German Bundesliga My Best 11 Season 2008-2009

As the season had ended for a while, I am now share my personal best 11 and 7 substitutes. Just a reminder that any tactical combination is not considered in my best 11:

Starting 11

Goalkeeper - Robert Enke (Hannover 96): Even Hannover was underachieving this season, his performance had been praised. He made lots of crucial saves in order to keep the team in contention during the match. At the same time, he had suffered the injury for 3 months in the end of 2008. He made a strong comeback after the injury however, led the team to improve their performance and it ended up in 11th position, far away from relegation. So his leadership and the skills could make him to be my starting goalkeeper.

Right defender - Christian Träsch (VfB Stuttgart): He is one of the best right backs this season. He was a center midfield before but no one thought he was so good in the right back as well. Especially in the second half of the season, he played an essential role to Stuttgart for the great comeback in the second half of the season. Also, his attacking runs were very effective that relieved lots of pressure of the midfield and the strikers. So he is in my list.

Left defender - Philipp Lahm (Bayern München): As Bayern had a tragic season, Lahm could still keep his good form in the team. When everybody criticized the fragile defense of Bayern, he was one of the only few persons who was praised. He could tackle the ball just in time as well as made a lot of attacking runs in the left flank. So he helped a lot to Franck Ribery and he actually scored goals from the left side. So even though Bayern did not perform well at all this season, he is in my list as well.

Central defender - Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund): He was the surprise of the Bundesliga this season. Not so many critics expected him to be one of the best defenders in Bundesliga in his debut season to Dortmund from Mainz. His positioning and tackling were very good that to lead Dortmund had a solid defense line. Furthermore, his heading was very useful in the dead ball situation as he scored goals from that. He scored 6 goals this season, this was a very good statstics for a defender. So he is definitely in my list.

Central defender - Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04): He was the only good player in Schalke 04 this season. Even Schalke was only lying on 8th position, they had a very good record, that was the lowest goals conceded. Westermann should take this credit as his tackling and pace were very good that to cover the defense line well. More importantly, he could play lots of positions, such as left and right back, or even defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder. He was even the top goalscorer in the beginning of the season. So why was not on my list?

Defensive midfielder - Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart): Hitzlsperger was the important factor that led to the team to bounce back to second runner-up. He was not only good at long shot, what he impressed me this season was his ability to hold on the ball. As a team captain, Hitzlsperger could lead the midfield and control the flow of the attack effectively. Also, he could tackle the counter attacks from the opposition well in order to continue the attack. He was the hero behind the team so he should be in my list.

Attacking midfielder - Franck Ribery (Bayern München): Again, he was the spotlight of the Bayern midfield. He ran with the ball so many time and again he brought a lot of threats to the opposition. Even critics said Bayern had relied on Ribery too much but Ribery took his job so well even though the opposition tried to get rid of his threat. The only concern was if the other players could relieve him, of course this season was not the case. So his individual efforts made me to put him into the list.

Attacking midfielder - Zvjezdan Misimovic (VfL Wolfsburg): What a debut season in Wolfsburg! He made 20 assists, which was on top of the assist list said the reason for putting him into the dream team list. He could play the best form of the season all time so that he could made those 20 assists and led the team to score most goals among Bundesliga. Apart from the excellent assists, his ability to read through the game led the teammates were comfortable to play, so this was why Grafite and Eden Dzeko was so comfortable to score so many goal. So I cannot see why I do not put him into the list.

Striker - Grafite (VfL Wolfsburg): Top goalscorer of the season. He scored 28 goals this season was one of the highest record in recent Bundesliga season. His finishing ability was so good that he barely missed any easy shots in front of the goal net. Also, he could assist well, which had 11 assists so his partner, Eden Dzeko could be the second top goalscorer this season. His great performance no doubt to become anybody's best 11. Of course, my best 11 is included.

Striker - Mario Gomez (VfB Stuutgart): His first half of the season was very ordinary. However his performance in the latter half of the season was astonishing. He scored 17 goals in 2009 led Stuttgart bounced back to second runner-up. His great comeback and improvement made Bayern offered a 30 million Euro to get him into the team. This move proved and recognized his effort this season. Also, Bayern does believe in him to lead the team to get the title back. So, he must be in my list.

Striker - Eden Dzeko (VfL Wolfsburg): When fans and critics praised how good Grafite was, Eden Dzeko was not be forgotten. He scored 26 goals this season said he was definitely in the best 11 list. Same as Grafite, he could also assist which he had 10 assists this season. Together with the combination with Gafite, both of them played and combined so well that the opposition were very hard to stop their attack, as there were 2 main attacking points. So, it will be meaningless if putting only one of them into the list.

Substitutes

Rene Adler (Goalkeeper, Bayer Leverkusen): He was one of the best goalkeepers this season, especially in front of him were the inexperienced, slow paced, and fragile defense line. His fast reflection led him to make lots of saves every game to lead Leverkusen to win the game. Unfortunately he and the team could not hold on and finally dropped to 9th position and lost in DFB Pokal Final, which meant he failed to attend the European compeition next season.

Benedikt Höwedes (Central defender, Schalke 04): Young, talented, and mature could describe his performance this season in Schalke. He did not have the chance to perform in the beginning of the season but he took his chance well to step up to the important role in the team when Bordon ws injured. His positioning was the best of his skills and led the team to have a safe and solid defense line, even better than Bordon's lead. So he is in my list.

Mesut Özil (Left winger, Werder Bremen): Speaking to assists, he was the second highest number assist this season, which had 15 assists. Even though the main reason was he had chance to perform himself as Diego was rested for the more important matches in the end of season, he had a constent performance all over the season in fact. The example was the 5-2 thrashing against Bayern München, which his performance was best of his career. Actually he was the hero behind Diego and he will be the hero if he can take the team to the top next season.

Marko Marin (Attacking midfielder, Borussia Mönchengladbach): In the hard season for Gladbach, Marin was the player who must be thanked as he was the important player who got the team out od relegaion trouble. Marin created so many threats from the midfield and made lots of runs in order to get the team score. His 13 assists in this season was so important that they could get away from relegation. So Marin is the player I must put him into the lst.

Carlos Eduardo (Attacking midfielder, 1899 Hoffenheim): The most expensive player in Hoffenheim this season. He created lots of plays to the attacking players such as Vedad Ibisevic and Demba Ba and led the team to be the winter champion as the debutant of the Bundesliga. Even though his form slipped very quickly and led the team slip, I still believe he is one of the best players this season.

Claudio Pizarro (Striker, Werder Bremen): Werder Bremen made he right choice for loaning him from Chelsea, where Pizarro never had a chance to play. He got back his best form when he was in Werder Bremen for the first time and scored 17 goals this season. His solid and consistent performance led Werder Bremen to be at 10th position and prevent the team to drop further. Sadly he will return to Chelsea next season but his performance convince me to put him in the list.

Vedad Ibisevic (Striker, 1899 Hoffenheim): I believe there are some people had forgotten how good he was. He scored 18 goals in the first half of the season, better than any strikers mentioned in my starting 11 at the same moment. However, he was so unlucky that he hurt himself and was forced to be out of the remaining of this season. He is back next season and see if he can keep on.

Coach

Markus Babbel (VfB Stuttgart): I believe many of people will choose Felix Magath as the best coach of this season. However, thinking of inexperience and even he did not have coaching license, Babbel did a miraculous job to lead the team to the second runner-up position. He did a lot of work to foster the team morale in order to make the team different. So my vote goes to Babbel.