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Teutonic Tuesday: Hertha Follies, Leverkusen Jollies And Bruggink Volleys

Clark Whitney comments on the weekend that was in German football...

Oct 6, 2009 10:00:00 AM

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Jupp Heynckes, Bayer Leverkusen (firo)

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I’ll start this week’s column with a touch of humour. For your amusement, watch the Hertha Follies. The sad thing is, Hamburg didn’t have to do much of anything to take a 3-1 win.

While Hamburg cruised to victory without trying, Leverkusen blew out Nuernberg to take first place on goal difference. Any hopes Nuernberg had of taking something from the match were reduced to nothing after just two minutes, when Toni Kroos curled a 25-yard free kick into the corner of the net. After that, Nuernberg could only chase the game, something that has proven nearly impossible for Bayer’s opponents. As Nuernberg were forced to advance in search of an equaliser, Leverkusen found space and tore through their opponents’ defence. Even without Renato Augusto in the line-up, the attacking midfield combination of Kroos, Arturo Vidal and Tranquillo Barnetta had more than enough quality to control the game.

Since taking over for Bruno Labbadia in the summer, coach Juup Heynckes has found the formula for success among Leverkusen’s young and extremely talented squad. Like Josip Simunic at Hoffenheim, newly signed veteran Sami Hyypia is proving to be the leader in defence that has been missing since Lucio’s departure in 2004. Anchoring the midfield, Simon Rolfes has vastly improved in recent seasons and even scores goals nowadays. All the team’s defensive quality allows for the implementation of a versatile three-man tandem of attacking midfielders. Whereas 4-3-1-2 uses a platform of three midfielders, upon which the trequartista dances about pulling rabbits out of hats, Leverkusen’s 4-1-3-2 features a rotation of attacking midfielders that can pop up anywhere and the one-man platform (Rolfes) is enough to support the attack…or maybe it’s the other way around. Either way, Rene Adler has never been happier in goal. In Saturday’s match, Adler could have gone home at half time and Nuernberg still wouldn’t have scored.

Now for the obligatory Bayern comment. Saturday marked Lukas Podolski’s return to the Allianz Arena. In that match he did, well, nothing but defend. In my match preview, I wrote a rather detailed prediction:

Bayern will win 66 per cent or more of possession throughout the match. Koeln will start out defensively, but will counter-attack and take the lead within 35 minutes. Bayern will create plenty of opportunities in the first half but fail to score. In the second half, Mario Gomez will be subbed in, miss half a dozen opportunities, and finally score with a near-impossible effort. Bayern fans will pledge their undying love to Miroslav Klose and refer to Gomez as "the €30m flop".

As it turns out, I overestimated the offensive capabilities of both teams. The visitors played ten men behind the ball in the first half, and later on scrapped the outlet striker in favour of stacking the Bayern penalty area with an 11-man defence. Bayern sent cross after cross into the box and never found anyone, often including the Koeln defenders. As a trained chemist, the Bayern offence reminded me of Ernest Rutherford’s gold foil experiment: the nucleus of Bayern’s attack was tiny and balls generally passed through, undeterred. Clearly, Louis van Gaal’s system of one centre-forward fails against ultra-defensive teams. The width that 4-3-3 provides is great in most situations, but unneeded in a match like Koeln/Bayern. For those who missed the match: think Milan/Rangers in a European final this year. Yeah, I know it’s hard to picture, but use your imagination.

In non-Bundesliga news, let’s look ahead to the upcoming internationals. Although most of the media’s focus has been on the possibility of Portugal (likely), France (semi-likely) and Argentina (unlikely) failing to qualify for the World Cup, Germany have been left out as possible failures. I don’t think it’s particularly likely, but Germany are just one slip-up from being forced to win a play-off. Saturday’s match in Russia could seal Group Four for Germany, but a draw will most likely suffice. With that in mind, I’ll venture a guess that Germany’s midfield will line up with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Simon Rolfes, Michael Ballack and perhaps Mesut Ozil in midfield. The Russians like to attack out wide, so I foresee Schweinsteiger and Ozil sticking to the flanks. If not a flat four, the German midfield might consist of a five-man set-up, with Ozil as playmaker. Either way, Jogi Loew’s offence will be rather lacking in attackers. Nonetheless, it should be a great match and will be especially so if the deadlock is broken early on.

Bundesliga/Serie A Coefficient Watch, Round 2:

Not a good week at all for Bundesliga teams. I thought this would be the year that the Bundesliga would surpass Serie A, but I am now having doubts. Stuttgart are playing like they did in 2007 when they finished behind Rangers, Lyon and Barcelona in the group stage. This week’s humiliation: a 1-1 draw with Romanian outfit Unirea Urziceni. You just can't make up these things.

Hertha’s performance in the Europa League was equally shambolic, though slightly less depressing than the 1-1 home draw against Latvian side Ventspils that came a few weeks ago. This time, Sporting CP took a 1-0 win against a completely uninspired Hertha side.

Fortunately for the Germans, there were a few teams that did well in representing the Bundesliga. Bayern, Wolfsburg, Bremen and Hamburg all played great football in their European matches. Unfortunately, two of those teams failed to earn positive results. Bayern dominated Juventus in a pivotal match, but failed to score and drew 0-0. In Manchester, Wolfsburg took a 1-0 lead, but later lost 2-1 in a match that the German champions could have won.

There is a silver lining: AC Milan lost to Zurich…At the San Siro. Thank heavens for small mercies, especially hilarious ones.

Click here for the most recent UEFA coefficients. After Round 2, the Bundesliga leads by 0.298.

Goal of the Week:* Arnold Bruggink, Hannover 2-0 Freiburg

A great volley that went straight over the goalkeeper’s head and barely fell into the goal. Check it out here (skip to 1:50). Definitely a memorable strike for the Dutch midfielder.

*I was going to entitle this section “goal of the century” but then Franck Ribery missed his chance at glory.

Match of the Week: Hannover 5-2 Freiburg

Certainly the most entertaining match of the week. The final score may look like it was a bit of a blow-out, but Hannover waited until late to score their last two. It could have been a completely different game, but the post denied Mohammadou Idrissou early before Hannover struck twice with goals from Sofian Chahed and Bruggink. Freiburg battled back and scored twice, but were denied again by the woodwork, as well as Hannover goalkeeper Florian Fromlowitz.

Clark Whitney, Goal.com

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