Hannover 96 - FC Bayern München 0:3
Hamburger SV - VfL Bochum 3:0
MSV Duisburg - VfB Stuttgart 2:3
Karlsruher SC - Bayer Leverkusen 2:2
Werder Bremen - 1.FC Nürnberg 2:0
FC Energie Cottbus - Borussia Dortmund 0:2
Hertha BSC Berlin - Arminia Bielefeld 1:0
FC Hansa Rostock - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:0
FC Schalke 04 - VfL Wolfsburg (Fr.) 1:2
Whereas last weekend saw some surprises this one was flat out boring. Sure, the games were exciting, but the results didn't provide anything near to an upset. The top 3 teams all won, the three at the bottom all lost.
What gets more interesting is how the German press sets its sights on the position of the goalkeeper in the German national team. Ever since Jens Lehmann made a few mistakes against Austria he's been the No.1 target. Now Germany is the very comfortable spot to have a lot of good, very good and world class goalkeepers compared to countries like, well, let's say, for instance ... England (yeah, I know, cheap joke, duh, hehe). There are at least 7 names which are always brought up when it comes to nominating goalkeepers for this year's Euro championship. Lehmann's back up is supposed to be Timo Hildebrand who is playing at FC Valencia this season. Although he seemed to have some problems at the beginning he's now playing on a regular basis. At east when I last looked up his name, things change fast, you know.
Then there is the youth movement in the Bundesliga which brought up players like René Adler (Bayer Leverkusen) and Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04). Both were pushed to the front last year and played outstanding seasons. But while neuer seems to struggle a little bit recently Adler is getting better and better. Just this weekend he secured the point for Leverkusen at Karlsruhe. Those two are only at the beginning of their 20s mind you so they have the future all for themselves.
The guys waiting for a shot at the national team right now are Robert Enke (Hannover 96), Frank Rost (HSV), Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund) and Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen). Rost is out of the equation if you ask me. He simply is too old (34) and doesn't seem to fit into the teamplaying role that the national team requires. Although he is playing very well for Hamburg at the moment. Weiderfeller is out as well because he's injured. That leaves Enke and Wiese. Enke had an outstanding season last year but seems to be back to the ground this year. Still I would consider him to be the best choice because of his character. Wiese on the other hand had an outstanding match in the UEFA Cup this week in which he saved towo penalties but he is just too inconsistent. Plus he speaks out too often which doesn't leave a good impression with the press and the coaches.
This being the situation at the moment every move and game of Lehmann is taken into consideration right now. Although - from what I've read - he wasn't to blame for Arsenal's defeat against ManU this weekend the German media (especially the tabloids) went on a rampage again. Heck, it's one game. If they really want to get him out of the team then go against his age. Personally I simply think he's too old and because of this you should use a younger guy. If Lehmann had stepped down after the 2006 World Cup he would have been a hero for everyone.
What will happen until June is that the tabloids will try to get him out of the team and instead have one of the aforementioned guys go to the Euro. And - believe me - the name of that guy will change every week. Whoever plays good will be mentioned. This will be fun, yeah..........
On other news, soon-to-be-promoted Fortuna Köln will play their first game this year in two weeks against Wegberg-Beeck at the Südstadion (Feb 29th). I am really looking forward to this one!! Yet another evening game. The last two were both won with a goal difference of 9-4.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment