Hello everyone,
And welcome to Part 2 of the 2009/10 Euro league season preview, today featuring the Bundesliga, which again looks like shaping up to be the most exciting league in Europe this season.
It seems inevitable that any season kick-off in Germany is bound to start with Bayern, and this column is no exception, but then, what can you expect from FC Hollywood? Having dispensed with the new-age methods of Jürgen Klinsmann towards the end of last season (with results becoming so poor that even the previously loyal Bayern directors were drawn to the conclusion that Jogi Löw really was the tactical brains behind the Mannschaft’s 3rd place finish at the 2006 World Cup), Rummenigge, Hoeness et. al. decided this summer that the only way to tame the egos in the Bayern dressing room was to appoint a coach even more egotistical than them (and possibly the only manager that could be considered to be more arrogant than Mourinho), namely last season’s title-winning coach with AZ, Louis Van Gaal. The appointment of Van Gaal does at least suggest a return to more sensible footballing ideals (the likes of tactical development and sensible man-management, among other things), and the club have bought well this summer: while Mario Gomez may still be something of a laughing stock at international level, he still has a proven goalscoring record in the Bundesliga (handy given Luca Toni’s recent decline), and his acquisition from Stuttgart also pulls off the useful trick of destabilising one of Bayern’s main rivals. The arrival of exciting Croatian overlapping left-back Danijel Pranjić, meanwhile, should enable Philipp Lahm to switch to right-back (not only sensible given Lahm’s right-footedness, but also solving one of Bayern’s problem positions), while the purchase of impressive Ukrainian holding midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk should allow Bayern to finally jettison the dressing room ticking time-bomb that is Mark Van Bommel. For all that, though, Bayern still remain excessively dependent on the creative genius that is Franck Ribéry, and though it currently seems unlikely that he will be allowed to leave Bayern, any sale would probably irreparably damage Bayern’s title ambitions. They should still be considered favourites at this present moment, though.
With Bayern no longer the all-conquering Bundesliga force they once were, the field is open for a number of German clubs to mount serious title tilts, never mind challenge for Champions League slots. Having managed to keep the majority of their squad intact thus far this summer (notably retaining the “Magic Triangle” of Grafite, Edin Dzeko and Zvjezdan Misimović), Wolfsburg should again challenge strongly, not least because they have intelligently strengthened what was already a title-winning squad (the arrivals of Thomas Kahlenberg from Auxerre, and Karim Ziani from Marseille, stand out). Of course, the fact that Felix Magath (their manager, sporting director and CEO all rolled into one, I kid you not) has upped sticks and taken “Magath mountain” to Schalke (surely a doomed exercise in vanity if ever there was one) is not something to be blithely overlooked, and the Champions League is bound to prove a distraction (at least until Christmas; I don’t really see Wolves progressing beyond the group stages), but a top three finish should be theirs for the taking. In spite of losing Gomez to Bayern, Stuttgart could yet prove to be Bayern’s biggest challengers for the title this season. Markus Babbel certainly earned his managerial stripes during a very impressive spring campaign with VfB last year, and in spite of having missed out on the signing of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Real Madrid, the imminent arrival of a striker with as impressive a goalscoring record as Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit) is not to be sniffed at. Add to this the impressive crop of young players that won them the title in 2007 (the likes of Serdar Tasci, Sami Khedira and Christian Trasch, among others) and they should run Bayern close. Hoffenheim, the surprise package of the winter campaign in last season’s Bundesliga, ought to be capable of getting over last year’s spring slump and mount an improved challenge for a European place next season, not least because of Vedad Ibisević’s return from injury (arguably the catalyst behind their decline in the second half of last season); the prospect of Ibisević reforming his strike partnership with Demba Ba (who, having toyed with the idea of joining Stuttgart, has opted to stay with Hoffenheim) should provide nightmares for many a Bundesliga defence. The title is probably still beyond them (particularly given that, as last season showed, they are just one or two injuries/suspensions away from another slump) but a Europa League slot, at the very least, remains a strong possibility. Expect another strong challenge from Hamburg, where the arrival of bright young manager Bruno Labbadia should soften the blow of losing Martin Jol to Ajax; the acquisition of young starlets such as striker Marcus Berg (Groningen) and Eljero Elia (Twente) are similarly encouraging and should ensure another season of European football. Having seemingly overcome the financially-induced woes of recent seasons, Jürgen Klopp’s young charges at Borussia Dortmund should again challenge for a European slot; Bayer Leverkusen, with a possibly even more impressive array of young talent, may also push for Europe, though one suspects that the loss of principal goalscorer Patrick Helmes to injury (even with the arrival of Swiss attacker Eren Derdiyok from Basle) will be too much to overcome. Werder Bremen’s European ambitions may ultimately hindered by the loss of central playmaker Diego to Juventus, but the capture of exciting young left winger Marko Marin from Gladbach looks astute, and if Mesut Özil can transfer some of the form that won Germany the European U-21 crown into Bremen’s league campaign, they might be an outside bet for a Europa league slot. Hertha Berlin, though, should surely slump back into mid-table mediocrity after massively overachieving last season, while Felix Magath has his work cut out at Schalke (as he tries to create a silk purse from the Bundesliga’s eternal sow’s ear), not least given what Raphael Honigstein memorably described as Kevin Kuranyi’s “pornographic” finishing.
As for the relegation battle, one suspects that, with the exception of Nürnberg (who, despite earning promotion via the play-offs, look to be the safest bet for survival, given that they spent only one season in 2.Bundesliga, and thus should have the experience necessary to ensure survival), the relegation spots will mainly be occupied by last season’s promoted sides. Freiburg, like West Brom in last season’s Premier League, are likely to be too cavalier and too defensively suspect to survive, while of Mainz’s smmer purchases, only Andreas Ivanschitz looks genuinely impressive. Of the other likely strugglers, Eintracht Frankfurt should be resilient and defensively solid enough to avoid the drop, while the signing of Juan Arango may go some way to providing Borussia Mönchengladbach with the creativity they need to compensate for the losses of Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann (to Bremen and Bayern respectively). All of which should make Bochum favourites for the drop along with Mainz and Freiburg; Bochum’s aging squad has not been sufficiently regenerated, and the front line looks too short on goal threat to save them from relegation.
Well, that wraps up today’s preview, but before I go, a few predictions: