6 games, Bayern already has 4 points gap to the following teams. Can anybody stop Bayern? If yes, who? My opinion: Of course they are not through yet. Next week in Leverkusen won't be easy for them, but I think they'll clinch the title early in April. Who's dangerous? Nobody really, but fighting for the CL spots will: - Schalke: without loss despite already having lots of injury trouble - this might already have been their problem part of the season that any team has at some point. - Bremen: I can imagine keeping the pace quite long. It won't be enough for the title race, but rank 3 is absolutely possible. - Dortmund: very dangerous, they play unattractive and bad - but they collect the points; this is very similar to last season. - Berlin: no, too many problems, they don't reach more than UEFA-cup - Leverkusen: no, they need a season to recover after Ballack and Ze Roberto left. UEFA cup next year.
Couple of things: 1) Bayern's very strong and will get better. What can slow them down is injuries - and that's all. 2) Leverkusen: Will find form soon, but need to find it this weekend. 3) Dortmund: Winning ugly, but winning. Best bet to catch Bayern. 4) Bremen - looked pretty good yesterday. GK looks young, but good. Micoud should have a good season. 5) Schalke: Have the talent to contend, but best case is 3rd place.
Don't agree with Bayern - injuries won't stop them unless it's Ballack, anyone else is replaceable. Losses can stop them, we just had it after the La Coruna game, suddenly R Kovac was complaining why he doesn't play. They all have to keep their mouth shut as long as they are winning, but as soon as a loss comes, the substitutes will find media to complain about their role. They can only stop themselves I think. Bremen: the goalie is too weak, doesn't win games.
What about an injury to Kahn? or multiple injuries to Elber, Pizarro, and Zickler, and again to Kahn.
Kahn would have been a problem in the last seasons, but now they are good enough and also playing offensive enough to score more goals than the goalie gets. Elber AND Pizarro would be a problem, but how probable is it? Interesting might be to see Deisler return and either not playing (then media will aim on Bayern for destroying one of the greatest talents in Germany) or playing and moving somebody out of a successful team (then this player will start complaining) - in this sense I rather think that it's good for Bayern to have many injuries
Who would have thought Placente and Novotny would both be out? I forgot about Deisler...rotting on the bench. I bet some will compare him to Landon
That was much more probable as they knew Nowotny would be out for the whole year (that's why they bought Juan). There's always the chance, but I still think Bayern would only really be hurt if Ballack gets injured - he's the heart of their game already yet and I see nobody who could replace him. Doesn't really fit here, but I just read this passage: "In the 'eternal city' it is discussed that Brazils national team captain Emerson will return to Bayer Leverkusen in the winter break. "We are always watching him. If AS Rome doesn't survive the group stage, this might become a topic. It is well known that Rome got financial problems", said Klaus Toppmöller. Emerson, from 1997 until 2000 in Leverkusen went to Italy for 10M. --- Now he'd definitely be a team leader. He was great back then, the problem was that the other players weren't developed that far. I saw Emerson play several times and he's really an amazing player. --- And another Brazilian linked with Bayer, Ze Elias (Olympiakos Piraeus, last week before the CL game): "I'm feeling something very special, I owe a lot to Bayer Leverkusen. The club opened me the doors to Europe", says the 26 year old who played 23 games for Bayer in 1996/97. "After fulfilling my contract in Piraeus in 2004 I want to return to Leverkusen if this is possible. I've already talked with my wife about it. The people in Leverkusen helped me having a normal life. We felt like being in a family. This can't be compensated with money, that's a matter of the heart. I am always informed about Bayer Leverkusen, I know all their results and the movements in their roster". At the moment there is no contact to Leverkusen, but for Ze Elias "there are three people I'll never forget: GM Reiner Calmund, physiotherapist Dieter Trzolek and sports director Rudi Völler". From his old colleagues only Ulf Kirsten, Carsten Ramelow and Jens Nowotny are in the current roster. "I also know Franca from Brazil. He's an excellent forward, somebody like Kirsten". Ze Elias left Leverkusen to Inter Milan after one year in 1997. --- Admittedly I don't know a lot about Ze Elias. I think he can play the Ramelow part very well, but I remember him being very emotional and always good for a red card.
Emerson is a talented player who BL needs asap. I like the quote about Roma's finances as well, but that could be said about most Italian teams.
Deportivo La Coruna. Maybe Leverkusen can pick up Makaay, then it could be a race...otherwise, you have to like Bayern's chances.
For my money, Dortmund is the only team that should be able to stop Bayern, especially if Dortmund drops out of international competition. I do have to say that the Konigsblaue Wunder (Schalke) are looking good, but I did not watch the game very carefully this weekend. I am psyched for the Schalke v. Bayern game, whenever that comes up. I am wondering what the problems are that Berlin has, Olaf. They have a lot of talent on that team and a great coach. They never seem to get it together, but maybe this year ...
Domestically, Bayern will not be stopped. No team has the depth to match FCB's squad. Dortmund is good, but needs more scorers to really pose a threat to Bayern. Champions League, however, is a different story. Bayern's defense is not strong enough to make a realistic run to the Final. Without Lizarazu, they looked terrible vs. Deportivo. Linke, Kovac, and Kuffour don't exactly make me feel very comfortable in tight matches. I was very surprised that they didn't pick up another defender in the off-season. I would imagine that they'll be looking for one in the next transfer period.
That's really a criticial point, maybe underestimated by Bayern. In the last years the "Effenberg-style" was an unattractive game with security first, only going to the offence when the defence stays well to avoid counter attacks. With this system the defence had no real problems - and if someone made his way, then Kahn was still there to stop them. Now the "Ballack-style" is much more going to the offence, which also means that the defenders get more work to do. In Bundesliga this will work fine in most of the games, though I expect them to have maybe three games in which they get three or four goals against. On CL level this indeed is a problem against the top teams, cause even though the offence is stronger than Leverkusen's last year, Bayer's defence is better (if all are healthy) - they just got more goals against due to the offence system, something that Bayern will face this year, too. Also a problem for Kahn btw, he'll have less spectacular saves this year.
I think Leverkusen will find its form again but I don't think they'll contend for the championship. FC Schalke is also pretty strong but they won't be consistent enough to go the distance. Right now the two teams I see able to challenge Baern are BVB and Werder Bremen. Micoud seems to have sparked his team to play some great football but I'm not sure if they have the depth to carry this through the season. BVB has the talent and they do win ugly but they are more capable of remaining consistent through the season. Now the problem is who can keep pace with a Bayern team if they drop out of the CL? My predictions: 1) Bayern Muenchen 2) BVB 3) Werder Bremen 4) Schalke 04 5) FC Shalke 6) Hertha Berlin By the way, who will buy Klose now that 1FCK is broke? I think Bayer Leverkusen.