The Bundesliga thread

[joey55]

Joey why do you not think they are suited to the Premiership ?

Lack of athleticism to play out wide and I don't think they have the game to play in the middle. Troch, for example, is HSV's best player, but he doesn't always start and on these occassions (when he isn't playing), they seem like a better, more balanced side. He's a player that, despite his ability, is difficult to fit into the team. Neither he or Marin have the game to come inside and play like a number 10, as Modric does. The biggest problem HSV face when Troch plays, is to get him on the ball. And that will be even harder to achieve in the Prem where it tends to be even more physical and teams play a higher defensive line. At Hamburg, rather than try and get him to play the number 10 role, they bought Neves and wanted to buy Kranjcar, so even in Germany, they obviously don't fancy him in a more central role.

 

[THOWIG]

Lack of athleticism to play out wide and I don't think they have the game to play in the middle. Troch, for example, is HSV's best player, but he doesn't always start and on these occassions (when he isn't playing), they seem like a better, more balanced side. He's a player that, despite his ability, is difficult to fit into the team. Neither he or Marin have the game to come inside and play like a number 10, as Modric does. The biggest problem HSV face when Troch plays, is to get him on the ball. And that will be even harder to achieve in the Prem where it tends to be even more physical and teams play a higher defensive line. At Hamburg, rather than try and get him to play the number 10 role, they bought Neves and wanted to buy Kranjcar, so even in Germany, they obviously don't fancy him in a more central role.

Yeah I see your points. I would be curious to see how Renato would fair on the Premiership.

 

[joey55]

I would agree. Altintop does everything right. Kind of similiar in that regard to Westermann, but Altintop has more pace. I could definitely see him as fantastic box-to-box with willingness to get stuck in.

I think you're being rather harsh on Marin. He's 19 and no different than Lennon was. He will learn to come inside over time.

As for Augusto Renato, I think he needs another year at Bayer 04 before we can really figure out if he could make the jump.

I don't mean Marin doesn't or can't cut inside, but that he isn't a Modric type, who is essentially a CM playing on the left. The difference I see between Marin and Lennon is that Lennon's game is based around his pace, whilst Marin is about skill and technical ability. If Marin had Lennon's pace then he'd be the perfect wide player a he has such quick feet and good delivery. But without either speed or stength i think he'd struggle to be as effective in the Prem.

 

[stemark44]

I really liked Altintop as a CM and he was someone I wanted us to buy last year.
I know he had a pretty bad injury at the start of this season - has he returned to full health and if he has played games,how has he done?

 

[joey55]

Labbadia is the new coach of Hamburg. This isn't good news. Man for man, Bayer had a much better team than HSV last season and yet they finshed 12 points behind them. I Labbidia can only take that Bayer team to 9th, I can't see how he is supposed to take Hamburg forward. Helmes and Kiesling will always out score Guerrero and Petric. The Bayer midfield is miles better than HSV's and defensively they are similar.

 

[joey55]

I think the move to Dusseldorf threw the team off. They had been playing very well up until then. While I agree that Labbadia had a more talented squad at Bayer, he also had a very young squad, so he showed his inexperience when he couldn't set them back on course in the latter stages.

Let's remember he had them playing some scorching football (football Skibbe never had them playing) for most of the season.

In my opinion, he needed more time a Bayer to get the experience at the top level, but he did well in his first stint up. I think he will be okay at the NordBank.

You might just have to give him a little time to adjust to a less-dynamic squad. However, let's also see what happens in the off-season.

I bet HSV don't finish in the top 8. I really don't think people realise how poor this HSV squad is. Prior to the start of the season, they were 6th favourites for the Bundesliga. They then sold VDV and De Jong, who were their most important midfield players. But somehow got involved in a title challenge and two good cup runs, thus most seem to have forgotten that this side wasn't really rated at the start of the season. Obviously it depends on what happens over the summer, but at the moment I can't see them finishing ahead of the likes of Werder, Dortmund, Hoff or Schalke.

 

[joey55]

I'm not even hearing rumors about players coming in. How dire is the financial situation there. I know it's why Jol left.

I don't think it is dire, I think it's pretty healthy. The problem is that they were on the edge of bankruptcy a few years ago and Hoffmann and Beiersdorfer did a great job getting them back on track. But since then they've been very careful with their momney and prefer to ivest in young players to develop. Last summer they only spent a net of 5 million euros, when Wolfsburg spent a net of 30 million. Then in Jan they spent 1.5 million euros, but recieved 25 million euros. So you'd think they'd be looking to spend between 25 and 30 million in the summer and really have a crack at the title. But instead they have set a budget of between 10 and 15 million.

Jol didn't leave just because of the money, but because he wanted to be the manager and have control over first team signings. It seems he had Elia and De Zeeuw lined up and is apparently in contact with VDV on a regular basis. But you can't bring in those sort of players with such a small budget, particuarly if you have to buy a CB and striker before you can do anything else. Even if Labbadia does a good job and HSV finish in top 6, I bet it will be a waste of time as next summer Troch will leave and Rost will probably retire, so they will be back to square one again.

 

[joey55]

Proof that Eintracht Frankfurt is bigger than fucking Chelsea

http://www.bundesligatalk.com/bundesliga-attendance-figures-dominate-europe/576

I wonder how many people in the North Rhine-Westphalia attend football matches each week.

 

[joey55]

die Hoffe picked up the Simunic from Hertha for 7 million Euros. That's a fantastic deal. Lucian Favre wanted all the power at Hertha and this is his first move, to get rid of his second best player from last year. Doesn't bode well, unless Kaka is ready for the step up.

When he was linked with a return to HSV, it was reported he had a 6.5 million euros buyout clause.

Possibly the most technically gifted CB in Europe.

 

[THOWIG]

Do you reckon Subotic will stay put?

 

[SpurSince57]

I'm just hoping someone will pick up Bundesliga games in the UK next season now that Setanta's gone tits-up.

 

[joey55]

I'm just hoping someone will pick up Bundesliga games in the UK next season now that Setanta's gone tits-up.

I watch via the streams that they list on AsiaPlate. In general it isn't like watching Prem games, which buffer all the time etc. The Bundeslgia streams are usually excellent. I was able to watch 75% HSV's games without any problem. I was in the US for much of the season, but even when in the UK, i hardly bothered with Setanta.

 

[SpurSince57]

Thanks for that, joey.

 

[THOWIG]

DP/Joey have you seen much of Kacar at Hertha?

 

[van_Pommel]

DP/Joey have you seen much of Kacar at Hertha?

He looks a great prospect from what I've seen(which isn't a great deal). Can play pretty much anywhere through the middle.

 

[joey55]

DP/Joey have you seen much of Kacar at Hertha?

See page 7 of this thread. I've seen him a bit since then also. He was the guy who effectively ended HSV's chances of CL football. He scored a cracker from about 30 yards.

 

[joey55]

I've totally changed my mind about HSV's chances ths season. i now actually think they could win the Bundesliga or at least push Bayern close. They've spent their money really well. Hoffmann reacted to the fallout with Beiersdorfer by splashing the cash, which is ironically why they fell out. The HSV squad is now incredibly strong. Ze Roberto was Bayerns best midfielder and is still fast and very fit at 34. HSV had no decent CM other than Jarolim and now they've got one of the best. Castelen is now playing again and they have sigend Elia. So with those 2, Troch, Jansen and Pertroipa, they have the best set of wide players in the Bundelisga. They've signed Berg who looked great in the U21's, so have a decent striker and Choupo-Moting is now fit after over a year out. He's argubaly the best young talent HSV have had in years, so the strike force is much stronger. And today they've signed Rozenhal. I know he wasn't great at Newcaslte, but he's a real classy defender and an massive upgrade on what was there before. So, all in all, Hamburg have made massive improvements and look to have strengthend their squad more better than any other team.

 

[Bill_Oddie]

What does everyone think of starting a new 'Bundesliga 2009/10' thread? I don't want to just go ahead and leave this to drop off the page as there's some good stuff in here. Maybe I could 'Gold' it for reference and we start off with a nice new shiny one for the forthcoming season? We can then all kick it off with some predictions.

Sound reasonable?

 

[deselina]

sounds very reasonable to me.

hsv news, elia is out for 3 weeks. he will miss the start of the competition and the england friendly with holland in amsterdam.