Just watched the Augsburg-BVB highlights. What a debut for Haaland.
Bundesliga 19/20
- Thread starter do.ob
- Start date
Making a couple of trips over the next few weeks
Monchengladbach v Koln and then Koln v Bayern Munich
Also facing a choice (of new grounds) between Eintracht Braunschweig v Kaiserslautern or Essen v Oberhausen on Saturday 15th
Monchengladbach v Koln and then Koln v Bayern Munich
Also facing a choice (of new grounds) between Eintracht Braunschweig v Kaiserslautern or Essen v Oberhausen on Saturday 15th
I can't tell you much about how these teams play (though one would expect a 3rd division match higher quality than 4th div), but if you're in Cologne anyway it perhaps makes more sense to choose Essen vs Oberhausen, as it's a lot closer than Braunschweig and since both cities are basically neighbours they probably have some sort of rivalry going. Essen also puts you in the middle of the Ruhr area, with Gelsenkirchen (Schalke), Bochum and Dortmund like a 20 minute train ride (or less) away if you want to look at some stadiums and you could even catch the 18:30 kickoff in Düsseldorf (vs Gladbach) afterwards if you want to, as that's also like half an hour by train from Essen.
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Cheers for that, although since my original post, the Essen game has been switched to the Sunday. and I'm now restricted to Wuppental in the Regionalliga West, and then a relatively short train journey to Dusseldorf for Fortuna v Monchengladbach, and then Cologne v Bayern Munich on the Sunday.
Our original intention was to attend a game at every Bundesliga venue, but thanks to promotion and relegation, we never quite get there. (and could easily complete Bundesliga 2 before Bundesliga 1)
Currently, we just require Paderborn, Leipzig and Freiburg, although our Cologne-supporting mates keep referencing lower-tier Kaiserslautern as a must-see experience.
Kaiserslautern used to be a relatively big club in Germany and somewhat ironically on a Utd board they also style themselves as "red devils" and experienced decline due to bad club management since the early 00s. Their ground used to be very well respected and featured in the 2006 WC, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's still worth a visit. 20k average attendance is nothing to sneeze at either for a 3rd division club.
When you make the trip to Leipzig I'd tie in Dresden. The city alone, culturally, is worth a visit and while their ultras don't seem to be very nice people they do tend to make a lot of noise.
Kaiserslautern is closely tied to the 1954 (freak-accident) WC win, which team was largely built around a "Kaiserslautern Block" to support Herbergers key man Fritz Walter (Herberger had close ties to the club before that).
Due to that past merit, the DFB has been generous toward Lautern ever since in one way or other... including making them one of the WC 06 playgrounds, and helping them getting the stadium rebuild paid for in the wake (other clubs building/rebuilding for the WC had to pay themselves)... it only slowed down the predictable decline, it is only so far you gan go on goodwill and a little help from old friends when the basics (city big enough, supporter base big enough, atrractiveness to sponsors etc) just aren't there, not in todays football.
I can't argue whether or not or how much officials helped Kaiserslautern, but if we take attendances as an indicator of "commercial viability" then I would disagree with your last sentence, as 42k and 46k on average (in Lautern's last two top flight seasons) are pretty decent crowds even by Bundesliga standards. Given how little is happening to the West of the Rhine the city's low population might be a bit deceiving.
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One thing I've noticed is the general goodwill towards Kaiserslautern from fans of other clubs (I presume their stadium is at the top of a hill, because I'm continually reminded of its imposing presence.).
Similarly, we've attended games at Bochum, Duisburg, and Bielefeld in recent seasons, and their fans have been quick to laud the achievements of Union Berlin's fanbase.
Lautern used to be a staple of the German football landscape, everyone knows about their 1997/98 season, where they won the league as a newly promoted side. And their stadium used to be known as a special place/atmosphere where teams could never take anything for granted, the red devils and the supposed hell that was the Betzenberg. Being a bit removed from other clubs geographically they perhaps also never really reached a rivalry status with other clubs.
With Union it's more or less an underdog story. As basically all Eastern clubs had massive financial struggles after the unification and to this day it seems that another collapse is just a matter of time (recent-ish examples Cottbus and Rostock) I guess most fans in general are very happy to see at least one of those clubs do well, so the Bundesliga isn't just a Western affair. Another factor is that they seem to have a good, enthusiastic set of fans. Where it's unfortunately common for East German clubs to have a issues with right wing or outright Nazi fans I have never heard anything in that regard from Union fans, given that Union's club anthem was written by Nina Hagen I guess the club has a certain Punk appeal (like St. Pauli, perhaps though the latter seem to be more vocal with political statements).
The club just comes off as very authentic and given how a lot of fans loath the commercialisation of the modern game that's always something that draws sympathies, the perfect symbol of that image is perhaps their ancient (but "proper") stadium, which as far as I can remember was always in breach of DFL's licensing criteria and due to financial constraints could only be renovated/upgraded to an acceptable 1st division level, because the fans literally built parts of it themselves.
We saw a game at Union Berlin a few seasons ago. An admirable set of fans, and there are statues commemorating their efforts and achievements.
You're right about St Pauli being more politically vocal. In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that they overdo the morality issues, (although to be fair, I worked there for a couple of years, and tended to prefer SV Hamburg)
Being political is their niche and it's so relatively unique that they are internationally known for it, even transcending the realm of football - despite being fairly insignificant sporting wise. From an economic perspective alone it would make absolutely no sense to water that down, let alone opening themselves up to accusations of hypocrisy morally.
And as far as I'm aware their messaging is relatively harmless and inclusive stuff like "no to [...]-ism / war" anyway.
2-0 Dortmund. Hummels with outstanding long passing so far.
Cologne playing a high line without closing down Hummels, is this 2009?
Thats true. But this is some kind of offensive idea that won't function against top-teams so well as like in the last game and now.
Just a proper reaction to Köln's shape today, I'd say. Normally their style is more about short passing on the ground of course (which they did quite well today too).
Schalke may be trouble for us tomorrow, which means Leipzig might extend their lead to 7 points this weekend. On the other hand, Frankfurt are unpredictable and may also upset Leipzig.
3-0, Sancho
We just can't keep a clean sheet. Our defense is a mess. Even against Köln.
Haaland, hehe.
Seems to Haaland already loves the Süd.
We derserved that goal long ago. But missed so many opportunities. All in all a good game so far, but its Köln. And anyway, our concentration and defensive stability is still on question.
We derserved that goal long ago. But missed so many opportunities. All in all a good game so far, but its Köln. And anyway, our concentration and defensive stability is still on question.
What a lad.
Ok, iam starting to like our new guy from Norway. He is so quick, has a presence on the pitch and is tall, but on the other hand has a good technique.
What impressed me most about the 2nd Haaland goal was how calm and confident he was when he had to shot from that angle. Made the finish look so much more easier than it was given he was moving at high speed and already a bit unbalanced. Balanced himself and then calmly slotted it in.
His physique and the pace he brings despite of it, coupled with his constant probing for a through ball and clinical finishing is an impressive package. He must be a complete nightmare to defend against.
I usually really enjoy watching the Saturday Bundesliga conference when Dortmund play on Sunday or Friday but rarely has it been as bland and boring as these first 45 minutes have been. Its probably because a lot of the games are somewhat even matchups but I hope the second half will be better, I demand to be entertained dammit 
Leipzeg losing to Frankfurt. I hope Leipzeg don't feck up the chance to win the title with this squad.
Seems the lads heard me, more goals in the first three minutes of the second half than in the entirety of the first
Screamer by Frankfurt, really happy about their lead against Leipzig even though I don't dare to hope that they can preserve that result.
Also really happy for one of my favourite players of all time character-wise, Subotic with the lead for Union Berlin.
While I am a fan of Freiburg I am also always glad when an underdog does well, Paderborn up 1:0 in Freiburg.
Screamer by Frankfurt, really happy about their lead against Leipzig even though I don't dare to hope that they can preserve that result.
Also really happy for one of my favourite players of all time character-wise, Subotic with the lead for Union Berlin.
While I am a fan of Freiburg I am also always glad when an underdog does well, Paderborn up 1:0 in Freiburg.
I'd rather see Bayern bag another seven titles than see Leipzig win one
The name of city and club is Leipzig by the way 
I'd rather see Bayern bag another seven titles than see Leipzig win one
I want Leipzig to win. Obviously they aren't the purest team but I love the manager and their squad. Young and really talented.
My first choice is Dortmund to win the title but that looks really unlikely so better Leipzig than Bayern.
Red Bulls are terrible today.
Kostic seals the deal, awesome match day thus far
I'd rather see Bayern bag another seven titles than see Leipzig win one
I second that. I'd rahter see Bayern win 5 more in a row than Leipzig win one. And I say that as a fan of Nagelsmann.
It's really sad how Leipzig with their 17 members, network of farm teams and third highest cumulated net spend in Bundsliga's history (behind Wolfsburg, mind you, not Schalke or Dortmund), while the media act as their cheerleaders.
Fecks sake Leipzig. Now see them collapse in a similar way against Spurs in the UCL.
I rate Nagelsmann very highly and also like some of their players a lot. I just really dislike the entire Red Bull franchise with a passion.
Fingers crossed
Frankfurt are a nasty team to play against as a big side. They've 2:2'd Dortmund, sealed Kovac's fate with that 5:1, beaten Leverkusen 3:0 and came fairly close to taking something away from their match in Leipzig as well. Losing against them doesn't necessarily spell imminent doom.
Have you watched Spurs this season? Leipzig will take them to the cleaners next month, Spurs are in huge huge decline
Very nice, Frankfurt
Holy shit. Sky disappearing up Tönnies backside on live tv. "he apologized and that apology has to be accepted" peak Loddar.
Did anyone expect any better from Lothar Matthäus?
Not really, but the whole tone of the interview was pathetic. Tönnies basically said he did it all out of love for Africa and the controversy he caused helped was some form of catalyst for society and made him some kind of tragic/misunderstood hero. They have SchalkeTV to do propaganda interviews. It's the same with Leipzig (and any other club really), who are allowed to spin their bullshit stories about modest spending and their supposed football fairytale, while some Sky bimbo falls on his/her knees. The sad thing is that I would say Wasserziehr and Hellman are more than capable of conducting a critical interview, but the whole station is painfully committed to give every club a big hug.
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