[Long live the 69]

For all Bundesliga lovers this season

Watched the Liga Pokal! Trophy last night, finished Mainz 0-1 Dortmund & Bayern 1-2 Hamburg. Dortmund looked fantastic & Bayern looked fucking awful.

Dortmund have lost Sahin who was fantastic last season, Ribery is set for talks with Arsenal. Nauer has made a poor start to his Bayern career.

Their is also an extra champions league place i believe?

I think the top 4 will finish:

1. Dortmund
2. Hamburg
3. Bayern
4. Leverkausen

[uni]

Cannot wait for the start of the Bundesliga season! It is without doubt the best league in Europe! Hope Bayern do better this year but by the sounds of things I cannot see it happen. Personally I would like to see Dortmund progress well through the champions league.

[Nightmare]

Don't think Dortmund will win the league this year. Sahin will be a major loss, and whilst they've brought in Gundogan, who I like, he's nowhere near the same class as Sahin yet.

Would be great if they could retain, but not many teams win back to back titles in the Bundesliga. Bayern are the only team to have done it since Dortmund in the mid-90s.

[Long live the 69]

I watched Leverkausen-Rangers last week, they looked really impressive (although we were shite) so i think they could do well.

It is this season where they get the 4th CL place?

[Nightmare]

Long live the 69, on 20 July 2011 - 12:40, said:

I watched Leverkausen-Rangers last week, they looked really impressive (although we were shite) so i think they could do well.

It is this season where they get the 4th CL place?

This season they are playing for 4 CL places, yeah.

There will still only be 3 German teams in the CL (if Bayern qualify) this year, though. Takes a couple of years for the coefficient to kick in.

This post has been edited by Nightmare: 20 July 2011 - 12:46

[Rock Legend SMFC]

Got a feeling Monchengladbach & Hamburg will do well this year. Don't think Dortmund will win it this year due to CL participation.

Fancy one of the 'big' teams to go down this year!

[Marshmallo]

I'd imagine it will be very close at the top between Dortmund and Bayern, possibly Leverkusen as well. Schalke could also be a dark horse

Dortmund have done well to hold on to all their main players with the exception of Sahin (who was admittedly absolutely brilliant last year). Kagawa was injured for most of the second half so he could almost be like a new signing, and he was one of my favourite players last season. I just hope they're as good to watch as they were last year.

Neuer, Boateng and Rafinha should all be very good signings for Bayern. Heynckes should be a really good appointment too.

Heynckes will be a loss for Leverkusen, but Dutt did a good job at Freiburg so looks to be a good appointment. Schurrle from Mainz is a great signing and, Hyypia apart, the players who have left weren't of any major significance.

Schalke did well in the CL last season and look to have done well in the market so far this summer despite losing Neuer. Jones has come back from Blackburn and I think Moravek could have a good season after doing well for Kaiserslautern last year. Fuchs should be a good buy too. The new keeper is inexperienced and has big shoes to fill so that's a bit of a gamble.

I followed the Bundesliga in depth in the first half of last year but then kind of tailed off. I'll be hoping to see more of it this year and maybe even have a weekend over there at some point.

[False Light]

Long live the 69, on 20 July 2011 - 12:07, said:

Ribery is set for talks with Arsenal.

Arsenal won't pay his wages or the transfer fee. It's a non-story made up by some tabloid journalist who needed to fill some space.

As for next season, Bayern are overwhelming favourites. They've spent big and look a lot stronger than last year. Heynckes is a fairly solid manager who should get enough of this team to win the title. Frankly, I'd be stunned if Bayern don't win the title, but I'm not entirely convinced they'll go that far in the CL (although getting to the last 16/last 8 is almost certain).

Dortmund will be strong again, but won't win the title because balancing Europe and the Bundesliga will be very difficult. Losing Sahin is also a huge blow. Gündoğan is talented, but whether he can perform consistently is another question. Perisic looks like another excellent addition on paper, albeit I've yet to see him play. Balancing Europe and the Bundesliga will be very difficult.

It'll be interesting be how Dutt does at Leverkusen. Vidal's departure will be a massive loss (if he does go), but Schürrle is a fantastic signing. I would imagine Bayer will have enough to compete in the CL and the Bundesliga.

All in all, the 3 German CL qualifiers look very strong, although Dortmund might struggle because they're fourth seeds. The teams in the EL don't look as strong. I still suspect that Hannover and Mainz will do ok, although they're hampered by being unseeded. Schalke have to be amongst the pre-season favourites for the EL, although the EL is so unpredictable that that doesn't mean much.

It's not been that big a summer in the Bundesliga in terms of big name/big money signings and departures, but there's been wholesale change at several clubs (including Mainz, HSV and Nürnberg). That makes it impossible to predict, but I'd say the top 7 will be something like this:

1. Bayern
2. Dortmund
3. Leverkusen
4. Wolfsburg
5. Schalke
6. Bremen
7. HSV

There will probably be at least one surprise, though.

The bottom 3 is even harder to predict. I literally have no idea who to pick for my bottom 3, because no one looks weak. Compounding the difficulty, there are so many unknowns. Freiburg and Köln both have new managers; Nürnberg have a completely new team; Kaiserslautern have changed quite a bit and could suffer 'second season syndrome'; a few of the big boys could struggle again unexpectantly; and no one really knows how Augsburg will adapt. Plus, obviously, there will be a lot more tranfsers to come.

I will predict, however, that Labbadia won't be Stuttgart manager come the end of the season.

[False Light]

Marshmallo, on 20 July 2011 - 13:57, said:

The new keeper is inexperienced and has big shoes to fill so that's a bit of a gamble.

I don't understand why Schalke didn't ask for Kraft as part of the Neuer transfer. Kraft is a great prospect, Hertha have done a fantastic bit of business in signing him (in general, Hertha's transfers look good actually).

[lzreid]

I reckon there's still a fair bit of buying from Dortmund to be done. Which is sad, but somewhat inevitable. That fact, combined with their CL appearances will them leave them mid-table I reckon. Maybe slightly higher but certainly outside of the CL places. Bayern Munich will probably stroll it this year; better manager, stronger squad etc. I expect the next three places to comprise of Hamburg, Leverkusen and Werder Bremen.

At the bottom; tougher choices to be honest. Koln will continue to score very few so will probably be near the bottom along with Augsburg - i presume. I fancy - hope - Hertha will be comfortably safe but no great shakes.

[Marshmallo]

False Light, on 20 July 2011 - 14:27, said:

I don't understand why Schalke didn't ask for Kraft as part of the Neuer transfer. Kraft is a great prospect, Hertha have done a fantastic bit of business in signing him (in general, Hertha's transfers look good actually).

Agreed, he'd certainly have been less of a gamble.

lzreid, on 20 July 2011 - 14:28, said:

I reckon there's still a fair bit of buying from Dortmund to be done. Which is sad, but somewhat inevitable. That fact, combined with their CL appearances will them leave them mid-table I reckon. Maybe slightly higher but certainly outside of the CL places. Bayern Munich will probably stroll it this year; better manager, stronger squad etc. I expect the next three places to comprise of Hamburg, Leverkusen and Werder Bremen.

At the bottom; tougher choices to be honest. Koln will continue to score very few so will probably be near the bottom along with Augsburg - i presume. I fancy - hope - Hertha will be comfortably safe but no great shakes.

Dortmund don't have to sell I'm sure. Sahin only went because of a clause in his contract IIRC (it's possible I am talking total bollocks on that point).

[False Light]

lzreid, on 20 July 2011 - 14:28, said:

I reckon there's still a fair bit of buying from Dortmund to be done. Which is sad, but somewhat inevitable. That fact, combined with their CL appearances will them leave them mid-table I reckon.

I don't think anyone else will leave. Obviously there is still time for moves to emerge, but there have been no concrete rumours of anyone leaving Dortmund and, for all but a couple of players, I don't see any plausible destinations. Sahin was a special case, because Real were interested and he had a release fee in his contract. The vast majority of the squad are tied down on long term deals, so Dortmund are under no pressure to sell and can demand big transfer fees, which no one is likely to pay. If any of them perform well in the CL or at Euro 2012, I expect there to be a lot of interest in a few of the players. The contract lengths of all Dortmund's players are listed here.

[lzreid]

Marshmallo, on 20 July 2011 - 14:40, said:

Agreed, he'd certainly have been less of a gamble.




Dortmund don't have to sell I'm sure. Sahin only went because of a clause in his contract IIRC (it's possible I am talking total bollocks on that point).

I don't believe they have to sell either but players are players and nowadays they cal the shots. I can see 2 or 3 demanding moves to clubs with better prospects in the CL or simply to clubs who'll pay more. I believe one or two of them have contracts running down as well?

[False Light]

Marshmallo, on 20 July 2011 - 14:40, said:

Agreed, he'd certainly have been less of a gamble.

Fährmann is supposed to be highly rated at Schalke, but he just couldn't get ahead of Neuer. He's looked decent the few times I've seen him, but he couldn't nail down a place at Frankfurt either. Schalke's plan was to sign Zieler from Hannover, Sippel from Kaiserslautern or possibly Baumann from Freiburg, but Schalke didn't want to pay the necessary transfer fee, which was going to be around qo million euros, so they looked for a cheaper option. Apparently, Schalke are interested in taking Italian internationa Emiliano Viviano on loan from Inter just in case Fährmann isn't good enough.

[Super_A]

Dortmund looked excellent last night against Hamburg, finished 3-1 but it could have been 6 easily. I wasn't sure if they would keep up their form form last season but they looked better.

[the jambo-rocker]

Super_A, on 06 August 2011 - 14:25, said:

Dortmund looked excellent last night against Hamburg, finished 3-1 but it could have been 6 easily. I wasn't sure if they would keep up their form form last season but they looked better.

The scary thing is that they still have subotic and barrios to come back. The first half was different class., their speed and passing is just outstanding to watch.

Another note their co-efficient is only above 22. I don't understand how just because they haven't done much in Europe doesn't mean winning the league shouldn't count for f**k all! Whoever gets them in the champions league will be shitting it. A group with Barcelona or arsenal would be jiz in pants time.

[Marshmallo]

Stuttgart humped Schalke 3-0, bit of a shocker there.

[the jambo-rocker]

Marshmallo, on 06 August 2011 - 17:43, said:

Stuttgart humped Schalke 3-0, bit of a shocker there.

I remember watching in the preview of the bundesliga that manager proclaimed schalke the 2nd biggest club in Germany, which pissed me off Bigtime. I couldn't be happier with the result

[lichtie23]

Augsburg will be chuffed with a 2-2 draw at home to Freiburg

[Long live the 69]

Just got back from holiday today, what have i missed guys?

[lichtie23]

Mainz vs Bayer Leverkusen and Bayer Munich vs Borussia Munchengladbach live on ESPN this afternoon

[StewartyMac]

Super_A, on 06 August 2011 - 14:25, said:

Dortmund looked excellent last night against Hamburg, finished 3-1 but it could have been 6 easily. I wasn't sure if they would keep up their form form last season but they looked better.

Their first half performance was one of the best team performances I've seen from a European team in ages, outwith Barcelona.

I think that over the season, they will miss Sahin, and I reckon Bayern will pip them for the title, but they're still a great side. Their defence will improve when Subotic returns from injury, as Santana looks a bit of a bombscare at times.

Hamburg were dreadful, and it's going to be a struggle for them this season, They've lost a lot of big players and haven't really replaced them.

[Clarko_son]

going to try and watch a lot more of the Bundesliga this year, typically ended up watching the review on ESPN every week but very few live games. will probably watch Bayern v Monchengladbach later today, does anyone know if all the games still available to watch on bwin?

[lau03143]

My prediction for top four are:

1) Bayern Munich
2) Borussia Dortmund
3) Bayer Leverkusen
4) Hamburg

I think there could be a few teams there or there abouts, that might tail off towards the end of teh season, like Mainz, Kaiserslautern etc. I think with Munich spending big this close season, they will be favorites. Dortmund looked good in the Liga Pokal cup a few weeks back, but it's been a while since they are playing in the CL, it will be a relatively new experience for the manager and players, and playing on three fronts will be difficult for them.

I also think Hamburg will have a better season and take the 4th CL place.

[baldragon]

Clarko_son, on 07 August 2011 - 10:39, said:

going to try and watch a lot more of the Bundesliga this year, typically ended up watching the review on ESPN every week but very few live games. will probably watch Bayern v Monchengladbach later today, does anyone know if all the games still available to watch on bwin?

I watch a lot of the games on www.links2football.com has basically every game on somewhere. Watched a great hd stream of the Dortmund game on Friday and will probably watch the bayern match today.