Although it is still early in the season, you can still see certain clubs being promoted and relegated. Call your predictions now! Who comes up to die Bundesliga? Who goes to 2.Bundesliga? Who takes those European places? Will Bayern Munich making a roaring charge to win the title? Who are the dark-horses of the season?
I haven't really gotten a handle on the 2.BL; seems to me the race is wide open. No team or teams at or near the top seems significantly better than the other. As for relegation, Frankfurt and Cologne are doomed (doomed, I tell you, doomed). At the beginning of the season, I would have bet the farm on Bochum joining them. But Bochum has had a fast start and even given a second half collapse like last season are good bets to stay up. There are a number of candidates for the last spot: Freiburg, Hannover, Kaiserslautern, Hansa, Borussia, maybe even TSV. But I think it will come down to (and it pains me to say this) Gladbach and Hansa. Betting with my heart and not my head, I'll say Hansa as the third team down. Bayern will win, Stuttgart will finish second, Leverkusen third (your CL spots); as for UEFA, I'm going to go with Dortmund and Bremen. And Hertha will win the Pokal.
I don't know why everyone picked Bochum to go down. They are a decent club in a decent league. If Bochum were in a different league, they be down in an instant. I think they'll keep around in the UEFA Cup hunt, due to lack of competition.
What are smoking dude? They have a realy good period right now and are at a very good 6th place(what means UI-cup), but when Hertha or Hamburg come back, it will be hard for them to stay in this place. I even don´t think that they can stay ahead of Wolfsburg. Bochum has the luck that they don´t have any important players injured, while Dortmund has now 12 injured players, plus Kehl sidelined due to his red card, and is still ahead of them.
I'd like to see Hertha and Hamburg come out of that tailspin. Do you know how far they'd have to dig to get out of that massive hole and to reach sixth place would be short of the hand of God! Those are the breaks of the game. VfL Bochum doesn't pay players to make stupid fouls, unlike Borussia Dortmund. It's called making the best of what you have. Pound for pound, VfL Bochum is one of the better teams. Small budget=6th place-->Great! And the proper phrase is: What are YOU smoking? Have a nice day, ass.
While he might have been a bit more politic, soccerfreak is right except in his assessment of Wolfsburg, who will battle Dormund for the last UEFA spot (and in any event, there is no need to engage in name calling, which I find especially ironic since, IIRC, your sole attachment to Bochum is that you met some girl who supported Bochum; I suspect soccerfreak at least comes by his allegiances a bit more honestly). Some perspective: last year, after ten games, Bochum had 18 points and was 7 points out of first; this season, they have 17 points and are six points out of first, so essentially, they have done this year exactly what they did last year. Where did it get them last year--a free fall through the league, with only a late run ensuring them safety. FYI, they finished in 9th place, with 45 points, 9 points from the last UEFA spot and 9 points from relegation. That's pretty much what you can expect from them this season. They'll finish no better than 10th (behind Bayern, Stuttgart, Leverkusen, Bremen, Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Hertha, Hamburg and Schalke) and will probably be as close to relegation as they are to the last UEFA spot. I agree that Bochum gets the most out of what they got, but at best they are the cream of the bottom half of the table.
Listen, sunshine. It doesn't matter how you come to support a club. I reasearched my options. It's not as if I just started following the Bundesliga either. Don't assume. I still can't believe how people are still speculating that Hertha and Hamburg are going to rush to the top of the table. I just don't see it. Hertha, who are playing for their coach's life are going to run into the wall. Hamburg, I haven't been watching their plight of the damned.
Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy. You don't get it. Don't call people names because they hold an opinion contrary to yours. Feel free to disagree, but do so civilly. "Dude, what are you smoking" doesn't deserve the retort you provided. Think about it for a second. As for the substantive part of your post, define "rush to the top of the table," please. I don't see Hertha or Hamburg rushing to the "top of the table" as I define it (top few teams--basically, teams with a legit chance to win the league), but over the course of a 34-game schedule, these are legit top half of the table teams. That's not to say that one (or both) of them can't pull a Leverkusen, but if I was a betting man (and I'm not), I'd bet the 401K on both of those teams finishing in the top 9. The "rush" required to get them to that point is a few wins in a row, not exactly an insurmountable task.
Yeah right. maybe we should better speculate about Bochums upcoming crash into the second half of the table. Only 4 points ahead of schalke....
I don't need to think about it. If I feel like calling you something, I shall. I'm not going to Mr Feelings for someone I don't know. And don't question someone's reason for supporting a club. It's pretty much the same thing as calling someone a name. But, let's get back to the topic at hand. Right now, there have been 11 games played out of 34. It's safe to say that 1/3 of the season is gone. Hamburg is in 13th place. 2 wins. 3 losses. 6 ties. 11 goals for. 24 against. I don't see Hamburg making a blockbuster trade for a World-Class striker. If they tighten defensively, then yes, with hard work....they could be on the top half of the table. I wouldn't say higher than 8. Hertha Berlin. 15 place. 1 win. 5 losses. 5 ties. 8 Goals For. 20 Against. When Hertha was in Champions' League, I was impressed with Gabor Kirlay's goaltending. Now, I don't know what the problem is. If they are going to beat relegation, it's going to be by the skin of their teeth. VfL Bochum, who currently riding on Vahid Hashemian's great streak should be in the top half of the table. They will not be relegated. I will bet anything on it.
As I posted earlier, Bochum's fast start is a pretty good insurance policy against relegation. My guess, as I posted earlier, is that they will finish around 10th place, about as far away from 5th (the last UEFA spot) as from 16th. While you never know (see Leverkusen last season), Hertha will not be seriously threatened with relegation and should finish in the top half of the table. While I've only seen a couple Hertha games this year, my take on their problems is as follows. Defensively, I have no idea what their problems are. Offensively, the team revolves around Marcelinho, who was, until recently, injured. That, obviously, has a negative effect until he plays himself back into form. But consider also that the strikers are new (Bobic and Wichniarek are new to the team, and Luizao and Rafael didn't play enough last year to develop an understanding with their teammates), so the prcess of integrating the new attack with Marcelinho was been slower to develop than expected. But all of that being said, relegation is not an "if" proposition. Of course, I don't think you'll be seeing Hertha in Europe next year, either (something both Bochum and Hertha will have in common, other the fact that Nike outfits them).
Like they say, "Anything is possible." I never liked Marcelinho. I don't think anyone has. His life span at a club is that of a sea monkey. The Winter Transfer windown, in my opinion, will seperate the men from the mice. Hey, sorry for being an ass, I'm just a passionate person.
Hey, man! I was focussing on the passion thing! If the only thing you can do is cursing at me in such a poor way I´m very sorry for you.....
As oppossed to your intelligent quip, "what you smoking." Or such thrillers as..."That's the best statement in the tread." Actually, you haven't replied with any type of intelligent comment about the tread. It's a typical Dortmund fan's response. Just ignorant.