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.