The Pace of the Matches has turned up a notch.
The opening match between Dortmund and Bremen was played at blistering pace. Frankfurt and Leverkusen both played some high-tempo football. All round, the Bundesliga seems to have been injected with some pace. This season, the football promises to be better and of-course faster than the last one on the evidence of the first match-day.
Bremen could turn a few heads this Season.
‘Naldo!’ was the word uttered by a few fans mistakenly when Bremen equalized against Dortmund. Instead, it was new signing Theodor Gebra Selassie, who does resemble the former Bremen man, who managed to get on the end of a cross from Marko Arnautovic. The arguments over the sponsor continue but the football is seemingly returning to former levels at this club.
Against Dortmund, they showed immense energy and imagination. Arnautovic in particular had a great day. They were even better than the champions in some spells. Werder might have snatched an equalizer had Nils Petersen not fluffed his chance. Provided that Werder can stay consistent, which is no given with this team, Thomas Schaaf’s side could surprise a few people.
Leverkusen must Improve Defensively.
Bayer 04 has always been home to some of the Bundesliga’s best talents. On Saturday however, they appeared quite lost. Frankfurt controlled the play for huge parts and deservedly took a victory. The defending was rather horrible; Alex Meier could have had a hat-trick on the day had Bernd Leno not pulled off some brilliant saves.
Sami Hyppia could try and teach his players some tricks from his playing career. Last season, they drew 3-3 with Hertha Berlin, a side that now plies its trade in the second division. Leverkusen is expected to improve on last season. To do so, they must first plug some huge holes at the back.
Gomez’s Injury might be a Blessing in Disguise.
Mario Gomez scored more than 40 league goals for Bayern in all competitions last season. Yet, there were several complaints against him from fans and former players (all of them are incredibly fastidious I have to add). As Uli Hoeness put it, if Gomez was indeed ‘very good’, Bayern would have won their fifth European Cup. Indeed, Gomez missed some straight-forward chances during the previous two seasons. Now, Bayern has another Mario to look to (despite their reasoning behind his purchase).
Mario Mandzukic has one talent that has eluded Gomez for a while. His link-up play is brilliant. He is incredibly adept at reading the play and timing his runs into the penalty area accordingly. In many ways, he reminds one of Miroslav Klose. He is the type of striker Bayern required last season, at-least on the bench.
Mandzukic has got his chance to impress with Gomez’s injury and has so far capitalized. He scored against Dortmund and created another in the Supercup. He struck twice in the DFB Pokal against Jahn Regensburg and opened his Bundesliga account with a Gomez-like goal against Fürth.
If things continue to run as smoothly for him, Gomez might have to satisfy himself with a seat on the bench when he returns.
Is HSV about to suffer a first ever Relegation?
HSV was in the eyes of many the worst performer of the opening round. Despite losing by a single goal, the thought of relegation is seemingly on everybody’s mind. Nürnberg was supposed to have a tough season but picked up three points (helped by HSV to no end) away from home.
Hamburg had Rene Adler to thank for saving them from further embarrassment. Last season was supposed to be a transitional one. Unfortunately, with the unsurprisingly inane Frank Arnesen looking over transfers, HSV seems to be heading nowhere. Most of their players are simply not suitable for the Bundesliga.
In what is the 50th season of the Bundesliga, its Dinosaur needs a way to survive. Currently, they seem to be heading for uncharted waters nonetheless, the 2.Bundesliga.
