The wall from Finland

What is happening with the world? What is going wrong in Bayer? Pep Guardiola must have pissed his pants or something. Four games in two weeks and only two victories? WHAT IS GOING ON?

I'll tell you what's going on. First it was Wenger and the Gunners who made Bayern look like a bunch of orienteers who couldn't find their way to the goal. Then again this Friday the men from München stomped on a wall from Finland. Named Lukas Hradecky.

Before the game on Friday the Finnish press wrote that Hradecky has a chance to really show his talent and make an impression to the German football community if he plays well against the Bavarians. I could've bet my life savings against Frankfurt. Not because of Hradecky but because of the fact that the wieners (Frankfurters) had conceded 17 goals in the last 10 matches whereas Bayern had scored 33 times in the same amount. And if someone doesn't know Bayern had won all of their games so far in the Bundesliga. But no, not this time. The Eintracht fans witnessed something extraordinary - bavarians who couldn't score. And even if Hradecky wasn't the man of the match he made a few pretty important saves and was able to fill the shoes of Kevin Trapp who I myself regard as the second best keeper in Germany.

As "Luke" is the only Finnish player playing in the Bundesliga this year it's about time to write about him.

Hradecky never played for the Finnish Veikkausliiga (the top level of Finnish football) before he transferred to Denmark, to Esbjerg fB. He didn't seem that promising in his youth years even though he played for the Finnish youth national team. Even in the Finnish national team he has secured his place as the number one keeper only in the last qualifications. He has sometimes seemed as a keeper who has a hard time estimating the ball in crosses and because of that getting in trouble. But he is still fairly young, 25 years old, so he has still time to develop to his peak. And if even if he is not the best in crosses he has lightning-speed reflexes, as you could've witnessed this season. 

On top of this all he is very down to earth and for a guy coming from Turku he has a great sense of humor. I think that even if the Finnish press might be praising a little too much at the moment everyone who watches football can be very proud of him at the moment. And about time we got a decent player in the Bundesliga again, and looks like he is not going to give up his place easily in the future.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.