[Torretta13]

....I don't know if ya'll remember me or not, but I was new to the board over the summer and I asked for some guidance. I appreciate all of the responses that I received. I was going to try to follow the Bundesliga for the first time this season, but I had a lot of things come up and was unable to follow as closely as I would have liked. I am a Schalke 04 fan, so I would appreciate it if any Schalke fans who lurk on the board could provide me with a quick synopsis of what has been going on so far this season. I know there is a Schalke season thread, but most of the posts seem to in game reactions to certain plays in certain matches. If there are any Bundesliga or Schalke fans on the board who could just bring me up to date with what I have missed thus far in the Bundesliga season, I would greately appreciate it. Thanks.

[Doc_Aeppler]

Well, how do I say this best... I think being a Schalke Fan you havent really missed anything thus far...

As for the rest:
Hoffenheim have bought their way into the top ranks of the Bundesliga.
Bayern sucked in the beginning but is catching up.
Dortmund has a fairly strong season.
Bremen sucks bigtime this season.
Cologne will soon be renamned in FC Podolski.
And the bottom 5 teams are probably the worst in severall years.

I think that sums it up...

[210597]

Schalke have looked really dire, no creativity in their play and no heart either.

- Engelaar has proven to be slow as hell;
- Kuranyi has kept up the pace in missing easy chances and seems to have infected Farfán;
- Varela and Grossmüller are suspended over indisciplined behavior in practice;
- Rafinha still hasn't paid his EUR 700,000 fine;
- Höwedes is the revelation of this season with great games at center back, he just signed until 2014;
- Westermann had to help out in all positions, even midfield, early on, and went on a torrid scoring run in fall, though he's cooled off recently;
- Løvenkrands and Streit still aren't getting any chances to play and want out;
- Pander has shown some defensive weaknesses;
- Bordon has been pretty solid, Krstajic has more or less resigned himself to coming off the bench;
- Asamoah doesn't play much of a role usually anymore, though he's come on a bit more in the last few weeks and actually scored the winner v Berlin.

Andi Müller's head has been openly on the chopping block for the team's uninspired and lackluster play. The UEFA Cup campaign is all but over after consecutive losses to Manchester City and at FC Twente. In the DFB-Pokal, they've reached the round of 16 and will travel to Carl Zeiss Jena in January.

[The Old Lady Hertha]

They need a center mid and a striker badly. I won't even entertain the thought of Pantelic going to Schalke though

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

All you need to know is that this will NOT be the year when Schalke wins a title.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Doc_Aeppler

As for the rest:
Hoffenheim have bought their way into the top ranks of the Bundesliga.
Bayern sucked in the beginning but is catching up.
Dortmund has a fairly strong season.
Bremen sucks bigtime this season.
Cologne will soon be renamned in FC Podolski.
And the bottom 5 teams are probably the worst in severall years.
I think that sums it up...

Fantastic summary, but I would slightly
change your assessment of Werder. I think
the have the quality to get a European spot,
but must say they have greatly underachieved
this season, so far.

[Rainer24]

Originally Posted by Doc_Aeppler

Well, how do I say this best... I think being a Schalke Fan you havent really missed anything thus far...

As for the rest:
Hoffenheim have bought their way into the top ranks of the Bundesliga.
Bayern sucked in the beginning but is catching up.
Dortmund has a fairly strong season.
Bremen sucks bigtime this season.
Cologne will soon be renamned in FC Podolski.
And the bottom 5 teams are probably the worst in severall years.

I think that sums it up...

Hoffenheim's most expensive player cost € 8 million, and nobody else on the squad cost anything near that. I think people are really buying into all the angry rhetoric spewed by Hoeneß a bit too much. Hoffenheim bought themselves out of purely amateur status, but they are where they due to solid scouting and good management. I am no Hoffenheim supporter, but it would really be unfortunate if everyone simply accepted all the propaganda being shoved down their throats by FC Hollywood and Springer Klopapier. Hoffenheim has spent a lot of money compared to the teams they used to play against, not the ones they are drubbing on a regular basis this year. What is the problem?

[Doc_Aeppler]

Originally Posted by Rainer24

Hoffenheim's most expensive player cost € 8 million, and nobody else on the squad cost anything near that. I think people are really buying into all the angry rhetoric spewed by Hoeneß a bit too much. Hoffenheim bought themselves out of purely amateur status, but they are where they due to solid scouting and good management. I am no Hoffenheim supporter, but it would really be unfortunate if everyone simply accepted all the propaganda being shoved down their throats by FC Hollywood and Springer Klopapier. Hoffenheim has spent a lot of money compared to the teams they used to play against, not the ones they are drubbing on a regular basis this year. What is the problem?

Bla bla we've had it all...

Only Bayern has a bigger transfer-deficite over the last 3 years. (and Bayern had been saving up for years before and plays CL regularly)
Hoffenheims transferdeficite over that timespan is -30 Million!

Only Hoffenheim and Cotbus havnt yet fielded a single player that came out of their own youthteams.

How many other clubs have been able to sign a player for 8 million in the past? The Bundesliga is not the Premier League or Serie A.

[Rainer24]

Originally Posted by Doc_Aeppler

Bla bla we've had it all...

Only Bayern has a bigger transfer-deficite over the last 3 years. (and Bayern had been saving up for years before and plays CL regularly)
Hoffenheims transferdeficite over that timespan is -30 Million!

Only Hoffenheim and Cotbus havnt yet fielded a single player that came out of their own youthteams.

How many other clubs have been able to sign a player for 8 million in the past? The Bundesliga is not the Premier League or Serie A.

Yeah, they have spent that much because they had the most work to do as far building a BL1 level squad. I don't understand all the criticism. Of course they have had a transfer deficit. A team coming from those low level leagues typically doesn't have any players that other teams are going to shell out for. You don't think they are going to have some massive positive entries in their balance sheets when they sell Ibisevic, Weis, Eduardo, Ba, etc?

[Doc_Aeppler]

Originally Posted by Rainer24

A team coming from those low level leagues typically doesn't have any players that other teams are going to shell out for.

I guess thats why teams coming from a low level usually dont buy players for a shitload of money, but instead have to actually build up a team and maybe throw in some of their own youth players...