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.

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.