Previously I have reviewed the first 6 team in the Bundesliga Season 2008-2009. This part I will review the next 6 teams of the league.
7th place - 1899 Hoffenheim: There was a high hope for Hoffenheim in the first half of the season after the astonishing performance. However, the absence of Vedid Ibisevic seemed the sign of the mid-season slump. The absence of Ibisevic led the team did not have any scoring point and led the team failed the score effectively. On the other hand, the thin bench led them failed to relieve Ibisevic and the other players such as Demba Ba, and Carlos Eduardo. The inconsistent of goalkeeper also the factor as well. Timo Hildebrand could not solve the problem effectively as he had the trouble of injuries. So this could explain that why they failed to win for 12 games in a row. I believe more bench players is needed in order to keep the good performance next season.
8th place - FC Schalke 04: Schalke did very bad in this season. There was a big hope for them as Jefferson Farfan and the others joined the team in order to increase the scoring ability. However, they performed as not good as expected. Farfan had trouble in fitting in the team and he rarely scored. Kevin Kuranyi at the same time also had a rough season. Since the expel from the national team, his performance was slumping. After Ivan Ratikic took over the attacking midfielder again, he led the attacking line back to work. However, this was too late as they lost too many points. I believe, however, they can perform far better as Felix Magath takes over the team.
9th place - Bayer Leverkusen: Mid-season slump said it all. They had a young, talented, energetic, but inexperienced team. The defense was very good for them as Rene Adler performed very well all around the season. However, the strikers and the defenders always failed to perform well in the crucial moment. Tranquillo Barnetta and Patrick Helmes are the examples. Barnetta failed to perform as good as the first half of the season, fewer assists, fewer runs led him to lose the starting place. Patrick Helmes also failed to score the goals consistently and this was fatal. Stefan Kießling at the same time failed to relieve him so this was why Leverkusen kept slumping. As Sami Hyypia had confirmed to join them, I believe his experience can help the team very much in next season.
10th place - Werder Bremen: Apart from the league, they had a wonderful season as they reached UEFA Cup Final and won the DFB Pokal. However, the league performance was definitely underachieving. The best play was the away 5-2 victory against Bayern München, but, there was nothing more. The defense was too relying on Per Mertesacker, as Mertesacker was unavailable, the entired defense line lost the leadership. Diego and Mesut Özil were the most important players in the attacks. Since they were unavailable to play, the strikers could not relieve their scoring tasks. Diego is confirmed to transfer to Juventus, I believe Özil will take the essential role next season.
11th place - Hannover 96: Home court advantage said it all. They only lost 2 games out of the 17 home games led them to get out of trouble from the relegation. However, their performance of the away game was totally opposite, they only won 2 games out of 17, which was last of the league. Robert Enke played an important role of the team as he stopped lots of crucial shots all around the season that led the team to be safe in the mid-table, as well as proving himself to be the first choice national team goalkeeper. I believe the team must improve the away performance as well as purchasing more attacking players.
12th place - 1. FC Köln: The team was very solid, but only in defense. The attacking did not doing well at all as Milivoje Novakovic was the only striker who guaranteed to score goals. As he reached to the cold streak in the last 2 months of the season, there was no player who could stand up and took his job. At the same time, there were a lots of fast paced defensive midfielders to tackle and regain the possession effectively, but there was no creative attacking midfielders. So this can be explained why the team could not go further. Lukas Podolski will join them next season and see how helpful does he in terms of midfield creation.
That's it the second part. I will review the remaining teams shortly.
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