First half done

The christmas is gone and the games are on pause. It's still hectic among the teams and especially inside the tranfer market. Especially Schalke bought an interesting player, Obasi from Hoffenheim. People might think why do they need one more striker, especially when Obasi has only scored three goals this season. After looking at his stats I can say that I understand why he was bought, but I'm quite sure he won't be scoring too many goals. He might prove useful against tougher teams as he is quite strong and wins a lot of his challenges. I'm quite confident that he won't be threatening Pukki's game time as he is a totally different kind of a player. I think that Schalke wants to secure their offensive play and keep their material broad, in case someone else than Farfan gets injured.

Now to the breaking news. It seems another Finnish player is joining a Bundesliga team. Alexander Ring, who has lived in Germany as a youngster is almost certain to transfer to Borussia Mönchengladbach. As I've seen him play and develop this season I can say that if not immediately next season he is going to be an important player and hopefully play a big role in Mönchengladbach's team. Ring is young but exceptionally mature as a player. Of course he makes mistakes, but his attitude on the field is superb. He just doesn't give up and plays every situation until the end. He is the most promising player of Finnish football and together with Pukki they make a great duo that can bring the Finnish national team a long way. Ring has also a great shot and decent passing, so if he will join the Mönchengladbach squad he will be also of use -already this season.

Enough of the Finnish players for now and lets concentrate on the league. The last round proved crucial for a few teams. I think you can say that Leverkusen and Werder Bremen lost their chances to the trophy because of their losses on the last round. Both teams were unable to score any goals. Leverkusen lost to Nürnberg which is one of the worst teams in the league and with 11 points to the top Leverkusen has no chance of reaching Bayern anymore. Werder proved that it just isn't powerful enough to compete with the strong tems in the league. Sure Pizarro can score against the teams in the end of the table but against Schalke he was not even a slight dangerous. So the table shows that there are four teams that still reach for the title, Bayern being the favorite of course in the second half of the season. There are still a lot of matches to be played and as the last matches by the bavarians showed it is not obvious that they will win. Especially the games against Schalke, Mönchengladbach and Dortmund will be crucial when the champion will be decided. Of course the teams in places two, three and four are playing also against each other which all play a big role too. If I would have to put my money on one team I would definately say that Bayern will win the Bundesliga. But I think Dortmund has improved a lot since the start of the league and is my next choice for the first place. Here you can make your own calculations and predict who'll win: http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/spieltag/1-bundesliga/2011-12/18/tabellenrechner.html

At the moment as the league is on a break the most exciting thing is to see if Alex Ring really will be transferred. But one thing is for sure, he will leave from HJK now or at latest next summer. And probably to Germany, since he knows the ways and the language. So I'm sure that we can enjoy his performances in the Bundesliga in the future.

COFACE and Glühwein

Last Saturday was the day to enjoy Mainz at its best. A little below ten degrees with sun 
shining. On the top of that Mainz against Hamburg. Not the top game of the league but 
good entertainment. I have to say that COFACE arena is cosy and full of atmosphere. All 
the 34.000 people were cheering for the 05 to win. They succeeded in being the better 
team for sure, but just couldn't score. I expected a lot more from Hamburg, especially 
having seen their game two weeks back, but anything they can be praised of are their 
fans, who made a lot of noise. Mainz showed a lot of character and only made one big 
mistake this time, which the hamburgers couldn't make use of. The 05'ers were better 
throughout the game though, and should've kept the three points in Mainz.


On this blog you can't have a round without hearing from Teemu Pukki if he scores. The 
fin played a solid game and scored the winning goal. I haven't looked at the stats but 
Pukki was not only good in scoring situations but also able to create chances and most 
importantly in passing the ball to his teammates. He is really finding his place in the 
team and with it his confidence is rising. He has now proven his talent and showed his 
scoring abilities. No doubt he earned to be in the starting eleven and with these kind of performances he is going to start even more matches on the field. Schalke's performance 
wasn't superb, but solid enough to make them climb up to the third place in the table.


Worrying for Schalke supporters is the fact that S04 havent been playing great, at least not against their biggest rivals. On this saturday the top game is Schalke-Bremen and both really want to win to keep a smallest possible distance to the top of the table. I'ts Schalke's home game so they are a slight favorite, but Pizarro in form Bremen will make the best for Schalke not to succeed. It's looking like a very tight game and seems like a draw, but could go either way. I might put my money on the draw, and hope that they will score a lot of goals.


It is the last round before the christmas brake and all the teams will sertainly give all they have at this point and go celebrate christmas after a win. In my book there still are a few games in which the outcome seems certain beforehand. The opening game of the round is Bayern-Köln which, in spite of the odd, almost certainly a home win. Not the betters first choice in games but I'm sure Bayern will crush Solbakken's crew. Köln doesn't simply have a chance in this one. After seeing Hamburg last week, and concidering Augsburgs improving performances I have to say that Augsburg might win this one. In my book it's at least a draw. The most certain result is going to be Leverkusens win against Nürnberg. Derdiyok and the whole Dutt's squad really played under their level against Hannover and now they must win to prevent the top getting too far. The last game is Wolfsburg-Stuttgart that I am curious about is Wolfsburg-Stuttgart. I still don't have any faith in Magath and I'd say they are playing on a level that is on the bottom of the league at the moment. They have been fairly ok at home, but I still have trouble seeing them getting more than one point from this game.

Derdiyok answering the call

Bayern took it's place on the top of the table after leaving Werder with no chances. At the same time Mönchengladbach and Dortmund dealt the points, although Dortmund had plenty of chances to score the decisive goal and take home the points. Schalke was able to squeeze a victory against Augsburg like expected, although Schalkes game left a lot to hope for. That's the five first Bundesliga teams at the moment. On the sixth place, still not given up on the championship race, are Leverkusen only six points behind the leading Bayern. Before the season they were quite high on the champion rankings. It's not lookingsuper for them but they're still on an attacking position.

After last season the coach changed. Heynckes for Dutt. I must say that last years team seemed more powerful, but is it the coach that made teh difference to the team. Dutt showed that he doesnt lack courage when keeping Ballack on the bench for the first matches and made him prove that he deserves a place in the starting eleven. After rising to the starting eleven he's been decent, but not the same Ballack all germans can remember him of. When I look at Leverkusens game, I must say that the whole team does just enough. No more. They have been lacking the joy to play, although they have won seven games. It seems though that their game is improving.

The problem has been the scoring. Kiessling has been criticized for not being able to score. He has responded that a striker can do a lot more than score, but I must say that only three goals in fifteen games is quite few for a striker. Kiessling seems to be Dutts first choice, or at least has been. Now it might change. After the Chelsea game Eren Derdiyok has been playing on a great level. He is a little different kind of player than Kiessling, more straightforward and certainly much more quick. And now when he is self-confident he has been shooting more and most importantly shooting effectively.

After the Chelsea game Derdiyok has scored four goals in two games. That gives a total of five in the last three games. He might be the answer for Leverkusens scoring problem, and he will certainly be the number one striker in the coaches book for the next games.

It is left to be seen if Leverkusen can maintain the form they're having at the moment. They are surely eager to go far in the Champions League, but can they concentrate on both Champions League and Bundesliga. If they want to keep on winning, someone else has to contribute to the goal scoring with Derdiyok. Sidney Sam has been showing the stuff he wasable to do last seasonin the past games. With Sam, Derdiyok, Kiessling and Schürrle they have a good attack, and with ballack contributing thay can go a long way. And we shouldn't forget Leno who has been improving all the time, and already proved himself as the top keepers of the Bundesliga this season. As Leverkusen is finding their top form the christmas break might come uninvited. But they still have two important games before that. Especially next weekends fixture against Hannover 96 will be a tough one.

Tuchel-Bayern 2-1

I just have to write a post about the biggest surprise result this season. As everyone who have witnessed Bayerns last two games can wonder what has happened to them. Of course during a long season it is hard to maintain the level they played some weeks ago, but from a team like Bayern and especially from players like Gomez, Ribery and Müller one could expect the level being more even throughout the season.

Mainz didn't play great. Well, a team that has been playing the worst game in the league one can't expect too much. They have lost their lead on many occasions after being in front, for example against Dortmund and Hoffenheim. This time it was close as well. The goals Van Buyten was able to score were defended very poorly. Actually Van Buyten was very near in scoring on two more occasions, one in the last minute of extended time. Luckily for Mainz he didn't. This time Mainz was able to hold on defensively to their lead. I still see Mainz's defence as the weak link in their team, as it was also last season. In my opinion Bungert can manage against good players, but not the really tops. Fortunately for Mainz and himself he has also scored goals. Svensson is just too old and slow, even though an experienced player. I'm not even going to go on the keepers. On the other hand the attack is decent on a good day, as it was for them on Sunday. The crown for the game came from Marco Caligiuris foot. An astonishing shot from nearly 30 meters behind one of the top goalies in the world this moment. I think that shot was enough for Mainz to deserve the victory. Personally I would've chosen him as the man of the match, although Ivanschitz, who was chosen the man of the match, played a good game as well.

Thomas Tuchel seems to have a secret for beating Bayern. This was the second time in three games he has lead his squad to victory against the Bavarians in three games. Defence seems to be the key,m although it isn't Mainz's strength. It seems that Bayern has a few things to pick up on every area, including defensive play. Especially Badstuber is concentrating on everything else than defending i.e. complaining. It has been almost hilarious to watch the young man shout at referees and basically arguing at every whistle. He doesn't know how to play when histeam is down. If I was the coach, I'd bench him for a while.

Let the Mainzer enjoy this victory. They might be facing the reality again next weekend. I'm sure Bayern will jump up to their own level soon. At least when they get Schweini back.

Is it over for Werder?

Werders last week performance was a big disappointment for many fans and at least for me a big surprise. 5-0 against Mönchengladbach doesn't leave much questions to be asked. M'gladbach has proven quite good a group this season, but I doubt that it will last until the end of the season. Back to Bremen. After their shock defeat there came even worse news. Claudio Pizarro, who has been the big reason for Werders success is going to be away from their strength for a month. The Peruvian has scored 11 goals in 12 games and he became the all time most scoring foreign player in the Bundesliga. Pizarro's 11 goals is almost half of goals his team has managed to score this season (23).

The big question that's left to ask if there is anyone in the team to fill his boots. Markus Rosenberg showed good form in the pre-season matches, but has been sitting on the bench more than playing on the field. Maybe he will get his chance now, but I doubt his ability to keep up with Pizarro's scoring rate. Another player which I personally would expect to pick up his game is Marko Arnautovic. He hasn't been playing bad in the matches I've seen and he has also gotten his temper under control. I have expected more from him, and I think he has the potential, but just has to fully concentrate in playing the game. Now would be a great time to show what he is capable of, because someone has to score the goals while Pizarro is gone.

The other big news last round, if we don't concentrate on the sad news, was Bayerns defeat against Dortmund. The match didn't give too much for the audience, and sometimes it was actually quite boring as the teams concentrated on defending. Götze was able to score from a situation that should've been cleared by the Bayern defence. The good thing in that was, that the excitement in the champion race stayed close, and the bavarians now only lead by two points.

On the next round Dortmund is playing against Schalke 04. That is a big match for both teams and both need points to stay in the race for the cup. Huntelaar showed who's the number one striker in his team as Schalke had no difficulties against Nürnberg. Pukki got to play too, which is always positive, but he didn't have to prove anything as his team was already leading by three as he got on. Wolfsburgs win over Hannover was almost a shock especially as Magaths men have been playing so poorly. Maybe this was a turning point, but next round game against Augsburg will show if Magath has found the right direction. When we talk about the top teams the focus in my book lies on Werder next round. Can they forget about the last game? And are they able to perform without Pizarro? It's a little hasty to give predictions on the basis of one game and one injury, but I'm still gonna say that this will be the turning point in Werders season. One team doesn't make a team, but sometimes it can be crucial. We'll see Pizarros worth for Bremen, and how they play without him.

Bundesliga from Finland

Last round was superb for a finnish Bundesliga fan. Teemu Pukki proved that a finnish guy can also score, which unfortunately hasn't happened in a while. Last season finnish football was represented in the Bundesliga by Mikael Forssell, which is kind of sad. He is the best Finland has had to offer for a long time but that will hopefully change.

Pukki is a young player, but he has already proved a big talent and also developed a lot in the last years. When he got transfered to Schalke, at least i was very excited. But the excitement turned into frustration, as it happened that mr. Ragngick decided to resign. The thought that went through my head was that Pukki will not play for a good while now. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong.

As I'm starting on Pukki, I'll have to refer to Schalke too. They are facing Nürnberg on the next round, which should be an easy opponent. As I watched Denmark-Finland I wouldnt count on Pukki to score now. But in all honesty, his teammates are much better in delivering right kind of balls for him to score. But the news are telling that Jefferson Farfan is injured and off the fixture. Fortunately for Schalke, their game is not relying on Farfan and Pukki. Huntelaar should be back on duty against Nürnberg, but will he start? As Farfan is injured there might even be room for both Pukki and Huntelaar, although I regard them both as pure strikers.

Otherwise the round seams interesting. I'd say we can enjoy a few good and tight games. Personally I'm interested in Freiburg's performance. They have played decent in the last few games, and in the last game they took home 3 points even if it was slightly by luck this time. Their opponent Hertha hasn't performed greatly and I wouldn't put my money on them. Another game, that I have to take a closer look at is of course Bayern-Dortmund. Bayern is the huge favorite, but it's interesting to see how last years champions will answer. Dortmund hasn't been convincing, except for the last game against Wolfsburg. But Wolfsburg, and especially Magath, seem to be a joke this year. So I'm expecting Dortmund putting up a good fight against Bayern, but if and when Bayern can take the lead, they won't give it up. If the wonderboy Götze can make something happen before Bayern get their game going, it can end either way.

Thats enough for the first time. Hopefully we'll see Pukki scoring more goals this weekend. Or what's more important see him on the pitch.