2013-14 German Bundesliga Thread: Bayern Champs Again

[cgf]

Nah. It'll be

Neuer
Lahm - Javi - Dante
Schweini
Thiago - Kroos
Mueller/Robben - Gotze - Ribery
Mandzo/Mueller

[Maex]

Going to be an intriguing tandem

[cgf]

I'm really liking Gladbach heading into the season. Xhaka seems to have really settled based of his end of season form and preseason matches, likewise Dominguez's role continues to grow, he's still no Dante, but I rate that kid a lot, his passing is very nice, he moves well and doesn't make many mistakes. Those two could link their team in a way they were desperately lacking last year. If ter Stegen goes back into beast mode, and the additions of Kruse, Raffael and growth of Younes, provide the offense with much needed quality depth, I actually getting on board with picking them to get back to the CL quali spot over leverkusen, who desperately need to convince Eriksen to change his mind on them, or those european weeks and teams giving them far less space into which to counter will cost them.

[Foye]

Leverkusen needs another quality body in the offense. As of right now it will be difficult to go through English weeks without suffering a drop in performance.

[Javanar]

Despite Bayern and Dortmund reloading after strong seasons my vote for best offseason so far goes to Schalke 04.

Picking up Santana and Goretzka for less than 5 mil. € is highway robbery.
Szalai should be a really good backup for Huntelaar and Clemens a solid one for Farfan/Bastos.

Also got rid of a lot of deadweight on their roster (Metzelder, Jurado, Moritz, Afellay, Marica).

And of course resigned Draxler to a new contract which will net them 40 mil. € if he leaves.

As I watched in 2 Galatasaray matches, and a few BundesLiga matches in that period, Schalke had 2 major problems :

1) When Huntelaar was injured or out of form, their reserve players were not able to cover his absence

2) Their midfield was in trouble when the opposing team prefers to press in Schalke's half of the field. Their defensive midfielders ball playing skills were limited(especially Neustädter). There were no players to endure the opposing team's press other than Jermaine Jones. That is why Galatasaray were able to eliminate Schalke in CL second rounds, with a midfield of hard pressing players(Selcuk, Hamit,Melo)... Terim is a clever coach and took the advantage of this situation when Jones was missing in second game...

Can Szalai be the answer to their offensive problems? We will see. Surrounding a towering striker with quick players like Draxler, Farfan and Bastos looks like a good idea... But I am not sure about Szalai's finishing ability. A poacher would be a better back-up for Huntelaar, IMO...

I do not know Goretzka to be honest... If his ball control, passing, composure skills are good, he can solve the problem in die königsblauen's midfield.

[cgf]

During the gala matches Schalke was also in the midst of their post holtby-transfer tailspin when Hunter started getting banged up and hte whole team fell apart. And just as much as the injuries and Schalke-style collapse it was sloppiness that ultimately eliminated schalke, the attackers wasted too many chances that they should've finished, a problem solved by a healthy Hunter and actually capable backup like Szalai, and the midfield couldn't control the game with draxler playing much further forward than Holtby used to and not supporting Neustadter-Jones as much.

Schalke is more of a countering team because you are right, Neustadter and Jones isn't a great double pivot at knocking the ball around, but Goretzka is one of germany's most talented teenagers. And while Bochum played him a lot on the wing, because of his skill on the ball and physical gifts, he's going to replace Jones as the box to box guy over the course of the year, and a Neustadter-Goretzka duo is suddenly a lot more gifted on the ball as Neustadter is a smart reliable passer when the entire midfield passing responsibilities aren't dumped on him as they were after Holtby left, and Goretzka is a great talent.

I think that they are a good bet to take the third auto-qualifier spot behind Bayern and Dortmund with a bright future if they can continue to cut their budget and get out from under their debt while continuing to assemble amazing young talent like Draxler, Meyer, Avdijaj and the aforementioned Leon Goretzka.

[Foye]

Szalai is a solid backup striker. He s a bit inconsistent, though. Good day he'll give you 2 goals on 1 chance. Bad day he'll.miss 3 100% chances.

Goretzka is.probably a bit raw to immediately improve their creativity in big games bzt in 1 or 2 years he will be a fantastic.player baring injuries.

[Foye]

Neustädter is terrible.btw.

[cgf]

Neustadter was terrible for the second half of one season. At the start of the season he played great spreading the ball in a biscuits type role and did a great job of doing the same with Gladbach. He just needs a much more skilled partner than Jones and to get his confidence back. He suffered the most from losing Holtby in front of him, but with Goretzka pushing Jones and Draxler getting more experienced 10'ing with the pros, Neustadter can do a very good job.

[cgf]

Guess I'm ready to make my season predictions.

1. BVB
2. Bayern

3. Schalke
4. Gladbach

5. Hannover
6. Leverkusen
7. Stuttgart

8. Wolfsburg
9. Nurnberg
10. Hamburg
11. Hoppenheim
12. Freiburg
13. Hertha
14. Mainz
15. Braunschweig
16. Werder
17. Frankfurt
18. Augsburg

[cgf]

I can't tell if it's Hamburg, Werder or Wolfsburg who'll **** the bed and almost get themselves relegated this year the way Hoppenheim almost did last season. Somehow I think Wolfsburg keep it together this year so Werder or Hamburg are my guess. No clue who this years surprise club will be.

[Foye]

1. Bayern
2. BVB
3. Schalke
4. Gladbach
5. Leverkusen
6. Stuttgart
7. Wolfsburg
8. Frankfurt
9. Hamburg
10. Hannover
11. Berlin
12. Werder
13. Mainz
14. Freiburg
15. Nurnberg
16. Hoppenheim
17. Augsburg
18. Braunschweig

I'm really having trouble to predict who is going into relegation mode. Could be anyone from 11 till 16.

I think Wolfsburg will have a decent season. Although, I expected more activity from them on the transfer market. If they want to play for Europe they could use a quality striker and a defensive midfielder.

They are probably willing to give flop Bas Dost another chance, though. Were rumored to be after Luiz Gustavo this week. That would fit very well.

[ATL Boy]

1) BVB
2) Bayern
3) Schalke
4) Leverkusen
5) Gladbach
6) Stuttgart
7) Hannover
8) Wolfsburg
9) Hamburg
10) Werder
11) Frankfurt
12) Hoffenheim
13) Berlin
14) Mainz
15) Freidburg
16) Nurnberg
17) Braunschweig
18) Augsburg

slight bias at the top of the table for me because I'm a Borussia supporter. It should be a fun season in the Bundesliga this season.

[Foye]

I could see Hannover being a darkhorse to participate in the relegation race.
Don't know why you guys rate them so highly.

Last season they were one of the worst Bundesliga defenses and tbh I think they are one of the few teams that have gotten worse this offseason.
With Rausch, da Silva Pinto and Abdellaoue they lost three key guys. Also Djourou doesn't come back either.

Their new transfers are far from sure things.
Bittencourt is a good talent but I don't know if he is able to take starting XI load yet.
Salif Sane I don't know much about him.
Prib...well he was a relatively solid player on the worst team last year.

The way I see it...there is no way they come even close to the EL spots.
And if they start out bad (which is likely considering how many injuries they currently have) they may find themselves in the race against relegation sooner than later.

[Maex]

1. Bayern
2. BVB

3. Leverkusen
4. Schalke

5. Gladbach
6. Wolfsburg
7. Hamburg

8. Stuttgart
9. Frankfurt
10. Hannover
11. Freiburg
12. Werder
13. Mainz
14. Hoffenheim
15. Augsburg

16. Nürnberg

17. Berlin
18. Braunschweig

Really hard to predict. I do think that Bayern will win it and Dortmund will be second. Schalke did some great work at the transfer market, but it is one season to early to pan out. So I think Leverkusen will be at place three.

The four of Augsburg, Berlin, Braunschweig and Berlin will battle for the relegation spot, with Augsburg having a bit of an advantage, because they did really well in the second half of the season.

But the rest is just a weird guess. There are that many teams on a comparable level. And a lot of youngster coming in the teams as well.

[cgf]

I think we'll see a similar relegation as this season where one team just gets destroyed all season long, my guess being Augsburg, one team is around the relegation zone all season and slips down late, I hope it's not Braunschweig but it's hard not to pick them for one of the auto-relegation spots, and one of the "bigger" clubs that **** the bed getting the playoff spot like Hoppenheim did, I'm really feeling Werder for that spot although Hamburg have had another craptastic summer as well.

EDIT: As for Hannover, the defense is not very talented, but I also think they underachieved last year. Their strikers are very good even without Moa, and I really rate the Stindl, Bittencourt and Hustzi trio which would let Ya Konan and Schlaudraf play upfront more. If Stindl and Hustzi stay healthy they'll be a lot more dangerous next season and Bittencourt is a kid I saw a lot of with Cottbus and it was obvious that he would be a quality BuLi attacker in time, and Hannover is a good opportunity for him as there's talented players to work with. I do like the Prib pickup as well, he and Sararer where the two keys to Fuerth's promotion and the two I thought most certain to establish themselves as quality 1st league regulars. He'll fit in nicely next to Stindl whenever Andreasen and Schmiedebach are injured, once he beats out Hoffmann and is a solid replacement for Pinto, who I do agree is a big loss.

That Defense is a big concern though, but Slomka is a very good coach and that home-strength is a great thing to be able to rely on. That said I don't rate Rausch very much so IMO losing him and getting a full season of Pocognoli is an upgrade, and Sakai should be better adjusted to fill in for Dolo. So their FBs are actually looking a lot better. If one of the kids can step up in the middle, or Slomka shields his CBs well, the talent in midfield and up front is absolutely European caliber.

[cgf]

I'm curious to see how Der Club does this year, Ginczek and Drmic are good young strikers to bring in for a club of their level. Kiyotake, Esswein, Mendler and co could have some nice targets to feed.

[Foye]

I'm curious to see how Der Club does this year, Ginczek and Drmic are good young strikers to bring in for a club of their level. Kiyotake, Esswein, Mendler and co could have some nice targets to feed.

Every year I consider them a relegation candidate but they always come up better than I thought.

[cgf]

I'm curious to see how Der Club does this year, Ginczek and Drmic are good young strikers to bring in for a club of their level. Kiyotake, Esswein, Mendler and co could have some nice targets to feed.

Every year I consider them a relegation candidate but they always come up better than I thought.

Yeah and that's what I expect again, but I think this time they may have the talent to get in the top half of the table if say both Werder and Hamburg implode.

[Foye]

I'm curious to see how Der Club does this year, Ginczek and Drmic are good young strikers to bring in for a club of their level. Kiyotake, Esswein, Mendler and co could have some nice targets to feed.

Every year I consider them a relegation candidate but they always come up better than I thought.

Yeah and that's what I expect again, but I think this time they may have the talent to get in the top half of the table if say both Werder and Hamburg implode.

Hamburg will surely implode if they sell Rudnevs, too. Then they would've sold two of three players that are a threat to score a goal with only vdV left.

I'm watching this Telekom Cup now...and their defense is looking like a joke, too, so far.
1-0 after 12 minutes...it's a corner...Pizarro gets 1st shot on Drobny from around 5m, Drobny keeps it but can't hold, Pizarro gets 2nd shot on Drobny from around 3m, Drobny keeps it but can't hold, Boateng gets another shot on goal and scores.
Like what the f*ck was up with their defense? Ok it's preseason but there is no way an opposing team can get 3 shots on goal in the penalty area after a corner ever.