bundesliga matchday 24...
Bayern won, which is awesome, and Lukas scored again, which is even more awesome. I'm so glad that Hitzfeld knows how to handle him and that things are finally getting better. Lukas is young, you have to let him start to give him a chance to improve. He can't improve on the bench, and he's not one of those experienced players who don't really mind spending one match on the bench because they don't lose anything by it.
I'm glad that Martín Demichelis played, too, even though he didn't really get a chance to prove his quality. I think that this was mostly because he wasn't introduced in the right moment. He's a defensive midfielder, that's true, so it's understandable to sub Owen Hargreaves with him, but whereas Hargreaves always pushed forward and tried to build up attacks from the defensive midfield, Demichelis is more of a defence player. He pays attention that nothing goes wrong in the back, but he's not really born to advance. I would have understood if Hitzfeld had introduced him later, to secure the victory, especially since Hargreaves didn't play too badly. (Also, that yellow card was MOST unnecessary, Micho. I think I need to spank you.)
It was a good idea not to let Schweinsteiger start this time, though. Görlitz and Salihamidzic played really well together, their passes arrived and they didn't get lost in too much dribbling. Also, Görlitz has a hammer shot! O_O At the moment, he's a good alternative to Schweinsteiger, who (in my opinion) really has to try and find his former strength.
But Augsburg lost against Greuther Fürth, which is bad. True, Fürth needed the points more than Augsburg did, but they're so close to each other in the league and Augsburg played really well during the first half!
Also, there was the problem of quite some matchdays - teams you support play against each other. This time, Hamburg played against Schalke and Stuttgart played against Leverkusen. You might have noticed that I have a soft spot for Leverkusen ever since their matches in the UEFA Cup. I love Stuttgart, too, because they have a good team, play wonderful football and always stay modest in interviews. They don't bash other teams, they focus on themselves and take their current position in the league with a healthy sense of reality and humour. I'm also rooting for Hamburg, because since they signed up Frank Rost, the team has constantly grown together. Frank has changed the atmosphere within the squad, has helped a few players (like Sanogo and Atouba) to focus on what they can do for their club instead of moping about the past and has used his leader qualities to form a team out of the patchwork group that Barbarez and van Buyten left behind. And I'm rooting for Schalke, too, because they had a difficult start into this season and many problems to deal with but eventually pulled themselves together, played well and successfully and have a great goalkeeper to watch their backs as well as a good atmosphere within the team. I don't hold it against them that they got rid of Frank Rost, because Rost and Schalke don't really fit together and the transfer helped both Schalke and the HSV.
Now that the matches are over, I'm happy for Leverkusen and Hamburg, but Stuttgart needed the points very very badly - especially since Bremen won - and Schalke's head start is melting slowly.
I suppose on matchdays like this, you can't be exclusively happy.
Dortmund is playing Cottbus today. Please, bumblebees, put your backs into it! You have to win this!
I'm glad that Martín Demichelis played, too, even though he didn't really get a chance to prove his quality. I think that this was mostly because he wasn't introduced in the right moment. He's a defensive midfielder, that's true, so it's understandable to sub Owen Hargreaves with him, but whereas Hargreaves always pushed forward and tried to build up attacks from the defensive midfield, Demichelis is more of a defence player. He pays attention that nothing goes wrong in the back, but he's not really born to advance. I would have understood if Hitzfeld had introduced him later, to secure the victory, especially since Hargreaves didn't play too badly. (Also, that yellow card was MOST unnecessary, Micho. I think I need to spank you.)
It was a good idea not to let Schweinsteiger start this time, though. Görlitz and Salihamidzic played really well together, their passes arrived and they didn't get lost in too much dribbling. Also, Görlitz has a hammer shot! O_O At the moment, he's a good alternative to Schweinsteiger, who (in my opinion) really has to try and find his former strength.
But Augsburg lost against Greuther Fürth, which is bad. True, Fürth needed the points more than Augsburg did, but they're so close to each other in the league and Augsburg played really well during the first half!
Also, there was the problem of quite some matchdays - teams you support play against each other. This time, Hamburg played against Schalke and Stuttgart played against Leverkusen. You might have noticed that I have a soft spot for Leverkusen ever since their matches in the UEFA Cup. I love Stuttgart, too, because they have a good team, play wonderful football and always stay modest in interviews. They don't bash other teams, they focus on themselves and take their current position in the league with a healthy sense of reality and humour. I'm also rooting for Hamburg, because since they signed up Frank Rost, the team has constantly grown together. Frank has changed the atmosphere within the squad, has helped a few players (like Sanogo and Atouba) to focus on what they can do for their club instead of moping about the past and has used his leader qualities to form a team out of the patchwork group that Barbarez and van Buyten left behind. And I'm rooting for Schalke, too, because they had a difficult start into this season and many problems to deal with but eventually pulled themselves together, played well and successfully and have a great goalkeeper to watch their backs as well as a good atmosphere within the team. I don't hold it against them that they got rid of Frank Rost, because Rost and Schalke don't really fit together and the transfer helped both Schalke and the HSV.
Now that the matches are over, I'm happy for Leverkusen and Hamburg, but Stuttgart needed the points very very badly - especially since Bremen won - and Schalke's head start is melting slowly.
I suppose on matchdays like this, you can't be exclusively happy.
Dortmund is playing Cottbus today. Please, bumblebees, put your backs into it! You have to win this!