Hertha Berlin : Punching Above its Weight

And the Old Lady sits atop the Bundesliga.

Following league leader’s Hoffenheim’s 4-1 loss to 5th place Bayer Leverkusen, all eyes were on the weekend match up between Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich. A win for either team would secure them the top spot, a place held by Hoffenheim since round 14. Hertha Berlin hoped to continue its fairytale season as it welcomed Bayern to the Olympic Stadium. With seven first team players missing including top goal scorer Marko Pantelic, a win for Lucien Favre’s men against a full strength Bayern Munich was going to be difficult, to say the least. The onus was on Jurgen Klinsmen’s men to re-assert its tag as title favorites.

Two goals from on loan Liverpool striker Andrej Voronin propelled Hertha to a 2-1 win against an ineffective Bayern side, and Hertha now claim top spot in the Bundesliga - a position it hadn’t held since October 2006. In fact, Hertha Berlin has NEVER occupied top spot in the Bundesliga in the second half of the season. Given this remarkable feat, the question on everyone lips is: How exactly did Hertha Berlin rise to the top?

Well, in all honesty, no one really knows how Lucien Favre turned a mid-table team into potential Bundesliga champions. Despite playing at the Olympiastadion (Germany’s second largest stadium), Berlin’s sole top-flight football team runs on a relatively small budget. It receives about €7m-€8m a season from its shirt sponsors (Deutsche Bahn) and had a €9m transfer budget at the beginning of the season. The club has no household names, as its most notable players are team captain and German international Arne Frederich and aforementioned strikers, Serbian Marko Pantelic and Ukrainian Andrej Voronin. While its counter-attacking brand of football isn’t flashy, the team’s defensive compactness is quite admirable, as they have conceded only 23 goals all season.

With 14 rounds left to go in the Bundesliga, Lucien Favre will aim to prove cynics and skeptics wrong by leading Hertha Berlin to its first league title in 77 years. The team’s title credentials will be tested in rounds 24, 29 and 30 as it hosts Bayer Leverkusen and then travels to title challengers Hoffenheim and Hamburg. Should Hertha Berlin secure favorable results against both teams and avoid potential banana skin matches against Werder Bremen and Schalke, a balcony in Berlin might be the setting for a Bundesliga coronation.

(Article published on SnippetSoccer on Feb 17, 2009)

Tottenham : A Regrettable January

In a sane world, a multi-million dollar corporation wouldn’t change CEO’s every 2.5 years and spend tons of money on never-to-be-completed experiments. Football might not exist in this sane world, but the Tottenham Hotspurs have a management philosophy as schizophrenic as an attacking Martian.

One thing the club cannot be accused of is inconsistency in firing managers. The club sacked Martin Jol on October 25th 2007 and appointed Juande Ramos two days later. A year later they fired Juande Ramos on the same date, October 25th 2008, and appointed Harry Redknapp a day later. Of course, the worst thing the Tottenham board could have done after the dismissal of Juande Ramos was hiring another flash-in-the-pan.

Upon his arrival, Redknapp clamored for more money to sign adequate re-enforcements during January. The board agreed and Redknapp was given his desired transfer kitty. Most Premier League followers will agree Tottenham’s problem lie with its defense, as crocked captain Ledley King and under-performing Michael Dawson offer little help to error prone goalie Heurelho Gomes. The transfer window was a chance for Redknapp to address the team’s defensive frailties but magical Harry took the road less traveled. In January, Tottenham signed midfielder Wilson Palacios for £12m and acquired goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini on a free transfer. Both are excellent signings as Palacios provides balance in the center of the park and Cudicini is an adequate goaltender. The £15m, £12m and £3m signings of Defoe, Keane and Chimbonda -all former Tottenham players - is foolish to say the least. Why has Harry Redknapp resigned ex-players who were deemed surplus to requirements less than 18 months ago, while failing to address more pressing issues?

Only Harry knows.

Sure, when Redknapp took control of Tottenham, the club was bottom with fewer points than a triangle, and under Redknapp, Tottenham went 4 league games unbeaten with 3 wins and a spectacular 4-4 draw against Arsenal. But since the win against Man City on November 9th, Tottenham has amassed 13 points from a possible 39 with 3 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses. And with the daftness of Harry Redknapp transfer dealings, this tired trend will only continue.

It will only be a matter of time before Harry’s penchant for refusal to take responsibility for problems really butts heads against a chairman who refuses to take blame for the club’s managerial merry-go-round.

Like his predecessor, Harry’s days are numbered. Good thing he’s got a chart handy…

(Article published on SnippetSoccer on Feb 13, 2009)

Maradona on Song

Could Maradona be onto something?

It’s probably a bit to early to start singing the praise of Diego Maradona, but after a 2-0 win against France, his tenure as Argentina’s manager might be a success after all. The shock appointment of Maradona as national team coach by the AFA was risky, as he had little experience in football management. The onus was on Maradona to prove everyone wrong and he went about doing it the right way by not quitting after AFA president Julio Grandona refused to appoint former teammate Ruggeri as his assistant. Despite differences with the AFA, Maradona has gone about his duties by molding Argentina into a better defensive unit.

One of the enigma’s facing Argentina is its “average” back line. While the team is blessed with a wealth of attacking talent, defensively the team has failed to assert itself. Compared to the likes of Brazil, Italy, Germany or Spain, the Argentine defense is much weaker than its compatriots, as 35 year old Javier Zanetti is arguably the team’s best defender. To remedy this, Maradona has utilized a very strong defensive midfield position as cover. Like Benitez at Liverpool, Maradona plays with 2 holding midfielders whose sole duties are breaking down the opposition’s attacking threat. Against Scotland and France, Maradona’s holding of midfielders Gago and Mascherano bossed the midfield, thus allowing more freedom for Argentina’s lethal offensive unit.

The emergence of a better defensive unit will be the most important element if Argentina is to re-capture its glorious days as world champions. Like Spain proved in Euro 2008, attacking prowess begins from a solid defensive unit as the team conceded 3 goals in the competition. Using Mourinho’s Chelsea or Man Utd as blue prints, the mark of champions is their ability to play poorly and still win. If Argentina’s last two matches are anything to go by, Maradona is certainly on the right path.

And with Messi, Aguero and the hand of God by his side, only a brave man would bet against Maradona.

(Article published on SnippetSoccer on Feb 13, 2009)

German Efficiency

Is there something missing in your life, fellow football fans? Do you yearn for those days when every match was a nail biter with end-to-end flowing football, dashing runs, splendid counter attacking play and actual scoring? Are you bored with the super predictable spectacle of the English Premier League as its pundits debates whether Aston Villa will really crash the ever familiar Big 4 party, or Barcelona fans swearing to have witnessed the second coming of Christ in the shape of Lionel Messi? Do you watch Seria A as a cure for insomnia?

Yes, I’m talking about the near forgotten league - and I don’t mean French league soccer (that’s “THE” forgotten league) - the best run European league, the one with the biggest attendance and cheapest tickets. After half a decade of mediocrity, the Bundesliga is fast becoming the league to watch. If the current season is anything indication, it’s undoubtedly the Europe’s most Exciting league with a capital E. After years of waiting for France’s Ligue 1 to burst out of its slump, I decided to pay a close attention to the Bundesliga this calendar season and, boy oh boy, I have not been disappointed.

The arrival of German footballing hero Jurgen Klinsmann at the helm of Bayern Munich along with the return of Big Martin Jol as coach of Hamburg is just one of the many exciting stories this Bundesliga season. The Fred Rutten experiment at Schalke has gone horribly wrong, thanks to out-of-favor and over-rated sulking striker Kuranyi who claims he’s not a trouble maker and “doesn’t run away from trouble.” As Schalke’s problem continue to grow with no remedy in sight, Hertha Berlin’s amazing form has been a major highlight this season - it just shows that dealing with the Devil has its returns. If Hertha Berlin’s play is captivating, then newly promoted Hoffenheim brokered the same deal, and it’s definitely working. I reckon the club is selling souls by the bushel as you read this.

Led by top goalscorer Luca Toni, Bundesliga player of the year Frank Ribery, and coach of the year Ottmar Hitzfield, Bayern were a couple of notches above its counterparts, conceding 21 goals (best in Europe) and losing only twice (also best in Europe). After heavily spending the previous season, the purses were shut this term as ex-Werder Bremen Tim Borowski arrived on a free during the summer to solidify the midfield. Incoming manager Jurgen Klinsmann, whose revolutionary style of coaching was eagerly anticipated, was expected to deliver another league championship. As Bayern sat at the corner with everyone’s lunch money, playground love was making its way across the Bundesliga as helpless title challengers Hamburg and Schalke opted for new trainers.

The much beloved Dutch tactician Martin Jol took over reins at Hamburg after a topsy-turvy 2007 - 08 Bundesliga season. The Hamburg board’s managerial merry-go-round almost turned disastrous. With Hamburg languishing at the bottom of the Bundesliga at the beginning of February last season, coach Thomas Doll who was swiftly replaced by Dutch manager Huub Stevens who Miraculously - with a capital M - turned certain relegation candidates into UEFA Cup qualifiers in the space of 3 months. But Stevens jumped ship to Holland to take charge of PSV vacated by Valencia’s coaching disaster Ronald Koeman. Hamburg then opted for another Dutch man, the aforementioned Martin Jol. Thomas Doll went on to coach Borussia Dortmund into the ground, resigning at the end of the season after a disappointing 13th place finish while miracle worker Huub Stevens, with his grab-by-the-scruff-of-the-neck coaching style, saw red at PSV midway through the season.

And what about Schalke’s merry go round? Well, the managerial change at Schalke is quite different from that of Hamburg in the sense that the club dismissed manager Mirko Slomka last April after a 5-1 loss to Werder Bremen, despite Slomka leading to the club to its first ever Champions League quarter finals - very harsh I reckon! Like Hamburg, Schalke FC couldn’t escape the Orange fever as it appointed former Twente manager Fred Rutten who was replaced with Dutchman Englishman Steve McClaren, whose (insert favorite cuss word) tenure as England’s boss was a highlight to the board members at FC Twente. Along with Bayern Munich, Hamburg and Schalke, Borussia Dortmund (out Thomas Doll, in Jurgen Klopp), Stuttgart (out Armin Veh, in Markus Babbel) and Bayer Leverkusen (out Michael Skibbe, in Bruno Labbadia) all had managerial changes to begin the 2008-09 season. Gives new meaning to the word “stability!”

After last season’s run and gun, Bayern was expected to ease its way through the 2008-09 campaign with pretenders Werder Bremen, Schalke and Hamburg battling out for the remaining Champions League spots. But a series of unfortunate events have cast doubts over Bayern’s title hopes, which in turn has provided Bundesliga fans with a season to remember.

Has the Klinsmann experiment failed? Not at all. When Bayern dropped points last year, none of its challengers did themselves any favors as they failed to capitalize. Thus Bayern’s loss resulted in Bayern’s gain. Fast forward to the 2008-09 season. Bayern’s loss has become its challenger’s gain as the likes of Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Hertha Berlin and surprise table toppers Hoffenheim have taken full advantage on Bayern’s demise. Like its Bundesliga counterparts, Klinsmann’s brand of attacking football is largely questionable as Bayern plays without a true defensive midfielder - sorry, but Mark Van Bommel isn’t a good one - and while the team is explosive going forward, it’s abject when defending against counter attacks.

All this makes for very exciting football when Bayern takes to the field, as evident by its 5-2 trashing at the hands of Werder Bremen earlier in the season. Under the stewardship of Thomas Schaff, Bremen’s uber attacking style of football is a real treat. After taking runner up spot last year, much was expected of Bremen but the loss of Tim Borowoski to Bayern Munich has proved costly and the midfield balance is shaky to say the least. Led by the much-coveted Diego, Bremen has found itself wholly underachieving this season. If Schaff’s men hope to secure a spot in Europe, he might be forced to sacrifice the team’s attacking threat for a little more defensive stability.

And then there’s Schalke. Frozen out perennial troublemaker Kevin Kuranyi has done little to help his club after a falling out with the national team, leaving Schalke with a good team - and I mean good in an average sense of the word. Sure, the capture of prolific forward Jeferson Farfan from PSV and the arrival of defensive midfielder Engelaar make for a better team. Sure, Gerald Asamoah is a hard worker and is very strong on the ball. But a plane with no pilot is doomed to fail, and if the team wants strong workers, it should sign professional boxers instead. Echoes such as “we have to play to our potential” or “we cannot let ourselves slip up again” have fallen to deaf ears as current manager Fred Rutten is feeling the heat. Common sense seems to be a forgotten phrase at Schalke. Despite being bankrolled by Gazprom - that’s the same Russian gas company that bankrolls Zenith St. Petesrburg - the team failed to sign any quality player in January. Credit crunch anyone? I’m not a betting man but if I was, I’d put a little wager on Rutten getting the sack in the very near future. Another manager I’d sack were I club chairman would be Felix Magath, who seems utterly clueless at Wolfsburg. Remember Andrea Bazargli and Cristian Zaccardo? Those names are familiar with fans of the Seria A as highly rated defenders, and they were snatched up by Wolfsburg much to the disbelief of Seria A teams. Shoring up its defense with the Italian contingent, Wolfsburg did little else to help itself. In essence, Felix Magath is working with two very good defenders, a better than average midfielder in Brazilian Josue and an aging striker in Grafite - ah, the perfect recipe for failure and job loss.

If instability is the current trend on the Bundesliga, then Hamburg is definitely bucking that trend. While Bayern Munich possess the best squad on paper, Hamburg has the most efficient squad, if rumor is to be believed. Take note Tottenham fans. Martin Jol’s recipe for success that worked wonderfully for a couple of seasons at White Hart Lane is cooking up again at the HSH Nordbank Arena. The memories of last season’s roller coaster ride are all but gone thanks to Hamburg’s brilliant style of football. Unlike its Bundesliga mates, Hamburg has spent low and sold high while retaining a competitive team capable of challenging for top honors. What’s the secret? Um… balance!

Hamburg’s signing of Brazilian defender Alex Silva, alongside Joris Mathijsen and the versatile Jerome Boateng, provides a stable line of defence. Anchor man / defensive / holding midfielder / captain David Jarolim, along with the dynamic midfielder Piotr Trochowski, provide excellent cover for the defense and supply for Croatian tandem Ivica Olic and Mladen Petric. Call it a poor man’s Bayern Munich, or a very poor man’s Bayern Munich, but Hamburg’s display this season has been nothing short of excellent.

A look at the Bundesliga table gives another shock as Hertha Berlin’s rise to the top has taken the league by surprise. Hertha Berlin’s most notable player is Livepool reject Andriy Voronin, who has also been a flop at Hertha Berlin, but that’s all old news to manager Lucien Favre whose very defensive minded squad has withstood the likes of Hamburg and Hoffenheim, though questions linger about its sustainability as the season goes into full gear. The arrival of Patrick Helmes has propelled Bayer Leverkusen to new heights as his 13 goals along with teammate Stefan Kießling’s 8 goals have helped new manager Bruno Labbadia settle in quite nicely. With a 10 million-euro summer signing of Renato Augusto, along with highly rated goaltender Rene Adler and Toni Kroos on loan, Leverkusen is poised to maintain a decent run of form. They are realistically non-title challengers but will definitely book a place in Europe.

The phenomenal tag goes to the entertaining, prolific, and “insert favorite adjective” Hoffenheim. Move over David Hasslehoff, the real Hoff is here and if form is anything to go by, Hoffenheim is likely to please us for a long time. She’s not the flirty girl at the bar who makes you buy her drinks only to give you a fake phone number at the end of the night or even worse claims to have a boyfriend. No, Hoffenheim is the real deal - she exciting, interesting and more importantly the hit of the party. Bankrolled by billionaire software investor Dietmar Hopp, his investment seems to be paying huge dividends.

8 years ago, the club plied its trade in the 5th division of German football. After back-to-back promotion from lower divisions, the relegation candidates find themselves atop the Bundesliga table despite playing with a mix of unknown players. Football purists have condemned Hoffenheim rise as footballing abnormality thanks to Hopp’s splash of cash. (These purists naturally stand wholly behind Bayern Munich’s monopoly in German football.) As the Galactico era at the Bernabeu has shown, influx of money without a plan is just… an influx of money without a plan. Current manager Ralf Rangnick deserves a lot of credit for his attacking philosophy. His direct style of passing with emphasis of quick ball movement has set the current Bundesliga season on fire. Led by Europe’s top marksman Vedad Ibisevic, Hoffenheim defied all expectations and were crowned winter champions of the Bundesliga. Things seem to take a turn for the worse after the prolific Bosnian suffered an injury and has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Unlike clueless Schalke and Wolfsburg, however, Hoffenheim invested in reinforcements by bringing in on loan forward Boubacar Sanogo from Werder Bremen and former Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hilderbrand - both excellent captures in my opinion. And the club also moved into a new stadium. Hooray!

Will Hoffenheim be able to keep the dream alive? Will Hamburg and Hertha Berlin claim top spot? Will Bayern retain its perch? I don’t have the answers but if the first half of the Bundesliga is anything to go by, this should be cracking second half of the season.

(Article published on SnippetSoccer on Feb 5, 2009)