dreamed of Europe right to the end. But we could have achieved more.

Foye's Mainz still strong. Hope you finish sixth over Leipzig.

[Foye]

Complete joke that we didn't win against Leipzig. Multiple scenes where it was harder not to score than to score (Leipzig also had some good chances towards the end. Both goalkeepers had a top game. But we should have been up 3-0 when Leipzig woke up). Very good season, never had anything to do with relegation and dreamed of Europe right to the end. But we could have achieved more.

Foye's Mainz still strong. Hope you finish sixth over Leipzig.

We completely bottled it in the games before this Bochum game.
Was a historic chance to reach the CL.

I am still shaking my head about all those wasted games since the NT break.

[-Luke-]

Complete joke that we didn't win against Leipzig. Multiple scenes where it was harder not to score than to score (Leipzig also had some good chances towards the end. Both goalkeepers had a top game. But we should have been up 3-0 when Leipzig woke up). Very good season, never had anything to do with relegation and dreamed of Europe right to the end. But we could have achieved more.

Foye's Mainz still strong. Hope you finish sixth over Leipzig.

We completely bottled it in the games before this Bochum game.
Was a historic chance to reach the CL.

I am still shaking my head about all those wasted games since the NT break.

Yeah, same here. Three draws in the last three games and we should have gotten 7 or 9 points out of it. But I guess I shouldn't be too annoyed about it. It's four years since we were relegated with very difficult financial circumstances. After relegation I thought 3rd division might be more likely than Bundesliga again if we don't get back after the first season. So dreaming of Europe until 33rd day of the season in 2025 is pretty good considering everything.

[Foye]

Complete joke that we didn't win against Leipzig. Multiple scenes where it was harder not to score than to score (Leipzig also had some good chances towards the end. Both goalkeepers had a top game. But we should have been up 3-0 when Leipzig woke up). Very good season, never had anything to do with relegation and dreamed of Europe right to the end. But we could have achieved more.

Foye's Mainz still strong. Hope you finish sixth over Leipzig.

We completely bottled it in the games before this Bochum game.
Was a historic chance to reach the CL.

I am still shaking my head about all those wasted games since the NT break.

Yeah, same here. Three draws in the last three games and we should have gotten 7 or 9 points out of it. But I guess I shouldn't be too annoyed about it. It's four years since we were relegated with very difficult financial circumstances. After relegation I thought 3rd division might be more likely than Bundesliga again if we don't get back after the first season. So dreaming of Europe until 33rd day of the season in 2025 is pretty good considering everything.

Can you guys lose another time by 5 or 6 goals?
I want to see Hoffenheim in the relegation spots instead of Heidenheim.

Although, Bayern is going to play the party pooper on that one anyway given that half their squad was spending time in Ibiza.

As far as the Conference League - I don't really care about this competition.
I think the downside of this competition is bigger than the upside. You risk more injuries to key players, you don't get much money for qualifiying to the group stages, you are risking to play against relegation because you are traveling to Island, Finland, Norway, Armenia or Kasachstan on Thursdays.

Mainz doesn't have the biggest fanbase or stadium. 33k stadium. You can expect it to be filled 70-75% for midweek games against non-household name clubs. Champions League or Europa League would've been dope for Mainz. Conference League is basically not worth it.

As far as transfers for the offseason we need to get some upgrade for the left side. Both Lee and Mwene are old as hell. Getting some young talent to challenge them for the starting spot is a must have. Buying both Zehnter and Ansah from Paderborn would be a perfect fit.

Caci, Burkardt and Amiri are most likely to leave and would hurt to lose.

Weiper could take Burkardts spot. I am convinced he is an even better talent than Burkardt and will pulverize Burkardts goal scoring record in a couple years.
Amiri we should better hold onto. First time in years that we had something like a creative midfield.
Losing Caci would hurt but finding a decent right back is usually not the most challenging position to fill.

[Foye]

Burkardt not nominated for the NT final four.

He has scored as many goals in the past three games as Füllkrug (who is nominated) has scored all season.
Lol.

[-Luke-]

Sigh, three years of continuity at the coaching position after years of incompetence, all over.

[Foye]

Sigh, three years of continuity at the coaching position after years of incompetence, all over.

Well, Werner indeed seemed to be the most competent Werder coach in a long time. Kohfeldt and Anfang were absolutely unlikeable.

But with Horst Steffen most likely taking the job you might be in the pole position to buy Fisnik Asllani from Hoffenheim.
I'd like to see Asllani in Mainz as a Burkardt replacement in case he leaves but it seems that we are going to buy Rayan Philippe from Braunschweig.

I watched Philippe in both of Braunschweigs relegation games and came away utterly unimpressed.
He is very fast but that's about it. Can't imagine he will be much more than a guy you can throw in to counter attack when you are up already looking to finish the game. We already have that player on the roster in Sieb.
The commentators kept praising him all game long, though, because it was the only player they knew on both teams.

My preferred signings for Mainz this offseason are:
- Aaron Zehnter (LB - Paderborn)
- Ilyas Ansah (LW - Paderborn)
- Kota Takai (CB - Kawasaki)
- Fisnik Asllani (CF - Elversberg) - if Burkardt leaves
- Kodai Sano (CM - Nijmegen) - if Amiri leaves

I bet we are not getting even one of those. Our signings in the winter window were dreadful.
A combined 100 minutes for Maloney and Nordin. I don't understand why we keep buying those middle aged players with limited potential. A receipt for staying in the treadmill of fighting against relegation.

[-Luke-]

@Foye:
Werner was the best coach we had in 15 years, including the last 3-4 years from Schaaf (and I love Thomas Schaaf). Pretty insane to fire that coach immediately while we took two years to fire Kohfeldt, who was by far the worst Werder coach I've ever seen (and I've seen de Mos, Dixie Dörner, Magath, Nouri, Dutt, Skripnik).

One thing I criticize Werner heavily for, though. A lot of already established players improved under him from solid to good. But he never gave youth much of a chance, which is pretty insane for a club like Werder. I think Horst Steffen is definitely an improvement in that area. Whether he's a better coach in general, we'll see.

From what I've seen in the relegation matched I agree with you about Philippe. Didn't impress me either.

[Foye]

@Foye:
Werner was the best coach we had in 15 years, including the last 3-4 years from Schaaf (and I love Thomas Schaaf). Pretty insane to fire that coach immediately while we took two years to fire Kohfeldt, who was by far the worst Werder coach I've ever seen (and I've seen de Mos, Dixie Dörner, Magath, Nouri, Dutt, Skripnik).

One thing I criticize Werner heavily for, though. A lot of already established players improved under him from solid to good. But he never gave youth much of a chance, which is pretty insane for a club like Werder. I think Horst Steffen is definitely an improvement in that area. Whether he's a better coach in general, we'll see.

From what I've seen in the relegation matched I agree with you about Philippe. Didn't impress me either.

Here is my take about it:
Werner isnt the only coach that has this problem of including youth players.
To a certain extent this also applies to Mainz - even though we are among the league leaders in home grown players minutes.
Most of the coaches are so focused on short-term individual success that they forget the big picture and developing the young guys and will choose the „known player“ over giving someone else a chance even if they know the „known player“ hasnt performed in a while.

And football is a lot about hierarchy. Management buys expensive players in the offseason and to a certain extent the coaches are then forced to use them even if they underperform. If you spend millions on one player it is tough to admit a youth academy player may be better because that means you are most likely taking a large financial loss on the expensive player. So a lot of coaches keep using the expensive player for much longer than they should be.

For example at the beginning of the season we kept using Paul Nebel out of position because we had bought other offensive players even though Nebel was clearly the best player in training camp.

The mistake was later corrected and Nebel is now a clear starter but if he wasn‘t decisively better than the new purchases Hong and Sieb he likely would still be used out of position.

[Foye]

Bahahhahaha we are paying 12 mil. for freaking Hollerbach. The player with the 2nd most turnovers in the league and a 65% passing accuracy.
This club is so lost.