Football Maniac on my desk

RIP Robert Enke

2009-11-11T05:26:00.000-08:00

This morning as usual, I woke up in the morning and took some brunch before starting my day. I have decided to turn on Football Manager 2009 instead of turning online. However at the same time I turned on the TV and tuned in the news channel.

Sounded everything was in normal, but I suddenly heard a piece of news - Hannover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke had committed suicide.

I was shocked, totally shocked. I paused the game and ran out to the TV and saw what was going on. I couldn't believe it was real as I have just seem him play well against Hamburger SV last Sunday. I kept tuning in the news channel and watched it over and over again because I still couldn't accept this news was real.

I am not Hannover 96 fans but he made impression to me. He was one of the best goalkeepers in the nation and I seriously favoured him to be number 1 goalkeeper in the World Cup 2010. I only knew him he played at FC Barcelona before (by the way I was appreciated that FC Barcelona gave a minute of silent before the Copa de Ray), but what made me impressed was his performance at Hannover 96. Without him, Hannover 96 was relegated for a long time.

I also insisted in the related discussion forum that Bayern München should have purchased him this summer as he was experienced and skillful, which was really suitable for making the defensive line consistent. Now it is all over, Bayern München never worried they needed to pay a high amount of transfer fee to Hannover 96 as he was passed away.

Enke left his wife and an adopted 8-month-old daughter behind. I sincerely hope they can get through this difficult time and step forward to the future.

Rest in peace Robert.

Bordeaux vs Bayern München (UEFA Champions League) Preview

2009-10-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Bayern München this Wednesday will continue their Champions League journey and face Bordeaux away. Bayern München recently picked up the winning way again and it was a boost for them. Now here's the preview of Bayern München chance of this match:

Bayern München won against Frieburg last Saturday without "Robbery" combination. Luca Toni worked very hard last Saturday and it is very likely to start this match. However, it is doubtful if his finishing is improved. This match again the "Robbery" combination will not appear in the match so Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Müller will be very important. On the other hand, the return of captain Mark van Bommel can definitely improve the midfield domination. I believe he will work with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk again in order to control the midfield and stop Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff to create.
What makes Bayern München to win: Midfield domination. As mentioned, the midfield dominance will be very important in this match as Gourcuff is the magician in the midfield. In order to win this match, van Bommel and Tymoshchuk must work together well in order to maintain the possession in the midfield. Schweinsteiger and Müller need to connect the striker in order to win this game.
What makes them down: Strikers. I personally am not worried about the defence but the confident of the strikers makes me worried. Mario Gomez loses his starting place because he is not confident at all. At the same time, it is also doubtful if Toni and Klose can pick up their confident to score goals. Together with the injury of Ivica Olic, it is very doubtful if they can convert the plays into goals.

General preview: I believe the match will be decided in the midfield. Both teams are very good at ball possession so it is the deciding factor for this match. I believe van Bommel and Tymoshchuk can control the midfield well based on their big match experience. I believe the match will favor Bayern München a little bit but a draw is not a surprising result.

Germany vs Finland (World Cup Qualifier) Preview

2009-10-12T01:40:00.000-07:00

Germany had successfully qualified for the World Cup after winning against Russia last Saturday. This group had already decided out the group winner, Germany, and group runner up, Russia. Meanwhile, Russia had already had enough points to qualify for the playoff in November. So there is no competitive matchup in this Wednesday action. So Germany and Finland match will be another friendly. Now here's the preview:

Germany: Germany did very well last Saturday. They seeked the Russian weak spot and got the chance to score goal and win. Even though the draw should be more deserved, Germany still did a great job. Therefore, this match is just a routine match and it turns out to be the friendly international. I believe coach Joachim Löw will give chances to the bench players. Marcel Schäfer, Marko Marin, Andreas Beck, and Mario Gomez will be very likely to start the match, as well as the reserve goalkeeper Tim Wiese will also likely to start. However, I seriously doubt if Germany will give their all potential to win this game.
What makes Germany win: National pride. I believe the players will keep unbeaten at least because it is shameful to lose the game at home. They may want to win the game even in order to maintain the excellent record. Furthermore, Germany only lost 2 qualifier games in their all time history so they will kick themselves if they lose the third game.
What makes them down: Purpose. There is not any real purpose for Germany in this match. Past record showed that Germany were so lazy and slow at the unimportant friendlies and qualifiers. I believe this is very likely to happen again and Finland can make some surprises.

Finland: Finland had already out of the contention a month ago. So even they put their full strength to play these 2 matches, I believe they do not have any pressure and they will just enjoy themselves. They won against Wales last Saturday and maintain the third position. For them this is not a bad result and they accept this. The Zürich pair, Veli Lampi, and Hannu Tihinen will be very important for the Finland defence. Jussi Jääskeläinen will be very important in goalkeeping as it is predicted Germany will be the one who possess the ball all the time.
What makes Finland win: Pressure-less. They do not have any pressure in this moment. As they will be the third in the table and there is no way to go up or down. So I believe they can bring surprise to Germany as they are very relaxed in the moment.
What makes them down: Quality. Obviously they are outplayed in terms of player quality. Germany can control the ball easily and they will likely to score. So Finland need to do better in defence and counter attacks if they want to make some surprises.

General prediction: This match becomes the friendly as there is no competition issue. Germany will not pay their full strength in this match as they need to keep themselves fit for the upcoming Bundesliga fixture, as well as the future chance to enter the final squad for the World Cup. For Finland, they are very relaxed in this moment and I do not believe they will be too urged and aggressive even they are trailing. So a bored draw is predicted, or Germany will win by 1 goal at most.

Russia vs Germany (World Cup Qualifier Group 4) Preview

2009-10-07T23:10:00.000-07:00

Germany this Saturday will have the most important match in 2009, they will travel to Moscow to play against Russia. Russia is only 1 point behind Germany and if Russia win, they are very likely to win the group and qualify to World Cup directly. On the other hand, Germany also want to win as they will qualify for World Cup, no matter what happen in the next round. Now here's the preview:

Russia: Russia only lost against Germany away and they won all the other matches. They will play on the artificial grass ground and lead them to have a slight advantage. Andrei Arshavin no doubt will be the most important Russian player as his connection to the strikers are very good. Pavel Pogrebnyak will very likely to start the match. Also, Pogrebnyak knows the German style well as he is currently playing for VfB Stuttgart. Yuri Zhirkov will lead the defence and he plays an important role in the defence.
What makes Russia to win: Counter attacks. Russia are very good at the counter attacks. Coach Guus Hiddink did a very good job to make the team to be very well disciplined and organized team. They will be very likely to win if they can tackle the ball effectively and start the counter attack well.
What make them down: Off the ball defence. The biggest problem of Russia is they spend too much game time on the off the ball defence. It is very dangerous for them as they give the bomb to the opposition to bomb themselves. They have to hold the ball better or else it will be just the matter of time to concede goals.

Germany: Germany did take the trouble when they only snatched a draw against Finland in the very early stage. Now they need at least one point in order to protect their lead and bring back the advantage back home. However, the entired team want to win as they all know all the troubles and doubts will be gone. Mesut Özil playes a very important role to Germany as he is the best player in the team so far. Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose are having the confident trouble and now it is time for them to perform. Per Mertesacker will lead the defence line and Heiko Westermann will be likely to get along with him.
What makes Germany to win: Passing game. As mentioned above, Russia is very well disciplined and organized in defence, so more passing is the only way to confuse Russian defence and create goals. Özil plays an important role to connect the midfield and strikers, as well as make more runs to confuse the Russians.
What makes them down: Strikers. Stefan Kießling once again is forgotten so the remaining strikers need to perform. Cacau and Klose are yet to score in the league so it is questionable in their confident. Plus Gomez and Lukas Podolski are not good at form so those strikers must pick up their confident quick.

General prediction: I believe Germany will have more possession. This is because Russia are comfortable without the ball and are likely to wait for the counter attack chances. So Germany must make use of the possession very well in order to win this match. It is likely to see a draw here as both teams will not be upset to end up like this. However, I believe Germany will have a little bit advantage as they always have the ball. So even Germany are away, I believe they can qualify for the World Cup after this Saturday.

Bayern München vs 1. FC Köln (Bundesliga Week 8) Preview

2009-09-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

This week Bayern München stays at home to play against under achieved Köln. Both teams desperately need all 3 points to achieve their own goal. Obviously Bayern München has the clear advantage and Köln needs some miracle to win at Allianz Arena. Now here's the preview:

Bayern München: Bayern München had lost the important match against Hamburger SV away and led them drop to the 7th position with 6 points trailing. In order to avoid the further slip, Bayern München must win this game to climb up the table. Arjen Robben unfortunately was injured in the Juventus clash and so far he undergoes the MRI. However, Ivica Olic is ready to relieve his place. Franck Ribery is starting to get better in terms of fitness and I believe he will play for full 90 minutes again. Mario Gomez is likely to start as he is fit enough to play. Even Robben is not likely to play this Saturday, I believe Ribery, Olic, and Gomez are good enough to win this game.
What makes Bayern München to win: Quick tempo. This is what they did well in Juventus clash. I believe Köln will concentrate the defence and wait for the fast counter attack. So quick passing and speedy runs will make them easier to score and win the game easier.
What makes them down: Scoring. The recent two non-winning matches showed that Bayern München was stuck at scoring goals. Gomez, Miroslav Klose, and Thomas Müller were quiet and failed to score goals. I believe they must finish well and score goals in order to win the game.

1. FC Köln: So far it is very disappointing in the start of the season as they only managed to get 4 points in 7 matches. The return of Lukas Podolski did not help too much to the team as he was always got isloated. Milivoje Novakovic was supposed to assist him but he was struggling with injury. Sebastian Freis now is the only striker who can guarantee to assist Podolski and he will be the important player in the match. On the other hand, the defence was very disappointing and I believe they will lose goals.
What makes 1. FC Köln to win: Counter attacks. Even Podolski did not help the team too much, their counter attack is quite fast. Along with Freis, I believe they can threaten Bayern München in some extent.
What makes them down: Fragile defence. They have conceded 10 goals in 7 matches so far. It is not good enough for the start of the season. Also, it showed the sign that their defence is not good enough for the all season long challenge. So they will have a big loss if they concede goals early.

General prediction: I believe early goal will determine the final result. Bayern München will attack Köln early and hope to score the early goal. Gomez, Ribery, and Olic will not wait and hesitate to attack Köln early and try to get their monkey off their back. With the home court advantage, I believe Bayern München is able to score goal early and have a big win.

Bayern München vs Juventus (UEFA Champions League Matchday 2) Preview

2009-09-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight Bayern München will host the Champions League blockbuster against Juventus. This is an important group match but not fatal. Plus they have league matches to concern so that I believe the match will be close and high quality, but not intense. Now here's the preview:

Bayern München: Bayern München did well in the last Champions League match and led them to have a lead in Group A. Even last week they have lost the important top table clash against Hamburger SV, they still have high moral and full fitness. Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben will start this match, but the starting striker is still a question, Ivica Olic and Mario Gomez have a fair chance to get into the starting lineup. I believe Louis van Gaal will not play any tricks on the formation and tactics, and he will stick into the winning 4-3-3 formation. So the pace will be their way to win.
What makes Bayern München to win: Pace. As mentioned, Ribery and Robben are the fast paced players that bring so much threats to the opposition in terms of pace. On the other hand, it is predicted that Bayern München will tend to play counter attacks, as Fabio Cannavaro and Nicola Legrottagli are not the fast paced defender. So fast paced attack will nake them win.
What makes them down: Midfield domination. Bayern München must control the midfield in order to provide better counter attack. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is playing an important role in order to stop Diego. If Tymoshchuk does his job, Bayern München is very likely to win.

Juventus: Juventus missed the chance to win the last Champions League match as they failed to score the second goal to win. Same as last week's Italian Serie A, they failed to score one more goal and led their opponent Bologna equalized the game at the very last minute. It showed that they need to score goals in order to secure their win. Diego is likely to start this match who is back from injury and he will play a very important role in the game. Vincenzo Iaquinta and David Trezeguet are likely to start the match and they must finish the play well in order to win at Allianz Arena.
What makes Juventus to win: Midfield creation. Diego plays an important role on the creation. If Diego does his job well, I believe the finishing from Iaquinta and Trezeguet will also be improved. So the Germany return trip of Diego will be essential.
What makes them down: Finishing. As mentioned, they have to score more goals in order to win. As Bayern München attack are fast paced and threatening, they have to lead more than one goal in order to make Bayern München harder to bounce back.

General prediction: I believe this match will be very high quality but not very intense. Both teams will cancel each other out and it is very hard to determine who will be the winner. Bayern München will have upper hand as they have home court advantage. However, Bayern München will be happy to get a draw as they will still maintain the lead. On the other hand, Juventus will not be urged to get an away win as they should realize that the most important matches are the two-match series against Maccabi Haifa, which they must take all 6 points. So, I believe Bayern München has the upper hand but draw is likely to happen.

Hamburger SV vs Bayern München (Bundesliga Week 7) Preview

2009-09-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

This week's Bundesliga have a blockbuster clash, which Hamburger SV will host the match against Bayern München. Both teams are in hot streak now so it is predicted to have an exciting clash. Now here's the preview:

Hamburger SV: Hamburger SV is still unbeaten in the league at the moment. New player Eljero Elia did so great that brought lots of threats from the left flank. Even though Jose Paolo Guerrero is injured until the end of this year, Elia can take the scoring job well. Marcus Berg is in a good run as he makes lots of running and create space for the other teammates. Ze Roberto will play against his old teammates and he will do his best to dominate the midfield. However, the loss of the DFB Pokal did affect their fitness as they played full 120 minutes plus the penalty shootout with full strength. So I believe this will hurt them a lot and maybe the driving factor to lose this match.
What makes Hamburger SV win: Midfield domination. Ze Roberto is the factor that leads Hamburger SV to dominate the midfield all the time. He makes lots of runs and tackle to control the midfield. With the cover from captain David Jarolim, Ze Roberto even can score goals. So this is the factor that Hamburger SV must fulfill and win.
What makes them down: Team fatigue. As mentioned above briefly, Hamburger SV had a huge problem on the team fatigue. They played 120 minutes plus penalty shootout for nothing in the end in DFB Pokal. It will damage their physical fitness as well as the morality. So they must bite their lips and look forward in this blockbuster.

Bayern München: Bayern München had a red hot run since the arrival of Arjen Robben. They recorded 5 wins in a row in all matches and at least scored 2 goals each game. I believe Bayern München finally found the one who could match Franck Ribery. Ivica Olic is also in hot form and he can integrate into the new tactics as well. So even Mario Gomez is in good form, it is not guaranteed that he will start the match. I believe Ribery, Robben, and the returning to Hamburg's Olic will start the game, plus hot Thomas Müller to form an attacking combination. Daniel van Buyten however may not fit enough to play and this will be the setback for Bayern München. So Anatoliy Tymoshchuk will be very important as he needs to stop the play in midfield in advance.
What makes Bayern München to win: Morality. Bayern München reached the highest morality in this moment and they are hungry for reaching the higher morality. Plus they did not waste too much energy in the midweek's DFB Pokal as they sent a second tier team to win. So Ribery, Robben, Holger Badstuber, and Tymoshchuk are fully fit for this match.
What makes them down: Central defence. As mentioned, van Buyten may not fit enough to play. If this is a case, this will hurt the team very much as he is in red hot form. Badstuber can do his job well but I do not have faith on the replacement of van Buyten, Breno. So van Buyten must be back or there will be a lot of pressure on Bayern München defence.

Key of the match: Fullbacks. I believe Ze Roberto and Tymoshchuk will cancel each other out and the midfield will not be dominated by anybody. So the key will go to the flanks. Elia and Piotr Trochowski are good wingers and they make so many assists to their strikers. Same in Bayern München, Ribery and Robben are the world class wingers and they are actually the scoring source. So the fullbacks from each side must stop the opposite wingers plus they have to participate in the attack in order to put an extra pressure on the flanks. Simply speaking, better wingers win the game.

Bayern München vs Oberhausen (DFB Pokal 2nd Rd) Preview

2009-09-22T05:49:00.001-07:00

Tonight Bayern München will play the DFB Pokal Second Round against Second Division Oberhausen at home. Speculation suggested that Bayern München will rest some players in order to let some players to prepare the Saturday important Bundesliga against Hamburger SV. On the other hand, Oberhausen do not have any pressure and they are more than happy if they can make surprises. In this preview I will focus on Bayern München as I do have limited information on Oberhausen.

Bayern München had recorded 4 wins in a row from all kinds of matches. Their morality is excellent and everyone is confident. Bastian Schweinsteiger did better and better to be a central midfielder to control the attacking flow and holding the midfield. I believe he will play this match even though the Saturday match is important. However, Arjen Robben and Holger Badstuber may rest match. So, Luca Toni may set for the comeback debut and Breno also may set for his season debut. Franck Ribery maybe the substitute once again and I believe Mario Gomez or Miroslav Klose will start this match and Toni will be the substitute.

What makes Bayern München to win: Class. No doubt, Bayern München is above of them at all sorts. Better in attack, better in defence, and better in finishing will make Bayern München to have an easy win. So all they have to do is not to get reckless.
What makes them down: Complacency. Last Bundesliga Bayern München showed how careless they were. They all thought they would win easily when they were 1 goal up but the opposition caught them napping and got the equalizing goal. Lucky for Bayern München that they could rush for another goal in time. So Bayern München must get this lesson in this match.
General prediction: Very obvious, Bayern München will have an easy win. There may not be a lot of goals as it is not their style plus they have to reserve some energy for the Hamburger SV clash this Saturday. So I believe Bayern München will start walking and keeping their possession after they secure their win. My tip: Bayern München win 3-0.

Bayern München vs Nürnberg (Bunedsliga Week 6) Preview

2009-09-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Bayern München is back in action from Champions League to play against Nürnberg this Saturday. Bayern München is officially back in contention after 2 comprehensive victory against VfL Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund. On the other hand, Nürnberg is also back in action after the victory last week. Now here's the preview.

Bayern München: Since Arjen Robben arrived, Bayern München seemed like they have found the missing puzzle. They had 3 wins in a row, including the midweek Champions League. The defence looked better in Tuesday match but it is still unknown for the goalkeeping problem. Hans-Jörg Butt did not have any big test in Champions League but he did have lots of confident problem last Saturday. Even though Bayern München is back at home, the performance of Butt needs to be further proven. On the other hand, Franck Ribery and Mario Gomez did not play for the whole match in Tuesday so I believe they have full strength. Thomas Müller is very fit currently and I believe he can bring surprises to the opposition again.
What makes Bayern München to win: Quality. No doubt, the quality is far better than the opposition. I believe Robben, Ribery, and Gomez will definitely make lots of trouble to the opposition. If Gomez finishes better together with red hot Müller, I believe they can score a lot of goals.
What makes Bayern München down: Goalkeeping. As I mentioned, Bayern München did not have big test in Tuesday so this week is another good test for Butt to prove himself that he is able to be the first choice goalkeeper, for at least this season. If Butt make any cheap error again, Bayern München may not be that lucky to escape this time.

FC Nürnberg: Promoted again Nürnberg did not start really well, especially they found they were a bit outclassed in terms of attacking. Marek Mintal is very important player as he connects the players well. However, Nürnberg did not have good striker to support him. Christian Eigler and Issac Boakye are supposed to support Mintal but none of them can do the job well. It may because they are at the higher level and they need some time to work out. I believe there is not so much expectation for them when they are facing the red hot Bayern München. Snatching a draw will be their only wish in this match.
What makes Nürnberg to win: Stubborn defence. Even though the attacking is not so well, their defence is pretty good so far. They showed their discipline and the opposition was not easy to score against them. They have to work harder in order to prevent any early goals against them.
What makes Nürnberg down: Attacking. No doubt, they are outclassed by the opposition as they do not have any world class attacker so they need to work better in the attacking. Mintal needs to work better as his composure is the best in the team.

General prediction: Early goal will rule the game. Bayern München is expected to attack and dominate the match as Nürnberg focuses on defence and counter attacking. If Bayern München scores first, the game will become one-sided as Bayern München is not bad at defence this season so far. As Bayern München also has the home court advantage, I believe Bayern München do not have any problem on winning. My tip: Bayern München wins 3-0.

Maccai Haifa vs Bayern München (UEFA Champions League Match 1) Preview

2009-09-15T00:36:00.000-07:00

Bayern München tonight will start their first European match this season. They will travel to Tel Aviv, Israel to play against Maccabi Haifa. This preview I will focus on previewing Bayern München on this match.

Bayern München had two wins in a row and they thrashed Borussia Dortmund 5-1 that definitely boosted their confidence. Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben started to get more chemistry and led the other teammates to gain more confidence. Mario Gomez at the same time started to gain some confidence as well he scored the goal last Saturday. However, Bastian Schweinsteiger was not at the peak form even he scored a nice long shot last Saturday. Since the arrival of Robben, Schweinsteiger now changed his role in the team, that was holding the midfield and switching the plays from short side to open side. So this match Schweinsteiger needs to do well in the role in order to lead the team win.

What makes Bayern München to win: Quality of possession. No doubt, Bayern München is far better than Maccabi Haifa in terms of quality, but they have to show it out. Quality of possession is highly required as Maccabi Haifa is expected to counter attack Bayern München. So Bayern München must have a high quality of possession in order to score goals and win the game. Robben and Ribery need to lead the attack well in order to achieve this.
What makes Bayern München down: Goalkeeping. I believe the counter attack from Maccabi Haifa will not be too threatening when facing a high quality team like this one tonight. The concern is both Hans-Jörg Butt and Michael Rensing fail to impress and give confidence to the teammates and fans when they start the match. Last Satuday Butt nearly lost more than 1 goals from his own schoolboy error. This is what Bayern München urgently solve before the match starts.
General preview: Bayern München should win this one easily. Even Maccabi Hafia has the half home court advantage (note: the home court of Maccabi Haifa is not qualified for European matches, so the match move to Tel Aviv), Bayern München should take the advantage easily. An easy win is expected but Bayern München will not go too far and too hard as they have to prepare the Bundesliga match back home in order to chase up the top table. My tip: Bayern München win 3-0.

Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern München (Bundesliga Week 5) Preview

2009-09-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Last week players were on international duty so Bundesliga had suspended for a week. This week Bundesliga is back to action and Borussia Dortmund will host a national derby against Bayern München. Now here is the preview:

Borussia Dortmund: Last match Dortmund failed to win against Eintract Frankfurt showed the problem of finishing. Since Alexander Frei had gone back to Switzerland, the team did not have a successor to success his effective finishing skills. Sebastian Kehl is currently injured but I believe there is not much impact on the team as the team has adepted the life without him. Tinga is very important in the team as he can hold the midfield very well, especially Florian Kringe has been loaned to Hertha Berlin.
What makes Borussia Dortmund to win: Midfield defence. Tinga can take this job well and he can start the counter attack effectively. Mats Hummels at the same time can relieve Tinga in midfield defence as he is very flexible in the defensive line.
What make them down: Finishing. As mentioned, no striker is trustable in this moment. Nelson Valdez and Muhamad Zidan cannot convert the plays into practical goals well so the opposition will have an easy time to defend against them.

Bayern München: Bayern München finally started winning after the arrival of Arjen Robben. He scored two goals against VfL Wolfsburg and led the team won 3-0 at home. It proved that Robben could relieve the pressure of Franck Ribery as Robben could lead the attack as good as Ribery. This week Ribery is not likely to start but Robben can take his job. Miroslav Klose stays at München for fitness training so he is not going to play. Ivica Olic can take his job along with Mario Gomez in attack. As Gomez has to prove himself, he will play harder in this match in order to prove he is worth 30 million Euro.
What makes Bayern München to win: Fast attacks. As Robben arrived in the team, the whole team attack had been sped up a lot. Fast attacks and counter attacks will be the key of winning in this match. If Ribery is substituted in the middle of second half, it will be more threatening and is likely to score more goals.
What makes them down: Aerial defence. The match against VfL Wolfsburg showed that their aerial defence was very weak. There were at least two chances for Wolfsburg to score but Bayern München was lucky enough to escape. So this time Bayern München must be careful for their aerial defence.

Match preview: I believe defence is the deciding factor in this match. Borussia Dortmund seems better in defence but Bayern München is better at the attacks. However, Bayern München's weak aerial defence makes this match to become uncertain. So the winner should be the team who has better defence to stop the attacks.

Bayern München vs VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga Week 4) Preview

2009-08-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

This week Bayern München faces another big challenge, they will play at home against defending champion VfL Wolfsburg. Both teams lost last week so I believe they all want to win a game back, especially for Bayern München, they desperately need an opening win. Now here's my preview:

Bayern München: The latest transfer news just in, that is Arjen Robben is confirmed to join Bayern München for four years deal. Also, Robben is eligible to play this Saturday. This is definitely a morale boosting for the team as they are now very low in confident. The last loss against Mainz definitely proved that players were not confident at all, especially to Michael Rensing and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Franck Ribery may return this match, but Robben arrival definitely relieve the pressure from Ribery so Ribery does not need to hurry. However, it is doubtful if Robben can adept the new environment in just more than 24 hours, so I believe that Robben is threatening, but he may not reach his maximum impact this match.
What makes Bayern München to win: Early start. The biggest problem of VfL Wolfsburg was the slow match start. All of their goals were coming from second half. In other words, they could not score in first half yet. From last Wolfsburg match, it is not hard to see if the opposition has a fast start, they will be in a mess. So Bayern München must score in the opening half and hold on to win.
What makes Bayern München down: Confident. The last loss against Mainz showed that most of the players were not confident at all. I believe this is what Louis van Gaal should answer to Franz Beckenbauer - how to boost their confident in a week. Now the fans and the team are relying on Robben, who is bringing a new breathe to the team and let us see if he can do it.

VfL Wolfsburg: I believe it is quite surprising that Hamburger SV beated them last Sunday and ended their 17 unbeaten home record. The defence had a lot of problems, that was lacking of communication and organization. There is not any leader to be seen in the defense line so that they kept making mistake, especially when they were 2 goals down in first half. Eden Dzeko and Grafite did not turn back their best mode yet but Obafemi Martins was very good recently. Also, Zvejezden Misimovic is getting better and better, so I believe they can bring a lot of threats to Bayern München. Josue is not available to play so I believe there will be more pressure to the defensive line.
What makes VfL Wolfsburg to win: Fast attack. The attacking pace is one of the fastest in the league. Misimovic, Grafite, Dzeko, and Martins are very fast paced players so they can have an advantage against Bayern München, whose their defenders are relatively slow paced.
What makes VfL Wolfsburg down: Defense. Same old defense problem, they are not organized at all. So they must hold on in the opening minutes as if Bayern München score first, they will have a very hard time.

Match key: The injured beast. Bayern München are now a injured beast. So they will throw the cautions to the win and have the hardest fight. Also, Bayern München have the home court advantage so I believe they will play better. If Robben does well in the match, VfL Wolfsburg are nmot easy to defend as Robben is very good at dribbling. So based on Bayern München have nowhere to hide now, I believe they can win this one. My tip: Bayern München win 3-1.

1. FSV Mainz 05 vs Bayern München (Bundesliga Week 3) Preview

2009-08-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Bayern München last week had lost another 2 points at home against Werder Bremen. They must have a win in order to keep the early start. However, Mainz is proved that they are not pushover so Bayern München need to concentrate in order to secure the win. Now here's the preview:

Bayern München: Bayern München had a slow start this season as they lost 4 points in total in the first 2 matches. The absence of Franck Ribery brought the lacking of creativity problem, as same as last season. Jose Sosa did poorly last week and I believe Alexander Baumjohann will start this game. Bastian Schweinsteiger must improve his performance as he is the most important player since Ribery is not on the field. However, the good news is the defense are solid. Holger Badstuber and Daniel van Buyten are very impressive. Also, Danijel Pranjic and Philipp Lahm is fit enough to assist in attack as well as defense. Even Luca Toni is back to Munich but I do not believe he will play.
What makes Bayern München to win: Quality. All in all Bayern München outclass the opposition. All they need is the quality of possession and quality finishing to bring them first win of the season.
What brings Bayern München down: Finishing. Last week they have plenty of chances but they were all wasted. Miroslav Klose needs to do better this week and Mario Gomez needs to keep the morality of last week's score. Also, Bayern München need to play simple to ensure their finishing.

1. FSV Mainz 05: Mainz last week had drawn against the opposition again. Even they have not won a game so far, it proved to fans that they were not pushing over there. They have a great challenge this weekend to face Bayern München and I believe they may somehow bring some surprises to Bayern München if they do not perform well. The front line attack is quite effective and I believe Bayern München needs to watch out. Mainz returned to the stable condition after the mess of the season opening. So players can come together and bring surprise.
What makes Mainz to win: Pressure-less. I believe no one expects them to win, so this is why they can bring surprises. Mainz has potential as their playing style is simple and effective. So if they score first, they can win.
What brings Mainz down: Defense. The only problem is the defense. Even they only lost 3 goals in 2 matches, their defense is quite soft and the opposition are quite easy to get the ball into the danger zone. Bayern München has a lot of quality players so that their defense is quite hard to stop them.

General preview: Urgency is the key of this match. Bayern München has no room to run away as they must win a match, or else the week after the match against VfL Wolfsburg will be very very hard. They need to get full 3 points in order to keep the chase. Mainz even though they are pressure-less, their defense is quite worrying when they face the team like Bayern München. Stubborn defense is the only hope for them so that they have to defend harder then ever. My tip: Bayern München win 3-0.

Bayern München vs Werder Bremen (Bundesliga Week 2) Preview

2009-08-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

From this week I will focus more on Bayern München. This week Bayern München will go back to home and face Werder Bremen. Both teams need a win in order to get a quicker start of the season. Now here's my preview:

Bayern München: Last week Bayern München did not do so well and only had a draw against 1899 Hoffenheim. Even though the team was not able to get a win, they did better compare to last season. Team balance was seen in the match and possession was better than before. Holger Badstuber did very well last week and this is definitely a surprise for all the fans. Mark van Bommel is out for four weeks but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk can take the holding midfield job well. Franck Ribery is set to return and it is definitely boosting the morale. However, it is doubtful if he can play for full 90 minutes. Miroslav Klose is set to return as well and it definitely provides more options on attack.
How Bayern München win: Quality possession. It improves a lot compare to last season. Passes did not lose cheaply and the attacks were better in quality. To face such a attacking minded team, Bayern München needs more quality in possession in order to lead them to win.
What Bayern München need to improve: Corner taking. This was the most disappointing part last week. Danijel Pranjic took the corner kicks poorly and it backfired to the team. The equalizing goal from Hoffenheim was come from the threat-less corner kicks. I believe they need better corner kicks in order to avoiding to backfire themselves.

Werder Bremen: Very surprising, they lost against Eintracht Frankfurt last Saturday. The defense was very disappointing and Per Mertesacker could not command the defense well. Sebastian Prödl was the most disappointing as he did not follow the team defense at all. However, the good news was Mesut Özil and Marko Marin combined very well in the team attacks and they brought lots of threats to the opposition. It proved the departure of Diego did nomt affect them too much on attack. Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski will be very important as they have to work harder to relieve the fragile defense.
How Werder Bremen win: Attacks. Obviously, the attacks do matter in the team. They have to score more goals then Bayern München in order to control the game. Özil and Marin will take the most important job and the strikers have much space and time to score goals.
What Werder Bremen need to improve: Communication. Those 3 conceded goals were because of lack of communication. The defense line did not communicate well so that was why the defense had so many failed offside traps. If they do not improve this problem, Werder Bremen will be slaughtered.

General preview: I believe Bayern München had the upper hand. This is because they have the home court advantage and higher quality of possession. Werder Bremen is so fragile in defense so I believe Ribery, Gomez, and Klose can go through their line easily. However, I believe there will not be a big win just like last season as Bayern München will be careful in order to avoid some cheap ball losses. My tip: Bayern München win 2-0.

German Bundesliga Season 2009-2010 Week 1 Tipping

2009-08-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga Season 2009-2010 is officially started tonight! Defending champion VfL Wolfsburg will open the curtain with the match against VfB Stuttgart. On the other hand, match schedule has been adjusted a bit in order to attract more television audience. Now here's the tipping of the opening week:

VfL Wolfsburg vs VfB Stuttgart: A very entertaining curtain raiser. Defending champion VfL Wolfsburg did not change the squad too much, which means the scoring duo Edin Dzeko, Grafite, and Zvjezden Misimovic will be still the most important players in the team. However, as Felix Magath left the team and replaced by Armin Veh, it is still unknown if they can keep their playing style or the players can adept the new style. Obefami Martins will be the first choice relieving striker so I believe he will not start the game. Meanwhile, VfB Stuttgart had finally found the replacement of Mario Gomez, he is Pawel Pogrebnjak from Zenit St. Petersburg. He may not start the match as he needs some time to adept the new playing environment. So Cacau is the most important striker still. The key of Stuttgart is if they can control the midfield. I believe both teams are not fully ready for the season start and a draw is very likely. My tip: Match draw 2-2.

Hertha Berlin vs Hannover 96: After the excellent season, Hertha Berlin did not expand too much. Opposingly, they did change a lot in the striking force. Andrei Voronin had returned to Liverpool and Marko Pantelic had left the club. So it is still unknown if the new striker or the original players can relieve them as they are the main attacking force. The defence is the other key. Arne Friedrich is most important player in the defence as Josip Simunic had left the club as well. On the other side, Hannover did not change too much in the squad build up. Robert Enke is still leading the defensive line and Mikael Forrsell is still the striker that Hertha Berlin must watch out for. I believe this match will be a draw, maybe a little favoring to Hertha Berlin. Match performance is the key of this match. My tip: Match draw 1-1.

Borussia Dortmund vs 1. FC Köln: Borussia Dortmund is another team who change a lot. Markus Feulner is the key new player as he can relieve the pressure of Tamas Hajnal. However, the departure of Alexander Frei did bring a lot of uncertainties in the attack. Nelson Valdez and Mohammad Zidan do not give much confident to the fans so I believe it is not an easy match for them. Meanwhile, Köln did strengthen the team much. The return of Lukas Podolski did relieve the pressure of Milivoje Novakovic. It is predicted there are more variety in attack. The arrival of Maniche did help the team a lot in midfield defense. So, I believe Köln can win the match even though they are away from home. My tip: 1. FC Köln win 2-1.

Werder Bremen vs Eintract Frankfurt: Even though Diego had left the club for Juventus, I believe Werder Bremen is still a strong team. The arrival of Marko Marin is very encouraging to the team as he has lots of potential. Together with Mesut Özil, this Germany U21 midfield duo will lead the whole attacking line. The only concern is their inconsistency, so this is the reason why they get Tim Borowski back. The other concern is the defence, Per Mertesacker is the only defender who is reliable so they must watch out. On the other side, Frankfurt is keeping the low key in summer since the captaincy of Ioannis Amanatidis. It shows that his influence is fading and I personally believe it affects the team, in some point. However, they are not good enough to stop Werder Bremen and Werder Bremen should have an easy win. My tip: Werder Bremen win 3-0.

1. FSV Mainz 05 vs Bayer Leverkusen: New comer Mainz had very rough start even before their first Bundesliga match. Coach Jorn Andersen was sacked right after the elimination of DFB Pokal and replaced by Thomas Tuchel. I believe it did affect the team very much as they have to restart again in such a short period of time. On the other hand, it is very unlucky for them that Eugen Polanski had been injured few weeks after the arrival from Getafe. So I believe this match they will be outclassed. Bayer Leverkusen at the same time, the main lineup did not change a lot. The arrival of Sami Hyypia did inject lots of experience to the team, which they did not have last season. The injury of Patrick Helmes really hurt the team but I believe the other attacking players can relieve his job. It will be a very good start for Leverkusen as they will have an easy win. My tip: Bayer Leverkusen win 3-0.

1. FC Nürnberg vs Schalke 04: Another new comer Nürnberg is totally different from Mainz, as they can keep the squad very well. Most of them are Bundesliga based so I believe they can stick firm in the league in general. Marek Mintal is the most important player in the team as he can create the play so well. On the other hand, the defence is very solid and I believe their oppositions are very hard to score against them. Schalke 04 on the other hand, they did not do too much on the transfer market, but fans are still very happy as Felix Magath had joined them. I believe their style will be tougher than last season so I do not worry about their defence. However, it seems the attacking is still worrying as they do not change too much on it. Jefferson Farfan and Kevin Kuranyi need to prove themselves still as they are the most important attacking duo. I predict this is a draw game as both teams are very good on defence. My tip: Match draw 1-1.

1899 Hoffenheim vs Bayern München: After the excellent season, Hoffenheim had a high hope from their fans as they all hope they can fulfill the miracle this time. However, they had a very rough season start as they have plenty of injuries. Even the return of Vedad Ibisevic can boost the team, I do not believe he is as good as last season because it is doubtful about his match practice. On the other side, Bayern München changed a lot in the summer, the most exciting one is Mario Gomez and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk. Mario Gomez can absolutely improve the team attack so well and can relieve Miroslav Klose. Franck Ribery is doubtful and is not likely to play as he claimed he only has 30 minutes fitness. The matchup seems very entertaining, but Bayern should have won this match. My tip: Bayern München win 2-0.

VfL Bochum vs Borussia Mönchengladbach: Bochum did not change too much in the transfer market, it may because they do not have much resources to do so. Diego Klimowicz and Stanislav Sestak will be very important in the team and they need to score goals in order to win. Goalkeeper Daniel Fernandez is the other concern as well. His cheap blunders did really hurt the team much and let the fans see if he can improve. On the other side, Gladbach changed a lot compare to last season in order to seek their way to stick firm in the league. Logan Bailly leads the defence line and he needs to stabilize it. Juan Arango is very important purchase for them as he can start the counter attack well. I believe Gladbach can win this match to have a good season start. My tip: Borussia Mönchengladbach win 2-1.

SC Freiburg vs Hamburger SV: Freiburg had gone away from Bundesliga for a long period, so even though they are some point famous to the fans, it is doubtful about their Bundesliga experience. I personally see them as a brand new comer to the league. Even thought they were the champion of Second Division last season, I believe they will be outclassed. On the other hand, after the disappointing season, Hamburger changed a lot in the summer. Ivica Olic has left the club but Marcus Berg can relieve his position very well. The arrival of Ze Roberto can inject the experience to the team and improve the midfield efficiency. I believe Hamburger SV can win the game easily and even they will be at the top one spot after this round. My tip: Hamburger SV win 4-0.

So this is it! Happy Bundesliga return!

German Bundesliga Season 2009-2010 Preview - relegation trouble

2009-08-05T00:46:00.000-07:00

Last two parts I have previewed the hot favorites and the dark horses respectively. Now I will preview teams who have relegation trouble this season:

Borussia Mönchengladbach - Huge change again: Compare with last season, there were lots of changes in the summer. They seemed they did not have any clues to stick firm in Bundesliga so they kept changing the players. A very good news for them that they had signed Juan Arango from Mallorca. It did help the team in the midfield creation and being the first line defense as well. Michael Bardley is keeping the great form so he is a very important player if they want a quick start of the season. The key is the strikers, they have to convert the play into goals better than last season. I believe avoiding relegation will be their first priority and seek for better performance afterwards.
What's helping them to fight back: Consistent defence. Even the attack has the problem, the most important factor is the defence improvement. Goalkeeper Logan Bailly is leading the defence well since the arrival of last winter and his performance is very important.
What's making them to fall: Attacking. Poor finishing is the key reason why they fight for survive. Rob Friend was very poor performance last season and failed to convert plays into goals effectively. Karim Matmour will be very important to do this job now, especially the departure of Alexander Baumjohann and Marko Marin will degrade the creativity in the midfield.

VfL Bochum - do it again: Bochum had an average season last season. As predicted they were around the relegation zone but luckily they were not in serious deep trouble. They kept the squad generally compare with last season so I believe they will not have any breakthrough. The attack will be the key as this was the reason why they could stay firm in the league. Diego Klimowicz and Stanislav Sestak are the important attacking duo to lead the team to get away from the trouble so I believe the team's fate is all counted on him.
What's helping them to fight back: Midfield creativity. As mentioned, the strikers are the most important players to help them to fight back, but the creation from the midfield will be the important factor as well. Shinji Ono and Christoph Dabrowski need to control the midfield well im order to provide more chances to attack.
What's making them fall: Goalkeepers. The defence is not solid enough, but the goalkeeper does have trouble to perform well. Daniel Fernandez was the worst goalkeeper in Bundesliga last season as he kept making the cheap mistakes and led the team down a lot. So if he cannot perform well, there will be more trouble for Bochum this season.

1. FSV Mainz 05 - can they stick firm: It is not unfamiliar to hear Mainz as they had gone up to Bundesliga for a couple of times last few seasons. However, they failed to stick firm and fell down again and again. So I believe they will aim for avoiding the relegation as their first priority. They have strengthened the squad in order to keep their place in Bundesliga. So the new players need to perform well in order to help the team.
What's making them to fight back: More than 100% performance. Even there are new players to join the team, I believe they are still outclassed by the others. So they have to play extra well in order to win games, esepcially against teams in same class.
What's making them fall: Rough season start. Unlike VfL Wolfsburg, they have a players injury as well as changing coach right before the start of season. After the elimination of DFB Pokal 1st Round, the coach is sacked and replaced. Plus the injury of Eugen Polanski damages the team hard. So I believe they need to fight extra hard in the first two months.

SC Freiburg - welcome back: After the long period in the Second Division, they finally gained the promotion place as well as winning the championship last season. Even they are experienced in the first class league, I believe the players themselves need to adept the league as they generally do not have much experience. Du-Ri Cha is the only important signing this summer but it is unknown if he really improves or he actually degrades. They kept most of the squad members so it is quite hard for them to fight for a place in Bundesliga.
What's making them to fight back: Pressure free. General prediction mentioned that they are the hot favorite to get back to Second Division again so fans do not have any expectation. This factor does release a lot of pressure for them and they can play freely. It can bring a lot of surprises to the opposition as they throw all the cautions away. Moreover, they can bring a early surprise if they play well.
What's making them fall: Class different. As mentioned they kept most of the squad members of last season. The only worry is the class. As we all know Bundesliga is totally different from the Second Division so it is nothing even they won the title. I believe they will be confirmed to fall back to Second Division about a month away from the season end.

So that's my general preview. As usual, I will predict the match week by week.

German Bundesliga Season 2009-2010 Preview - dark horses

2009-08-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Last part I have previewed the hot favorite to win the title. Now I will preview the dark horses this season:

VfL Wolfsburg - harder challenge is coming: Last season VfL Wolfsburg was against all odds to win their first ever title. It was very encouraging for them and many fans wondered if they can do it again. Personally I believe they cannot. This is because they have an even harder challenge. Also, Obefami Martins had joined the team to relieve Eden Dzeko and Grafite. Zvjezdan Misimovic will still be the key player as his vision and creativity is one of the best in Bundesliga. The defence will become more challenging as they did not get any more new players. So Andrea Bazagli is very important now.
What's helping them to win: Attacking football. The combination of Grafite, Dzeko, and Misimovic will still be the source of scoring. Their counter attack is most threatening in the Bundesliga and there is not many teams to stop their pace. If they want to defend their title, this is their essential key to success.
What's stopping them: Rough schedule. Maybe you can say this is unlucky, but it can definitely kill their hope. The first ever Bundeliga game will play against VfB Stuttgart is tough enough, then their 4th Round will be away against Bayern München. So quick start is definitely needed or else they need to chase very hard following on. Plus they have to face the UEFA Champions League so it definitely makes them harder in the league schedule.

Hamburger SV - no more derby: Last season the 4-round Northern Derby killed all their title hope so every fan of Hamburger did not want to think about it. They had changed a lot in the summer, newly signed Marcus Berg has a high hope in the team as he is the top goalscorer in UEFA U21 Championship. It is expected he will directly replace Ivica Olic, who has gone to Bayern München this summer. Ze Roberto also joins the team and I believe he can bring the stability and experience to the midfield. I expect them they will have significant improvement and they cannot be underestimated. The only factor I concern is the new coach Bruno Labbadia. If he cannot adept to the team, it will be the fatal factor to stop them to win any title.
What's helping them to win: Stability. They were very consistent in the first half of the season and have won important games. They had been at the top of the table for a couple of weeks last season was because of this. The arrival of Ze Roberto can definitely stabilize the team further so they can be very threatening.
What's stopping them: Team fatigue. The reason why they lost all 4-round Northern Derby was the team fatigue. Players were very tired to play the game, so that the opponent was relatively easy to control the game. I believe this is fatal to them and they must figure out how to solve this problem.

Bayer Leverkusen - inexperienced team with experienced player: Last season Leverkusen was very impressing with the young guns. Partick Helmes did make a lot of impression, considering he just joined in for the first season. It is very unlucky for the team that he will miss the first half of season due to knee injury. In the summer transfer market, Leverkusen focused on getting the experienced players in order to balance the team. Sami Hyypia is definitely a good purchase as his experience can lead the defense line. The return of Theofanis Gekas will definitely relieve the pressure of young attacking line, such as Tranquillo Barnetta, Toni Kroos, and Stefan Kießling. So on paper they are stronger this season.
What's helping them to win: Energy plays. Fast and energetic plays lead them to win game. They are one of the fastest paced team last season and with all of the young players are staying, their style is not being affected so much. With the experienced coach Jupp Heynckes to lead the young player, I believe they will also get some balanced between the playing style.
What's stopping them: Second half season slump. After the start of second half season, they had a huge slump, especially in their temporary home ground in Düsseldorf. Now their home ground is finished to renovate, I believe somehow they will improve it a bit. However, due to the inexperienced players in the team, I believe the slump is not easy to avoid, so those experienced players are very important in that moment.

Borussia Dortmund - young boys rule: Speaking to young players, Borussia Dortmund is one of the teams we must talk about. Young coach Jürgen Klopp was bold enough to use the young guns and it paid off. Mats Hummels is now the number one central defender without a doubt and the other players are around him. The midfield is so energetic and they easily control the midfield with the lead from Tamas Hajnal. New comer Markus Feulner can relieve the pressure of Hajnal and the team is becoming better and better now.
What's helping them to win: Young players. They are just fearless. This is the most important factor to win games or even title. They are running so hard in order to control the midfield and they always did. So I believe they will keep on this season and threaten the strong teams.
What's stopping them: Finishing. For sure, they failed to convert the game plays into the practical goals. As the departure of Alexander Frei, it is very doubtful for the finishing. I predict that their finishing will getting worse. Last season they drew too many game because of poor finishing, so I believe they are even harder to snatch a draw if their finishing problem is not getting improved. A good striker is urgently needed so let us see who they get.

Now this is the end of this part. Next part I will preview some relegation threatened team.

German Bundesliga Season 2009-2010 Preview - hot favorites

2009-07-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga will open the curtain in 7 August 2009 with the blockbuster game between defending champion VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart. Before the season starts, I will preview generally to the league. This part I will preview the favorite championship winner:

Bayern München - forever favorite: No doubt about it, Bayern München is still the favorite of the league. After the tragic season, the team changed the leadership once more. The Dutch coach Louis van Gaal takes over the team and seems he is favoring the new players. Thomas Müller and Holger Badstuber are the examples. At the same time, the arrival of Ukrainian national Anatoliy Tymoshchuk will definitely lead to the defensive line become very solid as he has high rate of stamina and strength. Even though Lucio and Tim Borowksi leave the team, I do not believe it will bring too much harm, especially the case of Lucio, it maybe more beneficial to the team as Lucio is too aggressive and led the team more trouble last season.
What is helping them to win: Player ability. This is what Bayern München has every season. The best players in Germany are all around in the team so they only need to play well and they will win games. The arrival of Mario Gomez is definitely improving the team finishing. So, I believe the team will improve a lot.
What is stopping them: Consistency. This is what the team lack of last season. They can play very well but can also get humiliated in the following week. Actually consistency is what they only need in the Bundesliga as mentioned, they are the best team in Germany.

Werder Bremen - post-Diego era: As predicted, Diego leaves the team for his further development. So the team is basically enter the post-Diego era about 2 months ago. They, also as predicted, purchased Marko Marin from Borussia Mönchengladbach to fill in the vacancy. Together with Mesut Özil, they will be the most important duo in the team. They need to cover each other in order to create more spaces for each other and even the other players. On the other side, Naldo also left the team to France and now Per Mertesacker is the most important defender in the team, and I believe he is the key player to lead the team to success. Furthermore, the team needs to get another prolific striker as Claudio Pizarro had returned to Chelsea. So Hugo Almeida, Aaron Hunt, and the other strikers have to perform well.
What is helping them to win: Attack. This is what they are proud of, and this is the reason why they won the championship. Last season the strikers failed to convert the game plays into goals, even though Claudio Pizarro were in hot form. Now the midfield bascially maintain their ability and the strikers have to convert it into goals.
What is stopping them: Defence. The defence is further degraded after the departure of Naldo. Besides Per Mertesacker, Sebastian Prödl will become more important as he needs to relieve Mertesacker. As the team did not have any significant signings in the defence, it will be all counted on this duo.

VfB Stuttgart - local pride: Last season it can be said that it was the pride of locals as they did so well in the league under the base of local young guns. However, since the departure of Mario Gomez, Stuttgart had lost the focal point of attack. So unlucky at the same time, they failed to seek a successor to replace his position. Klaus-Jan Huntelaar was the hot favorite to join in the team but in the end the deal was undone. As the season is going to start, even they have purchased a new striker, Cacau is still the most important striker in the team as assuming there is a new striker to join in, he needs some time to fit into the team. The midfield and the defense do not change too much as they were solid last season. Thomas Hitzlsperger and Sami Khedira will continue to lead the midfield and Serder Tasci will be more important day by day.
What is helping them to win: Early start. Last season Stuttgart had a very slow start and trailed behind a long distance to the top table team. So even though they had a very great second half of the season, it never got close to win a championship. Therefore, I believe they need a early start in order to get enough points for the tight match schedule.
What is stopping them: Goalkeeping. As the defence is not too experienced to lead the line, goalkeeping is the most important factor. Jens Lehmann is degrading after Euro 2008 and he made some soft mistakes last season. As he is getting older, it is predicted that he will keep making mistakes.

FC Schalke 04 - Try again: Another try for them this season, as they have tried so many years and they got nothing. Felix Magath takes over the coaching job this season in order to meet all the fans' expectation - do what he did in Wolfsburg. Change is not significant in terms of transfer market, so I believe they will still have problem on creativity. Ivan Rakitic is very important player in the team as he is very creative and lead the team to score goals. Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan need to prove themselves this season as this was what they failed to do. In the defence, Benedikt Höwedes had an excellent season so this season he will be the first choice center back. He will take over the leading job from Bordon and it will be the deciding factor for Schalke.
What is helping them to win: Defence, defence, defence. From midfield to the center back, Schalke has a lot of solid players to tackle the ball and stop the play. Jermaine Jones is the typical example in the defence midfield. At the same time, they are very strong in the air so not so many teams can score lots of goals to them, which is the deciding factor to their fate.
What is stopping them: Creativity. I cannot believe that they did nothing to improve their pathetic creativity in this transfer market. Obviously Rakitic found a very hard time to create the play by himself and one more attacking midfielder is urgently needed.

This is my prediction of the hot favorites. Next part I will mention about the dark horses.

2009 State of Origin Review

2009-07-15T10:27:00.001-07:00

This year State of Origin has ended with Queensland created a history which was winning the trophy 4 years in a row. It showed that Queensland outplayed New South Wales in all sorts. New South Wales however, had claimed their pride with the victory at Suncorp Stadium to avoid the whitewash. Now here's some of my sharing in this State of Origin Series:

Harder, stronger, harder

It always be. It is all about State of Origin, and this is why this is one of the most fierce rivalry in the world. All of the best players in the league are all in this high stage of the game. So it is still not enough to play hard, strong, and good. Instead, they have to be harder, stronger, and better in order to become the hardest, the strongest, and the best. Queensland backline did so well in this Origin series to lead them to achieve history. At the same time, New South Wales forward line kept tiring the opposition so they had so many chances to score, even though they failed to convert.

80 minutes good football

There is not any space to have a break, as when a team slow down a little, they will get caught. Queensland nearly get caught in the final 20 minutes in Game 1 and Game 2 respectively, but New South Wales poor finishing and the cheap errors gave Queensland a chance to win the game. On the other hand, New South Wales always got caught in the first 20 minutes and led them to chase the game in most of the game. This was a huge pressure for New South Wales in the first 2 games in the Series as Queensland were protecting the lead very well. New South Wales had done it in Game 3, as they did not give any chance for Queensland to bounce back and led them to have a great win. So a winning team should play well in all 80 minutes.

Early lead, final say

It was very obvious in all these 3 games. Queensland made and extended the lead in the first 25 minutes in Game 1 and Game 2 so that they could hold on and win the game. Especially in Game 2, Queensland had 3 tries in a short period of time and led New South Wales hard to bounce back to the game, even it was very close. Close but not enough, this is what final say means. Queensland always had a final say in the dying minutes. In Game 1, Kurt Gidley made an important knock on error and handed the game to Queensland. Then in Game 2, New South Wales failed to finish the play in the final minutes and led Queensland had a chance to take a breathe and then scored a try to seal the Series. If Queensland failed to extend the lead in first 25 minutes like Game 3, New South Wales actually had the upper hand to win the game, or even took back the Series.

Creativity, skills, and pace

This is how both teams had tries. Forward rushing is not so useful in this year State of Origin. Instead, more skills, pace, and creativity are needed to score. Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Michael Jennings, and Jarryd Hayne are the good examples from Queensland and New South Wales. Their footwork and pace were really threatening to the opposition and created lots of line breaks in these 3 games. Jonathan Thurston and Trent Barrett were the focus on the creative plays. All the creative plays from each side were come from them. Their vision and skills did help the team to create a hole for the other teammates to go through and break the line. I believe more of these are needed in the upcoming Origin.

Now here is some forecast from each side:

What's next Queensland: Seems Darren Lockyer is fading out his role in representative football. Rumours said Brisbane Broncos wanted him to step down the representative football in order to offer him a 2-year contract. Even Lockyer said he did not concern about this so far, I believe he may step down as he fitness started not to supporting this tight schedule. So who will be new five-eigth? It is what Mal Meninga needs to think about. On the other hand, in Game 3 it showed the bench power of the side was not good enough, as Michael Crocker failed to impress at all, and the absence of Petero Civoniceva did affect the forward line. I believe Queensland needs to find a better forward players if they want to defend their title and continue the great history.

What's next New South Wales: Change, lots of changes. It seems players are all outplayed in the first 2 games in the Series. The halves combination was so unstable and every combination seems not the best to cope with Queensland strong halves. Peter Wallace and Terry Campese are the future but they are not experienced enough. Jamie Soward on the other hand is a good choice, but the problem is same with the previous. There will be lots of changes in the squad but I believe Jarryd Hayne will be the centre of the change. He did better and better since his debut in 2006 and he is now the most important player in New South Wales. So who and how can he be helped? This is one of the biggest question next year.

State of Origin is always the best rugby league rivalry in the world. The players gave more than they had in order to acheive the best. So this is why there are so many people in Australia love this game. Will New South Wales re-claim the title? Or Queensland will create the better record, which is 5 title winnings in a row? We will find out next year.

State of Origin III Preview

2009-07-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

Queensland had achieved history as predicted after they beated New South Wales in Game 2. Now the focus in Suncorp Stadium in Game 3 is if Queensland can further humiliate New South Wales to achieve the clean sweep record. Changes are found in both sides, so there will be a different combination and hopefully there will be another surprise. Now here's my preview:

Queensland: No doubt, they were too good for New South Wales. The combination of Cameron Smith, Jonathan Thurston, and Darren Lockyer were still threatening to New South Wales. On the other hand, Greg Inglis was the man who can finish the play well and gave Nre South Wales no chance to bounce back. Even though they may not have so much mentality in this game as they have secured the Origin shield, Suncorp is Suncorp, they will have a home court advantage which New South Wales must handle. Changes had been made as there were injuries including Israel Folau, Ben Hannant, and Petero Civoniceva. The forward may have some problems as the two men are very important for the forward protection to the backs.
What Queensland needs to improve: Again, fitness. Queensland were walking in the final 20 minutes of the Game 2 and New South Wales were so close to score to equalize or even win the game. Michael Crocker was struggling most in terms of fitness as he could barely hold the football tight and kept making mistakes. Sam Thaiday must stand up this time as his fitness is one of the best among the team.

New South Wales: Compared to Game 2, they had 11 changes ahead to Game 3. Even though there was various reasons to explain why there were so many changes, I believe coach Craig Bellamy and the selectors were very upset to their performance. Trent Barrett was the most threatening player in Game 2 and I believe he can keep bringing threats to Queensland this Wednesday. His experience and game reading can make the others play comfortably. The halfback is changed to Brett Kimmorley, compare with Peter Wallace in first two games. I believe this duo can bring a lot of combination and experience to the team so that players like Kurt Gidley and Jarryd Hayne will play better this time.
What New South Wales needs to improve: Finishing. As Queensland was walking in final 20 minutes in Game 2, they failed to score 1 more try to win the game. This was because they failed to finish the play, especially in Tackle 5 situation. Good kicking plays were rarely to see in Game 2 as they could not finish the game play well. They must improve this finishing or else Queensland will have a final say again.

My prediction: This is all about in Queensland's hand. If Queensland is chasing the clean sweep, New South Wales is very hard to stop them. As Queensland had already claimed the series, I believe New South Wales can have a slight advantage over Queensland. Also, Brett Kimmorley, Trent Barrett, and Kurt Gidley can bring lots of threats to Queensland if they combine well. So even Queensland is playing in Suncorp Stadium, I believe New South Wales this time can take some pride back home.
My tip: New South Wales by 1 try

State of Origin 2009 Game II Preview

2009-06-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday State of Origin will be played Game 2. New South Wales have no room to lose if they want to avoid Queensland to create history, which is 4 title winning in a row since the introduction of 3 game series. Queensland on the other side, however, would like to seal the title victory in Sydney. Now here's the preview:

New South Wales: The injury hit the Blues so hard as they had 7 changes compare to Game 1. Terry Campese was so disappointed in Game 1 so the Blues recuited veteran Trent Barrett to be the starting five-eigth. His experience absolutely helps the inexperienced Blues to assist Queensland. Robbie Farah will be very important as well because his kicks in play did threaten Queensland. Craig Wing on the other hand will continue to be the "super sub" as he brought a lot of threats once he was brought on. I believe even though the injury hits the Blues, this maybe a good news for them as this is a great chance to recall the veterans to play this important Game 2.
What they need to improve: Concentration. The Blues were not concentrated at all 80 minutes of the game led them lost Game 1. Four of the five tries from Queensland were come from Blues' lack of concentration. After Jarryd Hayne's try was denied, the team lost the concentration and conceded 3 tries in a short period. Also, in the end of Game 1, Kurt Gidley also lost the concentration and knocked the ball on and in the end, the Queensland sealed the win. So they must improve the concentration or they will let Queensland create history.

Queensland: If you ain't break it, why fix it? This can best describe the Maroons in Game 2 preparation. Willie Tonga is the only change as Justin Hodges is injured. The national backline in Game 1 were too fast and too big for the Blues so I believe they will keep the same tactics in this game. Cameron Smith, Jonathan Thurston, and Darren Lockyer will be the important combination of the game play. Together with Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, and Billy Slater, the Australia national backline will continue to threaten the Blues so much. As the Blues provide them just a little space and little time, the backline will bring them the maximum impact.
What they need to improve: Fitness. The Maroons were out of gas after the 60 minute mark so they provided a chance for the Blues to bounce back. It was lucky for them as they led the Blues in the early of the game so there were rooms for the Maroons to concede points and tries. Also, it was also lucky that Kurt Gidley made a schoolboy error and led the Maroons seal the game. Steve Price and Petero Civoniceva must have to keep their fitness well as they are the leader of the forward line, who they are protecting the backs. So I believe the key to create history is the forward fitness.

Key of the game: Still, it is very close call for me. The game is still not over even if anyone can score a try first. I believe the winning side is determined who can extend the lead. New South Wales even has a clear home court advantage, but Queensland started to adept and more even, to win against them in Sydney. In other words, Queensland is capable to win in away court. I believe Queensland can effectively convert the New South Wales error into tries and points and then extend the lead, just like Game 1. So, I believe Queensland can create history.
My tipping: Queensland win by 1 try

German Bundesliga My Best 11 Season 2008-2009

2009-06-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

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.

German Bundesliga Season 2008-2009 Team by Team Review (Part III)

2009-06-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

Previously I had reviewed the 2008-2009 season from 1st to 12th. This paer I will review the remaining teams in te bottom of the table:

13th place - Eintract Frankfurt: Ordinary can describe it all. The team did not perform well in the attacking line. Martin Fenin had a drastic season overall, he was an invisible man in the team. The other strikers could not perform well as well, only Ioannis Amanitidis had some good performance before his injury, no wonder they only scored 39 goals this season. Furthermore, the defense of the team did not do very well, as they had lost 60 goals this season. However, the home ground performance was good enough for them to get away from relegation, they had won 5 times and drawn 4 times out of 17 games. So home performance was the key of avoiding the further drop.

14th place - VfL Bochum: Same as Eintract Frankfurt, they had the problem of the attacks. Stanislav Sestak was the most important player in the team and he was the best striker in the team in fact. Diego Klimowicz even though joined the team in the winter, his effect was very limited as he did not fit in the team well. The reason why they stayed away from the relegation zone was the defense. They had the second best defense within the bottom six, which they lost 55 goals. And, they had 11 draws of the season that led them to successfully avoid the relegation in the last 2 weeks of the season.

15th place - Borussia Mönchengladbach: Previously I had tipped Gladbach would be the first team to be relegated, in fact I was wrong. Their gamble paid off in the midseason cleanup. Tomas Galasek performed very well to protect the midfield and relieved lots of pressure to the defense line. New goalkeeper Logan Bailly did a consistent job in order to try hard to stop goals, even they had lost 62 goals still. Alexander Baumjohann and Marko Marin did so well that the attack was improved a lot after the winter break. This was a great escape for them this season and they should have learn this lesson which nearly costed them a Bundesliga seat.

16th place - Energie Cottbus: Under the new league system, they had another chance to play against the third team in second division, which was 1. FC Nürnburg. However, their poor attacking led them to be beaten by 5-0 in aggregate. Lack of attacking options and the creativity led them to relegate this season. There was no one to create the attack consistently. All the hope was relying on Dimitar Rangelov. As he was injured, the whole team lost the attacking plays. Jiayi Shao should have done better, but the management did not trust him at all, so even Shao tried so hard, he only had very limited chances to play and he could not help the team which such a little playing time. I do not believe they can bounce back immediately as the other teams from second division are very competent.

17th place - Karlsruher SC: After 2 seasons in Bundesliga, the team went back to the place the belonged to. The team did not have any miracle at all, as their attack was very poor. They had recorded to be scoreless for more than 700 minutes showed that they did not know how to attack without Tamas Hajnal, who had transferred to Borussia Dortmund last summer. Josh Kennedy did not do well at all, as he was supposed to be the top striker in the team. Sebastian Freis was the only attacker did well in the team that was lacking of supplies. He did what he could but sadly it was not enough for helping the team to get out of trouble. Same as Cottbus, I do not believe they can bounce back right after the relegation.

18th place - Arminia Bielefeld: They were under the raider - for being the relegation team. They had the worst attacks in the Bundesliga, even worse that Karlsruher, scored 29 goals out of 34 games. Artur Wichniarek was the only player who could score goals but his cold streak in the last 2 months of the season directly led the team to relegate. The other players such as Vlad Munteanu should have done more and better as he was supposed to be the provider of scoring. Even they only lost 56 goals in the league, this was not good enough to cover the poor attacking. So this was the reason why they went down.

Now this is all of the review! Next time I will review the German teams in European competition.

German Bundesliga Season 2008-2009 Team by Team Review (Part II)

2009-06-08T23:31:00.001-07:00

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.

German Bundesliga Season 2008-2009 Team by Team Review (Part I)

2009-06-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga had ended the season 2008-2009 with surprise. Now it is 2 weeks after the season, it is a good time to review it team by team. In this part I will review the teams from 1st to 6th:

Champion - VfL Wolfsburg: I believe there was not so many people to tip them to be the champion. The main reason to win the title was the excellent home performance. They recorded 16 wins and 1 draw in their 17 homes games, which including a 5-1 astonishing victory against Bayern München. The other important reason was the improvement of the away game record after the winter break. Comapre with 1st half of the season, they played far better when they were away from home, which including the 5-0 victory against Hannover 96. Eden Dzeko, Grafite, and Zvejezdan Misimovic played an important role to lead the team to reach their first ever title. So I believe these factors were so important to lead them to win.

Runner-up - Bayern München: Bayern München again, they had a title-less season. It was drastic for them as they did not even reach to the top of the table once. Jürgen Klinsmann failed to bring the team consistency so I can say this season was like a rollercoaster ride for them. Careless loss was the biggest problem for them, especially at home, which they conceded 23 goals in 17 games. This poor record led them to erase all the good efforts in the away game form, which was the best in the league. The team still relied on Franck Ribery too much, as when he was absent, the whole team could not create. Luca Toni was the worst player in the team, even he was top goalscorer in the team but he missed a lot of chances and slowed down all the plays. Another big change is urgently needed in order to regain all the pride next season.

3rd place - VfB Stuttgart: Stuttgart was the comeback kid of this season. There was not any clue to bounce back like this before the winter break. Coach Markus Babbel took the credit for sure. He brought the team spirit and determination in order to do the nearly impossible job. Their excellent performance after the winter break ever led them to challenge the title. The other reason was Mario Gomez. The future Bayern München striker had improved a lot, which he scored 17 goals after the winter break. Compare with 7 goals before the winter break, it was very obvious to see his revival led Stuttgart improve and challenge the title. Now they have extra 30 million Euro for the departure of Gomez, I believe they will improve very well next season.

4th place - Hertha Berlin: Hertha Berlin was one of the teams who could challenge the title. However, they could not hold on in the end and led them even fail to reach next season's Champions League. The main reason was the inconsistence performance of Andrei Voronin. Hertha Berlin reached the best form when Voronin reached his best. However, when Voronin reached the cold streak, the team lost the scoring point and reached the cold streak. Marko Pantelic was unable to relieve the pressure from Voronin even he took the starting place in the end of season. The defense was very solid so they always held on and took the win with small margin or held out for a draw. As Voronin was likey to return to Liverpool, Hertha Berlin must find another good striker in next season.

5th place - Hamburger SV: "Northern Derby" was the phrase that they never forget. "Werder Bremen" was the team they hated most. The 4-game series of "Northern Derby" did kill all of their title hope. Before the derby Hamburger did very well and they were one of the teams who could win the treble (League, DFB Pokal, and UEFA Cup). However, they only failed to beat one team, that was Werder Bremen. The main reason was player fatigue. Piotr Trochowski, Jose Paolo Guerrero, and Mlaten Petric were stroke by the fatigue and their form slipped fast. Only Ivica Olic could maintain his best form but the others were too tired to relieve him. I believe they need to recruit more players in the next season in order to deal with the tight match schedule.

6th place - Borussia Dortmund: They also were one of the surprises this season. They had a young coach with a young team to lead them to reach a good performance and result. Neven Subotic did very well in the back together with Mats Hummels. Nelson Valdez started to improve and matched the style with Alexander Frei. However, they had too many draw games, which were 14 games of the season and was the second highest draw games. It showed that they failed to finish the game when they were leading. The inexperience led them to have this problem as they young guns could not hold their grip in the crucial moment. I believe they need to input more experienced players in order to stablize the team.

So this is the first part of the review. The second and third part will be coming soon!

State of Origin 2009 Game I Preview

2009-06-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Australia's most furious rivals - State of Origin will start the Game I in Wednesday (3 June) at Melbourne. New South Wales had 8 debutants as they wants to bring some new breath to win their first Series in 3 years. On the other hand, Queensland bring the original strongest squad in order to win the Series 4 years in a row. Now here's the tipping:

Queensland: Queensland did not change a lot compare to the squad last season. Only Darren Lockyer is back into the Origin to replace Scott Prince. The halves combination is still very strong and the creativeness of Jonathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer will be the key of the game. Israel Folau will bring lots of threats on the right wing as his jumping and pace is one of the best in NRL. The most important player is Thurston still as he will be the second receiver of the attack and he will have more space to make passes and kicks.
Key winning point - halves combination: As I mentioned, the halves are the centre point of the Queensland attack. Thurston and Lockyer are the starting point of the attack so New South Wales must stop them. Along with hooker Cameron Smith, the 9, 7, 6 combination is really good and creative. If this combination is effective, Queensland can win this game easily.

New South Wales: Compare with Queensland, coach Craig Bellamy had recruited 8 new debutants to enter the team. The most expecting debutants will be Robbie Farah and Terry Campese. This year New South Wales also have the best backs in last 3 years as they were all outplayed by the Queensland backs, especially in the halves position. Even though Terry Campese will play an important role in this game, I still believe Peter Wallace is the most important player in the game, as he knows the way Brisbane Broncos play, which is very similar to Queensland playing style. Wallace is very good at making use the space to create attack so if there is any space left for him, he can create lots of threats.
Key winning point - forward offloading: Still, offloading is the key point of New South Wales. For a long time New South Wales have a clear advantage of the forwards as they are strong, fast, and hard to catch. They also are very good at offloading so Queensland kept chasing. So if New South Wales can play the offload, Queensland will be tired very quickly and New South Wales can score tries easily.

Tipping: I believe the match will be very very close. Actually the advantage of both sides are fading as Queensland's forwards are better and New South Wales' halves and backs are the best in the last 3 years. Playing at Melbourne is a little bit advantage to Queensland as they won the decider in 2006 there. I believe the match experience can bring Queensland through as this is one of the most important factors of the game. However, the margin will be very narrow.
My tip: Queensland win by 1 try

So happy Origin!

DFB Pokal Final + German Bundesliga Promotion / Relegation Playoff Tipping

2009-05-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend there are two matches to play, they are DFB Pokal Final and the second leg of promotion / relegation playoff. So I will tip those two matches together here:

DFB Pokal Final - Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen (Saturday): Both teams have lost their last Bundesliga matches last week. Werder Bremen had rested some players and they lost against VfL Wolfsburg 5-1. Mesut Özil is expected to back in action, together with Diego and Claudio Pizzaro, the attacking of Werder Bremen should not have a big problem. Defence is the only concern however. Since Per Mertesacker is out of action, the team failed to have a leader to lead the defense and led to lot of cheap errors. Diego and Frank Baumann will have their last game for Werder Bremen at the same time so they will give their all. On the other hand, Leverkusen also lost the game, they lost against Energie Cottbus 3-0. Patrick Helmes and Stefan Kießling are the attacking duo which Werder Bremen needs to watch out for. The midfielders such as Tranquillo Barnetta and Toni Kroos will play an important role as they are the good creator in attack. I believe this match will be decided in greater defense. Both teams cancel each other out and I believe extra time is likely to happen.
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Promotion / Relegation Playoff 2nd Leg - 1. FC Nürnberg vs Energie Cottbus (Sunday): Last night Nürnberg had destroyed the hope of Energie Cottbus which they won 3-0 in Cottbus home ground. Discipline defense and effective counter attacks led Cottbus did not have any chance to fight back. Peer Kluge and Daniel Gygax were playing an important role to stop Cottbus attack and create the counter attacks. Issac Boakye is the important striker in this matchup as he had scored twice in the 1st leg. Also, the team had an excellent home game record which they only lost 1 game in the entired season. So I believe Cottbus are having the hard time. On the other hand, Cottbus must throw everything on right now as they need to score at least 3 goals in order to ask for an extra time. Emil Jula had problem on fitness and he is too easy to get defended as his pace is very slow. Jiayi Shao and Ervin Skela must perform better as both of them were getting frozen last match. I believe Cottbus cannot level the game and they will lose more goals. Nürnberg will promote to Bundesliga with a win.
First Leg: 1. FC Nürnberg win 3-0
My tip: 1. FC Nürnberg win 3-0

So this is it! Have a nice week! And to my friend, have a nice trip in China!

German Bundesliga Promotion / Relegation Playoff Tipping

2009-05-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga this Thursday (6pm local time) will have the promotion / relegation playoff first leg, which is Energie Cottbus versus 1. FC Nürnberg. Both teams are quite even and I believe it will be a tight matchup. Here's my tipping of this match:

Energie Cottbus played very well which they maintain their chance to stay in Bundesliga after beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0. Emil Jula was in excellent form and I believe he can keep on in this match. Jiayi Shao at the same time became a man behind a hero in the recent 2 matches as he could create in the midfield, as well as relieving Ervin Skela. On the other hand, Nürnberg was basically confirmed to be at 3rd place 2-3 weeks ago. Marek Mintal, and Isaac Boakye are the important attacking duo at up front and they are very good at scroing goals, especially the defence of Cottbus are not solid. I believe this match Nürnberg will have a chance to score an away goal or even a draw to bring to the Sunday's second leg.
My tip: Match draw 1-1

So this is the tipping. Later I will tip the DFB Pokal as well as the seond leg of promotion / relegation playoff.

German Bundesliga General Preview

2009-05-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga had finished the 2008-2009 season after VfL Wolfsburg claimed their first ever league title. Bayern München had just barely claimed the 2nd spot in order to progress to UEFA Champions League Group Stage in 2009-2010 season. Now I will review the league generally, then I will list out some statistics:

Intense but poor season

This season was the most intense one since 2000-2001 season as Schalke at that moment just lost the title by a goal difference in last minute. As Bayern München failed to climb up to the top spot ever once, there were a lot of teams to climb up to the top, including Hamburger SV, Hertha Berlin, 1899 Hoffenheim, and the final winner VfL Wolfsburg. However, when looking at the league table, VfL Wolfsburg won the title with only 69 points. This was a very poor record as normally this level only led them to 4th to 6th position. This was because generally the title contenders played really poorly. They won the game at the same time but they all lost the game at the same time as well. So no team could have a clear lead in the top spot. At the same time, the difference between top and bottom team was only 41 points, so which meant the league was really even.

Attacking football

Attacking football kept ruling from the Day 1 to the end of season. Current champion VfL Wolfsburg had scored 81 goals overall. Their strikers, Grafite and Eden Dzeko had scored 54 goals in total and led the team to kept scoring. This was the reason why they won the title as there was no one to stop them well. The second placed Bayern München had also scored 71 goals, thanks to attacking style Jürgen Klinsmann. On the other hand, the relegated team such as Arminia Bielefeld and Karlsruher SC had 29 and 30 goals respectively, which meant their inability to score goals led them to fail to retain their spot on 2009-2010 season. Especially when looking at their goals conceded, which were 56 and 54 goals respectively, proved that their defense was not really bad. So it proved attacking football in Bundesliga could lead the team win the championship and lead the team to relegate.

Home team rules

Home court advantage was the key factor to win the title or avoiding relegation. Current champion VfL Wolfsburg was invincible in their home. They had beaten Bayern München and Werder Bremen 5-1 seperately. Furthermore, they were unbeaten in their home, and had won 16 matches out of 17, which was top of the league. This was an astonishing record and this was the biggest reason for them to win, as their away record was 8th in overall. Oppositely, Bayern München even was the best in away form, their home court record did drag them down, which they were 5th in overall. Hannover was the other example of the importance of home court advantage. They had the worst away game record, which they only scored 7 points in 17 away matches. However, their home record was very good that they had 8 wins and 7 draws at home. So, the home record led them to avoid relegation in the end.

Power shift

As Bayern München failed to defend their title this season, it showed that the power had shifted to the teams with solid, consistent, and highly attacking style. VfL Wolfsburg had played really consistently in the last month of the season and led them to win the title. Bayern at the same time they failed to do so, therefore they could not climb to the top spot ever once. On the other hand, the title contenders such as Werder Bremen, Schalke 04, and Bayer Leverkusen failed to perform consistently so that they only remained at the middle of the table. So this season was the metaphor of power shift of the league. Apart from Bayern München, who they had their quality all the time, the other team could not guaratee their chances to win the title.

Now here's some facts and statistics in this season:

Champion: VfL Wolfsburg
Champions League Group Stage: VfL Wolfsburg, Bayern München
Champions League Qualifier: VfB Stuttgart
Europa League: Hertha Berlin, Hamburger SV, DFB Pokal winner
Top Goalscorer: Grafite (VfL Wolfsburg, 28 goals)
Biggest Home Win: Borussia Dortmund 6-0 Arminia Bielefeld (16 May 09)
Biggest Away Win: Eintract Frankfurt 0-5 Werder Bremen (13 May 09); Hannover 96 0-5 VfL Wolfsburg (16 May 09)
Highest Scoring: Werder Bremen 5-4 1899 Hoffenheim (27 Sep 08)
Total Goals: 894
Average Scoring: 2.92

German Bundesliga Final Week Tipping

2009-05-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

This Saturday will be the final week of the Bundesliga Season 08-09. VfL Wolfsburg is the clear front runner in the title race as they have 2 points advantage and 7 superior goal difference against Bayern München. At the same time, the relegation fight is clearer now, even though it is still unknown which team will success and which team will fail. Before I make any tippings, I will list out all the title winning possibilities from each team. Some of them are not practical but it is all about statistical possibilities only.

VfL Wolfsburg win the title:

They win the game; or
They draw, and the draw game of Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart, and any result of Hertha Berlin
They lost, and the draw game of Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart, and any result of Hertha Berlin

Bayern München win the title:

They win the game, with VfL Wolfsburg lost; or
They win the game by more than 7 goals margin, with VfL Wolfsburg draw

VfB Stuttgart win the title:

They win the game, with VfL Wolfsburg lost; or
They win the game by more than 14 goals margin, with VfL Wolfsburg draw

Hertha Berlin win the title:

They win the game, with Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart draw, and VfL Wolfsburg lost. Total margin between Hertha Berlin and VfL Wolfsburg must be more than 24 goals

Now here's the tipping:

VfL Wolfsburg (1st) vs Werder Bremen (10th): Wolfsburg had won a very important match against Hannover 96 last week and led them to have a valuable lead to win their first ever title. Since the return of Zvjezdan Misimovic, Eden Dzeko and Grafite had the unlimited supply from the midfield and they kept scoring. The scoring duo had scored 51 goals in total that showed how treatening they were. I believe this match they will keep threatening the Werder Bremen defense as the absence of Per Mertesacker. Naldo and Sebastian Prödl are not a good combination in defense so Wolfsburg are easy to score goals. On the other hand, Werder Bremen needs to prepare the DFB Pokal harder as they lost UEFA Cup Final. Players are fatigue as the UEFA Cup Final had been played for 120 minutes. Mesut Özil is believed not to play but Diego may start the game as he was suspended in the midweek and he needs to keep his form for DFB Pokal. I believe Werder Bremen can score goals but Wolfsburg can win the match and win the title.

Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 2-1

My tip: Wolfsburg win 4-2

Bayern München (2nd) vs VfB Stuttgart (3rd): Bayern München had missed the catch up against Wolfsburg last week and now they only hope for protecting the 2nd place in order to qualify for UEFA Champions League next season. Luca Toni is still in quiet form, he simply cannot protect the possession well and he keeps losing the ball all the time. Franck Ribery is back in top form, so he will be very important in this match. Lukas Podolski is good, but only for 60 minutes. So he must find some goals before his fitness cannot support his performance. The defense is still in trouble in dealing with counter attacks, unfortunately this is the strength of VfB Stuttgart. On the other hand, Stuttgart is in red hot form and lead them to have chance to win the title. Mario Gomez unfortunately is having a trouble of minor injury and he failed to score goals in last 2 matches. However the counter attack is still very threatening as Thomas Hitzlsperger and Sami Khedira are very fit now. Cacau and Cipiran Marica are still threatening to Bayern München defense but Bayern München can still win the game with slight home court advantage and better match experience.

Last matchup: Match draw 2-2

My tip: Bayern München win 2-1

Karlsruher SC (18th) vs Hertha Berlin (3rd): Even Karlsruher failed to avoid relegation directly, they still keep their hope alive as they can still climb up to 16th position to participate in the promotion / relegation playoff against Nürnberg. They boosted their morale after winning against Werder Bremen away from home. Lars Stindl will be very important to the team as he shone through in the field last week. This match they must win the game in order to climb up the table so they will give everything they can. On the other side, Hertha Berlin basically lost the hope for winning their title after they drew against Schalke last week. Andrei Voronin is not fit anymore and Marko Pantelic is too unstable to rely on. Gojko Karcar is the only attacking player who can rely on and I believe he needs to work harder in order to lead the team to win. I believe Hertha Berlin will win this one as they are better in player quality, so Karlsruher will farewell to Bundesliga.

Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 4-0

My tip: Hertha Berlin win 3-0

Eintract Frankfurt (13th) vs Hamburger SV (6th): Frankfurt now are safe from relegation so I believe they are relaxed and enjoy the remaining of the season. So I believe they can perform their best side as they do not any pressure at all. Patrick Ochs is still suspended but it will not affect them at all. On the other side, Hamburger needs to win the match as many goals as they can in order to get the last seat to qualify for Europe. Piotr Trochowski and Ivica Olic are the most important players in the team. I believe Hamburger can win this one in order to protect their hope for European competition.

Last matchup: Hamburger SV win 1-0

My tip: Hamburger SV win 2-0

Energie Cottbus (17th) vs Bayer Leverkusen (9th): Cottbus had lost the Stuttgart and led them to the must-win match this week. So they will give everything they can in order to win the match. Dimitar Rangelov and Stanislav Angelov are the most important duo in the attacking line, as well as the supply from Ervin Skela, they are the only weapon in this match. Even Bayer Leverkusen is the strong opponent, it is lucky for Cottbus that Leverkusen does not anything to fight for in the league. They need to prepare the DFB Pokal so I do not believe they will pay too much attention on this match. Even Patrick Helmes may start the match, I believe he will not give his all and he will just maintain his form as his first priority. So I believe Cottbus will win this one and they at least can participate in the promotion / relegation playoff.

Last matchup: Match draw 1-1

My tip: Energie Cottbus win 2-1

Arminia Bielefeld (16th) vs Hannover 96 (11th): Bielefeld had been humiliated by Borussia Dortmund 6-0 last week and it did hurt the team so much. Even worse, they had sacked the head coach Michael Frontzeck 2 days after the humiliation and the interim coach Jörg Berger took over. I believe the new interim coach will not change anything special at all so I believe the players such as Vlad Munteanu will be still important. However, their morale is in the lowest of the low and it is very meesy within the team. So I believe they are hard to win the match. Speaking to humiliation, Hannover is also been humiliated by Wolfsburg by losing 5-0 at home. Even though they are humiliated, I believe Hannover can stand up and win the match at away. This is because they do not have any pressure and they are sticking together well internally, so I believe Hannover can win this match and lead them to have 3 away wins in a row.

Last matchup: Match draw 1-1

My tip: Hannover 96 win 2-0

Borussia Mönchengladbach (15th) vs Borussia Dortmund (5th): Gladbach even lost the game last week, they still have a very good position on avoiding relegation as they only need 1 point to confirm their survival. Also, they have 4 goals advantage against Armina Bielefeld, so Gladbach still have chance to avoid relegation directly if they do not lose the game in big margin. Alexander Baumjohann is in top form and he can create lots of through balls to his own teammates and threaten the opposition. Also, the team is in the great morale so I believe they can fight hard and bring a hard time to Dortmund. On the other hand, Dortmund is in red hot form as they won 6-0 last week. Nelson Valdez is very important to the team and I believe he will bring threats to Gladbach. Even it is so, I believe Gladbach can snatch a draw as they have target to achieve.

Last matchup: Borussia Dortmund win 2-1

My tip: Match draw 1-1

Schalke 04 (8th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (7th): Both teams failed to qualify for Europe as they failed to win the match last week. Schalke was basically looking forward the arrival of Felix Magath next season so fans do not care about how bad they play now. Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan have the one last chance to prove themselves they are worth to stay in the team so they will play extra hard. Jermaine Jones is the most important midfielder in the team as he can stop Carlos Eduardo. On the other hand, since the return of Carlos Eduardo, Hoffenheim had gained back their best attacking form. His through balls and position are very good that bring a lot of threats to the opposition. I believe there is a high score draw as both teams do not have any pressure.

Last matchup: Mach draw 1-1

My tip: Match draw 2-2

1. FC Köln (12th) vs VfL Bochum (14th): Both teams are the same, they only hope for playing the best football this week as both of them do not have anything to fight for. Köln even though in the cold streak, I believe they do not care about it as they are foreseeing the next season and they are dared to test. On the other hand, Bochum finally can relieve a bit as they won last week to ensure their survival in the Bundesliga. They will enjoy the match and the result is finally not important for them. So I believe this is a draw as they both lose the target to fight for.

Last matchup: 1. FC Köln win 2-1

My tip: Match draw 1-1

So that's all my tipping this Bundesliga season. Next I will review the performance team by team. Before that, I will also tip the DFB Pokal and the promotion / relegation playoff.

German Bundesliga Week 33 Tipping

2009-05-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga had reached the second last round of the season. All the title contenders cancelled each other out as they all won their matches. This week is the most important week of all teams as the title contenders need to get the advantage to their final week and the relegation teams need to get their last chances to get survive. Also, please noted that all matches now will be played at Saturday 3:30pm local time. Now here's this week's tipping:

1899 Hoffenheim (7th) vs Bayern München (2nd): Hoffenheim is now in 2-game winning streak after the long lasted non-winning streak. Demba Ba and Sejad Salihovic are now back in top form so this is a threat to Bayern München. Also, Carlos Eduardo is back in action this week so those 2 players mentioned will have better supply from the midfield. Hoffenheim need to get these 3 points as they need to get the 6th place in order to participate in the European competition next season. Speaking to get all 3 points, Bayern München must get these 3 points desperately in order to defend their hard earned title. Franck Ribery and Lukas Podolski are in hot form. Their counter attacking speed will bring lots of threats to Hoffenheim. Lucio was a right back last match so I believe he will keep that position. Miroslav Klose is back in action so I believe he can relieve Luca Toni. This match Bayern München will have a slight advantage even they are away from home. This is because Hoffenheim is not that shape anymore even though they won last 2 matches.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 2-1
My tip: Bayern München win 2-0

Hertha Berlin (3rd) vs Schalke 04 (8th): Hertha Berlin had won the important match this midweek and keep the title hope alive. Marko Pantelic is in top form again, his form is very important for the final push of the league. Together with Andrei Voronin, I believe this scoring duo will get lots of threats to the opposition. Cicero is the other midfielder who is fit and bring threat to the opposition as well, so I believe Schalke will have a hard time on dealing with them. On the other hand, Schalke had recorded 3 loss in a row and they must pick up the pace and win the game in order to protect their European qualification. Jefferson Farfan was so unreliable and Kevin Kuranyi was so unlucky in these 3 weeks so Ivan Ratikic is the only player who can trust in attack. Heiko Westermann and Benedikt Höwedes will be the key person in this match as Schalke must have the solid defense against Hertha Berlin. Hertha Berlin will win this match as they have home court advantage and better in form.
Last matchup: Schalke 04 win 1-0
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 3-1

Hannover 96 (11th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (1st): Even though Hannover do not have anything to fight for, they are still in top form. Their away form had improved drastically that they took all 6 points in recent 2 matches. However, still, their excellent home court performance is their reason to lead them to be safe in the league. Jacek Krzynowek and Mike Hanke are very fit so far so I believe they can score goals against Wolfsburg. On the other hand, Wolfsburg recently is not too stable in form as they won Borussia Dortmund 3-0 after they lost to Stuttgart 4-1. This week they are away from home so that their performance will be affected significantly. Eden Dzeko and Grafite keep the good form, with the excellent supply from Zvjezden Misimovic. I believe Hannover can snatch a draw as they are very good at home.
Last matchup: VfL Wolfsburg win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 2-2

Werder Bremen (10th) vs Karlsruher SC (18th): Werder Bremen even only enjoyed themselves in the league, they are still in red hot form, especially after beating Eintract Frankfurt 5-0. Diego will continue to claim to be "injured" and will be rested, but Mesut Özil can relieve his job effectively. In order to prepare the UEFA Cup final in the coming Wednesday, I believe some of the players will be rested as well. However, it will not affect their chance to victory as they are only facing Karlsurher. Karlsruher now are basically relegated after they lost to Hannover 3-2. They only have the mathematical hope to avoid from relegation. All they have to do now is praying for miracle. I believe Werder Bremen will win this match easily and Karlsruher can kiss the Bundesliga goodbye.
Last matchup: Karlsruher SC win 1-0
My tip: Werder Bremen win 4-0

VfB Stuttgart (4th) vs Energie Cottbus (17th): VfB Stuttgart had a very good run still. They are one of the serious contenders to win the title. Mario Gomez did not play this Wednesday due to minor injury so I believe he is fit enough in this match. Cacau proved himself he can stand up and relieve Gomez after scored a wonderful goal this Wednesday. Thomas Hitzlsperger and Sami Khedira are the most important midfielders as their through balls and long shots are really threatening that Energie Cottbus is hard to stop. On the other hand, Energie Cottbus had lost the important game this Wednesday and they are in deep trouble in relegation now. I believe their morale is lowered and this match is very hard for them. All they have to do is stop allowing any goals as long as they can, so Gerald Tremmel is the most important player in the match. I believe Stuttgart will win this one and Cottbus need to fight at the last round of the league.
Last matchup: VfB Stuttgart win 3-0
My tip: VfB Stuttgart win 3-0

Borussia Dortmund (6th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (16th): Borussia Dortmund had lost the first game in last 8 matches. I do not believe their morality will be affected significantly as they are in a good position in qualifying in Europe. Kevin-Prince Boateng is suspended this week and there is some effects on the right flank. However, the real important players should be Alexander Frei and Nelson Valdez still. On the other hand, Bielefeld is still in cold streak and even they are very tough recently, they had failed for win a game 8 times. Vlad Munteanu is the most important player in the team but he does too much work and even Arthur Wichniarek cannot help him. I believe Dortmund will win this one to continue the great streak and in the end they will qualifying for Europe.
Last matchup: Match draw 0-0
My tip: Borussia Dortmund win 3-0

Bayer Leverkusen (9th) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (14th): Bayer Leverkusen is again in the very cold streak in the league but they seem they do not care as they have to prepare for the DFB Pokal final. Patrick Helmes failed to create any threat last match but Renato Augusto did. Their defense was quite fragile and Rene Adler did lots of works to stop allowing goals this Tuesday still concede three goals. Meanwhile, they failed to win a single home game since they called LTU Arena home in the remaining of the season. So I believe it is very hard to win a game this time as Gladbach is very hot in form. Gladbach had won 2 matches and claimed the most important 6 points. They have a bright future on avoiding relegation now and I believe they will put a full gear to win this game. Alexander Baumjohann is very important to the team as his through balls are really good. I believe Baumjohann will be the key player in this match and with his assistance, Gladbach will win this match and be the first team to be out of relegation trouble.
Last matchup: Bayer Leverkusen win 3-1
My tip: Borussia Mönchengladbach win 3-1

Hamburger SV (5th) vs 1. FC Köln (12th): Hamburger finally won a match to boost their moral and kept a slim title hope in the remaining 2 matches. However, I believe they will keep the European qualification as their primary target rather than winning a title as they are 5 points behind Wolfsburg. Jose Paolo Guerrero is currently very fit so I believe he is very important in this match. Marcell Jansen is also important as he can bring lots of threats in the left flank. On the other hand, Köln is pretty relaxed in the remaining matches as they are very safe in 12th position. So I believe there is nothing much to fight for and they will not fight in the full gear. Based on the determination and the interest at stake, I believe Hamburger will win this match easily.
Last matchup: Hamburger SV win 2-1
My tip: Hamburger SV win 3-0

VfL Bochum (15th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (13th): Bochum had recorded 5 matches losing streak and they are back into the relegation trouble. Players could not create chances to score goals was the real reason to explain their failure in recent 5 weeks. Christoph Dabrowski even can stop the attack well, he cannot create the play well. Mimoun Azaouagh and Shinji Ono will be the players who create plays, but the recent form cannot prove they can. So this is a very hard match for them to win a game. However, they are lucky that Frankfurt do not have much to fight for. They only 1 point to get away from the relegation trouble. Frankfurt had lost 5-0 this Wednesday and hurt the team pretty much. Patrick Ochs is suspended this match so the right flank may have some problem. I believe they will cancel each other out this match and record a draw as both teams fail to find anything effective to win.
Last matchup: Eintract Frankfurt win 4-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

So this is my tipping and the preview! Hope the Bundesliga will be that intense until the last moment this season!

German Bundesliga Week 32 Tipping

2009-05-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga had opened the midweek blockbuster before the final push of this season. Bayern München was the biggest winner last week and they shared the top position with VfL Wolfsburg with just 2 goals different. Now there is only 2 points difference between top 5 teams so it is still anyone's guess to the league winner. Plus after Borussia Mönchengladbach won against Schalke 04 yesterday, the relegation fight is as intense as the title race. So this week is very important for each team. Now here's the tipping:

Bayern München (2nd) vs Bayer Leverkusen (9th) - Tuesday: This is the most important match for this week. Bayern München had won against Cottbus last week and they shared the top position after Wolfsburg lost at the same time. Franck Ribery is fit again after the suspension so he is very improtant in this match. Lukas Podolski is gaining back his best form slowly but surely so he can bring lots of threats to Leverkusen and effectively relieve the scoring pressure of Luca Toni. Miroslav Klose is fit again but I do not believe he will start in this match. On the other hand, Leverkusen had just snatched a draw against Bielefeld last week and extend their non-winning streak at their temporary home - LTU Arena. However, their away record is very good that Bayern should watch out for. Toni Kroos will be likely to start and he is desperately to prove that Bayern made a huge mistake for loaning him out. Patrick Helmes will be very important player as he is the only striker who can threaten Bayern. I believe the match is pretty close and Bayern will win by their home court advantage.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 2-0
My tip: Bayern München win 2-1

Karlsruher SC (18th) vs Hannover 96 (11th) - Tuesday: Karlsruher last week had lost to Borussia Dortmund and lost the important 3 points led to them in the deep trouble for the relegation. They simply do not have any room to run away and they must win this match in order to keep the slim hope alive. Giovanni Federico failed to impress the fans at all and Sebastian Freis is not stable enough to keep scoring. There is also no one to create in the midfield so the supply to the strikers are very limited. On the other hand, Hannover had won their first game away from home 2 weeks ago and boost their morale very much even though they failed to win last week. Robert Enke is in hot form and he is the most important player in the game. Mikael Forrsell and Mike Hanke are the players who can guarantee the scoring and I believe it is very easy for them to score this match. After this match Karlsruher is very likely to confirm they will be relegated and Hannover will not have any mercy to them, so their second away win is around the corner.
Last matchup: Hannover 96 win 3-2
My tip: Hannover 96 win 2-0

1. FC Köln (12th) vs Hertha Berlin (3rd) - Tuesday: Köln is in the cold streak recently as they lost against Hoffenheim last week. The main reason for not being stable for the team is the midfield is not creative at all. Milivoje Novakovic is the only player who can score goals consistently but he is currently in the cold streak. So I believe this match the team is very hard to fight against Hertha Berlin. Hertha Berlin on the other hand, had gained back the winning form after the return of Andrei Voronin, as well as the good form of Marko Pantelic. It is not too late for them to win a title as they are just 1 point behind. They will fight as hard as they can in order to keep the title hope. I believe this match Hertha Berlin will win based on their determination.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 2-1
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 2-0

VfL Wolfsburg (1st) vs Borussia Dortmund (5th) - Tuesday: VfL Wolfsburg had lost 2 in recent 3 matches and consequently lost all the advantage in the top of the table. Grafite and Eden Dzeko seemed useless without the supply from Zvjezden Misimovic. This match he is doubtful as he was picked up the injury last week. Ashkan Dejagah is absolutely not good enough to relieve Misimovic so it is a big question mark for Wolfsburg if they can score goals. At the same time, Borussia Dortmund is in the hot streak which they won 6 games in a row. This winning streak led them even have chance to win the title mathematically. Alexander Frei and the other attackers are in hot streak so that they are easy to score goals. This match Wolfsburg is in the favorite side but I do believe Dortmund can bring surprises to the fans.
Last matchup: Match draw 0-0
My tip: Borussia Dortmund win 2-0

Eintract Frankfurt (13th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Wednesday: Frankfurt so far is not safe from relegation yet mathematically, but basically they are safe from relegation. They do not have any pressure to play so that I believe they will go easily. Hard tackles or nasty fouls are not expected to see often in this match. Same as Werder Bremen here, all they have to prepare is the UEFA Cup final and the DFB Pokal final. Diego may play in this match in order to maintain his hot cue. Claudio Pizarro may also play for a half based on the same reason. Per Mertesacker is confirmed to be out for the remaining of the season so it is a great chance for Sebastian Prödl to prove himself. I believe this match should be a draw as both of them do not really care about this match.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 5-0
My tip: Match draw 2-2

Schalke 04 (7th) vs VfB Stuttgart (4th) - Wednesday: Schalke yesterday had a surprise to the fan that they lost 1-0 against Mönchengladbach. Jefferson Farfan and Kevin Kuranyi again are back to cold streak. As they still have hope to qualify for European competition, they must win the game this week. Christian Pander is not likely to play so the Schalke attacks are less variety. They are looking forward to next season as Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath will coach them, but it will not bring any effects right here right now. Stuttgart at the same time they are in red hot form. They beated VfL Wolfsburg 4-1 and led them to become a real contender in the title race. Mario Gomez is in red hot form after scoring 4 goals last week. In aggregate, Gomez scored 16 goals in the second half of the season. So he will be the man again this Wednesday. With the supply from Sami Khedira and Thomas Hitzlsperger, I believe Stuttgart will win this match and continue their title hunt.
Last matchup: VfB Stuttgart win 2-0
My tip: VfB Stuttgart win 2-0

Energie Cottbus (17th) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (15th) - Wednesday: Cottbus was so unlucky to meet Bayern last week that they had lost 3-1. This loss made their efforts few weeks ago were all wasted and they have to start it over again. Dimitar Rangelov is the most important player in the team as Ivica Illiev is really relying on his great supply. On the other hand, Gladbach did an excellent job in Sunday as they beated Schalke 1-0 and took all 3 important points. They are in the driving seat before this match and I do believe they have chance to win the match. However, as Cottbus also needs these 3 points desperately, I believe a draw is likely to happen as they cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Energie Cottbus win 3-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Arminia Bielefeld (16th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (8th) - Wednesday: Arminia Bielefeld have shown their toughness in the recent 3 matches as they snatched a draw with the strong teams such as VfB Stuttgart. It was very unlucky that the draw is not good enough to bring them out of the trouble. Vlad Munteanu is very important now as Arthur Wichniarek is not fit at all. At the same time, Hoffenheim finally ended their 12 games non-winning streak as they finally won a game. This is boosting their morale so much and all they need to do now is to maintain their morale to win the game. Even they do not have chance to win the title, they still have hope to qualify for European competition. Demba Ba is the most important player in this match as he is the only striker who guaratee the score. This match will be a draw as I believe their determination will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: 1899 Hoffenheim win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 2-2

Hamburger SV (6th) vs VfL Bochum (14th) - Wednesday: Hamburger last Sunday lost a chance to catch up the pole position as they lost to Werder Bremen. All the title hopes seemed faded as they were out of DFB Pokal and UEFA Cup by Werder Bremen. This will be their last ditch effort to protect their title hope. However, the fatigue strikes the team very much and none of them are fit. So I do not believe Hamburger can win this match easily. At the same time, Bochum is closing to avoid the relegation so their determination is very strong. Christoph Dabrowski is very important to the team as he can control the midfield well, especially David Jarolim from Hamburger is suspended. This match I believe Bochum can bring some upset to Hamburger and seal their title-less fate.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: VfL Bochum win 1-0

That's it for my tipping! This midweek will be very exciting!

German Bundesliga Week 31 Tipping

2009-05-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga had reached the 31st week this season. VfL Wolfsburg will face the toughest challenge this week as they are facing VfB Stuttgart. This is the most important game for Wolfsburg which will directly affect their title challenge future. Now here's my tipping of this week:

Bayer Leverkusen (8th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (16th) - Friday: Leverkusen finally slowly walked out of the cold streak after the convincing victory against Schalke 04 last week. Patrick Helmes started to score goals again which is very important for the team. Another crucial player is Rene Adler, he made a lot of crucial saves last week and he will keep facing challenges this match as the defense is not consistent. On the other hand, Bielefeld surprised the fans that they snatched a draw against Stuttgart last week, but it is still doubtful if they can keep this form into this match. Artur Wichniarek is likely to return and he can help and relieve the attacking players very much. Vlad Munteanu is the key player of the team in this match as his creativeness can bring threat to Leverkusen. I believe this match Leverkusen has a slight advantage as their player quality is better.
Last matchup: Arminia Bielefeld win 2-1
My tip: Bayer Leverkusen win 2-0

Energie Cottbus (15th) vs Bayern München (2nd) - Saturday: Cottbus now is improving the match form after they took 4 crucial points in 2 matches. However, this is very unlucky for them to face Bayern München in this moment as they also need this 3 crucial points. Midfield dominance and counter attacks are the only weapons for Cottbus to win this game. So Stanislav Angelov and Dimitar Rangelov must take this job well. Together with Ervin Skela, this trio are the lethal weapon to Bayern München. Meanwhile, Bayern München had won the first game after the caretaking coach Jupp Heynckes took control. Franck Ribery is returned from suspension that will bring a lot of threats to fragile Cottbus defensive line. The biggest worry will be Luca Toni, which his match form never get improved this season. He must finish the chances well in order to lead the team to win. I believe Cottbus may have some resistent but Bayern can score goal first and win.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 4-1
My tip: Bayern München win 3-0

VfB Stuttgart (4th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (1st) - Saturday: This is the decider of the season title. Stuttgart even though they had ben stopped by Bielefeld last week but they are still in red hot form. Thomas Hitzlsperger is the key midfielder in this match as he needs to control the ball well in the middle of the park to stop Zvjezden Misimovic to create. At the same time, Serder Tasci is also the important defender in this match because Eden Dzeko and Grafite are in hot form. Meanwhile, even though Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath is confirmed to coach Schalke 04 nest season, I do not believe it will hurt the team in any ways as they are all professional. Besides the players mentioned above, the defense of the team is very important as Mario Gomez and Cacau are very good in form as well. So this match will be decided by the better defense and if Stuttgart can take the home court advantage.
Last matchup: VfL Wolfsburg win 4-1
My tip: VfB Stuttgart win 2-0

Hannover 96 (12th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (13th) - Saturday: Hannover finally found a way to win the match away from home last week. This is a great boost for their morale even though they are basically safe from the relegation. Robert Enke did a very good job last week as he stop a lot of shots from VfL Bochum. This week Hannover are more confident as they are back at home, where they play like a champion. On the other hand, Frankfurt are basically safe from relegation as well so their performance is a bit inconsistent. Defense is their key of this match as Hannover is so threatening at home. I believe this match is really depending on how long can Frankfurt stop from Hannover.
Last matchup: Eintract Frankfurt win 4-0
My tip: Hannover 96 win 3-0

Borussia Dortmund (6th) vs Karlsruher SC (18th) - Saturday: Borussia Dortmund kept the hot form which they won against Frankfurt. This 5-game winning streak led them to have a great chance to comeback to qualify for European competition. So I believe they will play at full gear this match as they know they can make it. Nelson Valdez even could not finish the play effectively, his work rate is very good that bringing lots of chances for the other teammates. On the other hand, Karlsruher took 4 crucial points in the recent 2 matches. Even though they are still at the bottom of the table, they are closer and closer to getting away from the relegation zone. However, this week is very hard for them as their poor finishing did not even threaten to anyone even. So I believe Dortmund will have an easy win as their finishing is far better than the opposition.
Last matchup: Borussia Dortmund win 1-0
My tip: Borussia Dortmund win 3-0

1899 Hoffenheim (9th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: Hoffenheim kept sinking without a trace. They have recorded the 12-game non-winning streak after they were thrashed by Wolfsburg 4-0. Bench power was so thin so that when those starters were in poor form or unavailable, there were not anyone to step up to relieve them. This week the squad depth is still very shallow so that it is very hard to say they can bounce back to win this week. At the same time, Köln did not have any pressure in the league as they cannot qualify in European competition but at the same time they are safe from relegation. Milivoje Novakovic is the most important striker in the team as he is the only player who can guarantee to finish the play. I believe Köln can win the game based on their good away form and Hoffenheim is in very poor form.
Last matchup: 1899 Hoffenheim win 3-1
My tip: 1. FC Köln win 2-0

Hertha Berlin (3rd) vs VfL Bochum (14th) - Saturday: Hertha Berlin was lucky to snatch a draw against Hamburger SV last Sunday as they had just one good chance to get away in one piece. Marko Pantelic was not able to relieve Andrei Voronin as he was suspended. Gojko Karcar is very important player now as his work rate does help the team a lot. This is the chance for them to climb up the table, otherwise they will be out of the title challenge. On the other hand, Bochum was very surprised that they could not snatch a draw even at home against Hannover. Stanislav Sestak is very important player in the team and I do believe he needs to improve his match form in order to get clear of the relegation zone. Hertha Berlin will have the great chance to win even though the absence of Voronin, as the Hertha players are better in quality.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 3-2
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 2-0

Borussia Mönchengladbach (17th) vs Schalke 04 (7th) - Sunday: Gladbach last week had lost to Bayern and lost the crucial point to fight against the relegation. It is understandable as they were outclassed. Alexander Baumjohann is back from suspension and Marko Marin is likely to regain the starting 11 place so that their attack will be better comparing with last week. The key point is they need to defend well as Jefferson Farfan and Kevin Kuranyi from Schalke 04 are getting better and better. On the other hand, even Schalke lost the game last week, it is still in a good run recently. Heiko Westermann will be very important player as he can turn the defense into attack effectively. Together with the tough and energetic midfielders, I believe Schalke has a clear chance to win.
Last matchup: Schalke 04 win 3-1
My tip: Schalke 04 win 2-0

Werder Bremen (10th) vs Hamburger SV (5th) - Sunday: The curtain closer in the epic Northern Derby series. Both teams are playing against each other this Thursday in UEFA Cup match so they have the same level of match fitness. Werder Bremen does not care about this match as they are very safe in 10th position. So Diego, Mesut Özil, as well as Torsten Frings will not likely to play. Per Mertesacker is very important in the match as he is very good at stopping the attackers. On the other side, Hamburger needs to win this match in order to keep the title hope survive, especially they lost 2 points las week. So I believe they will play at the full strength no matter how tired they are. Piotr Trochowski will be very important in the match as his creativeness will bring them hope to win the match. However, their tireness will let them down and Werder Bremen will win this match to kill the title hope of Hamburger.
Last matchup: Hamburger SV win 2-1
My tip: Werder Bremen win 2-1

So that's it! Hope there will be another good Bundesliga week!

German Bundesliga Week 30 Tipping

2009-04-30T02:34:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga had reached 30th week of the competition. VfL Wolfsburg missed the wonderful chance to extend their lead into 5 points at the top of the table as they lost to Energie Cottbus. Furthermore, it led the title race still wide open as the 5th placed VfB Stuttgart still has a chance to win the title. Now here's the tipping of this week:

VfL Bochum (14th) vs Hannover 96 (13th) - Friday: Bochum last week missed another wonderful chance to get off from the relegation threat as they lost 3-2 against Werder Bremen when they were 2-0 up. Stanislav Sestak is currently in the red hot form as he scored 5 goals in last 2 games. He is just in time to save the team but the defense needs to cooperate in order to protect his effort. Concentration is the key of them as they need to focus and finish the game. On the other hand, Hannover even is in 13th position but they are 7 points from the relegation zone and they have some breathing space. Hannover failed to impress away from home so even they won last week, it is very hard to say they can carry on the form as they are being cursed away from home. This is very hard for Hannover to snatch a point against Bochum even as they only scored 2 game points in all away matches.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: VfL Bochum win 2-0

Arminia Bielefeld (16th) vs VfB Stuttgart (4th) - Saturday: Bielefeld last week had a tight match and led to a draw. Even there was a draw, it was not good enough for them to get off from the relegation zone and they actually dropped to 16th. Arthur Wichniarek is rated doubtful this match so it really hurts the team further as they are very weak in attacking. Vlad Munteanu is very important now as he needs to score goals as well as creating attacking if Wichniarek is absent. On the other hand, Stuttgart is in red hot form. It seems there is nobody to stop them since the arrival of Markus Babbel. Mario Gomez and Cacau are in red hot form so I believe they can keep scoring goals this week. I believe this is an one-sided match and Stuttgart should not have any problem to claim this victory.
Last matchup: Match draw 0-0
My tip: VfB Stuttgart win 3-0

Schalke 04 (6th) vs Bayer Leverkusen (9th) - Saturday: Schalke now in an excellent form and recorded a 4 wins in a row without conceding a single goal after beating Bayern München 1-0 last week. The defense looks very solid, leading by Mladen Krstajic. They are very good to defend from the flanks and from the air so that there is no one to able to score a goal against them. This is a great test for Leverkusen as they are in cold streak in the league. Leverkusen at the same time, Patrick Helmes and Stefan Kießling are in the cold streak so the scoring job now goes to Toni Kroos and Simon Rolfes. Meanwhile, they may now focus on the DFB Pokal Final as it seems they do not have chance to qualify for European competition through the league, so Cup match is their only option now. Consequently, I believe Schalke will win this one with clean sheet again.
Last matchup: Bayer Leverkusen win 2-1
My tip: Schalke 04 win 2-0

Eintract Frankfurt (11th) vs Borussia Dortmund (7th) - Saturday: Fankfurt basically are safe from relegation so they can relax and enjoy the remaining 5 weeks of the match. Of course, they must not let loose, all the need to do is to keep the form and they can be through. Martin Fenin is still doubtful to play this week and I believe captain Ioannis Amanatidis will be the player who lead the team to win. Dortmund on the other hand, they recorded 4 wins in a row so I believe they can carry on. Alexander Frei and Nelson Valdez keep the good form and bring threats to the opposition, together with the midfield protection from Sebastian Kehl, the team looks very good and solid now. I believe Dortmund will be able to take this one in order to keep hunting the European competition qualification.
Last matchup: Borussia Dortmund win 4-0
My tip: Borussia Dortmund win 2-0

Karlsruher SC (18th) vs Energie Cottbus (15th) - Saturday: This is the most important match in terms of the relegation fight, epsecially both teams claimed the important 3 points last week. Karlsruher finally was able to score goals and win game. This was a morale boosting match as they kept trying and losing for 10 games already. I believe their morality will be their key of the match and they must keep it in order to win. Speaking to morality, Energie Cottbus was encouraged a lot after beating VfL Wolfburg 2-0 last Sunday. Dimitar Rangelov and Ervin Skela were the players who lead the team into victory. I believe they will keep this form and threat to the opposition. Morality is the only key to success, the team who can keep it, the team who can win it.
Last matchup: Energie Cottbus win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 2-2

Bayern München (3rd) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (17th) - Saturday: After the loss against Schalke 04, Bayern München finally lost their patience and sacked Jürgen Klinsmann and replaced by Jupp Heynckes as their caretaking coach. I believe Heynckes cannot do a lot to the team as there are so few days to go to this match as well as preparing to finish this season. A must win game is for sure, it is really depending on the players ability, especially Franck Ribery will serve the match ban after the sent off last week. On the other hand, Gladbach failed to win the game last week and led them to further dropped to 17th. The relegation fight is in trouble now, especially when they are facing a must win Bayern. I believe counter attack from Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann will be the only key to lead Gladbach to have another upset to Bayern.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Bayern München win 3-0

VfL Wolfsburg (1st) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (8th) - Saturday: Wolfsburg missed a wonderful chance to extend the lead after losing to Cottbus 2-0 and failed to break a record, which was 11 wins in a row. This blow to them is still doubtful because they are still in a red hot form, the loss of last week seemed like the little break. Eden Dzeko and Grafite will still keep threatening to Hoffenheim as their defense is very inconsistent. Hoffenheim now extend their non-winning streak to 11 games. This week Carlos Eduardo will continue to serve the match ban, plus Demba Ba is in the cold streak. So I believe Wolfsburg will keep the red hot form and win this match.
Last matchup: 1899 Hoffenheim win 3-2
My tip: VfL Wolfsburg win 3-0

1. FC Köln (12th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Sunday: Köln last week had lost against Hannover 96 and led to 2 loss in a row. I believe they are still safe from relegation as they have 7 points from relegation zone and there are 4 teams behind them. I believe they are starting to get relaxed now and they will not take a full gear in this match. Same as Werder Bremen, as they have to focus on the epic Northern Derby in UEFA Cup, I do not believe they will take full gear in this match. Diego may rest in this match for next Thursday match and the team will lose the focus point of the attack. Hugo Almeida will be the most important in attack and Naldo will take the important job in defense. However, based on their better quality and poor home form from the opposition, I believe Werder Bremen can win this match.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 3-1
My tip: Werder Bremen win 3-0

Hamburger SV (5th) vs Hertha Berlin (2nd) - Sunday: Hamburger seemed they were losing their grib in the title race as players fatigue started hitting the team. They may focus on the UEFA Cup match and I believe they may keep some energy in this match, even though this match will affect their title challenge directly. Piotr Trochowksi may not appear in this match and one of the strikers, who are Ivica Olic, Mlaten Petric, and Jose Paolo Guerrero will miss out the game. At the same time, Hertha Berlin still won a game without Andrei Voronin as he served his suspension. This week he still needs to serve the ban and Marko Pantelic will be most important striker in the team. I believe this match is very even and no one can win this match, which means a draw is expected.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

So that's it for this week!

Who will be the next Bayern München coach?

2009-04-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

Previously I have mentioned what was the different between Klinsmann in the Germany national team and Bayern München. Now we have to look forward and I predict who will be the hot favorite, who maybe to become, and who will surprise me of the new Bayern München coach.

Hot favorite

Jupp Heynckes: He is the hot favorite to be the next coach in fact. The biggest advantage of him is he has a chance now to perform himself in front of the upper management. Now there are 5 games to the end of season and these 5 games will determine his future in the club next season. Also he has a lot of experience on coaching at club level. As Klinsmann failed to impress the board, I believe the club will tend to hire an experienced coach next season. Heynckes had been coaching for more than 10 years and had been coaching around Europe, so his knowledge and experience do help the team.
What makes him to be the next coach: This season result. As there are only 5 games left, there are very few he can do. I do believe he will calm the team down and try harder to win the league title. If he can win the title for the team, I believe the board will offer him a contract for at least a season.

Bernd Schuster: After being sacked by Real Madrid earlier this season, Schuster did not have any new offer yet. So there is a rumour that Bayern is very interested to invite him to join the team. He is a good coach in fact, he had a big match experience when he was coaching Real Madrid. Real looked quite solid but unfortunately Schuster could not convert it into a win. I believe his coaching ability and preference will be suitable for Bayern, as the club needs to balance the attack and defense. However, he needs to get adept to Bayern's culture, or he will be the other casaulty in the club.
What makes him to be the next coach: I believe if Schuster does not have any offer in these two months, he is very likely to become the new coach. His advantage is he can offer to the club a long term deal, which means the club does not need to put efforts on finding a new coach in short term, if the performance and result is satisfied.

Maybe the next coach

Guus Hiddink: There is a rumour to say Bayern also is interested to find Guus Hiddink. If so, this is the best move for Bayern in these few seasons. Hiddink is very knowledgable to football and he can get to know to the teams' strength and weakness very shortly. Then he can set up the individualized tactics and formation to the team. The best example is Australia national football team, he made use the players' high stamina to set up the effective tactics, which is using the high fitness and stamina to stop the skillful and speedy team. Also, he has declared that he will not coach Chelsea in next season so it is still wide open.
What makes him to be the next coach: Well, the biggest concern is he must stay in Russia national team. So which means he will become the next coach as semi full-time based. It will not be a big problem as he did it twice (Australia and PSV Eindhoven; Russia and Chelsea), but it is very depending on his will, if he is willing to coach Bayern, Bayern should invite him.

Ottmar Hitzfeld: Even though there is not much news and rumours on inviting him, I still not to omit this choice. It is not so surprising if Bayern asks him to come back, because he is the only coach who can guarantee to win trophies. His remarkable result makes Bayern to keep a door open for him. Hitzfeld knows how the team works, how the culture in the team works, as well as the personal connection in Bayern is the strongest comparing to other coaches. The board also realize that they are having an excellent relationship between each other so if Bayern invite him, he is likely to join.
What makes him to be the next coach: The reason he left the club was he was too tired to coach the club as he needed to take care of the business everyday, so this was why he chose to coach Switzerland national team, which made him more comfortable. And this is the reason why I put him on the "maybe" list, because he may reject the offer as he is personally too tired for pick up the job again.

Surprise, surprise!

Carlo Ancelotti: Yes, rumour said that Carlo Ancelotti will be the next coach. There is reason to support this claim as Ancelotti is a winning coach in AC Milan. Even thought critics said he won the trophies was because of the great players like Andrei Shevchenko, his winning experience can really lead Bayern in the Champions League. However, his player policy tends to using old players, so Bayern will concern about this as older players means more inconsistent because their fitness cannot support themselves. Plus, it seems Ancelotti is not interested to this offer so this is why I do not believe this will come true.
What makes him to be the next coach: Well, unless Ancelotti suddenly has a very bad relationship to AC Milan, and he suddenly gets sacked by the club, then Bayern are so desperate to get a new coach, Ancelotti will come.

Arsene Wenger: Yes, right, rumour said so. I personally do not believe it but I just say what his strength is. He is very good at coaching the youngsters. Just look at Arsenal, the team is very young and energetic and there are lot more talents to come. Bayern now needs more youngster to support the team in long term so this is the reason why rumour claimed Bayern was interested to invite Wenger. However, as his position in Arsenal is so tight, I do not believe this is the choice at all.
What makes him to be the next coach: Same as last one, the relationship between each them turns very bad suddenly and he is getting sacked immediately. Plus Wenger suddenly feels interested to accept this new challenge will make him to be the next coach. However, I will win the biggest lottery in the world if it actually happens.

All in all I believe the new coach in Bayern will be very experienced, as well as get used to winning. As the team needs an instinct result, fans will not see any new changes next season, which means they will turn back to the start.

What makes Klinsmann such a difference in Germany and Bayern München?

2009-04-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

Shocking stuff! Monday morning in München there was a stunning news came out - Jürgen Klinsmann and his coaching team were sacked and replaced by Jupp Heynckes. This maybe the worst mistake Bayern made but he may save the title hope. I am not going to comment about what mistake Klinsmann made as there are lots of comments in the internet already. I am now talking about why Klinsmann made a such astonishing result in Germany national team but ended up with dragful way in Bayern?

Purpose of hiring Klinsmann is different

I believe this is one of the reasons. Before Klinsmann took over Germany international team, they were running in circle and the atmoshpere was dead. So what Klinsmann did there was to change. He brought the new thoughts and tactics to the team so his change worked. Klinsmann brought a lot of new young players into the national team and made them from an old and dying team to young and energetic team. This was what Klinsmann did very well. In Bayern, the purpose was simple - winning. Franz Beckenbauer even wanted him to change things around in order to achieve the European success but he had bottom line - Bundesliga must be in their pocket. So Klinsmann could not change the team. Now Bayern is even in trouble for protecting the place of Champions League so I believe this is the reason why Klinsmann needed to go now. Under this difference, I believe this is one of the reasons why Klinsman failed to do his job in Bayern.

Team culture

The team culture was very different in Germany national team and Bayern. When Klinsmann took over the Germany national team, he also brought Joachim Löw and Oliver Bierhoff to assist him, plus the upper management were open and willing to accept the change, so Klinsmann could change the team from the bottom. Also, the upper management of national team were dared to follow his change and gave him confident, even after a humiliating 4-1 loss to Italy in friendly. However, Bayern was different. The culture was too conservative that even Franz Beckenbauer accept the new thoughts to pump into the team, Klinsmann must follow his way. Klinsmann had too much pressure in Bayern internally so he could not make the team perform well externally. Furthermore, Klinsmann did not have much authority in the operational issues in the team, so he was very hard to get his thought through to the team and led to massive failure.

Time of preparation

This is one of the biggest differences between taking over in Germany national team and Bayern. As Germany national team had 2 years to prepare for the World Cup in their home turf, so Klinsmann could maximize the experiment on the 2-year long friendlies. As mentioned before, Germany had suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat against Italy under Klinsmann control, I believe this was just his another experiment. The Confederation Cup in 2005 was only an experiment only, so even though there were mistakes after mistakes, it was not a concern, as Klinsmann knew the team was growing and World Cup was his real deal, the other matches were not his concern. However, Klinsmann only had 1 month to prepare the big matches in Bayern, as every match was important, he did not have much time to prepare and implement his plan. As he did try to change the formation to 3-5-2 in the start of the season, he had to go back to 4-4-2 before he saw any good result in his ideal formation. This was the evidence that Klinsmann basically did not have any spare time to prepare and led to failure.

Coaching team difference

Klinsmann was not the only person who took the pride for bringing Germany national team from the dark tunnel to bright freeway, Oliver Bierhoff and Joachim Löw were also important. Löw, who even had a limited experience on coaching, he could effectively implement Klinsmann's plan to the real football pitch. Löw in fact was the most important person in Germany national team as he could bring the thoughts from Klinsmann into practical way. This was the reason why Löw took over the national team job and continue the good run in Germany national team. Oppositely, I believe the biggest failure of Klinsmann was hiring his American coaching team. Martin Vazquez was not the appropriate person to assist Klinsmann, even Vazquez even could not speak German. So Klinsmann's thoughts basically could not convert into the football pitch. As Philipp Lahm complained before, Klinsmann only encouraged the team but he could not bring out any practical solution when the team was trailing or in the deadlock. This is the failure of Klinsmann and he could not deny it.

Summary

Summing up Klinsmann is the person who can bring out the long term successful plan to the team, as his thoughts and strategies really did help the team to bring out from trouble. However, what he needs to learn more is the real match situation. It is very dynamic in the football pitch and Klinsmann must think faster. On the other hand, he is very good at choosing and encouraging players as this is very important to any teams in the world. His enthusiasm can lead the team to do the impossibles, this is what he does best. So far he needs an experienced assistant, not another "just" American coach to assist him in the real pitch situation. When Klinsmann gains much experiences, he will be one of the best coach in the world.

All in all, wish Klinsmann, my forever idol, all the best!!

German Bundesliga Week 29 Tipping

2009-04-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga this week had reached the 29th week. VfL Wolfsburg gets one step closer to their first ever title in their club history, but Bayern München and Hamburger SV are just behind. This week Bayern München will face Schalke 04, and it will be the crucial match for the title race. Now here's the tip:

1899 Hoffenheim (8th) vs Hertha Berlin (4th) - Friday: Once again Hoffenheim had disappointed the fans again. They were even very close to lose the game against Karlsruher SC last week and ended up with 2-2 draw. The defense was very inconsistent because there were so many injuries and suspension. The suspension of Carlos Eduardo costs the team very much as he is the only player who can create well. The injury of Timo Hildebrand and the suspension of Daniel Haas leads Ramazan Özcan has another big test in this match. On the other hand, even Andrei Voronin continues to serve his 3-match ban, the team still managed to win against Werder Bremen. Marko Pantelic and Raffael can take the job well and they will be the key players in this match. Arne Friedrich is doubtful to play but I believe it will not affect the team so much as Hoffenheim cannot create well without Carlos Eduardo. I believe the inconsistency of defense makes Hertha Berlin have chance to win this match.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 1-0
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 3-0

Bayern München (2nd) vs Schalke 04 (6th) - Saturday: Both teams are starting to build up the hot streak. Bayern München had recorded 2 wins in a row and once again there is a title hope for them. The team finally has a whole week break as all of the other competitions are eliminated. Franck Ribery and Luca Toni started to gain back their best form and they will be the players to win games and score points. Hans-Jörg Butt has already taken the first choice goalkeeper position and it seems it is more confident in the defense since he takes the place. Players are starting to get healthy as there is not much match pressure now. On the other side, Schalke had recorded firs ever 3 wins in a row this season, thanks to the interim coaching team. Kevin Kuranyi is starting to look dangerous and Jefferson Farfan starts to prove he is worth 10 million Euro in last summer. The attacks from Schalke can bring a lot of threats to Bayern and I believe this is the key of the match. The defense of Bayern can determine the team if they can get another 3 points.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 2-1
My tip: Bayern München win 2-0

Borussia Dortmund (7th) vs Hamburger SV (3rd) - Saturday: Borussia Dortmund started to build up the winning form as they won against VfL Bochum 2-0 and recorded 4 wins in a row. Nelson Valdez finally improved his finishing even he still has lot more to improve. Sebastian Kehl can protect the midfield well and his ability of the forward runs can provide a variety of attacks. On the other side, Hamburger players start to get fragile as the tight schedule really kill them. They fought so hard on DFB Pokal this Wednesday and they just lost by penalties. As they do not have any space to rest, they are forced to put their full strength in this match. Piotr Trochowski played more than an hour of this match and all 3 strikers had started the match. So I believe their fatigue will lead them to lose point to the red hot Dortmund.
Last matchup: Hamburger SV win 2-1
My tip: Borussia Dortmund win 2-0

VfB Stuttgart (5th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (11th) - Saturday: Red hot Stuttgart continued their unstoppable form as they only lost 1 game since the arrival of Markus Babbel. Mario Gomez and Cacau are in hot form and they will be the players to watch out for this week. Thomas Hitzlsperger and Sami Khedira are also in hot form so they can control the midfield and supply a lot of attacking plays to Gomez and Cacau. Furthermore, they still have a glimmer of hope for winning a title, I believe they will give their all to this match to keep this hope. On the other side, Frankfurt basically success in avoiding relegation and they can start to get relaxed, even mathematically they are still in danger. Nikos Liberopoulous is the most important striker in the team this season so Frankfurt are all counting on him in scoring. However, their recent away form is very poor as they have lost to Bayern München 4-0 in two weeks ago. So I believe they cannot match Stuttgart and Stuttgart will have an easy win.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: VfB Stuttgart win 4-0

Bayer Leverkusen (9th) vs Karlsruher SC (18th) - Saturday: Leverkusen now basically lost the chance to qualifying to European competition through the league performance, so they may not pay the full attention in the remaining league matches as they need to prepare the DFB Pokal final. Patrick Helmes and Stefan Kießling are the most important players in the striking force but Angelos Charisteas can relieve them effectively. Simon Rolfes played all 120 minutes in the midweek against Mainz in DFB Pokal so his fitness is questionable. However, the lucky thing is they are only facing Karlsruher. Karlsruher last week finally broke the scoreless drought and snatched a draw against Hoffenheim, even though in fact they were so close to win. Draw was not good enough for them so they need to work even harder in order to create miracle. Sebatian Freis and Giovanni Federico will be the players who bring scores to the team and they must do it again. I believe even Leverkusen will have trouble for the fitness, Karlsruher is too powerless to stop Leverkusen.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Bayer Leverkusen win 3-0

Hannover 96 (13rd) vs 1. FC Köln (12th) - Saturday: Hannover is back to their home, which means they are invinsible again. They only lost 1 game at home, which was Hoffenheim, and won they other 6 games and drew the other 6. Mikael Forssell and Mike Hanke are the striking duo that leads the team to success. Together with Jiri Stajner, these 3 attacking players are the core of Hannover attacks. However, this week they are facing Köln, who has the best away game form. The counter attack tactics can lead the team to win a lot of games away from home, including Bayern München. Milivoje Novakovic can convert the counter attacks into goals well so it is very effective for the team. This is an absolutey a hard call and I believe they will cancel each other out and have a draw.
Last round: 1. FC Köln win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Werder Bremen (10th) vs VfL Bochum (14th) - Saturday: Werder Bremen had qualified for the DFB Pokal final this Wednesday after the penalties so I think even they are sky high, players are very tired. Also, they have to prepare the epic "Northern Derby" against Hamburger this month, I believe the players in this week will not give their all. Diego is doubtful for his fitness so Claudio Pizarro will be very important for scoring now. Per Mertesacker is also very important as his tackling in the back is very good as well as he can run forward and score goals in any dead ball situations. On the other side, Bochum are desperate to get rid of the relegation trouble even there is a 4-point lead against Arminia Bielefeld. Stanislav Sestak will be very important player in the attacks and Christoph Dabrowski will be very important in the midfield. I believe Bochum will have chance to surprise the fans even they are away from home, because Werder Bremen has more important matches afterwards.
Last matchup: Match draw 0-0
My tip: VfL Bochum win 1-0

Energie Cottbus (17th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (1st) - Sunday: Energie Cottbus continued the poor form as they were comprehensively beaten by Schalke 4-0 last Friday. Players were all outclassed and I believe this week the outclassing will be more significant. Goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel will have another big test this Sunday as he is the only hope to stop goals from red hot Grafite and Eden Dzeko. On the other side, VfL Wolfsburg is now in the hottest form ever, they have 11 wins in a row and it seems it keeps counting. Grafite and Eden Dzeko are unstoppable and I believe no one in Cottbus can stop them. Zvjezden Misimovic is the key player in the team as his assist really does help the teammates a lot. The distance bewteen these two teams are too huge so it will be very stunning for me if Wolfsburg cannot win this one.
Last matchup: VfL Wolfsburg win 3-0
My tip: VfL Wolfsburg win 4-0

Borussia Mönchengladbach (16th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (15th) - Sunday: Gladbach last week had another big loss against Franfurt 4-1 and it did hurt the team on relegation fight. However, Marko Marin did make a lot of efforts, including winning 2 penalty kicks. He is very important in the team now. Without him, the entire Gladbach lost the leader. The key of the match for Gladbach is the other players need to help Marin to convert his runs into goals. Last week Michael Bradley failed to do so as he missed a penalty won by Marin. On the other side, Bielefeld never got rid of the relegation trouble so that they are now in the deep trouble again. It was quite unlucky that they failed to score goals against Bayern München last Saturday but it also showed their finishing is urgently needed to improve. Arthur Wichniarek is still in a very cold streak, so that is why the team is still in deep trouble. I believe this match Gladbach will win as Marko Marin is too good for Bielefeld to handle.
Last matchup: Borussia Mönchengladbach win 2-0
My tip: Borussia Mönchengladbach win 2-0

So this is it! Have a good week!

German Bundesliga Week 28 Tipping

2009-04-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

This week German Bundesliga had reached the match week 28. Title race is still heated up and VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern München were the winner last week. The relegation seemed unclear besides Karlsruher SC seemed very likely to see them in 2.Bundesliga next season. Now here's the tipping:

Schalke 04 (7th) vs Energie Cottbus (17th) - Friday: Schalke recently picked up the winning form and recorded the 2 wins in a row. Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan did very hard last week and results paid it off. They need to keep working hard as this is the moment they have to prove themselves. Schalke still has a glimmer of hope for qualifying for European competition so I believe they will work very hard. Heiko Westermann is the key in defense and his performance will affect the outcome directly besides Kuranyi and Farfan. On the other hand, Cottbus claimed the important 3 points last week. The Bulgarian duo, Dimitar Rangelov and Stanislav Angelov are very important players as they are the only players who are able to score goals. However, when facing the top class defense from Schalke, it seems they do not have any chance to create some miracle. I believe Schalke will continue the winning streak and Cottbus needs to work harder since then.
Last matchup: Schalke 04 win 2-0
My tip: Schalke 04 win 2-0

Arminia Bielefeld (15th) vs Bayern München (2nd) - Saturday: Arminia Bielefeld had lost a very important relegation match last week and they were pulled back to 15th of the table, which means still in great danger. Arthur Wichniarek is still in a very cold streak and his form did drag the team down. The other players could not relieve him as usual and I do believe this match is very hard for them to score goals even the defense of Bayern München is fragile this season. On the other side, Bayern München started to climb back to the normal form after the dragful week. The big victory against Eintract Frankfurt did give them a confidence back to defend the title, even though it was not enough to turn things around in Champions League. Franck Ribery seemed he gained back his fitness now, so he is a huge threat in Bielefeld defense. As Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski were rested in Tuesday, I believe they have much fitness to win the game easily.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 3-1
My tip: Bayern München win 3-0

1. FC Köln (11th) vs VfB Stuttgart (5th) - Saturday: It is very hard to predict Köln now as they do not have any threats on the relegation but they are too far from qualifying for European compeition. So, we can predict their performance through the home and away game record. Maybe the playing style of home games is hard to adept for the team, they are now 3rd from the bottom in home form. Captain Milivoje Novakovic seems he does not have any support from the midfiled so this is why they cannot get any result if they are on the ball. On the other hand, Stuttgart is still chasing the miracle for winning the title with 6 points trailing. Mario Gomez and Thomas Hitzlsperger are very important in the team and their attacks will lead them to win. However, the injury of Sami Khedira did affect the team on controlling the midfield. I believe this match Stuttgart will have upper hand and they will win another game to keep the title hope.
Last matchup: Köln win 3-1
My tip: Stuttgart win 3-1

VfL Wolfsburg (1st) vs Bayer Leverkusen (9th) - Saturday: Wolfsburg is still in very hot streak as they extend the winning streak to 9 games after the victory last week. Edin Dzeko and Grafite seem unstoppable in scoring goals. Especially at home, their performance was so good that even Bayern München could not find any chances to win. Zvjezdan Misimovic is the key player in this match as his creation can assist the scoring duo score goals easily. On the other hand, Leverkusen still in the cold streak and they are getting further away to qualifying for European competition. They must come up some result this week in order to keep the slim hope on the top 5 finish. Partick Helmes cannot maintain the good form recently, as well as the cold streak from Stefan Kießling, the attacking seems powerless at the moment. Even the matchup is epic but the result will be very clear, which is Wolfsburg will win this game.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 2-0
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-0

Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (16th) - Saturday: Frankfurt had suffered the huge setback as they had lost Bayern 4-0 last week. They seemed they started to relax in the league as the table showed that they still had room to breath, even it was only 6 points ahead. This week they may perform better after getting back home as they are quite confident at the home court performance. On the other hand, Gladbach failed to finish the game and lost against Wolfsburg in the end. Alexander Baumjohann and Marko Marin are very important duo as their runs and creations can bring a lot of varieties in the team. I believe they need to improve the team finishing as Rob Friend and Roberto Colautti always fail to score goals. The key point of the game is how well they finish the game.
Last matchup: Frankfurt win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Karlsruher SC (18th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (6th) - Saturday: Both teams are having a great trouble and need to improve the performance now. Karlsruher continue their non-scoring streak to 9 games, which is 810 minutes. This is so embarassing that non of the striker can convert the attacks into goal. Now the hope of avoid relegation is getting slim now so they need to score goal desperately. On the other hand, Hoffenheim slowly keep falling down and they extend the non-winning streak to 9 games. The main issue is Vedad Ibisevic, his absence makes the team lose the scoring point. Also, Chinedu Obasi fail to keep impressing the fans so that the team lost all the power of attacks. Carlos Eduardo is suspended so it will hurt the team more. Hoffenheim only hopes if Timo Hildebrand can play this match as Daniel Haas was sent off last week and he is suspended as well. I believe the key of this match will be if Hoffenheim can score goals quickly. This is their great chance to turn things around to keep the European qualification hope alive.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 4-1
My tip: Hoffenheim win 2-0

VfL Bochum (14th) vs Borussia Dortmund (8th) - Saturday: Bochum did an amazing job as they beated Hoffenheim comprehensively. Stanislav Sestak did very well as he made a hat-trick in that game. He will be very important of the team as Diego Klimowicz is absent at the moment. Mimoun Azaouagh will be the key midfielder as he can provide the easy chances for Sestak. On the other hand, Dortmund started to gain the winning form back as they can finish the game at the moment. Alexander Frei and Nelson Valdez are improving and I believe they can bring threats to the opposition. The key of this game is either of them can finish the attack better than the other.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Hertha Berlin (4th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Sunday: After the 3 games losing streak, Hertha Berlin started to fade out the title race. They must win this game in order to keep some hope. However, the worse is Andrei Voronin is suspended after the silly sent off last week. It did affect the team as he at the moment is an only player who can guarantee the scoring. Marko Pantelic will have the big game now as he is supposed the player who can take over the absent place of Voronin. Meanwhile, as Werder Bremen focus on the European competition and the DFB Pokal, they failed to win against Bayer Leverkusen last week. Diego was absent last week and this week he is still doubtful. Plus their fitness is questionable after the finish the European matches against Italy's Udinese. I believe this will be a draw game as Hertha Berlin lose a striker and Werder Bremen had lost the focus on Bundesliga.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 5-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Hamburger SV (3rd) vs Hannover 96 (13th) - Sunday: Hamburger last week was so close to snatch a draw against Stuttgart as they only lost a game in injury time. Ivica Olic, Jose Paolo Guerrero, and Mladen Petric are fit so I believe the match in Europe will not affect them too much. It is doubtful, however, if Piotr Trochowski is fit enough to play after the European match. I believe the strikers will be very important to lead the team to win. On the other side, Hannover did an excellent job to beat Hertha Berlin last week, but only in home court. When they go away from home, they do not know to play football at all. They only able to snatch 2 points out of all away games. So this match against they have a very hard time at Hamburg. This match Hamburger can win easily and just see how long Hannover can hang on.
Last matchup: Hannover win 3-0
My tip: Hamburger win 3-0

So that's all of this week! Have a good football weekend!

German Bundesliga Week 27 Tipping

2009-04-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

This week German Bundesliga has reached the 27th week of the season. Title race is further heated up after VfL Wolfsburg beated Bayern München 5-1 and climbed up to the top. There are only 3 points different between 1st to 4th so this is still everybody's game. No Friday match this week as Germany celebrate the Good Friday. Now here's the tipping of this week:

Borussia Mönchengladbach (16th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (1st) - Saturday: Gladbach last week did not perform very well as they drew against Karlsruher 0-0. The match showed how important Marko Marin is as he was suspended last match. This week he is back to action so he is the only person who is able to score goal and create attacks against solid Wolfsburg. Their defense is tested as Grafite and Eden Dzeko are very fit. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg did an excellent job to beat out of gas Bayern München 5-1. Zvjezden Misimovic was the player behind to create the excellent attacks to tear the defense apart. This attacking trio was the reason to improve their away form and then led the team to climb up the 1st place. Together with the solid defense, I believe Gladbach will be very hard to win, or even snatch a point.
Last matchup: Wolfsburg win 3-0
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-0

Bayern München (4th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (12th) - Saturday: Bayern is now currently on the worst form as they lost Wolfsburg 5-1 and then lost to Barcelona 4-0 in Champions League. The whole team simply are out of gas, Franck Ribery is very very tired now but he must stand up for Bayern once again, as no player can relieve him. Luca Toni simply cannot perform well and the only hope now is Lukas Podolski, as he did not play for a single minute against Barcelona. The defense must be very careful as the counter attack from Frankfurt is pretty threatening. On the other hand, Frankfurt claimed an important 3 points against Energie Cottbus and they again started to get away from the relegation. However, they still struggle on the on the ball situation as they failed to create the attack well. I believe they need a very good counter attack in order to snatch the match. This match will not be a high scoring game as Bayern are very tired and low morale. However, Bayern can win a game with better player quality.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 2-1
My tip: Bayern München win 2-0

Hannover 96 (13th) vs Hertha Berlin (3rd) - Saturday: Hannover this week is back to home again. Comparing with the dragful away game record, I believe Hannover can improve in some extent. Jacek Kryznowek is very important for Hannover now as he is the only player who can create goals. Mikael Forssell is the other important player as he is the only player to have a consistent scoring ability. On the other side, Hertha Berlin had lost a critical match against Borussia Dortmund. It showed they have a very hard time if Andrei Voronin fail to score goal. Marko Pentelic cannot relieve Voronin as he has too few matches to play and he lost the match feeling. So the key of this match will be if Voronin can pick up the scoring ability.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Schalke 04 (8th) vs Karlsruher SC (18th) - Saturday: Schalke had won against Bochum after the change of the coaching team. The interim coaching team is predicted to focus on team rebuilding rather than aiming for achieving something, even they still on the stake on qualifying the UEFA Cup next season. This is another big test for Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan as they will be a very dangerous position if they keep the cold streak, as they do not any excuses if they fail to score goals in this match. Karlsruher on the other hand, have failed to score goal again, which brought them to continue the non-scoring streak to 6 games. Giovanni Federico, and Sebastian Freis seem hopeless on the attack, even the defense seems fine. I believe Karlsruher are very hard to score the goal as Schalke is not bad at defense. So this will be a low scoring game and I believe Schalke will win this match.
Last matchup: Schalke 04 win 3-0
My tip: Schalke 04 win 1-0

Energie Cottbus (17th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (15th) - Saturday: A typical relegation match in this week. Both teams need this 3 crucial points so both of them should not have anything keeping them. Cottbus continues the cold streak as they lost against Frankfurt last week. It seems very bad for them because they always fail to finish the game. Plus they have a very weak attacking that lead them remain at the bottom. On the other hand, Bielefeld had suffered the same problem as Artur Wichniarek is currently on the cold streak and there is nobody can relieve him. So I believe both teams will cancel each other out and will have a bore draw.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 0-0

Borussia Dortmund (9th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: A midtable clash. Both teams seem they fail to qualify for Europe but they are not worried about the relegation. Borussia Dortmund did a beautiful job to beat Hertha Berlin 3-1 away from home. Alexander Frei is the most important player in the team as his finishing consistency do affect the match finishing for the team. This is the problem for Dortmund this season as they always fail to win a game and resulting a draw. On the other side, Köln has problem in home, but do very well away from home. This maybe the reason of the playing style. It seems they are better to play off the ball defense and counter attacks. However, as they do not play well in on the ball football, it is very hard for them to improve further. I believe this game will be a draw as both of them will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Borussia Dortmund win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

1899 Hoffenheim (6th) vs VfL Bochum (14th) - Saturday: Since the restart of the season, Hoffenheim only had 1 win in all matches, that was the first restart match against Cottbus. It is not only because of the absence of Vedad Ibisevic, it is also because the other players cannot relieve him as well. Now only Demba Ba is the fit striker but he is not always finish the play well. Chinedu Obasi is still struggling to regain the excellent form in first half of the season so he cannot offer any help. Carlos Eduardo is still slumping down and he never seems to recover. On the other side, Bochum desperately need this 3 points in order to avoid the relegation early. However, it never seems there is any reliable players who can guarantee to secure the score. Diego Klimowicz is the good choice but he cannot gain any consistency in the team. So Hoffenheim has a great chance to bounce it back in order to keep the hope for qualifying to the European competition.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 3-1
My tip: Hoffenheim win 2-0

Bayer Leverkusen (7th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Sunday: Leverkusen is keep slumping down and they temporary stop the slide after they beated Köln 2-0 last week. Patrick Helmes picked up the scoring form and hope he can keep it this week. Stefan Kießling is the important player to relieve Helmes in order to keep the attacks consistent. Tranquillo Barnetta will be very important as well because he needs to control the midfield to stop Diego creating. On the other side, even Werder Bremen will play at full strength, I believe they will focus on the UEFA Cup match next Thursday. Diego and Claudio Pizarro may start the game but they will not be very keen on this match. So this is the main reason why I believe Leverkusen can win this one, maybe easier than we think.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 2-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 2-0

VfB Stuttgart (5th) vs Hamburger SV (2nd) - Sunday: This is a very important game for both of them. Stuttgart still has a glimmer of hope for winning the league as they just trail to Wolfsbug for 6 points. As Bundesliga goes like this in this season, it is not a surprise if Stuttgart can climb up to the top. Mario Gomez and Ciprian Marica are the important strikers to score goals, provided by Thomas Hitzlsperger. On the other side, Hamburger are keen on maintaining the lead, but they have to concern the trip to Manchester City in UEFA Cup match next Thursday. Piotr Trochowski may not start the match even he is in excellent form because he maybe kept until the UEFA Cup match. Jonathan Pitroipa and Marcell Jansen will be very important in the match now as their performance in the flanks brings lot of pressure to the opposition. Considering Hamburger may keep some starters for the next European match plus the home court advantage for Stuttgart, I believe Stuttgart have a pretty good chance to win this match.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 2-0
My tip: Stuttgart win 2-1

That's it for this week. Have a happy and safe Easter!

FC Barcelona vs Bayern München match analysis

2009-04-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

Bayern München had suffered a great loss against FC Barcelona 4-0. Besides being outclassed, Bayern had suffered the tight match schedule and led the squad were not fit enough to match the world class team like Barcelona. You may wonder Barcelona also had such a harsh match schedule but why there were such a difference. So this is what my aim in this post.

Squad rotation system

In some extent squad rotation system can keep the players fit. Pep Guardiola definitely could do it right. Take Lionel Messi from Barcelona and Franck Ribery as an example. Guardiola did not put him in last Saturday's league match and keep him fit for Wednesday clash. So that was why he was so energetic and scored twice. Not only this time, Messi sometimes did not play at full match in league or cup matches. He might play for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 60 minutes rather than full match. So Messi was always very fit in every match. Oppositely, Franck Ribery was very unlucky. He did not have a decent break since the season started. Every single time he played for full 90 minutes every match. So even he was very skillful and very speedy, when the season came to an end, his fitness started not to support his skills and speed. Recent two matches showed Ribery was really out of gas. As Bayern did believe in squad rotation system, it turned the starters were cooked and the bench players were raw.

Squad depth

This is the difference between these two as well. The squad was so deep that everybody can look each other's back. Last paragrah mentioned Messi was so fit because he didn't need to play every minute of the game, in fact it was also because the squad had cover. Even without Messi, Krkic Bojan and even Sergio Busquets were all ready to relieve him. Eidur Guojohnsen also a fit utility to relieve not only Messi, but also to Thierry Henry, or Samuel Eto'o. Even Andrea Iniesta and Xavi had a reliever such as Seydou Keita. They had 26 players in the squad and at least 20 of them were healthy and fit. However, Franck Ribery from Bayern did not have any reliever at all. He was required to play every single second of the match so no wonder he complained to upper management to require more helps or he left. Seriously there was nobody to cover his back so that was why when he was in trouble, the whole team was in trouble. On the other hand, after the winter transfer there were only 22 players in the squad. This definitely was not looking good. Now Bayern only had 5-6 players were healthy, but I am not saying they are fit. So there is a huge difference.

I can say if Barcelona keep playing like this, nobody can stop them. They are the hot favorite to be a treble winner since Manchester United in 1999. I believe Bayern will win maybe 1-0 or 2-1 in second leg as Bayern wants some respect back and Barcelona do not need to fight hard. I believe Bayern fans will not see Lionel Messi in Allianz Arena, as 4-0 is good enough for going to Semi Final.

German Bundesliga Week 26 Tipping

2009-04-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga resumes after the international matches last week. There will be a crucial title challenge match this week as Bayern München will be away to play against VfL Wolfsburg. Now here's my tipping this week:

Arminia Bielefeld (15th) vs Schalke 04 (8th) - Friday: Both teams have the minimal impact of the international duties as there are not so many players were called up. Bielefeld last match lost to Wolfsburg led them could not get away from the relegation trouble. However, it can be said Bielefeld was outclassed. Artur Wichniarek is now having a cold streak so it is a big worry for Bielefeld. On the other side however, Schalke now are in chaos as Fred Rutten was sacked after the "emotional" meeting with upper management. It is doubtful for their morality can go through this match. Plus, Jefferson Farfan and Kevin Kuranyi are too inconsistent so their attack is questionable, even there is an interim coaching staff to take over. I believe it is very hard to seperate the winner and low scoring is predicted.
Last matchup: Match draw 0-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

VfL Wolfsburg (3rd) vs Bayern München (2nd) - Saturday: This is the most important match in the title race. Both teams only are seperated by the head-to-head match. Wolfsburg is in the hot streak and they improved a lot in the away form, so this is why they are now one of the contenders. The Bosinan duo, Eden Dzeko, and Zvjezden Misimovic were on international duty so I believe it affected their fitness. It impacts the team quite much as they are the most important players in the team. Speaking to international duty, the players from Bayern München were everywhere in the world last week. It seriously hurt the team as they surely are not fit enough. Plus they have to face FC Barcelona next week so they cannot give it all in the match. The only good news is Luca Toni is very likely to return and I believe it can bring threats to the opposition. Considering both teams are tired after the international duty, I believe this is a low scoring draw.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 4-2
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Hertha Berlin (1st) vs Borussia Dortmund (9th) - Saturday: Hertha Berlin just barely maintain the lead after the lost to VfB Stuttgart. Andrei Voronin is the most important factor as when he could not score, the whole Hertha Berlin attack is in trouble. He was just back from international duty so I believe it is quite troublesome to Hertha Berlin. Marko Pantelic also is back from international duty but he is not the regular starter now. On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund had won against Werder Bremen last match. However, I do not believe they are back in top form as they still have a trouble of finishing. I believe this match they will be impacted by Hertha Berlin tough defense. Alexander Frei and the company will have a hard time to find a clear chance for finishing. This match will favor Hertha Berlin and they can maintain the lead in the table.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 1-0

Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs Energie Cottbus (17th) - Saturday: Frankfurt did very well against Bayer Leverkusen last match and they nearly won it. This week they also are affected by the international duty as there are Greek players in the team. At the same time, they are quite inconsistent in match form so it is very hard to say they can continue the streak in 2 weeks time. On the other hand, Cottbus cannot go back to the top form a month ago and they drop back to 17th in the table. They must pick up the form now as they will be relegated. The attack has the problem for creating and it seems they cannot get anything to solve it. I believe this game is quite hard to seperate but Frankfurt will win the match according to the home court advantage.
Last matchup: Frankfurt win 3-2
My tip: Frankfurt win 2-0

Hamburger SV (4th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (5th) - Saturday: This is another the important match in the title race, especially for Hoffenheim, as this is the last chance for them to catch up. Hamburger is deeply affected by the international week as many of them were out of the team for their nations. Piotr Trochowski is doubtful this match as he did not play a single minute in the international duty. So I believe he is not fit enough to play. Paolo Guerrero and Ivica Olic will be very important in the team as they are the core of scoring. This is a great chance for them as Hoffenheim do not have a strong defense. Hoffenheim at the same time, is one of the few teams that is not affected by the international match much. Andreas Beck is the main player who is away from internationals. However, after the injury of Vedad Ibisevic, the other players start to follow his footstep. Only Demba Ba is fit to play and the others are not fit enough. I believe Hoffenheim will have a hard time to score goal and win the match as the whole team is not fit enough. Plus Hamburger has the home court advantage, so I believe they can win this one.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 3-0
My tip: Hamburger win 2-0

VfL Bochum (14th) vs VfB Stuttgart (6th) - Saturday: Last match Bochum had won a very important game against Borussia Mönchengladbach and claimed the important 3 points. The whole team is in good moral and one more good news is, the players are not affected by international duty very much. Christoph Dabrowski is very important midfielder in the team and he controls the game flow very much. His performance is the key factor of this match. I believe Stuttgart needs to watch out this player. On the other side, Stuttgart is affected by the international duty much as most of them are called up to Germany international. They will be affected by the fitness and I believe the game play will be slowing down. Thomas Hitzlsperger is very important as he is capable to stop Dabrowski. This match I believe will be a low scoring game but Stuttgart will win the match by better player quality.
Last matchup: Stuttgart win 2-0
My tip: Stuttgart win 2-0

1. FC Köln (11th) vs Bayer Leverkusen (7th) - Sunday: Köln remain inconsistent after the victory over Bayern. This is a mystery as they somehow lost the top form and keep struggling. The last victory against Energie Cottbus can lead them catch a breath and reform. Still, Milivoje Novakovic is the only player who can guarantee to score goals and this match he needs to do it again. On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen is sinking without a trace as they slipped to 7th and will lose the European qualification anytime. Rene Adler is doubtful as he is injured during an international call up. The good news is Partick Helmes and Stefan Kießling are not affected by the international match much as they are the substitute in Germany national team. So, they are the important players to lead the team to reform and boost up the match form. I believe this match is very hard to seperate and a draw is very likely to happen.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 2-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Werder Bremen (10th) vs Hannover 96 (13th) - Sunday: Werder Bremen last match have lost to Borussia Dortmund 1-0. It seems there are lots of problems that Werder Bremen need to solve, such as Claudio Pizarro is very inconsistent in scoring, the defense is not consistent enough to guarantee the fans that they can stop goals. Diego is very important to the team now and his creativeness can lead them win. Luckily, they are facing Hannover, who only had 2 draw games in 11 away games. They are affected by international call up in certain extent as Mikael Forrsell played for Finland last week. At the same time, the whole team does not have the core player in attack so that they cannot create goals. I believe this match Werder Bremen will win this match, maybe in easiest way.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Werder Bremen win 3-0

Karlsruher SC (18th) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (16th) - Sunday: The rank says it all, this is absolutely an important and crucial relegation match. Karlsruher is having a 5-game non-scoring streak and yet to be broken. They were very unlucky that were unable to equalize the game against Bayern 2 weeks ago. Besides luck, they lack of finishing and creativeness lead them to stay at the bottom of the table. None of the player is in good form and it is hard to see if they can change it around in such a short period of time. On the other hand, Gladbach drops back to the bottom as their match form could not find any consistency. Marko Marin is not affected by the international duty much as he is the substitute of Germany international. Alexander Baumjohann is in the full gear as he has enough rest and his performance will affect the result this match. I believe this match will be decided by the morality and the match performance. I give the vote to Gladbach.
Last matchup: Mönchengladbach win 1-0
My tip: Mönchengladbach win 2-0

Please be noted that daylight saving is effective starting from this week in Germany. That's it and have a good week!

Wales vs Germany preview

2009-03-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday Germany will travel to Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, to play against Wales in 2010 World Cup Qualifier. After a 4-0 victory against Liechtenstein, the spirit of Germany is pretty high. So I believe they can win another match in order to maintain the lead in the group. Now here's the preview:

Things to lead to win: Midfield creation and dominance. This is the biggest strength of Germany. Michael Ballack performed very well last match as he dominated the midfield and the opposition did not have chance at all. At the same time, Thomas Hitzlsperger did assist Ballack in the midfield domination. I believe this duo will start the match and they will keep dominating the midfield. Meanwhile, Piotr Trochowski will be very likely to start as his creativeness and long shot will help the team to break through the tough Welsh defense. Lukas Podolski will have lots of support from the midfield and he is very likely to score. So I believe this match Germany's midfield will play the important role to lead the team to win.

Things to watch out for: Fast counter attacks. Wales defense is very tough and sometimes nasty. So I believe they will have a very harsh tackle to Germany midfield in order to stop them creating. From the last match, it can be seen that after they have tackle the ball, then they will long pass to Craig Bellamy to find chances. Craig Bellamy is a speedy striker and he runs everwhere in the pitch so it is definitely a potential threat to Germany, as Germany defense is quite slow paced. So if Germany cannot get rid of the tough tackles, it will be a great danger to them as it is very likely to concede goals.

General preview: Critics said Germany did not have a great game last week because they did not win too many goals. However, I believe they only played the match in first gear and they did not care about how many they score after they were sure to get those 3 points. I believe the key of this match is the midfield battle. Germany will take an advantage based on their class and better ball control. Wales even can tackle the ball hard, they also cannot create the attack well. They rely too much on Craig Bellamy so that the defenders will have an easier job to do. Rene Adler the Germany goalkeeper will definitely miss the match so Robert Enke will have a very good chance to prove himself he is one of the contenders in Germany first choice goalkeeper. Marcell Jansen may go back to the bench even he scored goal last week as Trochowski is better at creativeness. Marco Gomez is still very likely to play as Joachim Löw would like to give him another chance. All in all, I believe Germany can win this match but the score will not be too extreme.

Last round: Germany win 1-0
My tip: Germany win 2-0

Predicted lineup (left to right, 4-2-2-2): Enke - Lahm, Mertesacker, Tasci, Beck - Ballack, Hitzlsperger - Trochowski, Schweinsteiger - Podolski, Gomez

Germany vs Liechtenstein preview

2009-03-25T05:48:00.001-07:00

This week there will not be any German Bundesliga, instead there will be a 2010 World Cup Qualifier match. Germany will host the game against Liechtenstein at Leipzig this Saturday and then will play against Wales at Cardiff in next Wednesday. Now I will focus on previewing Germany national team on the match against Liechtenstein:

Things to lead to win: No need to mention more, Germany outclass Liechtenstein in all sorts. The most obvious sections are the attacking midfield and the strikers. Even Miroslav Klose is injured, I do not believe it will affect anything to the team. Lukas Podolski will definitely start the match and Mario Gomez will be my second choice. This combination can bring more variety on attack, as Gomez is good in the air and Podolski is good at making runs for the through balls. On the other hand, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Piotr Trochowski will be very important in the flanks as their runs can tear the Liechtenstein defense apart again and again. Michael Ballack will be the player who specializes for the forward runs from the midfield can make troubles to Liechtenstein. As there are so many attacking options, I believe Liechtenstein will not even have any chances to touch the ball based on their limited class. Simply speaking Germany will keep scoring.

Things to watch out for: Attitude. This is most important for Germany. Never underestimate the opponents like Liechtenstein as they have no pressure at all. Liechtenstein had made surprises before as they snatched a draw against Portugal 2-2 in World Cup 2006 Qualifier. Even it was long time ago, it still proved that if Germany get any careless, Liechtenstein can make surprises. Furthermore, Germany nearly lost a goal first against San Marino in Euro 08 Qualifier. Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was very lucky that he touched the ball out of the penalty box and he was not penalized. All Germany need to watch out for is to get into the match straight after the starting whistle. Early goal is very important for Germany as they can control the match early and erase any possibilities for surprises.

Prediction: I do think Germany will control the match in all sorts. Early goal is expected in this match. As coach Joachim Löw and the players all know early goal will bring the victory in the easiest way. Midfield possession will not be challenged as Liechtenstein is being outclassed and they will have a comfortable game. However, I do not believe fans can see a lot of new young players on the pitch as this is a result-oriented match. So, regular starters are predicted and there maybe some young substitutes will play in the middle to later stage of second half when Germany secure all 3 points.
Last round: Germany win 6-0
My tip: Germany win 6-0

Predicted lineup (left to right, 4-2-2-2): Adler - Jansen, Mertesacker, Westermann, Lahm - Ballack, Rolfes - Trochowski, Schweinsteiger - Podolski, Gomez

German Bundesliga Week 25 Tipping

2009-03-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

German Bundesliga had reached the final phase as there are only 10 weeks to go. Hertha Berlin is still leading 4 points at the top but nobody can be sure that they can go all the way. Last week I had tipped 6 correct matches and 1 correct score within them. Now here's my tip of this week:

Borussia Mönchengladbach (16th) vs VfL Bochum (15th) - Friday: An important relegation match kicks off this week. Last week Gladbach did very well to lead Köln all the way and won 4-2 in the end. This was very important for them as they had 2-game winning streak now. Their morale reached to the climax and I believe they can carry on this week. Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann are the most important players in the team as they link the attacking very well. Bochum on the other side they had outclassed by Bayern München as they lost 3-0. As Diego Klimowicz is still injured, Stanislav Sestak and Christoph Dabrowski will be very important in attack. However, since Marc Pfertzel is suspended due to the sent off last week, their defense will be very fragile and Gladbach will have more chances to score against them. I believe this match Gladbach will have all the advantage in their hand and they will win in this important match.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Mönchengladbach win 3-1

Borussia Dortmund (9th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Saturday: This is one of the major matches in Saturday. Again Dortmund had failed to finish the game against Hannover 96 last week and let them bounced back to snatch a 4-4 draw. I do not want to repeat the problem again as Dortmund always repeat the problem, fail to finish the goal and fail to finish the match. These 2 failures lead them to have the "remarkable" record, that is drawing 13 games in 24 matches. Werder Bremen on the other hand they had a stunning victory against VfB Stuttgart by 4-0 last Sunday. Diego, Markus Rosenburg, and Claudio Pizarro did very well last week and I do believe they can carry on in this week. However, it is unclear about Petri Pansanen if can play or not as he is injured. I believe this match will be the high scoring match again and they will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Match draw 2-2

Arminia Bielefeld (14th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (3rd) - Saturday: Bielefeld keeps improving recently as last week they have won 1-0 against Karlsruher and took all 3 important points. Their defense and attacking started to improve and it looks better and better. I believe this game they will keep improving and bring some threats to the opposition. Wolfsburg on the other hand, they have survived the thriller and won 4-3 against Schalke. One thing surprises me is their away form is improving significantly. So this is the reason why they reach to 3rd in the table. Grafite and Eden Dzeko are very important in the team, they have an excellent finishing skills that lead to threats to Bielefeld. Zvjezdan Misimovic is the important playmaker and he can create lots of goals. Considering the improving form of Wolfsburg, I believe they will win this one.
Last matchup: Wolfsburg win 4-1
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-1

1899 Hoffenheim (5th) vs Hannover 96 (13th) - Saturday: Hoffenheim last week failed to win and dropped to 5th in the table. This hurt them in the title challenge very much and I believe they are very hard to bounce back without Vedad Ibisevic. The other concern is the defense, Daniel Haas failed to impress the fans as he sometimes made cheap mistakes. Timo Hildebrand failed to impress to the coach and even failed to get into the starting lineup. Central defenders did not bring too much confident so that Hannover may have chance to score goal. However, Hannover had the worst away game record as they only had 1 point from all away game. At the same time, the massive injuries, including Frank Fahrenhorst, Steven Cherundolo, and Michael Tarnat make them have more difficult to stop goals. Even the attacking players in Hoffenheim are not at the top form, I believe they can score goals easily and win this one easily.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 5-2
My tip: Hoffenheim win 4-1

Bayer Leverkusen (7th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (12th) - Saturday: Leverkusen last week had lost to Hertha Berlin 1-0 and they seemed to continue to slump. It was undeniable that the goal from Andrei Voronin was lucky, but their inability of scoring goals actually the real reason to kill them. Patrick Helmes is still in hot streak but Stefan Kießling is in the cold streak. Tranquillo Barnetta and Arturo Vidal start to get cold streak as well, their runs start not to be so threatening anymore. Toni Kroos is still cannot perform so well so Partick Helmes lost all the support available. However, Frankfurt is not very strong in the attacks. Martin Fenin is not in the good form all season long so far, and the Greek duo Ioannis Amanatidis and Nikos Liberopoulous failed to perform well so that Frankfurt also lost the whole attacking force. I believe this will be a low scoring game and Leverkusen will win by their better quality and the red hot Partick Helmes.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 2-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 1-0

VfB Stuttgart (6th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: This is the most important match of this week. Stuttgart had lost the first Bundesliga match since the arrival of Markus Babbel. I believe this is a big moment of him on how to boost the players up as they have lost 4-0 against Werder Bremen comprehensively. Mario Gomez is the most important player in the match and Thomas Hitzlsperger, and Sami Khedira will be the most important players to support Gomez. On the other hand, Hertha Berlin was a bit lucky to win last week, especially for Andrei Voronin, the fortune also favored him. However, it is undeniable that their solid defense made the opposition no chance to score goals. Arne Friedrich leads the defense line very well and they rarely concede goals. Even it seems Hertha Berlin has the advantage in this week, I believe Stuttgart can pick up in time and able to cancel Hertha Berlin out.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Bayern München (2nd) vs Karlsruher SC (18th) - Saturday: Bayern last week had won against Bochum 3-0 without Franck Ribery. Even critics may say the opponent is too weak to stop them but at least they can win the game without him. Jose Sosa did very well last week, but as Ribery is set to return, I believe he will be on the bench again. Miroslav Klose is injured for 6-8 weeks and leads Lukas Podolski is only available striker this week. I believe Ribery will be at the second striker position to fill up the gap and rookie Thomas Müller will be still on the bench. Meanwhile, Karlsruher is still in the deep trouble and it seems they never reach the end of the dark tunnel. All sorts of problems are happened to them and never seems there is any ways to solve it. Marco Engelhardt will be the most important player again and see how long he can stop Bayern. Considering Bayern outgun Karlsruher, I believe Bayern will have a big win even there is only 1 striker available, and most likely to have 1st clean sheet of the season as well.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 1-0
My tip: Bayern München win 5-0

Energie Cottbus (17th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: Cottbus started to slump and all the efforts they had before were totally wasted. They lost to Hamburger SV last week and led them drop to 17th. They started to going back to their problem, those are lack of discipline defense and shape attack. On the other hand, after Köln had a memorable victory against Bayern, they failed to keep on this morale and they are very unstable in the moment. Once again the midfield failed to support Milivoje Novakovic and led them to lost 4-2 against Gladbach. The defense must concentrate this match as Cottbus attacking sometimes is not as bad as they are. I believe this match will be a draw because both of them are very unstable at the moment and will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Köln win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Schalke 04 (8th) vs Hamburger SV (4th) - Sunday: Schalke still had all sorts of problems. Previously I have said they had the problem in attacking but last week they had the problem of defending. It seemed their attacking started to become normal as Ivan Ratikic and Vicente Sanchez could create some good attacks. Plus Kevin Kuranyi started to get the scoring feeling, even it is still far from enough. However, their defense started to lose the discipline since Bordon is injured. He is likely to return but I doubt his match fitness. I believe the key of Schalke this match is still the attacking, as they need to keep the consistency. On the other side, Hamburger may be affected by the UEFA Cup match against Galatasaray, as they will be back from Istanbul. Ivica Olic and Piotr Trochowski will be very important in the match as they are the core of all attacks. Their away form is also improving so I think it will bring threats to Schalke. Considering the match fitness of Hamburger, I believe this match will be the low scoring game and a draw will be likely to happen.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

So that's it! Have a good weekend!

German Bundesliga Week 24 Tipping

2009-03-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend German Bundesliga has reached 24th week of the season. Hertha Berlin last week performed very well and strengthen the lead by 4 point in the top of the table. However, the title race is very tight still as 2nd to 5th team are all with the same point, only goal difference, or even head-to-head record seperate them. Now here's the tip of this week:

VfL Wolfsburg (4th) vs Schalke 04 (8th) - Friday: Last week Wolfsburg beated Karlsruher 1-0 showed their how tough they defend this season so far. Plus Eden Dzeko's performance is getting better and better so they can reach 4th in the position. This week I believe they can perform the solid defense against Schalke 04 and the opposition are very hard to score them. On the other hand, Schalke has the 2 wins in a row since November last year by winning 1-0 last week. However, Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan are still unreliable and Ivan Ratikic is not in match form. They now rely on the scoring ability in the midfield as the strikers cannot do their job at all. Bordon is unlikely to play but he cannot help too much on the attack. So I believe Schalke will lose this game as they are not good at attacking.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Wolfsburg win 1-0

Hertha Berlin (1st) vs Bayer Leverkusen (7th) - Saturday: Hertha Berlin still look strong after they went through the tricky trip of Cottbus last week. Andrei Voronin is still in excellent form as he was the only person to change the whole game last week. He is still looking very dangerous to Leverkusen as the defense is slumping. Also, the midfield can create the attack well so that Voronin has such as great time. On the other hand, Leverkusen could not recover their best form still as they have slided down to 7th already. Even though Patrick Helmes is still in excellent form but the other players such as Stefan Kießling cannot relieve him. Tranquillo Barnetta works very hard but his effort cannot do too much help. Arturo Vidal is injured and see if Toni Kroos may relieve the position well. The most worrying part is the defense. Lukas Sinkiewicz is not good at all so Andrei Voronin will be very happy as he can get pass him easily. Henrique is the most important player in this match as he needs to stop the Hertha attack by himself.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 1-0
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 2-0

Hannover 96 (13th) vs Borussia Dortmund (9th) - Saturday: Hannover last week had suffered the major setback as they had been crashed by Bayern München 5-1. Aerial defense was the key they lost the game as 4 of them were come from headers. Another problem was the poor away from as they had only drew 1 game in aggregate. However, this week they return to home so I believe it cannot get worse than last week at least. Jiri Stajner is the most important player now. His creativity on the midfield is directly affecting the result of the team. On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund had suffered the loss last week against VfB Stuttgart. It was because they could not attack well. Since the return of winter break Dortmund again and again failed to seek the best attacking form yet so if they trail behind, they are very hard to bounce back as Alexander Frei, Nelson Valdez, and Mohamed Zidan all failed to prove themselves. Tamas Hajnal is the only player who is trustable in attack but sadly he cannot take care all of the attacking issue. I believe Hannover may bring some surprises even they have suffered last week.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Hannover win 2-1

Karlsruher SC (18th) vs Armina Bielefeld (15th) - Saturday: Karlsruher had slumped to the bottom after their prolonged poor form of this season. Marco Engelhardt had done all he could but the team still struggle. The attacking is still having all sorts of trouble and seems they do not know what scoring means even. The drastic change of attacking style is urgently needed for them now but this match I do not believe they can make anything surprise. On the other hand, Arminia Bielefeld had a bore draw against Eintract Frankfurt. This was good enough for them to catch a breathe in the relegation fight. Again, Artur Wichniarek holds the key of the success and I believe he can score goals in this match as the Karlsruher defense is not so good as well. Arminia Bielefeld will continue climb up the table and Karlsruher will still struggle after this match.
Last matchup: Karlsruher win 2-1
My tip: Bielefeld win 2-0

1. FC Köln (11th) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (17th) - Saturday: Köln last week had lost to Schalke 1-0 showed the only striker and captain Milivoje Novakovic could not handle the attack by himself. As the midfield had been control by the opposition, the team simply failed to support Novakovic. Armando Petit will be the key player this week to hold on the midfield and makes sure the support from the midfield is adequate for Novakovic. On the other hand, Gladbach had the best match of the season last week as they stunned most of the fans and won Hamburger SV 4-1. The whole team showed their determination and morale in the match and I believe it helps them very much in the remaining 11 weeks. I believe the key of the match is Armando Petit and Tomas Galasek as they both are important players in the midfield.
Last matchup: Köln win 2-1
My tip: Mönchengladbach win 1-0

Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (3rd) - Saturday: Eintract Frankfurt is starting to get relax in the remaining matches as they feel safe in the relegation fight. Even there are only 4 points different, there are so many teams are behind them so that it is very rare if they drop into the relegation zone in a short period of time. I believe they will not have any pressure in this week so that it is not surprise if they are not able to win this match. Hoffenheim at the same time they are still hoping to create history. They were very unlucky that they were unable to score goal as Boubacar Sanogo had hit the post for 3 times. This match the team will rely on him and Demba Ba as Vedad Ibisevic is out for season, as well as Chinedu Obasi is out for a month. I believe Sanogo and Ba are able to score goals this time if the connect each other well and they are a bit more lucky.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 2-1
My tip: Hoffenheim win 3-1

VfL Bochum (14th) vs Bayern München (2nd) - Saturday: Bochum had improved significantly as they had won 3 in 5 matches. The main reason was the arrival of Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu. Along with Christoph Dabrowski, the attacking had become threatening. This week they still need 3 points to ensure they are going out of trouble but they will have tough time. At the same time, Bayern seemed they had come back as they won Hannover 5-1 last week. The absence of Franck Ribery made the team looked more team work. This week Ribery are very likely to return and see what happen if he comes back. He is still a huge threat to the opposition and I believe he will bring lots of harm to the opposition this week. Together with the astonishing victory in Champions League, I believe they have very high morality and I believe they will win this one. They key of the match is Bayern must not concede goal first, or else they are very hard to climb back.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Bayern München win 3-1

Werder Bremen (10th) vs VfB Stuttgart (6th) - Sunday: Werder Bremen was a bit lucky for not losing any goals last week against Hoffenheim. No matter Naldo or Petri Pansanen, both of them cannot give confident to the fans in terms of defense. Claudio Pizarro keep missing chances may kill the team this week as Stuttgart are good at defense and counter attacks. Per Mertesacker again has an important job as he is the only player who can stop Mario Gomez. Stuttgart at the same time, they have beaten Borussia Dortmund and maintained the unbeaten streak since the arrival of Markus Babbel. The midfield is so young and energetic that very few teams can break them through. Sami Khedira is the most important midfielder as he control the flow very well. I believe this match Werder Bremen even in the home court, it is still very hard to win. There will not be a high scoring game and I believe a draw is very likely to happen.
Last matchup: VfB Stuttgart win 4-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Hamburger SV (5th) vs Energie Cottbus (16th) - Sunday: Hamburger once again proved themselves they could not play away from home, as they lost 4-1 against Gladbach. However, this week I believe they can give fans some confidence as they go back at home, where they always perform very very well. Piotr Trochowski is the most important player again, together with Ivica Olic and Mlaten Petric, they will bring lots of harm to Cottbus. The only concern is they will play this game after the tough UEFA Cup match against Galatasaray, as I believe that match will consume lots of energy. Cottbus at the same time, they failed to score an insurance goal and led Hertha Berlin fight back. They kept on improving but sadly it was not good enough still. They are facing a very tough challenge this week and the only hope for them is if Hamburger players are tired, so that they have chance to make surprise.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 2-1
My tip: Hamburger win 2-0

That's it. Have a nice week!!

German Bundesliga Week 23 Tipping

2009-03-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

After 22 weeks of Bundesliga, the title challenge is still an unknown. Hertha Berlin had claimed the 1st spot as they were the only team who could claim all 3 points. Hoffenheim still could not solve the problem of the absence of Vedad Ibisevic and they will have the great challenge this week. Now here's the tipping of this week:

Schalke 04 (8th) vs 1. FC Köln (10th) - Friday: Schalke still had the problem of the attacking. It seemed coach Fred Rutten could not solve this problem at all. Even though Schalke had scored 2 goals last week, the attacking players were still inconsistent. Kevin Kuranyi again is still in cold streak and he just played in the first half in the DFB Pokal loss against Mainz. The midfield still could not create anything as Ivan Ratikic could not perform well. The attacking was still in the cold streak. I believe they are very hard to score against Köln. On the other hand, the defense of Köln is very solid recently, it is very hard to break them through. However, the attacking is too relying on Milivoje Novakovic. The midfield has the great power to tackle the opposition but they cannot assist the strikers. So I believe this match is all about the finishing and creativeness. Even Schalke has home court advantage, it is still hard to call they can win.
Last matchup: Köln win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

1899 Hoffenheim (3rd) vs Werder Bremen (11th) - Saturday: The match of the week. Hoffenheim has the problem of attacking since Vedad Ibisevic cannot play anymore this season. Demba Ba seems to be the best reliever but he is not so consistent. The defense still has lots of problems based on the position and the timing of tackle. Carlos Eduardo is still the creator of the team and he is very important to score against Werder Bremen. At the same time, Werder Bremen did very well against Bayern München last Sunday, but they lost Naldo as he had received a red card and caused him a 3-match suspension. Petri Pansenan is predicted to play as the centre back just like last match and it is still doubtful if there is any impact to the defense. Per Mertesacker is still the key player in the match as Werder Bremen needs to stop conceding goals to lead them to win. I believe this is a high scoring match and the team with better defense wins.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 5-4
My tip: Match draw 3-3

Borussia Mönchengladbach (18th) vs Hamburger SV (2nd) - Saturday: Gladbach seems to be improving in the recent weeks. However Hertha Berlin was too good for them so they lost the game. Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann are still the most important players in the team and they do hope they can rely on the home court advantage to bring a victory. However Gladbach needs the better defense in order to stop conceding goals as Hamburger are good on attacking. Hamburger was very surprising for me as they lost to Wolfsburg at home and missed the chance to be the 1st in the table again. I personally am pretty worried about them this match as their away match form is quite poor. Ivica Olic and Piotr Trochowski are the most important players in the team as they can create goals well. Marcell Jansen is another player to watch out for as his runs in left flank is very threatening. However, the poor away form drag them down. So this is the very tricky call for me and Gladbach has chance to make surprises.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Bayern München (5th) vs Hannover 96 (12th) - Saturday: Bayern could not convert the great form in Champions League into the league and they failed to win against Werder Bremen with 1-man advantage. Even worse, they lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Pokal. The main reason was the players were not fit and they had very few options in the squad as there was not any squad depth at all. Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose will be very important as Luca Toni is very likely to be out of action. Also, they must defend well as they always concede goals before the score that leads them to have great pressure up front. It is quite lucky for them that they only face Hannover this week. Hannover is very poor in the away form, even though they won against Leverkusen last week, it cannot prove they are recovering in terms of form. So I still give my vote to Bayern, even they will concede goals again.
Last matchup: Hannover win 1-0
My tip: Bayern München win 3-1

Energie Cottbus (16th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: Cottbus is the other team who is improving quickly. They were very careless that they lost to Bochum 3-2 last week. However, they showed their spirit and roughness to the opposition, the obvious example was the victory against Werder Bremen 2 weeks ago. So I think they can surprise Hertha Berlin this week. At the same time, Hertha Berlin is too relying on the home form but it seems they do not know how to win a game away from home. Andrei Voronin and Nicu will be the players Cottbus needs to watch out for and they are the main force to score goals. Even Hertha Berlin are very fit recently but I do not think they can win this one, as their away form is quite poor and Cottbus fighting spirit can bring Hertha Berlin trouble.
Last matchup: Cottbus win 1-0
My tip: Cottbus win 2-1

VfL Wolfsburg (4th) vs Karlsruher SC (17th) - Saturday: Wolfsburg is playing under the raider and they slowly but surely climb up to the 4th in the table. Now they are one of the title contenders. Eden Dzeko and Grafite keep improving the form and together with the solid defense from Andrea Bazagli, I personally am very confident that they can keep winning this week. Karlsurher on the other hand, I do not think they can make anything special this week as they have a very poor form recently. Also, they still cannot find the scoring formula. So they are very hard to score goals against the opposition. Even Wolfsburg lost 5-2 against Werder Bremen in DFB Pokal, Wolfsburg will not be affected and keep winning.
Last matchup: Karlsruher win 2-1
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-0

VfB Stuttgart (7th) vs Borussia Dortmund (9th) - Saturday: Stuttgart finally had found the way to win the game, but the opposition was too weak for them. However, they are still in a good run as they are still unbeaten since the arrival of Markus Babbel. I believe their good form will keep on and they will bring lots of pressure to the opposition. On the other hand, Dortmund cannot convert their form into winning the game so they keep drawing. They have drawn 12 games out of 22 games so I believe it is very likely to draw this week. Mohamad Zidan and Nelson Valdez must pick up his form in order to break up the draw curse to win the game. The key of this game is who can break this deadlock first.
Last matchup: Dortmund win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 2-2

Arminia Bielefeld (15th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (13th) - Sunday: Bielefeid is still struggling to get the best form yet. Even Artur Wichniarek is in the good form but I do not believe he is good enough to bring the team out of trouble. I do not see there is any help from the team so if he play badly, the team will lose. On the other hand, Frankfurt did not have any motivation to win the game as they believe they are good enough to remain at the Bundesliga. So I believe this game Bielefeld will control the game and they will win this one in small margin.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Bielefeld win 2-1

Bayer Leverkusen (6th) vs VfL Bochum (14th) - Sunday: Leverkusen is very inconsistent in terms of defense. They failed to win against Hannover last week and they remained at 6th position only. Manual Friedrich is out for injury for 8 weeks will hurt the team very much, as Lukas Sinkiewicz is very shaky in the defense line. I believe this is the weakest link of the team and Bochum may find some chance there. However, the victory of DFB Pokal will boost their morale very much so that I believe they still have upper hand. On the other hand, Bochum showed their toughness to beat Cottbus 3-2 last week and I believe this morale will keep on this Sunday. However, Leverkusen is too good for them to beat, so I believe Leverkusen can take all 3 points.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 3-2
My tip: Leverkusen win 2-0

So that's it for this week! Happy weekend!

German Bundesliga Week 22 Tipping

2009-02-26T00:32:00.000-08:00

This week the Bundesliga had reached the 22nd match week. The title race had further heated up as Hamburger SV had reached to the top. Bayern München kept the poor league form and this Sunday they will face Werder Bremen. Last week I had 3 correct tips and there were 2 correct scores within them. Now here's my tips for this weekend:

1. FC Köln (10th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (15th) - Friday: It was very encouraging for Köln last week as they beated Bayern München 2-1. They had a solid performance and the whole team coordinated each other well. Midfielder Fabrice Ehret did very well last week and I believe he can keep on this great form this Friday. His performance can relieve a lot of pressure of Milivoje Novakovic. On the other side, the solid defense made the team success last week, and I believe this is the important factor this week, as they have to stop Bielefeld's Artur Wichniarek. Speaking to Bielefeld, they were unable to win against VfL Bochum led them to lose a chance to climb up further in the table to prevent relegation. Wichniarek again is the most important person in the team and I believe this week he has a great challenge from the opposition. The key of this match is how Köln defend. If they defend well, they will keep the excellent form.
Last matchup: Bielefeld win 2-0
My tip: Köln win 2-0

Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs Schalke 04 (9th) - Saturday: Again, Schalke missed the chance to win last week. Kevin Kuranyi even scored the great goal last week but he was not consistent enough to carry on until the end of the match. So I cannot say he had gained back his top form as he needed to play consistently, not scoring 1 great goal in few months. The other attacking players such as Gerald Asamoah and Jefferson Farfan needed to pick up the pace again. I do not worry about their defense, as Jermain Jones has a great strength and stamina to protect the midfield defense. On the other hand, Frankfurt barely won Karlsruher SC last week and gained the important 3 points in order to stay away from the relegation. They are actually in the good position for staying away from relegation, but it is too far away for them to fight for qualifying the European matches. I believe they do not have any pressure in this match and it may bring some surprises for us.
Last matchup: Schalke win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Hannover 96 (13th) vs Bayer Leverkusen (5th) - Saturday: Hannover started to slump down recently and they have lost to Borussia Möchengladbach 3-2. Now they are just 3 points away from the relegation so they must pick up immediately. The absence of Mikael Forsell and Jan Schlaudraff really affect the team and the attacking does not have the focus to score. On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen were pretty inconsistent and they had missed the chance to climb up the table. Partick Helmes however is in excellent form and I believe he will keep scoring as Hannover defense is not that solid. Arturo Vidal is back from action does help the team in terms of attack and defense. Tranquillo Barnetta also helps the midfield very much so that they will outplay Hannover in the midfield. The key point of the match is if Leverkusen can control the midfield.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 4-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 3-0

Hertha Berlin (3rd) vs Borussia Möchengladbach (18th) - Saturday: Hertha Berlin was as same as Leverkusen, they missed the chance to climb back to the top of the table as they lost VfL Wolfsburg 2-1. Andrei Voronin was the key person of the team, but when he was frozen, Hertha Berlin did not have any players to relieve him. So this is the importance of Marko Pantelic. On the other hand, Gladbach did a very great job to beat Hannover, but sadly they are still far away to get away from the relegation trouble. This is a morale boosting for them and I think they morality can hold on Hertha Berlin a while. However, Hertha Berlin had won 7 home games in a row so this time Gladbach cannot get away with a point either.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 1-0
My tip: Hertha Berlin win 3-0

Borussia Dortmund (8th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (2nd) - Saturday: Dortmund had shown how tough they could be as they had drawn Schalke 1-1. The whole team now are depending on the morality and group discipline to carry on the match. However, the individual players are not in top form, such as Nelson Valdez and Alexander Frei. They always failed to finish the game so that they kept drawing. On the other hand, Hoffenheim was still struggling the absence of Vedad Ibisevic, even though Demba Ba was the man last week to hold on a draw against VfB Stuttgart. Sejad Salihovic and Carlos Eduardo will be very important for them in the match to fight against Dortmund. I believe this match will be decided by the attacking finishing.
Last matchup: Dortmund win 4-1
My tip: Match draw 2-2

VfL Bochum (16th) vs Energie Cottbus (14th) - Saturday: Bochum last week failed to win and as same as last week's opponent, Bielefeld, missed the chance to climb up the table. They need to work hard to get back in form. Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu do not have much influence to the team, so that the team is still in trouble. On the other hand, Cottbus did a very good job to beat Werder Bremen. It is very encouraging for the team that they can get away from the relegation trouble. Same as last season, Cottbus pick up the form after the winter break and the attacking and defense are keep improving. So I believe this match Cottbus can et a draw or even a win.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Werder Bremen (11th) vs Bayern München (4th) - Sunday: Both teams are having trouble in the league. So it can be said that it is bad versus worse. Werder Bremen was yet to win the match and they desperately need one. The surprise loss against Cottbus last week led them dropped to 11th already. Claudio Pizarro did not play last week due to discipline problem. Now he is back to action and Werder Bremen hope him can bring the team out of trouble. Diego is still the other man to watch out for as his creativeness does assist the team very much. On the other hand, Bayern München was lucky that they could hold on the 4-point difference from the top of table as every close rival had lost points. Their playing style led the team kept making errors so that they had lost 3 games out of 4. They must win this match even it is quite hard for them. It was a huge boost for them that they had won Sporting Lisbon 5-0 away from home in Champions League. Still, Franck Ribery is the most important player so that his performance is the key of the match.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 5-2
My tip: Bayern München win 2-1

Hamburger SV (1st) vs VfL Wolfsburg (6th) - Sunday: Hamburger was the only team to take all 3 points last week within all the title challenging team. So they reached at the top of the table with 2 points leading. This is absolutely the great moment for them as their effort is fully deserved to be at the top. Piotr Trochowski is very important player now for Hamburger as he connects the team attack very well. Marcell Jansen had started to gain back the best from in Borussia Möchengladbach 2 seasons ago. His pace is definitely the great asset in the team. On the other side, Wolfsburg also did a great job to beat Hertha Berlin last week and they had reached 6th in the table. However, the difference between the home form and away form is too large so that I do not believe Wolfsburg can stop Hamburger, even Eden Dzeko and Grafite are in top form.
Last matchup: Wolfsburg win 3-0
My tip: Hamburger win 2-0

Karlsruher SC (17th) vs VfB Stuttgart (7th) - Sunday: Karlsruher still cannot get away from the trouble. They lost Frankfurt 1-0 last week. Their attacking is the main trouble of the team and Giovani Federico cannot help the team in attacking at all. So even Marco Engelhardt did well in the team, his influence only limited in the midfield defense as the team does not have any player to finish his play. I believe Karlsruher will keep slumping in the coming weeks. Stuttgart at the same time, their match form starts to slide down as they have drawn 2 matches in a row. The defense suddenly lost concentration in these 2 matches so Stuttgart needed to fight hard to hold out of draw. Mario Gomez is very good in the match form so I believe he will get some scores in this match as Karlsruher does not play well in defense. The key of the match is if Stuttgart can keep the possession well to lead them to win.
Last matchup: Stuttgart win 3-1
My tip: Stuttgart win 3-0

So this is it! Happy weekend!

German Bundesliga Week 21 Tipping

2009-02-18T23:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend German Bundesliga has reached 21st match week. The title race has been further heated up as Hertha Berlin has reached to the top. There are only 4 points different between 1st to 5th in the table. Hertha Berlin, Hoffenheim, Leverkusen, and Hamburger are facing the great challenge while Bayern München is facing a relatively easy challenge. Now here's the tip of this week:

Schalke 04 (9th) vs Borussia Dortmund (8th) - Friday: A Ruhr derby starts this match week. Schalke is quite surprising for me that they lost to Bochum last Saturday. Their attacking problem again made the team down. Jefferson Farfan did not contribute at all and Ivan Rakitic had not reached his peak form yet. Plus, since Fabien Ernst had left for good, the midfield defense had been weakened. Borussia Dortmund at the same time their attacking form had reached their low. Alexander Frei and Nelson Valdez could not help the team to win against Energie Cottbus even. The key of this match is how they finish the attack. A low scoring draw is predicted as both of them cannot convert the attack into goals well.
Last matchup: Match draw 3-3
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Energie Cottbus (16th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Saturday: Energie Cottbus seemed they were improving in a solid way. They had 4 game points in last 3 games led them to crawl back up of the table. The new signings had helped the team to improve, at least the team became more competitive in attacking and looked more solid in defense. Even this time they face Werder Bremen, I believe they can push them to the limit. Werder Bremen at the same time they were in poor form in Bundesliga. They only had 1 game point in 3 games, it mainly was because the absence of Diego and Claudio Pizarro. This match they will be back to action so there are more variety and creativity in attack. However, their defense keeps making fans worried as they lack of discipline. Per Mertesacker cannot lead the defense line, and the side backs cannot do their job. This match I believe it will be a draw as Cottbus can hold on.
Last matchup: Werder Bremen win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Borussia Möchengladbach (18th) vs Hannover 96 (12th) - Saturday: Gladbach seemed they have improve their performance slowly, but is it too late for them now? It seems 1 point is not enough for them in the match and they must keep winning. Rob Friend still cannot find his form now, so Alexander Baumjohann and Marko Marin are the most important players in attack. Tomas Galasek will be the most important player in defense. The only hope of Gladbach now is keeping the high morale and pray for the miracle. Hannover on the other hand they lose their morality. However, they can picked up the morality on time as they snatched a draw against Stuttgart last week. Jan Schlaudraff is rated doubtful and Mikael Forssell will be very important now. They key of this match is who has higher morale.
Last matchup: Hannover win 5-1
My tip: Möchengladbach win 2-1

Karlsruher SC (17th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (13th) - Saturday: Karlsruher last week were unable to score goal and held out a draw. They are still in the cold streak even they won against Hamburger 2 weeks ago. Marco Engelhardt is still suspended this match so the midfield defense is their weakest link still. Sebatian Freis at the same time he will be the most important player in this match as he is the main source of the goal scorin. Frankfurt on the other hand they lost their morality and they even lost to Wolfsburg at home. They must pick up the morality on time as they are not safe from relegation yet. I believe this match will end up with draw because I cannot see any of them are able to win the match and they will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Frankfurt win 2-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

VfL Wolfsburg (6th) vs Hertha Berlin (1st) - Saturday: Wolfsburg is pretty surprising for me that they won away from home last week. Eden Dzeko keeps the great form in the league, even they have lost to PSG in UEFA Cup. This week they are back at home, I believe their performance will significantly improve and bring lots of threats to Hertha Berlin. Zvjezdan Misimovic will be the most important midfielder and I believe he can break through the Hertha Berlin defense. On the other hand, it is very encouraging for Hertha Berlin to beat Bayern München and reached to the top last week. Andrej Voronin is very fit recently so Marko Pantelic is not that important now. Solid defense is the key success for Hertha Berlin this season and I believe they can hang on in this match. However, the away form of Hertha Berlin is not that good, including a draw against Armina Bielefeld. So I believe it is not as easy as Hertha Berlin think in this match.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Wolfsburg win 2-1

VfB Stuttgart (7th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (2nd) - Saturday: Stuttgart recent form has been slip a bit, but they can still manage to hang on. Mario Gomez keeps a steady form and it helps the team to maintain their performance. However, he does not have any reliable partner to relieve his pressure. So when he is frozen, the Stuttgart attack will be in trouble. However, Hoffenheim had shown the effect of the absence of Vedad Ibisevic. Without the constant attacking spot, they had been comprehensively beaten by Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 last week. Boubacar Sanogo was absolutely useless in the team and only Carlos Eduardo and Demba Ba can perform. The defense seems not to improve so well since the arrival of Timo Hildebrand. Furthermore, Hoffenheim cannot perform and lost 5 of the 7 major top clashes so far (i.e., lost to Bayern, lost to Leverkusen twice, lost to Werder Bremen, and lost to Hertha Berlin). So I believe Stuttgart has the advantage to win the game.
Last matchup: Match draw 0-0
My tip: Stuttgart win 2-0

Bayern München (4th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: Bayern last week was significantly affected by the international matchday so the team did not power up and lost to Hertha Berlin and missed the great chance to get to the top of table. However, it is a bless that they face the easiest challenge within the major title contender this week. Franck Ribery and Ze Roberto will be the most important players in the team and Miroslav Klose can pick up his form on time. Luca Toni will be most likely out of action this match but the team make it very clear that Lukas Podolski will play this match. I do not think the attack has any problem and the major concern is still the defense. On the other hand, Köln cannot maintain their performance week by week and I think they will be outclassed by Bayern. Milivoje Novakovic will be the only hope for the team to make surprises to fans. Also, the midfield and the defense are believed to be outclassed by Bayern. So I believe Bayern can control the midfield flow and win this match.
Last matchup: Bayern win 3-0
My tip: Bayern win 4-1

Arminia Bielefeld (14th) vs VfL Bochum (15th) - Saturday: This is the most important relegation fight in this week. Both teams only have a point difference and both teams have the similar form. Bielefeld had lost to Hamburger last Sunday but they still kept the good form 2 weeks ago. Artur Wichniarek is the most important player in this match, but he is rated doubtful this week so if he cannot play or he is not in form, it will hurt the team very much. On the other hand, Bochum had a wonderful victory against Schalke that did significantly improve their morale. Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu are starting to bring some positive impact to the team and they will bring a lot of threats to Bielefeld. However, considering Bielefeld have the home court advantage, Bielefeld can snatch a draw even the absence of Wichniarek will impact the team.
Last matchup: Bochum win 2-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Bayer Leverkusen (5th) vs Hamburger SV (3rd) - Sunday: Bayer Leverkusen last week had picked up the form in style which comprehensively beaten Hoffenheim 4-1. Partick Helmes is in great form and he is the most important player in the team. Captain Simon Rolfes is also important as his strength and stamina can connect the team very well. The concern is Arturo Vidal is still suspended but Thomas Zdebel and Renato Augusto can take his job well. Henrique is back to the starting lineup so it is a great relieve to Leverkusen defense. On the other hand, Hamburger did well last week which they beated Bielefeld 2-0. Ivica Olic is back just in time as Mlaten Petric is still suspended. Piotr Trochowski will be another important player who needs to watch out. However, the poor away form makes the team has trouble in this match. So I think Leverkusen can win this one.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 3-2
My tip: Leverkusen win 3-1

So that's it! Have a good weekend!

German Bundesliga Week 20 Tipping

2009-02-12T01:03:00.000-08:00

German Bundesliga will hold the 20th week in this Valentine's Day weekend. Both Hoffenheim and Bayern München will face the great challenge in order to secure their place. Together with the post international matchday, there will be more uncertainties this week. Last week I have correctly tipped 5 matches and there were 2 correct scores within these. Now here's my tipping for this week:

1899 Hoffenheim (1st) vs Bayer Leverkusen (4th) - Friday: An early blockbuster this match week. Hoffenheim last week was a bit lucky to equalize the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The suspension of Carlos Eduardo and the injury of Vedad Ibisevic seemed to be the main factor that led Hoffenheim failed to win. It is very obvious that the absence of the duo led the team lose the core of the attack. It may help this week as Carlos Eduardo is free from suspension. However, the effect of Ibisevic's absence is still significant. Bayer Leverkusen on the other hand is starting to face the mid-season slump. They only managed to have 1 point in 2 matches. The loss against Stuttgart was tragic and they were comprehensively beaten. It is doubtful that Henrique is fit enough to play, as the center back replacement Lukas Sinkiewicz is having a tragic form. Arthur Vidal is suspended this week also affects the team so much. Toni Kroos may start this match, but it is very doubtful about his influence. I believe both teams are having their own trouble so a draw is very likely.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 5-2
My tip: Match draw 2-2

Hertha Berlin (3rd) vs Bayern München (2nd) - Saturday: This is another huge blockbuster this match week. Hertha Berlin brought surprises to all bookmarkers that they played so well and solid. Their solid defense is very hard to break. Andrei Voronin is in top form, he made a lot of efforts last week against Armina Bielefeld but the other players could not finish for him. Voronin will be the great threat to Bayern as Marko Pantelic is not likely to start due to the conflict between the coach. Bayern München at the same time they picked up the form in the Nick of Time as they beated Borussia Dortmund last Sunday. Franck Ribery was a bit unlucky that he was unable to score goal as he made a lot of efforts in that match. However, Luca Toni is in the cold streak so it is very important for Miroslav Klose to score goals to lead to win. The defense of Bayern's away game is very solid, they only concede 9 goals so far as I believe they slow down the tempo. The key point of this match is if anyone can convert the limited chances into winning goal.
Last matchup: Bayern win 4-1
My tip: Bayern win 2-0

Eintract Frankfurt (12th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (7th) - Saturday: Not much surprise from Frankfurt as their performance so far is far from enough from being relegated. The whole team is not at a heavy pressure as they are far from qualifying the European matches as well. Nikos Liberopoulos is in top form and he can absolutely relieve the pressure of captain Ioannis Amanatidis. I believe Liberopoulos will still be the most important attacking force in this week. Wolfsburg on he other hand they are very good in home, but the poor away form always drag them down. Eden Dzeko played very well last week but he cannot perform as good as in home when they are away for matches. Grafite also has the same problem as well, so I do not believe they will make anything different in this week. I believe this is very clear that Frankfurt will win this one.
Last matchup: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Frankurt win 2-0

Hannover 96 (13th) vs VfB Stuttgart (6th) - Saturday: Hannover last week they lost to Energie Cottbus is not that surprised to me as they have changed too much. This week they go back home to play, there maybe different. This is because their defense is not that solid at all. The return of captain Robert Enke did not have any significant influence to the defense so this week they will also have a hard time to stop Stuttgart. The only different is the home court advantage can boost their morale and keep holding on. On the other hand, Stuttgart is in a very good form. They are still unbeaten in Bundesliga since the caretaking coach Markus Babbel is on the hot seat. Mario Gomez is improving his form and he will bring lots of threats to Hannover this week. Mathieu Delpierre on the other hand is becoming more solid every week, so it is very hard for Hannover to score goals. Consequently, I believe even Stuttgart is the away team, they are able to beat Hannover.
Last matchup: Stuttgart win 2-0
My tip: Stuttgart win 2-0

1. FC Köln (11th) vs Karlsruher SC (16th) - Saturday: Köln last week had played quite well, captain Milivoje Novakovic is very good in form and not he scored 2 goals last week, but he made lots of chances as well. I believe he will be the most important player who can lead the team to win this week. Pedro Tonon Geromel is the other important defender in the team in order to stop Karlsruher attack. Together with home court advantage, they have the upper hand. On the other hand, Karlsruher even boosted their morale after the great comeback against Hamburger SV, they have another trouble afterwards. The suspension of Marco Engelhardt really does hurt the team as Karlsruher will have not any midfield defense. As their defenders are always being outplayed, they will have a hard time to hang on.
Last matchup: Köln win 2-0
My tip: Köln win 3-0

Werder Bremen (10th) vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (18th) - Saturday: Werder Bremen did not perform well at all after the winter break. They are facing another huge slump as they did not get any point in last 2 matches. This week Diego and Claudio Pizarro will continue to serve his suspension so their attack is drastically affected. However, facing Gladbach is their very good chance to bounce back as Gladbach is not a strong team and their remaining attacking force is able to breakthrough. Gladbach on the other hand was very encouraging that they were so close to beat Hoffenheim. Goalkeeper Logan Bailly seems to be the right purchase of Gladbach as he made saves after saves last week. It is very unlucky for him to be unable to get a clean sheet or even a win. However, the defenders and the defensive midfielders make me very worried that if they can relieve the pressure to Bailly or even bring more harm to him. So I believe the key point of this match is how long Gladbach can hold.
Last matchup: Mönchengladbach win 3-2
My tip: Werder Bremen win 2-0

VfL Bochum (17th) vs Schalke 04 (8th) - Saturday: Bochum last week was back to original, they have lost to VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 showed that the team did not have any improvement, and also showed the week 18 victory was just a fluke. Diego Klimowicz and Vlad Munteanu are yet to be proven for they are capable to save the team from trouble. However, as the team now is running out of time, they are very hard to perform well instantly as they do not have time to mix and match. Schalke 04 on the other hand, Benedikt Höwedes caught the only chance to score and win against Werder Bremen. Even a win is a win, it showed that the attacking force such as Jefferson Farfan and Ivan Rakitic are not on form. The only weapon they have to win match is their defense. The pathetic attack from Schalke is enough to lead them to win this week, and with the solid defense, I believe they are able to carry through with a slim victory.
Last matchup: Schalke win 1-0
My tip: Schalke win 1-0

Borussia Dortmund (9th) vs Energie Cottbus (15th) - Sunday: Borussia Dortmund showed their inexperienced problem against Bayern last week. Felipe Santana made a huge mistake to make the team wasted all the efforts before 87th minute. They played very well last week and they were so close to hold out a draw and even a win, but I did not blame anybody as experience needs time. Captain Florian Kringe is the only factor I concern as he does not look confident at all so far. I do hope he can build up his confident soon. Energie Cottbus on the other hand they seem to start to bring out of trouble. They had beaten Hannover 96 comprehensively gave fans a huge confident. However, it is very unlucky to face Dortmund this week. It will be another very tough match for them as Dortmund outclass them. Even though the home record for Dortmund is not so good, I believe Cottbus will be very hard to beat them and Dortmund will have an easy win.
Last matchup: Dortmund win 1-0
My tip: Dortmund win 3-0

Hamburger SV (4th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (14th) - Sunday: Hamburger is the only team made me very disappointed last week. They could not hold on the lead and came home nothing in the end against Karlsruher. However, they are the different team in home so I still give the confident to them. The suspension of both Ivica Olic and Mlaten Petric makes me worried a bit as they do not have the other good striker. However, the defense of Bielefeld is so weak that Hamburger's remaining attacking force will be able to score goals. Bielefeld on the other hand, Artur Wichniarek is the only player who is in top form, and the others cannot help him at all. So his performance is the key Bielefeld to win this game. Even Bielefeld had 4 points in recents 2 games, which can be said they are in top form, I do not believe they can continue in this match and Hamburger will win this one due to excellent home form.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 4-2
My tip: Hamburger win 3-0

That's it for this week. Happy Valentine's Day!

German Bundesliga Week 19 Tipping

2009-02-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

Last week German Bundesliga had few surprises in the result which affected my tipping, but I could still manage to have 4 correct tips and 1 correct score within those 4 tips. This week the Bundesliga reaches 19th week of the season, the most exciting match will be the Sunday showdown between Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund. Now here's my tip for this week:

Arminia Bielefeld (14th) vs Hertha Berlin (2nd) - Friday: Both teams had won last week. It was very impressing for Bielefeld that they were able to beat Werder Bremen last Sunday. Artur Wichniarek is keeping the good form and he is lethal in the opposite half. He will be the critical player who can change the game for Bielefeld. However, when facing to Hertha Berlin's solid defense, I believe it is quite hard to break them through by himself. On the other hand, Hertha Berlin is keeping the excellent form and they climbed up to second place in the table. They are facing the injury of Marko Pantelic however, will affect their attacking efficiency. Also, their away game form is not too good so it is a tricky trip for them. The key point of the match is if Hertha Berlin can defend well and score goal first.
Last round: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Schalke 04 (9th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Saturday: It is supposed to be a top table clash, but their poor performance led them to be at the mid-table only. Schalke had lost Fabien Ernst at the last minute of winter transfer window who went for Fenerbache in Turkey. I believe it is a big blow for Schalke as his influence and leadership are very important to the team. Bordon needs to do some extra work to keep the team moving. The attacking force is still cannot get any clue of scoring so that was why they lost 1-0 against Hannover last Saturday. Werder Bremen had the problem of defense at the same time. They lost the goals against Bielefeld were all cheap goals. All Werder Bremen players were not in the form yet, together with the suspension of Diego, I believe they are even very hard to hang on for a draw.
Last round: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Schalke 04 win 2-1

Karlsruher SC (16th) vs Hamburger SV (3rd) - Saturday: Different emotions from last week's result. Karlsruher are still suffering from defeat and they still do not have any signs to bounce back. The whole team is in very poor in morale and it is very hard for them to beat any teams now. On the other hand, Hamburger had a very happy weekend as they beated Bayern München 1-0 and they were in an excellent form. The only worry is Ivica Olic is still suspended, but Mlaten Petric can relieve this problem. Even Hamburger is not good on away form, I believe they still can win this match easily.
Last round: Hamburger win 2-1
My tip: Hamburger win 2-0

Bayer Leverkusen (5th) vs VfB Stuttgart (7th) - Saturday: It was a bit unlucky for Leverkusen that they were not able to win against Borussia Dortmund last week, as they were definite the better team. Talented midfielder Toni Kroos is on loaned to Leverkusen before the winter transfer closes, but I do not believe he will get the regular starting place instantly. The whole team is very energetic and high morale so I believe this great form will continue. Stuttgart on the other hand, even they won last week but this week is the real deal. Mario Gomez will be very important for the team to lead Stuttgart to beat Leverkusen. However, it does not seem there is another player who can relieve his pressure so I believe Stuttgart is quite hard to snatch a draw even.
Last round: Leverkusen win 2-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 3-1

Borussia Mönchengladbach (18th) vs 1899 Hoffenheim (1st) - Saturday: It is very unlucky for Gladbach as they will face another tough team after getting back from winter break. Last week they were outclassed by Stuttgart and this week they will be outclassed again. The entired Gladbach do not have any sign to bounce back. Even worse, after they made a huge team change up, the performance did not improved at all. Marko Marin is the only player who is trustable but I do not believe he can turn things around. The fragile defense again will make them down. Hoffenheim on the other hand they are still in great form, they beated Cottbus by class so I believe they can go on. This match, however, still cannot prove any effect of the Vedad Ibisevic's long term absence as the opponent simply cannot handle the attack at all. So Hoffenheim can still win the match easily.
Last round: Hoffenheim win 1-0
My tip: Hoffenheim win 3-0

Eintract Frankfurt (13th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: Frankfurt last week had lost to the excellent form Hertha Berlin, so I cannot complain anything about it. However, they played pretty well as they only lost by 1 goal, so I believe they can improve their form and climb up in the table. The defense is quite solid so the key point of the game will be their attacking. On the other hand, Köln should have kicked themselves for not winning against Wolfsburg, who cannot perform well away from home. Novakovic's suspension is really affecting their performance in attack so this week the team's attack is predicted not to be improved. The key point of this match is the Köln's attacks can break through Frankfurt.
Last round: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Frankfurt win 1-0

VfL Wolfsburg (8th) vs VfL Bochum (15th) - Saturday: Wolfsburg last week was a bit lucky to snatch a draw against Köln, but this week I believe they will perform differently. The difference between home and away form is too huge so their away performance cannot be used as the reference to predict their next home game. I believe they will perform like champion against Bochum and Grafite, Eden Dzeko, and Zvjezdan Misimovic will bring waves of pressure to Bochum. On the other hand, although Bochum had a second win of the season last week, I do not believe they can carry on. Diego Klimowicz had a impressing debut match and he will be the key player again. Vlad Munteanu will be the important player to relieve Klimowicz but I believe he will not have an easy time this week.
Last week: Match draw 2-2
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-0

Energie Cottbus (17th) vs Hannover 96 (12th) - Sunday: Cottbus last week had been outclassed by opponent so it is a bit unfair that to judge their performance and form according to this match. The debutants did not make any effect to the team yet as they could not build up any team chemistry. Hannover on the other hand, had beated Schalke 1-0 and they were supposed to have a high match morale. However, the last minute departure of Szabolcs Huszti to Zenit St. Petersburg really did hurt the team. It is still unknown that Jacek Krzynowek can really replace Huszti. As the huge player change of Hannover 96, I believe Cottbus can stand a chance.
Last round: Match draw 0-0
My tip: Cottbus win 2-1

Bayern München (4th) vs Borussia Dortmund (6th) - Sunday: This is the key match of this week. Bayern last week had a timely wake up call that they were defeated by Hamburger by 1-0. However, Miroslav Klose, Luca Toni, and Franck Ribery can still maintain the good form and I believe they can still bring more impact to the opposition. The only concern is their defense, it deosn't seem they are improving in their defense so when facing the fast Dortmund counter attack, there will be some pressure. On the other hand, Dortmund is a bit lucky to hold out a draw. Kevin-Prince Boateng did not come back on the top form when he was in Hertha Berlin. Alex Frei is the only player who can perform well and the other strikers such as Mohamad Zidan and Nelson Valdez cannot find his form at all. The critical point of this match is if Bayern can hold on the counter attack.
Last round: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Bayern win 3-1

So that's it for this week. Have a nice match weekend!

German Bundesliga Week 18 Tipping

2009-01-28T20:04:00.001-08:00

Bundesliga is coming back in action! After the 6-week winter break all teams now in the combat mode to fight for what they want. Generally the matchup is quite clear cut so there will not be any surprises this week. Here's the tipping of week 18:

Hamburger SV (4th) vs Bayern München (2nd) - Friday: What a restart! It is a close matchup as both teams are back in match form so quickly. Hamburger had sold Nigel de Jong to Manchester City recently so I think their midfield power is weakened a bit. However, the team is focusing on the team work and team chemistry so that I do not think there will a huge impact. The suspension of Ivica Olic is a huge impact indeed as he is the best form striker in the team. So it is quite hard for them to win. On the other hand, Bayern come back to action in style as they beated Stuttgart 5-1 in the Cup match 2 days ago. Franck Ribery, Luca Toni, and Bastian Schweinsteiger are all back in excellent form so they are the real threat to Hamburger and the real key of the match. Bayern only has Massimo Oddo suspended and I do not think it will bring too many impact to the team. Another piece of news that Willy Sagnol is officially retired but it also will not bring impact to the team. As Bayern has more good available players, I believe they will win even away from home.
Last round: Match draw 2-2
My tipping: Bayern win 2-1

Hannover 96 (13th) vs Schalke 04 (7th) - Saturday: Hannover seemed very quiet in the winter break so I think their recent form is a bit in doubt. As they have been eliminated from the DFB Porkal, this is their first formal competition after the winter break. It is doubtful that the regular starters like Jan Schlaudraff, Mikael Forssell, and Szabolcs Huszti are in form to play against Schalke. On the other hand, Schalke seems are back in form as they won in DFB Porkal 2 days ago. Kevin Kuranyi had a good start of 2009 by scoring one goal but I am still in doubt that he is back in top form or not. He has to prove himself again in this match. Same as Jefferson Farfan, he needs to prove himself that he is worth more than 10 million Euro, which Schalke paid PSV Eindhoven last season. I do not think Schalke will win easily, but base on better quality, I think Schalke still have better chance to win.
Last round: Schalke win 3-0
My tipping: Schalke win 1-0

1. FC Köln (11th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (9th) - Saturday: Köln is the other team which is quiet in the winter break, they only had signed 2 new midfielders so far. The warmup match is also tend to be under the raider, so I doubt about their form back to the formal competition. Novakovic will be the only reliable striker again as Lukas Podolski will not join the team until the coming summer. The midfield will be their key to win the match. On the other hand, Wolfsburg is in the top form as they won DFB Porkal against Hansa Rostock 5-1. Grafite is back in top match form as he scored 3 goals in the match. New defender Peter Pekarik may start the match as the original Wolfsburg defense is not trustable. The other new signing Yoshito Okubo maybe at the bench first as the attacking is good enough. I believe the match form will drive this match, and Wolfsburg will have the upper hand.
Last round: Wolfsburg win 2-1
My tipping: Wolfsburg win 2-1

Borussia Dortmund (6th) vs Bayer Leverkusen (5th) - Saturday: This is the blockbuster in the Saturday action. Both teams had played the DFB Porkal last night but the fate was different. Leverkusen had reached the Quarter Final in 6 years but Dortmund had failed to go further. Both teams have not changed too much in the transfer market so the original lineup will continue to be the key. Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels from Dortmund will be the most important players in the game as it will be the real test for them to stop the top form strikers such as Patrick Helmes and Stefan Kießling. On the other hand, Leverkusen's Tranquillo Barnetta will be the most important player in the match as his stamina and dribbling skills can relieve the striking pressure a lot. It will be very even match so I tend to predict a draw for both teams.
Last round: Dortmund win 3-2
My tipping: Match draw 2-2

Hertha Berlin (3rd) vs Eintract Frankfurt (12th) - Saturday: The latest transfer from Hertha Berlin is they signed Marko Babic from Real Betis. He can relieve some pressure from the midfield and helps to improve the midfield creativeness. I believe they continue to be solid in defense so that Frankfurt will find a hard time to attack. As they did not have the DFB Porkal to play, I believe they are in the top level of stamina, but, they also are in doubt of the match form. On the other hand, Frankfurt is also their first formal compeition since the 2009 so I also think that their match form is not good enough. Plus their midfield and the attacks are still not trustable so that I think they find very hard to beat Hertha Berlin. New signed striker Leonard Kweuke may become the crucial player in the match, if he can relieve the pressure from Fenin, who is in low form all around in the first half of the season. As Hertha Berlin has the tougher defense, I believe they will win this one.
Last round: Hertha Berlin win 2-0
My tipping: Hertha Berlin win 3-0

1899 Hoffenheim (1st) vs Energie Cottbus (16th) - Saturday: The latest news is Hoffenheim had loan Boubacar Sanogo from Werder Bremen. It is very doubtful for me if he can replace Vedad Ibisevic, who scored 18 goals in Bundesliga but has the season ending injury. This is because Sanogo is very poor in finishing so that he may bring more harm to Hoffenheim. However, as Timo Hildebrand had joined the club, I believe the team is becoming solid in defense. Even Ibisevic is injured, I believe Demba Ba and Carlos Eduardo are too much for Cottbus. On the other hand, Cottbus had signed so many players in order to improve the overall strength, but I do not believe the effect will come to the team in this match. The key of Cottbus is still the attacks. If they cannot give any pressure to Hoffenheim in attacks, they will go back home with empty handed.
Last round: Hoffenheim win 3-0
My tipping: Hoffenheim win 2-0

VfB Stuttgart (10th) vs Borussia Möchengladbach (18th) - Saturday: Stuttgart had a very slow restart after the winter break as they were beaten 5-1 against Bayern 2 days ago. It is humiliating for them and it also proves that they are not ready. They must pick up the pace soon so that they will bring surprise for us in this match. Mario Gomez is the only player who is ready for the restart and he will be the most important player in this match. The defense must wake up now and concentrate to the game play. So this is the other factor they must watch out for. Gladbach is the other team right now. They made so many changes in the winter break showed they made the last ditch effort to save themselves from relegation. I seriously doubt their team chemistry so that I predict to see there are only 11 individual players on the field, not an one team. The new goalkeeper Logan Bailly will be the most important player in the team, and let's see how long he can hold.
Last round: Stuttgart win 3-1
My tipping: Stuttgart win 3-0

Werder Bremen (8th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (14th) - Sunday: Werder Bremen showed that they are ready for the season restart with a hard fought win against Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the DFB Porkal match. Hugo Almeida, Claudio Pizarro, and Diego are back in form so that they will be the main factor to drive the team to win the match. The only concern is the defense. New signed defense midfielder Alexandros Tziolis needs to be further proven his ability and the influence in the team. Also, Per Mertesacker is still the only player who can trust in the entired defensive line. On the other hand, Bielefeld needs to rely on Vlad Munteanu to create goals against Werder Bremen, but I concern if the other players can match him to finish his creativeness. I believe Munteanu will have a busy time in this match as he is the only player who can trust in attack. So this match Werder Bremen can effectively control the midfield and keep pressure on the opponent.
Last round: Match draw 2-2
My tipping: Werder Bremen win 3-0

VfL Bochum (17th) vs Karlsruher SC (15th) - Sunday: This is the critical relegation avoiding match. Bochum is very desperate to seek for their second win of the season and now here comes a chance. New signed striker Diego Klimowicz will be very important for Bochum and the whole team are looking for his scoring ability to lead them to win. However, the departure of Tomasz Zdebel will hurt the team a lot, so that it is very crucial for the team to control the midfield. On the other hand, Karlsruher had loan Dino Drpic for fortifying the defense, but Maik Franz will have a long injury as he needs to undergo the surgery. More bad news is, they lost to Wehen in the DFB Porkal at home, it shows they still cannot pull out of the trouble from the first half of the season. However, it is lucky that they should not care about this match too much, as they have more important match to come, that is this match. The key of this match is the midfield. The winner of this match is because they can control the midfield.
Last round: Karlsruher win 1-0
My tipping: Match draw 1-1

So that's it for my tips. Have a good week!

German Bundesliga second half season team by team preview (Part 3)

2009-01-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

Last time I have already previewed the 7th to 12th teams in the table. This time I will preview the bottom 6 teams, which they are in trouble in fighting for relegation survival.

Hannover 96 (13th):

Transfer In: Nil
Transfer Out: Nil
Preview: They are the only 2 teams which did not take any actions in the winter transfer (the otehr is Hertha Berlin). I believe they are confident about the team squad and do not want to affect any team chemistry. Jan Schlaudraff and Mikael Forrsell are performing very well so far so that I am not too worried about the attacking. However, they are facing the injury crisis in the defense line, so I personally am very concerned about the squad depth in the defensive line. I believe they are going to have a huge test in the defense in the second half of the season and even I believe they will not be relegated, I believe they find a very hard time to fight for survival.

Arminia Bielefeid (14th):

Transfer In: Vlad Munteanu (MF - VfL Wolfsburg - on loan); Kevin Kerr (MF - Arminia Bielefeld II)
Transfer Out: Siyabonga Nkosi (MF - Maccabi Netanya); Stefan Aigner (MF - 1860 München); Nils Fischer (DF - Wuppertaler SV Borussia - on loan); Bernd Korzynietz (DF - MSV Duisburg - on loan)
Preview: I believe Bielefeld had identified the problem so that they loan Munteanu in order to improve the creativity in the midfield for creating more goals, as they only managed to score 15 times in the first 17 games. Kerr is still doubtful if he can create anything practical in the team or maybe the team just fancy him that he can do anything special. The attacking will be very crucial for them as this is their weakest point in the whole team. Meanwhile, I believe Munteanu will be the crucial player as he maybe the leader in the attacking force. There is still some hope for them to avoid relegation, if the attacking is significantly improved.

Karlsruher SC (15th):

Transfer In: Marco Engelhardt (MF - 1. FC Nürnberg); Giovanni Federico (FW - Borussia Dortmund - on loan)
Transfer Out: Nil
Preview: In these 6 teams mentioned in this article, I believe Karlsruher did the best job in the transfer market. They pinpointed the problem and solved it well. Engelhardt is an effective midfielder and he can help the team to control the midfield well, as they never did it right in the first half of the season. Ferderico on the other hand, is very effective striker and he can convert the chances into goal effectively. However, the only concern of Ferderico is the match fitness. If he can keep himself fit on the field, I believe he can help the striking force and relieve Josh Kennedy. So even they had a long sreak without winning, I believe they are the first team who can pick up the pace and avoid the relegation.

Energie Cottbus (16th):

Transfer In: Jan Rajnoch (DF - FK Mlada Boleslav); Nils Petersen (FW - Carl Zeiss Jena); Ovidiu Burca (DF - Beijing Guoan - loan return); Adi (FW - SK Austria Kärnten)
Transfer Out: Igor Mitreski (MF - Germinal Beerschot - on loan)
Preview: Cottbus is the other team who can point out the problem, but it is very doubtful that those new players can solve the problem. Only scoring 12 goals in 17 games is the primarily problem they must think about, so they sign Adi, who is reported that he can bring the scoring ability from Austria to Germany. Petersen, the other new striker, is still doubtful for improving the scoring problem as he played for the lower division team as well. However, their morale and the attitude are one of the best within all 18 teams in the Bundesliga, so I believe it is their biggest advantage to bring the team out of trouble again, just like in 2007-2008 season. So, Cottbus is the other team I feel optimistic in the relegation fight.

VfL Bochum (17th):

Transfer In: Diego Klimowicz (FW - Borussia Dortmund)
Transfer Out: Tomasz Zdebel (MF - Bayer Leverkusen); Danny Fuchs (MF - 1. FC Kaiserslautern - on loan); Marc Sand (FW - SK Austria Kärnten - on loan)
Preview: I believe Bochum should have done more in the winter transfer market. Only Klimowicz is not enough to fix the problem in the team. They only managed 1 win in 17 games because they do not have efficient midfield attack and the effective striking force. Even Zdebel is only an ordinary player in the Bundesliga, he is very important in the team and now he is gone, I do doubt their leadership in the field. So I do believe Bochum is very hard to avoid the relegation without the leadership, or I can say relegation is inevitable for them.

Borussia Möchengladbach (18th):

Transfer In: Tomas Galasek (MF - Banik Ostrava); Logan Bailly (GK - K.R.C. Genk); Dante (DF - Standard Liege); Christian Dorda (DF - Borussia Möchengladbach II); Tony Jantschke (MF - Borussia Möchengladbach II); Paul Stalteri (DF - Tottenham Hotspur)
Transfer Out: Soumaila Coulibaly (MF - released); Sebastian Svärd (MF - Hansa Rostock - on loan); Sascha Rösler (MF - 1860 München); Alexander Voigt (DF - SpVgg Greuther Fürth); Sharbel Touma (FW - released); Uwe Gospodarek (GK - released); Marcel Ndjeng (MF - released)
Preview: From this long list I can see Gladbach are really panic in the relegation fight. It seems they have placed their last chip in the gambling table. This is not a good moment to change so drastically in the winter transfer market as the team needs to rebuild the chemistry. Those new players are quite good on quality so their experience can improve the team in certain extent. However, it is really doubtful that they can get along to each other in a such a short period of time. Now time is the biggest enemy of Gladbach and they do not have time to test the new tactics and the players anymore. In some extent they can fight back in the game but generally they cannot avoid relegation.

So that's it in my team by team preview. As the season is getting closer to start, I will make the matchday prediction weekly.

German Bundesliga second half season team by team preview (Part 2)

2009-01-21T18:14:00.000-08:00

Last time I had previewed the teams from 1st to 6th in the second half of the season. In this second part, I will preview the teams from 7th to 12th:

FC Schalke 04 (7th):

Transfer In: Danny Latza (MF - Schalke 04 II); Marvin Pourie (FW - Liverpool Reserves and Academy)
Transfer Out: Albert Streit (MF - Schalke 04 II); Gustavo Valera (MF - released); Peter Lovenkrands (FW - released); Ze Roberto (MF - Flamengo - on loan); Markus Heppke (MF - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen); Marvin Pourie (FW - 1860 München - on loan)
Preview: I do not believe they did change anything at all in the winter transfer in order to improve their poor performance in the first half of the season. From their transfer moves, I believe they are reforming the team for the 2009-2010 season as they released a lot of unused players. They only signed 2 young players and I do not believe they will have any chance to start the match. So the attacking problem of the team will still remain as Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan will be still on the field and they do not perform so well at all. However, there is a good news that they do not need to get distracted for the European matches so that their fitness is their biggest advantage. So, I believe they will stay in this position at the end of the season.

Werder Bremen (8th):

Transfer In: Alexandros Tziolis (MF - Panathinaikos - on loan)
Transfer Out: Carlos Alberto (MF - Vasco da Gama - on loan); Said Husejinovic (1. FC Kaiserslautern)
Preview: Werder Bremen only fine tune their squad in the winter transfer market. They made the correct move to loan the defensive midfield, Tziolis from Greece. However, is it enough? The problem of the defense is not really solved yet as I predict the new comer will be the reliever of Torsten Frings, who is the starting defensive midfielder. On the other hand, the centre defender does not change so that Per Mertesacker is still the key of success. Claudio Pizarro, Aaron Hunt, and Markus Rosenberg will be the important factor of attacking because Diego need the target for his excellent through balls. As their defense is not improve too much, I believe they will keep focus on the "scoring one more goal than you" tactics in the remaining of the season.

VfL Wolfsburg (9th):

Transfer In: Yoshito Okubo (FW - Vissel Kobe); Peter Pekarik (DF - MSK Zilina)
Transfer Out: Vlad Munteanu (FW - Arminia Bielefeld - on loan); Bernd Korzynietz (DF - Arminia Bielefeld - loan return); Mame Niang (FW - Viking FK)
Preview: "Japan policy" is becoming the major transfer tactics from Wolfsburg side. This may because they are easy to purchase in terms of transfer fee and the competition of the transfer. Okubo is definitely has the ability to relieve Eden Dzeko and Grafite. However, it is all about the trust from Felix Magath if Okubo can play or not. So I guess Okubo will not have too many chance to perform himself in the football field. On the other side, Wolfsburg had made the correct decision on purchasing the young defender Pekarik. As the defense is the weakest link of Wolfsburg, they do need the central defender to relieve the pressure. I believe the defense will get improved at the certain extent, so that their position can be improved and they are the main top 5 challenger.

VfB Stuttgart (10th):

Transfer In: Timo Gebhert (MF - 1860 München)
Transfer Out: Pavel Pardo (MF - Club America); Manuel Fischer (FW - TuS Koblenz - on loan)
Preview: Report said Timo Gebhert is one of the most talented players in Germany, now it is time for him to prove himself how good he is. Generally Stuttgart feels satisfied about their performance and the lineup after Markus Babbel took control 3 months ago, so that they do not purchase so many players. Gebhert in a certain extent can relieve the pressure of the starter such as Sami Khedira and Thomas Hitzlsperger. However, I believe it is quite hard for him to get into the first team so I believe the effect of the change is very limited. On the other hand, the players who left the club are the unused players of Stuttgart, so I cannot see any huge impact to the team. I predict that Stuttgart will remain safe in the mid table but it is very hard to climb up the table to the top position.

1. FC Köln (11th):

Transfer In: Derek Boateng (MF - Beitar Jerusalem); Andre (MF - Nautico - loan return)
Transfer Out: Tobias Nickenig (DF - FC Vaduz)
Preview: Even the team had a very poor run before the end of the season's first half, I believe that the board are still happy with the performance and the table position. The purchase of Boateng and return of Andre is believed that the team would like to strengthen the midfield power, as this is the main reason why the team had a very poor run in first half of the season. I believe that Boateng can impact the team as Armando Petit cannot hold on the midfield in all 90 minutes as his fitness is not good enough. The departing player does not affect the team at all so that the team chemistry generally is affected by a bit in the beginning of second half of the season because the arrival of Boateng. So I predict the team will remain the position in the end of the season.

Eintract Frankfurt (12th):

Transfer In: Leonard Kweuke (FW - DAC Dunajska Streda - on loan)
Transfer Out: Aaron Galindo (FW -Club Deportivo Guadalajara)
Preview: Generally the team did not change at all. The main problem in the attack is Martin Fenin cannot find back his excellent form in 2007-2008 season, so that they have trouble in attacking. So that Frankfurt had loaned Kweuke to relieve the pressure from Fenin. However, it is doubtful for me that if he really does his job. Ioannis Amanitidis is the most important player in the team still, but I cannot see there is any players who can relieve him when he is not available to play, or he cannot perform well in the field. So this problem will still remain at the team and I think Frankurt will avoid the relegation as their first priority.

So this is the second part of the preview. The last part I will preview the bottom table team.

German Bundesliga second half season team by team preview (Part 1)

2009-01-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

As the winter break coming to an end, all teams are geared up to fight to improve the result, like chasing for the title, improving the result, or avoiding relegation. Now I will divide into 3 parts to preview each team in the second half of the season:

1899 Hoffenheim (1st):

Transfer In: Timo Hildebrand (GK - Valencia)
Transfer Out: Jochen Seitz (MF - Alemmania Aachen); Francisco Copado (FW - SpVgg Unterhaching); Thorsten Kirschbaum (GK - FC Vaduz)
Preview: Generally Hoffenheim is very quiet in teh transfer market, they only signed a new goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand. This is a good move for them as Hoffenheim does not have any good goalkeeper at all. Plus the inexperienced defensive line, their defense is very vulnerable. So I believe Hildebrand can lead this defense line so that they can become solid in the defense. The attacking line did not change too much. However, there was a major setback that the leading scorer, Vedad Ibisevic, had been seriously injured and was confirmed that he will be out for the remaining of the season. The attacking line of Hoffenheim had lost the leadership and the other players such as Demba Ba, and Carlos Eduardo will be the critical point to lead to the team to continue the miraculous display.

FC Bayern München (2nd):

Transfer In: Landon Donovan (FW - LA Galaxy - on loan)
Transfer Out: Nil
Preview: Not surprising, Bayern is not the team which change too much in the winter transfer window. They only loaned Landon Donovan from LA Galaxy until 15 March. It is believed that Bayern would like to extend the loan deal if his performance is not too bad. They are in the formidable form before the end of 2008 and I believe their performance will continue to get better and better. The only concern is the defense is the major problem they need to think about. They lost too many careless goals in the first half of the season, so it is very crucial if they defend well. Moreover, the Champions League is coming into the climax and they will be distracted for sure. So the critical points for them are, they have to keep winning before the Champion League restarts, and, Landon Donovan can be the reliever of the attacking force.

Hertha Berlin (3rd):

Transfer In: Nil
Transfer Out: Nil
Preview: Well, I guess they are very happy with their display, they really deserved it to be frank. Their defense is very solid that the other teams cannot break them through easily. So they decided to do nothing in the winter transfer market in order to keep the team chemistry. The other factor that favoring them is, they have been eliminated from the European competition so they can focus into the league wholeheartedly. This is an obvious advantage for sure because when the league is getting into the climax, the team fitness is the most important factor. So I believe their excellent performance will continue to carry on so that every team should be careful.

Hamburger SV (4th):

Transfer In: Nil
Transfer Out: Vadis Odjidia-Ofoe (DF - Club Brugge); Anton Pusila (MF - Dinamo Minsk - loan return)
Preview: Not much change on Hamburger side, they only cleared out the unused players so I believe it did not affect the team chemistry. The Croatian duo, Ivica Olic, and Mlaten Petric will be the most important players in the attack, just like the first half of the season. With the aid of Pitor Trochowski, I believe their attacking is very threatening still. However, they did not get any new defenders and it will be the major setback for them. This is because the defense is not solid at all, so that it will affect their performance in the second half of the season. Furthermore, after the restart of the UEFA Cup, I believe their team fitness will be tested significantly so I believe they are very likely to lose points and then to be out of the title race.

Bayer Leverkusen (5th):

Transfer In: Tomasz Zdebel (MF - VfL Bochum)
Transfer Out: Marcel Risse (MF - 1.FC Nürnberg - on loan); Stefan Reinartz (MF - 1. FC Nürnberg - on loan); Atanas Kurdov (MF - FC Winterthur - on loan); Jens Hegeler (DF - FC Augusburg - on loan)
Preview: Generally Leverkusen did not change too much at all. They only purchase the substitute player, Tomasz Zdebel from Bochum. I believe it will not affect the starting lineup too much so it means Leverkusen still trust the young guns in the team. So their consistency will be the main factor to decide if they can go further. The players who are sent out are all for the loan, so that Leverkusen are keen on sending out the potential players in order to let them gain more match experiences. As they are all unused at the moment, I believe even there are lots of players are sent out, it will not affect their performance comparing to the first half of the season.

Borussia Dortmund (6th):

Transfer In: Kevin-Prince Boateng (MF - Tottenham Hotspur - on loan)
Transfer Out: Giovanni Ferderico (FW - Karlsruher SC - on loan); Diego Klimowicz (FW - VfL Bochum); Marc-Andre Kruska (MF - Club Brugge)
Preview: Change has been made in the defensive midfielder side. Maybe Kruska is not happy with lacking of first team football so he decided to leave. Therefore Dortmund to loan the unused Tottenham Hotspur player Boateng. Even though the player roster has changed, I do not believe there is any change in terms of the team strength. It is predicted that Boateng will be still the substitute, just like Kruska. Again young gun performance will be the main key to lead them to achieve further success. I believe their performance can challenge all the teams in the league. However, their lack of experience will also make them down.

So that's it for the first part. The second part I will preview the team from 7th to 12th in the table.

Bayern München 2008 Review (Part 2)

2009-01-03T23:17:00.000-08:00

Last time I had reviewed the first half of 2008 of Bayern München. This part I will review the later half of 2008, that is the first half of 2008-2009 Season. Bayern was on the track to become the European elite again, but they were facing the new challenger in the Bundesliga at the same time.

New coach, new style

Since the beginning of 2008 it was confirmed that former Germany national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann would take over Bayern in the start of 2008-2009 Season. Everyone knew he would bring a lot of new style to the team, and he did. Apart of the change outside the football field, such as reforming training system and re-innovating the training facilities, he did try a lot of new tactics. The most obvious change was the formation of 3-5-2, as well as forming the fast attacking team. The change came the rough start of the season, especially having a heavy 5-2 loss against Werder Bremen at home. However, after the players had adepted the change as well as the return of Franck Ribery, the team improved a lot and recorded an 11 unbeaten streak, and 8 of them were a win. Klinsmann's passionate personally also influenced the team, which now had the best form of the season.

The worst Oktoberfest

Traditionally the period of Oktoberfest is the best period of Bayern, but not for this season. During the period of Oktoberfest, the team recroded 2 losses, which were the only 2 losses in 2008-2009 Season. One of them was the humiliating 5-2 loss against Werder Bremen. Voices from some fans had been heard about asking sacking Klinsmann, as they felt sick about the worst start of the season. However, after the worst Oktoberfest, the team had been improving, and Klinsmann was secured to his job. Maybe the reason of the worst Oktoberfest, Bayern only managed to be at the 2nd place in the table after the first half of 2008-2009 season. Furthermore, Bayern never reached at the top of the table so far in the same season mentioned.

Bayern vs Hoffenheim - old tradition vs new power

Nobody had predicted this was the biggest rivalry match in the Bundesliga ever. New power Hoffenheim had surprised everyone and they were standing firm at the top of the table. Meanwhile, as Bayern were climbing up to the second place when they picked up the best form, this match would be the best match of the season. 5th December, 2008, this was the date of the match, Bayern hosted the match against Hoffenheim. Both teams performed very well and generally Bayern had controlled the match, but the team who took the lead first was Hoffenheim. Vedad Ibisevic scored goal first in 49th minute, but Phillip Lahm equalized at 60th minute. It seemed the match ended up with draw, Hoffenheim made the late mistake and Luca Toni converted it into the late late goal. This was the most important victory for Bayern as they could catch up the leader Hoffenheim with equal points, so they can be much easier to catch up to the top of the table in 2009.

Back to the European elite

This was their aim in the Champions League. After the great purchase in 2007-2008 season, the team players were better at the teamwork after the season long partnership. Different from the Bundesliga, Bayern performed very well in the Champions League. The team looked very solid in those 6-match performance and they had won the group to go through to the next round. When comparing to the other group winners, Bayern was also the first within them. This is because they played the solid defense football and it paid off. Their performance had proven themselves they came back stronger after the tragic season in 2006-2007. I believe they are one of the favorites to win the competition.

So I end up the review here. Next time I will make some preview of Bayern in the remaining half of the season, as well as previewing the other teams' performance in the remaining half of season.

Bayern München 2008 Review (Part 1)

2009-01-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

In 2008, Bayern München had lots of things to worth to review, such as winning the Bundesliga in 21st time, the greatest comeback against Getafe, the retirement of Oliver Kahn, and so on. Later last year Bayern had a big change since Jürgen Klinsmann had taken control of the team. In Part One I will review what happen in first half of 2008:

Easy league title victory

Bayern and Werder Bremen had a head to head title race in 2007 and Bayern only won the winter champion by goal difference. However, since the restart of the 2007-2008 Season, Bayern had shown their class again to stand firm in the top of the table and never look back. Luca Toni, Franck Ribery, and Ze Roberto were the main factor to assist Bayern to win back the title after the disappointment in 2006-2007 Season. At the same time, the solid defense was the key that Bayern could win the title so easily, they only conceded 21 goals, which broke the Bundesliga record. That was the easiest victory in around 5 seasons, as there was no real competition in the title race in 2008. Meanwhile, Bayern also won the DFB Porkal easily, and the domestic double were the easiest victory.

Superb Getafe comeback

The real competition in first half of 2008 was the UEFA Cup match. Evey fan supposed this was another easy title victory as the players were all outclassed to the other teams on paper. However, football match is not on paper. They had a very difficult time throughout the competition and Bayern always had a bumpy ride. The most memorable match should be the second leg of UEFA Cup Quarter Final against Getafe. Even Getafe lost a man during a match, they managed to score first. However, Bayern's spirit was high and their never give up attitude provided them to equalize the match in 90th minute and the match went extra time. Getafe, however, they scored 2 more goals to lead Bayern 3-1 with less than 10 minutes in the extra time. Everyone seemed Getafe would have a victory against Bayern at the moment as they had a solid lead, but except Bayern players. Their never give up attitude once again led them to go through. Luca Toni scored twice in the last 2 minutes of the match to equalized the game in 3-3 and Bayern went through in the away goal rule. This was definitely one of the most memorable matches ever in the Bayern history, and this was the greatest moment in first half of 2008.

Danke, Olli!! Danke Ottmar!!

The other memorable moment was the retirememt of Oliver Kahn and the departure of coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. Oliver Kahn had announced his retirement at the beginning of the 2007-2008 Season, so he desperately wanted to have some great achievement in his last season. It was very easy for him to win the domestic double as his great performance assisted the team a lot. He felt so emotional that the team equalized Getafe mentioned above, as he really wanted to win the European competition once again. However, Bayern had no match against the sole winner, Zenit St. Petersburg in the Semi Final of the competition. At the same time, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld had decided not to renew his contract in the beginning of 2008 in order to find some less pressure coaching job, and finally he coached Swiss national team. Hitzfeld was definitely the best coach in last 10 years of Bayern as he brought so many honors to the team and led them to reach to the top of Europe in 2001. So every fan felt thankful to these duo, as they were the best.

So here's the first part of the review. I will go on to review the second half of the season soon.

Christmas is not the second Valentine's Day!

2008-12-26T06:18:00.000-08:00

German Bundesliga is now having a winter break, so I also get out of the football field for a while.

Don't ask me what I did in Christmas, because I didn't do anything at all. Well, I have just had an afternoon tea with my friend in 25th.

I'm really upset about the Christmas in Hong Kong. This is nothing about the friends or companies or even complaining I am not dated. In fact, I enjoy my single life by the way, even sometimes I want to be dated.

It's all about the purpose of Christmas, the real purpose is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Well, I am not a Christian, so it is not a big deal for me. The most upset part is the over-commercialization in Hong Kong's Christmas.

I accpet to commercialize some special occasion, as this is a great chance for the business and I think it also helps people to celebrate. So why not? But, please stick to the track. The Christmas in Hong Kong is definitely out of track.

Apart from the religious purpose, Christmas should be celebrated with the friends, relatives, families, as well as large group of people. How can it turns into a romance? I don't get it. But people in Hong Kong seems to enjoy it. To be frank, it makes me sick.

Many people in Hong Kong want to seek for romance, even someone you know, or someone you don't know. Just search the internet, there are lots of dates are waiting for you, if you are single.

This is all about commercialization. They twisted this great Christmas into the ugly commercialized Christmas. Everyone keeps on saying to find the romance, to be with the date, or even having sex with them as this is the great celebration. They packaged the Christmas to be the second Valentine's Day. I'm not saying the other part of the world do not have this situation, but they have something more at least.

Why only romance? Where is your friend? Where is your family? This is the real purpose of Christmas. Where is the romance in Christmas? I just don't get it!

I was in Brisbane two years ago, The whole city was very quiet in Christmas Eve and my friend seemed did not get used to it. Of course, everyone came back home for their family to celebrate Christmas so all shops were closed. There was only a ugly Christmas tree standing at the middle of the city. Oh yes, the only crowded places were casino and the pubs. I like this you know, at least they keep the fundamental purpose. The only crowded day is Boxing Day, traditionally there is a Boxing Day Bargain. Yes, I had some bargain too!

So what about in Hong Kong?

Seems that people is freak if you are not seeking a romance and / or to be with your date. Wow, that means I am a freak! I'd rather be that freak then. Maybe you say I can't taste the grape and said this is sour. Well, so let me be. Because I know, Christmas is not a second Valentine's Day. Those stupid marketing people are all pointing out this way and those people in Hong Kong are happy to follow this way.

Remember, there is no romance in Christmas! If you love your date, do love them everyday. And, if you don't have a date, remember you have your friends and family!

And please, all marketers, this is not a Valentine's Day!

German teams in European competition - prediction

2008-12-22T05:30:00.000-08:00

Last time I have analyzed the performance of the German teams in Europe. After the Champions League and UEFA Cup draw last Friday, it is a mixed emotions for the German fans. Now I will predict their future in the competitions ahead:

Bayern München (Champions League - Round of 16 vs Sporting Lisbon): Well, Bayern fans can't ask more than that. On paper this is probably the easiest matchup to Bayern as they are superior on match experience and the attacks. Franck Ribery, Luca Toni, and Miroslav Klose will be the driving force that lead Bayern to progress through to Quarter Final. The defense on the other hand, is very solid in European competition so I am not too worried about the defense. Sporting Lisbon on the other side, they are very good at team work so they will work together to stop Bayern. Also, their pressure is off against Bayern as they are the underdogs and fans supposed them to be beaten. So it may bring so surprise to Bayern. The key is Bayern's attacks and then must be careful.

Werder Bremen (UEFA Cup - Round of 32 vs AC Milan): If you believe in God, you can say this is the punishment from God for their poor performance in Champions League. As I mentioned previously, their fragile defense lead them fail to qualify to Round of 16 in Champions League. If that performance goes on next year, Werder Bremen simply will not have a chance to beat AC Milan. Ronaldinho, Kaka, and Shevchenko are too good for Werder Bremen to stop. The only advantage for Werder Bremen is they do not have any pressure so they may come up some miracle if they release their pressure to play. However, I believe Werder Bremen just want to avoid the humiliation as AC Milan are too good.

Hamburger SV (UEFA Cup - Round of 32 vs NEC): This is a good draw for Hamburger. On paper they are better than NEC a lot as the attacks from Hamburger is one of the best teams in the competition. Piotr Trochowski is the key member to lead the team to success. However, as the Bundesliga is becoming in tense, they may be affected as their fitness may be dropping. So NEC will have chance to bring surprise to the fans. So, I believe Hamburger must be careful and hold the possession well in order to progress through.

VfL Wolfsburg (UEFA Cup - Round of 32 vs Paris St-Germain): Very very even match. Wolfsburg is very good at the competition. The attacks is very good that even AC Milan are pretty hard to stop them. So I believe they can carry through to this matchup. Grafite, Misimovic, and Dzeko will be the players who control the fate of Wolfsburg. On the other hand, PSG is not too bad in French league. Mateja Kezman definitely helps the team in the attacking force, even he does not gain too many chances to play for them. Do not underestimate Kezman's ability as his finishing is very good. So the key for Wolfsburg is stopping the attacks from PSG then they have chance to win.

VfB Stuttgart (UEFA Cup - Round of 32 vs Zenit St. Petersburg): A bad draw for Stuttgart. Defending champion Zenit even is declining, both in league and the European competition, I do believe they are still one of the hot favorites to win this competition. The home court performance is scary to the German teams, even Bayern München had lost 4-0 last season at St. Petersburg. They key for Stuttgart is if Markus Babbel can boost up the team to hold on at the first away leg. If they can hold on to have narrow loss with away goal, then Stuttgart are most probable to beat the defending champion.

So this is my first rough prediction of the German teams in European competition. As Janurary transfer is around the corner, the team strength may change. I will keep an eye on it and I will analysis the German winter transfer market later.