It's just the beginning

So the season is underway and the big teams have held their guts. Bayern has been very convincing, but as the last season shows early rounds do not tell the whole truth. Eintracht Frankfurt has been better than expected and they are in the lead alongside Bayern with six points.

From what I've seen this far I could predict a few relegating teams,although it's early. I'd say Greuter Fürth has got a very difficult season in front of them and it's pretty obvious that they will not stay in the league,although they managed to beat Mainz in the second round. Hoffenheim is a team that will be battling for relegation if they don't pick up their game. One scored goal in two matches doesn't promise very much. It seems Ryan Babel is desperately needed in the squad, and maybe he will be enough to change the course. My personal Black Horse Stuttgart has collected zero points so far and are on the last position. The game against Bayern showed that they are not ready to battle for the top positions. I'm sure they will pick up their game as the season goes on. It just has to happen quickly, before the team loses its faith in itself.

From a Finnish point of view the start of the season has been both good and bad. Pukki hasn't got any playtime and it seems that there is not going to be much time for him if there are no injuries, especially now when Afellay joined the Gelsenkircheners. Pukki still showed some good form in the national friendly against Czech republic when he scored the only goal of the game. And not only did he score, but he was able to find his teammates with accurate passes and won many one on one situations as well. Hopefully Huub Stevens will find some use for him in Schalke's attack. Marica has proved himself useless, so that place is to be filled but probably with Afellay.

Good news for the Finns are that Alex Ring has been playing decent minutes in Mönchengladbach shirt and that Hyypiä and Leverkusen got their first win this season. Ring has showed in the few games that he is ready to fight for his place in the opening eleven and is capable of scoring as well as defending tight against anyone. A pity is that Mönchengladbach is nowhere near the team they were last season. But as I said many times before. It's only the beginning.

Los geht's

Finally it's started again. The Bundesliga season 2012/2013 is underway. Don't want to linger too much on the favorites, but once again Bayern is expected to go all the way. Dortmund is the other candidate to the top. Those two will race against each other and it will be a huge surprise if the Champion won't come from those two teams.

Every year there is at least one team that surprises everyone. Two years ago Mainz 05 and last year Mönchengladbach were able to tease the top teams until the end of the season. This year I would lift two teams which are capable of doing something big. Stuttgart showed great form towards the end of last season and their team has only gotten stronger. Harnik is in a good form as well as Ibisevic who scored twice in the Europa league qualification against Dynamo Moscow.

Stuttgart is playing against Wolfsburg in the first round which I consider the second team capable of harassing the big ones. The team is strong on paper and it played a solid second half of the last season. They have gotten two big players who are the top of the league when they succeed. Ivica Olic and Diego form a very dangerous duo, but their form is a questionmark. Olic scored twice in the last pre-season game so he is at least finding his form. To me Diego is a very interesting player. He was one of the best Bundesliga players some years ago in Werder Bremen, but then his magic just disappeared. He is a player that can bring Wolfsburg a long way, or take it down as well. Wolfsburg is a team that can go either great or its performance might be miserable as well. Magath has showed that he is a strong manager that can lead a team to the trophy, but when it starts to wrong the team might be found in the relegation battles.

There are of course at least Schalke 04, Hannover 96 and maybe even Bayer Leverkusen that are able to fight for the top positions. I still doubt it. Hannover just doesn't have the material and Schalke is still too young a team. Leverkusen still has the potential, but I'm very doubtful with the coaching. Let's hope I'm wrong as the eyes of whole Finland, let alone the Germans, are focused on Sami Hyypiä. 

March of the Japanese

Finally the Japanese footballers have started to break through to the top teams in European football. Of course the shining star at the moment is Shinji Kagawa who was, at least as far as I'm concerned, the best player in the Bunedsliga last year. Japanese players have tried to make it in Europe before without a greater success. The most successful player might be Hidetoshi Nakata, who played mostly in Italy, but never made the big headlines. Now its Kagawas time to show the world some Japanese football.

Kagawa's shoes are not easy to fill. I think that Götze has the potential to do that as he showed the season before. No one else in the team doesn't even come close. The hole that Kagawa left is even bigger if we talk about the Japanese players. There are in fact ten Japanese in the Bundesliga this year. Hasebe who plays for Wolfsburg is often seen on the field and Schalkes Utchida has been an important player for the Gelsenkircheners for the past season or two. Both of them are good examples of Japanese hard working players.

Last season Stuttgart made a great deal when they bought a German-Japanese player. Gotoku Sakais performance in the14 games he played for Stuttgart was outstanding. He hardly lost any one-on-one situations and was  very good to both directions from his back post. He made five assists and
scored an average of 3,43 in the kicker marks last season. I was really impressed with his attitude and the pace he goes into battling situations. I think Gotoku Sakai is the man to keep a closer eye on for the 2012-2013 season.

Another interesting player is MönchengladbachsYuki Otsu, who played in three matches last season. He is a promising attacker who scored two beautiful goals in the Olympics for Japan. Especially now when Marco Reus is not there anymore to score goals young players have to step up. Otsu might be one of those, although he hasn't been playing too much in the pre-season games. All in all ten Japanese players is a big bunch that will keep some Japanese focus in the Bundesliga as well.

Update

As the EURO is wrapped up it's time to concentrate in the Bundesliga again.

The next season is still a mystery and teams are building up their squads. The transfer market has cooled down a bit but there will surely happen something big before it closes again. Many players have changed clubs inside the Bundesliga, and I've listed some interesting ones for me as well. Here are some big transfers:

Marco Reus (Möchengladbach ->Dortmund)
Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund -> Man U)
Mario Mandzukic (Wolfsburg -> Bayern München)
Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen -> Bayern München)
Dante (Mönchengladbach -> Bayern München)
Tranquillo Barnetta (Leverkusen -> Schalke)
Eren Derdiyok (Leverkusen ->Hoffenheim)
Ivica Olic (Bayern Munchen -> Wolfsburg)

Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen -> Hoffenheim)
Rene Adler (Leverkusen -> HSV)

Mladen Petric (HSV ->?)
Eljero Elia (Juventus -> Werder Bremen)
Naldo (Werder Bremen -> Wolfsburg)
Luuk de Jong (Twente -> Mönchengladbach)
                                                                                  Luuk de Jong scored 25 goals last season for Twente.

Of course, these are only a fraction of all the transfers. But the biggest lost for the whole league is the transfer of Shinji Kagawa off to England. He was without a doubt the best player of the last season, and will surely show the islanders what Bundesliga is made of.

Other than that the teams seem as strong as they did last year. Bayern has three top strikers and if Dortmund will continue with one striker tactics they have a problem as well. But I think Klopp might find room for both Reus and Lewandowski now that the Japanese is gone. It's left to be seen how many players will change clubs so the real speculation of the season can begin.

The season is wrapped up

As you might have noticed,the season has ended without much effort from the blogger. It was a great season and Dortmund made it again. The decicive game against Bayern exceeded every expectation and offered a great deal of drama. In the cup final Bayern had another chance, but at the latest in that game Dortmund proved their superiorty this year. I can congratulate Dortmund of their double! And wish Bayern better luck next year. Maybe they can turn one of their three second places this year into a first place.

For Finland the second half of the season didn't go as well as hoped. Teemu Pukki didn't get enough time on the field, but was able to score some goals nonetheless. All in all it was a great season from him, and as the team for the next year is being formed I think Schalke will count on him even more. Alexander Ring got to play a few minutes in a couple of games and had a few chances of scoring goals. Hope he will get more responsibility next season. The third name in the Bundesliga next year is indeed Timo Furuholm who represents Fortuna Düsseldorf, that is if he stays in the club. So lots and lots to hope for the next season.

Although the Bundesliga is over for this year there is still much more football to come. You should check out my other blog lamboftheday.blogspot.com. That is about the EURO 2012 and will be updated almost daily.

Thanks for all readers! The blogging will start again next year as the Bundesliga starts. Enjoy the EURO 2012!

A Finnish head coach

I totally agree that it was about time to sack Robin Dutt. I think he lacked - or still lacks - some basic coaching skills and stays to his routines in coaching. He made always more or less the same substitutions and played with the same tactics. There were many times I cursed when Derdiyok was substituted for Kiessling on the 70th minute or vice versa, when the right move would have been two attackers or even a slight change in the tactical side. Maybe he was good in other areas in coaching. I think everyone remembers the start of the season when he wouldn't let Ballack play. So he was brave and he had a certain vision,at least in the beginning of the season. In the long run he ran out of ideas, and maybe the team owners saw that. Dutt is not the only one to blame in this situation, but something had to be done to keep the chances for the euro-games alive.

 

For me the selection of Sami Hyypiä was a huge surprise. Ok, he was a great player and a successful one as well, but the coaching experience is almost non-existent. Half a season as the second or third coach in Leverkusen and the Finnish national team are a joke compared to other Bundesliga managers. The achievements as a player speak for themselves and he has lots of experience from different leagues. The experience from the very top of European football might be the most important thing here and Hyypiä could develop a great manager. I think Leverkusen is taking a risk here, but Hyypiä even a bigger one. Its always hard to change the course of a team that is doing bad, and chances with failure are even bigger than when you start from the beginning of a season. Let's hope for Hyypiä's sake that he doesn't have to conjure any magic. Hopefully the sacking of Dutt is the necessary wake up call for the team to improve.

There is six games to go in the league and Leverkusen is on the 7th place with 40 points. Everything from 5th to 9th position is possible for them as the teams in those places have 40 or 41 points. All of the remaining games are against teams that are below them in the table, except for Hannover game. So it shouldn't be too hard a task to finish in the top seven that qualify for the euro games, or at least qualifications for them. All the best to Sami Hyypiä. Let's hope he makes a good job with Lewandowski and leads his team to good performances in the remaining games.


Some statistics of Sami Hyypiä:

105 caps in the Finnish national team (5 goals)

1992-1995     MyPa                 96 games  (8)
1996-1999     Willem II          100 games  (3)
1999-2009     Liverpool FC   317 games (22)
2009-2011     Leverkusen        53 games  (3)

Winner of the Champions League 2005
Winner of the UEFA Cup 2001
Winner of the FA Cup 2001, 2006
Winner of the League Cup 2001, 2003

Augsburg ready for another season

I think it's time to concentrate on the lower end of the table on this round again.

Hertha took an important win in Mainz last weekend and Augsburg carried on with scoring points with a draw against Bremen. Augsburgs last defeat is from 18.2. against Leverkusen. It seems the man with the moustache, Jos Luhukay, has got his team into a flight that will result in a place among the 15 best in the end of the season. Six draws and two wins from the last nine games. If they keep it up the augsburgers can enjoy the top level Bundesliga even next year.

Augsburg against Köln might be the most interesting match this weekend. Köln is really struggling. 6-1 against the reigning champions last weekend doesn't leave much room for speculation. The Köln defence is just as bad as the numbers indicate. Solbakken has tried his best coaching the team, but maybe he has been a bit too ambitious. The Köln offence is still ok, but with the players he has a more defensive style could be better. The game against Augsburg is vital, and seeing Augsburg's record I'd say a draw is the way to go in the bets. If Köln loses, they'll drop below the Bavarians in the table and will have a hard time trying to get past them again.

Köln is still a team that can either win or lose heavily, as we saw against Dortmund. The strikers are still top class, but they need a self confidence boost. Podolski has been struggling and Novakovic hasn't found the form the whole season. The swede Mikael Ishak made an impression to me in the game against Hannover although he wasn't able to score. Maybe he is the man to place in the forward . At least he's got potential.

The other game in the relegation battle is between Kaiserslautern and Hamburg. Kaiserlautern has only seven games time to climb from the bottom, and it has to start now. This game is a matter of life and death to them. With a win they'll close the gap to Hamburg to three points and by losing the gap to the second last team will stay at least at six points. I don't see Kaiserslautern winning, although HSV has been horrible. To the hamburgers dropping one league below would be a catastrophe and I still kind of believe they will succeed in staying in the Bundesliga.So I'm going to bet this one for Hamburg and say byebye to Kaiserslautern and their  boring football with no goals.

Bayern is back.

14 goals in the last two games. Bayern is back. Or is it? The game they are playing reminds of the way they were playing in the beginning of the season. 7-0 against Freiburg on the 5th round, and 7-0 against Basel in the Champions League game. There is a similarity, not only in the results, but the way they are performing. The attacking players are playing with joy, and must be full of confidence. That makes Bayern a very hard team to beat at the moment.

There is still five points difference between the two top teams, but that is not enough for Dortmund to start slacking. Bayern is coming strong now, but are they able to keep on going? Dortmund hasn't been showing too many signs of slowing down, but there is the game between Bayern and Dortmund which will be crucial in the battle for the championship. Mönchengladbach and Schalke aren't too far behind, but both teams performances haven't been too impressive in the last rounds. So it really seems that it's going to be Bayern or Dortmund. And it's going to be tight. The question is, will Bayern play like this until the end.

If Bayern and Dortmund are playing good so are a few other teams as well. Looks like Mainz players have finally started to play as a team and Tuchel can breath a little easier. After the Christmas break only one defeat, and the position in the table is steadily rising. Also Augsburg has climbed up from the bottom and it seems they are getting away from the relegation battle. Of course they are still in the danger zone, but if I had to guess the three last teams would be from these four teams: Kaiserslautern, Hertha, Freiburg, Hamburg.

What is left to be said of the last two rounds in this blog is of course two words: Teemu Pukki. It's great to see him play more than 15 minutes per game again. And to see him play well is even more great. Two goals in the last two games show that Pukki is in Gelsenkirchen to stay, and hopefully will play in an even bigger role next season. Alexander Ring finally made the debut in the Bundesliga. There's not much to be said about his performance, but it's a delight to see two young Finnish players in action.

No good Finland

As I don't remember anything else than Mainz crushing Kaiserslautern last weekend, I'll talk about the Bundesliga players in Austria - Finland friendly. Once again the Finnish national team showed that it doesn't really matter how you play if you make a few mistakes. And if you don't even play good, mistakes just make your game kind of ridiculous.

In the friendly both teams were playing boring football. Austria was trying to hold on to the ball and actually play without really succeeding in it. At least the first half was even, both teams having only a few opportunities. Austria managed to score with help from the Finnish goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky. In the first half Pukki was the only Finnish player who was able to create anything, but he was too alone and tried to create chances from nothing. I think his problem in the national team is that he tries too hard. He has now played 9 caps without scoring and it seems to be pressuring up for him.

I'd say Pukki was the only one from the Finnish starting 11 that deserves even a (4) in kicker marks. Ring was awful throughout the whole game. He wasnt able to pass the ball to his teammates and was a step behind in every challenge. Id rate him with a 5,5 or 6. I'm not surprised he hasn't gotten a chance in the Mönchengladbach team with that kind of performance. Let's hope this was only one game and that he will get his chance in the Galdbach squad soon. But then he really has to improve and show what he really can do on the pitch. The third player in the Finnish team who plays in Germany, in the second Bundesliga, is Timo Furuholm. He was the only Finnish goalscorer in the game,and it was a beautiful goal. He actually came in on the 86th minute and scored immediately. He also had a scoring chance before the actual goal, so he's looking more and more promising, even for the starting eleven. I don't know much about his performances in Fortuna Düsseldorf, but at least he has played in three games. According to the stats he has been playing decently, and  hopefully he will continue in doing so.

Let's talk about the Austrians then. I'd say there were two players who almost dominated in the game against Finland. David Alaba and Julian Baumgartlinger were clearly the two best on the field. Alaba was super in bringing the ball forward and his technique is very good for a defender or defensive midfielder. I think Bayern are going to get a world class player of him, when he gets just a little older and gains experience. Baumgartlinger is a totally different kind of player. He doesn't give up, and I must say he has gotten tougher during the season. I saw him play in Mainz last summer, and I thought he looked promising, but in the game against Finland he was the master of the midfield. I doubt he lost a single challenge during the whole game. He was a big reason for Austria's victory.

Other Austrians didn't impress me at all. Harnik and Ivanschitz both scored one and played ok. They didn't show anything special and at least Harnik's efforts were very weak throughout the game. One of the worst players of the game, if not the worst, was Marco Arnautovic. He has said that he wasn't pleased with his performance, but that he knows that he can do better. I've seen him do better,but that is some time ago. He hasn't been playing good in the Bremen squad for a while now. It has been like in the game against Finland: couldn't pass the ball to the teammates, couldn't win any challenges, technique seemed poor and one free kick that went almost out of the stadium. It certainly is not his season. Maybe the next one. Or maybe he is just too arrogant.

Zidan found his place again.

Full on enthusiasm after a weeks break. The ongoing Bundesliga season has proved to be very even. Only three teams are battling against each other for the remaining eurogame positions,otherwise it seems really tight on the top and on the bottom. After the Christmas break even the top teams haven't been able to dominate, and the teams in the lower section of the table have been snatching points from the big teams. The outcomes of the games has been hard to predict. Dortmund has been solid as a rock, but every one else has had problems. From a betters point of view also Mainz has been solid, and with better odds than Dortmund.

Mainz has drawn three of their last games, and all three with 1-1. Every time Mohammed Zidan has been the scorer. I haven't been too trusting with Mainz's game so far and it has seemed all season long that they might relegate. Now it's looking good. If Zidan can keep up with the scoring Mainz will finish somewhere where they are standing right now (13th). Mohamed Zidan is an interesting player. He has represented Mainz a few times and always keeps coming back, after not quite making it anywhere else. I remember him playing pretty good in Hamburg a few years back, but it just didn't last. It seems like he made a right decision coming back to the 05'ers again. The competition in Dortmund, where he transferred from, was just too hard for him.

Mainz will play a derby on Saturday against Kaiserslautern. The match seems more important to Kaiserslautern as they have slid on the third last position in the table. Only two points after the Christmas break. At some point it seemed Kaiserslautern were playing at least OK, and even the scores show that they are not a team that gives up. The defeats have come with one or max. two goals. It seems the level of the squad just isn't enough, although there are no week players, just no real stars. I'd say Kaiserslautern would need a striker like Zidan. Shechter has scored 3 and Kouemaha 2. The whole team has scored 16 goals in 22 games. That is alarmingly few. There are two players (Gomez, Huntelaar 18) who have scored more in the league this season, which tells the whole problem Kaiserslautern has. The future doesn't seem bright for them, and they really must start gathering points immediately if they want to play in the Bundesliga next year.

In the top of the league Bayern is playing against Schalke. Schalke has had problems with the other big teams, and this is their time to really show that they are up for the Champions. This is also the time for Bayern to start fighting,because the titel is slipping away at the pace they are playing. Zero goals in the champions league game and in the last game at Freiburg. I'd give Olic a chance. At least he works really hard and gives the other guys opportunities to score, at least more than Gomez does. That's my opinion. Before this round Dortmund is already 4 points ahead of Bayern and 5 points ahead of Schalke. Whatever the outcome of Bayern-Schalke is the both teams certainly will hope that Dortmund won't take 3 points.

Pukki against Ring

No game like against Bayern have we seen from the Hamburgers this season. I saw Mainz - Hamburg before the Christmas break in Mainz and when i compare that game to the one last weekend I must say i didn't reconize Hamburg as the same team. Ok, Hamburg against Bayern is kind of a classic, but I think Thorsten Fink had done something magical with his team under the game. Hamburg were definitely not the worse team in the tight battle. I'd like to say they were better, but maybe a tie was the fair result.

All in all Hamburg showed character in one to one situations and were able to play great as a team. Drobny made some good saves and the defence held tight nearly all the time. Even the attacks were working decently. Well, don't want to praise them too much. They didn't win, but it was without a doubt the best match I've seen them play in the last two seasons. Of course I haven't seen them all, but anyway. I was totally surprised, because I was more than certain that Bayern will crush them like bugs.

I'm not an expert in team budgets, but I'd reckon that Hamburg isn't one of the poorest clubs. And seeing their material, they finally came even close to the level that they should be playing on. Let's at least hope they won't be as bad as they were against Mainz, because that was just awful. One could say that was hardly football. This weekend Hamburg is facing Köln. Köln can either play great or suck really bad,so this is Hamburgs chance to take a big victory. The other option is a big defeat. At least that's my guess. 1-4 or 4-1.

That's enough for now. Except Gladbach against Schalke will be played on saturday night. Ring against Pukki. Just have to keep my fingers crossed even one of them gets on the pitch. At least Pukki should, because Marica scored twice two weeks ago. He's done for the whole season. And Schalke really messed it up on the last round. So wake up Stevens. Pukki in the starting eleven. Now. And if Pukki plays, then Favre should let Ringgo and try to slow Pukki down. May the best Finn win!

Will the top four keep on going?

When I took a first look to next weekends games I thought the outcome for the most of the games was quite clear. On a closer look it might not be so. The top four are playing against teams that are in the lower end of the table, but I'd say only Mönchengladbach might have difficulties in scoring three points. Bayern has an easy job against HSV, Schalke shouldn't have a problem against Mainz in spite of Mainz signing Mohammed Zidan and I think Dortmund is just too good for Nürnberg at the moment. Although Nürnberg played decent against Hannover last weekend, but that is not enough. Someone has to score and  only moving the ball nicely from time to time isn't enough. And maybe it was Hannover's weakness as well on the second half last weekend that made Nürnberg look better as the table shows.

Wolfsburg lost on the last round against Bayern 2-0. I haven't seen them play with all the new players, but the I still have a feeling they might be picking up their game. Maybe with 41 million euros you also should. Mönchengladbach were convincing again in the last game, but something tells me it might not last this round. Wolfsburg's new players are still a mystery to me. Magath, as might have said before, seems to have lost his touch so actually the whole team is a mystery. Of course Gladbach still are the favorite but it will be tight.

The match between Hannover and Nürnberg last friday proved at least that Hannover is not in the same form as in the beginning of the season. They rely too much on Abdellaoue as Ya Konan is not playing. Somehow the attacks aren't creative and the amount of really good scoring chances don't come easily. They had a few chances against Nürnberg on the first half to score more goals, but at least on the second half the performance was poor. Then again they won and that's what matters. But I reckon that on the long run they will slide towards the end of the table. The Hannover that we remember from last year has disappeared. Slomka is a good coach and he can certainly make things happen, but something in the team is missing. Even Hertha might  prove a difficult opponent in the next round. Much depends on Abdellaoue and his scoring form.

It's tight on the top again

As the second round of the second half already starting tonight last weeks games are maybe already forgotten by some. Anyway the 18th round was at least as interesting as the first round of the league a few months ago. There weren't any surprises -except the big one which made the league and the championship race more than interesting again.

So what happened between Mönchengladbach and Bayern München? I'll say there were a few crucial moments in the game that led to the result. First of all Neuer's mistake  gave Mönchengladbach the advantage which they never gave away. After the first goal the course of the match was clear: Bayern would attack and Mönchengladbach would concentrate in defending and counter-attacks. That's exactly what happened, but in spite of Bayerns efforts Mönchengladbach created the most dangerous scoring opportunities.

The whole Mönchengladbach team performed greatly, but I have to lift up two players whose contributions to their team were priceless. Especially on the second half Bayern pressed hard,  but they were constantly stopped by one man, Martin Stranzl. He seemed to be everywhere to stop the Bayern players. I don't even know how many goals he prevented but he was there all the time, with his bloody nose, to make a crucial save. Another man who played a great game was Patrick Herrmann. He is no surprise name to be praised from the game if you look at the score sheet. But he performed well on every front and made almost any mistakes. He was very good bringing the ball forward in the counter-attacks and made good decisions that created scoring situations.  The two goals he made just made his game and it's no wonder he got rated 1 by Kicker.

I got to think of Mönchengladbach's game and their chances of finishing in the very top of the table in the end of the season. They have one of the quickest attacks in the league and they seem like the best counte-attacking team in the Bundesliga at the moment. The question lies, as always with a counter-attacking team, what happens in the games they are given the ball and the opponent draws back? I always remember Valencia about ten years ago and their counter-attacking tactics. They almost solely scored from counter attacks, but were able to win the La Liga and the Uefa cup with counter-attacks. So it is, or at least was, possible to be succesful in the long run with that kind of play. I'm not saying Mönchengladbach is a counter attacking team, but they certainly have what it takes to be one and against teams like Bayern benefit from the speed and good passes the attacking players produce. We'll see if Mönchengladbach have what it takes in the championship race but they will be close and they'll certainly be a tough opponent for every team.

The Finns didn't even play one minute on the last round. I don't want to be someone who wishes players to play bad, but from Pukki's point of view the scores Kicker gave the attacking players in Schalke's game looked good. Obasi was rated 3,5 and I hope he will start from the bench against Köln. On this round the most exciting game is the one between Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen. It's maybe a little hasty to draw conclusions only from one performance, but Werder couldn't show anything against Kaiserslautern in the last match and was actually the worse team on the field for the most part of the game. Leverkusen didn't prove anything either against Mainz, but as Mainz after coming from two goals behind gave the ball to Leverkusen, they were able to squeeze out the victory. This weekend it might be 0-0. Or 1-1. But I'd suspect a game with few goals. In the bottom end of the table Mainz and Freiburg play against each other and it is again a six point game. Freiburg is confident after winning Augsburg and rising up from the last position of the table. Mainz proved in the last game they have potential to do better. They just should hold on the ball and attack more. Not draw back and hope Szalai will score from one of the crosses as they did in the last game.

Ready for the second half.

Almost all transfers are made. The last big one quite shocking for those Freiburg fans who still hope to stay in the league after the spring. Papiss Demba Cisse got transferred to Newcastle with big money. Of course Freiburg has a little time to buy a player to fill his spot, but filling those boots will prove hard. Cisse was able to score 37 goals for Freiburg in 65 Bundesliga fixtures. That is more than great especially when you look at Freiburg's total goal amount and place in the table since he has been playing there. The other players in the team are capable of scoring too, they showed that  during the last rounds. But no one comes even close to Cisse. That is for sure.

The first round after the winter break starts with a few interesting matches. A very big match at the end of the table is played between Augsburg and Freiburg. Both of the team dread losing this one, and it's interesting to see if it's only about avoiding mistakes. Augsburg didn't convince in the friendlies during the break (1 win-1 draw-1 defeat). Greuter Fürth that they lost against is on the second place in the 2. Bundesliga though. Freiburg performed a little better with two wins and one defeat. They beat CFR Cluj and Xerez and lost against Werder Bremen. The good thing for them is that they scored three times against Werder without Cisse. Both for Freiburg and Augsburg the game is crucial when thinking about the ABSTIEG they want to avoid and may even be the decisive game.

The first round of the spring season starts, in my opinion, with the most exciting game: Borussia Mönchengladbach - Bayern München. The Bavarians want to pick it up from where they left in December. And now they have Schweini back in the squad, so it looks very promising for them. But one should keep in mind that Mönchengladbach beat Bayern in the first round of the Bundesliga this season and will want to do that again. Mönchengladbach played decent games during the break and if they can keep scoring they might even win. Draw is tempting from a betting point of view but i think we could see some goals. The last game that Borussia won was 0-1 but this should be exciting. Let's hope Ring will come from the bench and score the winning goal.

Finns on fire

I just have to praise the Finns on their performances in the friendly games.

First of all it happened: Alexander Ring got loaned to Mönchengladbach, and I'm quite sure he's there to stay. But the weird thing is he has scored three goals in two friendly games even though he isn't supposed to be a goal scorer. As I have stated out earlier he has a good shot and he has scored a few times during the last season, but the goals have come as a surprise - even for himself I'd figure. He has proven that he has joined the team with the right attitude. The attitude makes him such a good player, and that is one crucial thing that is so different about him compared to other finnish players. But the fact is, like he said himself, he is not exactly finnish. The attitude and the way of playing definitely comes from his youth years in Leverkusen's youth teams. He has proved himself useful and we might see him on the pitch quite soon. Maybe even in a week.

Schalke hasn't been performing too good in the friendlies, but then again the games are not so important. The great thing is, that Teemu Pukki has answered for most of Schalkes goals. It's hard to tell without actually having seen the games of how the players actually played, but at least Pukki has scored more than the other strikers, and that can only be a good thing. Pukki has said that he is happy about the first months in Schalke and that it has gone better than expected, but shows a good attitude in saying that he wants to maintain the same level.

There has even come a third finnish player to Germany. Timo Furuholm transferred into Fortuna Düsseldorf from Inter Turku out of the blue and with good luck he will be playing Bundesliga next year, as the Düsseldorfers are leading the 2. Bundesliga for now. In any case the flow of finnish players to Germany is more than amazing, and seeing them perform well makes even a pessimist finnish football fan get excited and dream of better results for the national team too. The greatest thing in all this is that Finland hasn't had good strikers ever (if we don't count Jari Litmanen as one), but now its starting to look better.

Finally I can't ignore Wolfsburg's  actions on the transfer market during the Christmas break. They have bought eight players, and three have left. I've regarded Magath and his actions weird this season, but it seems he is really desperate. I have no clue of the new players, but if he's trying to build a winning team for this season with those players he's more dumb as it has seemed before. I have thought during the fall season that Wolfsburg plays like a team who's gonna drop into the second league. Now I could even bet money on it. Magath seems to have lost it and the first games are going to show how the break has worked for him. If and when it's going to go bad for Wolfsburg I suggest they sack Magath immediately. They have bought so many players that someone else could actually make the best with the new players.