RSS
ATOM
advertisement
Teutonic Tuesday: Gross Interpretations Propel Stuttgart Ahead of Champions League Showdown
Read on for more on Stuttgart, Sami Khedira, Felix Magath, and the title race…
| Bet: | Returns: | Schalke £16.00 | Draw £36.00 | Wolfsburg £50.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Schalke £15.70 | Draw £38.00 | Wolfsburg £60.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Schalke £16.15 | Draw £37.50 | Wolfsburg £50.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Schalke £17.00 | Draw £36.00 | Wolfsburg £50.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Schalke £16.40 | Draw £37.00 | Wolfsburg £45.50 |
|
Feb 9, 2010 7:00:00 AM
By Clark Whitney
Last week saw Arjen Robben get into a tight situation with the DFB, Hoffenheim and Bremen end their slides down the table, and Stuttgart rise to within a point of the top half of the league table.
First on the agenda, I’d like to congratulate Stuttgart for climbing into 10th place. It was downright depressing watching them in the Champions League while they were fighting relegation domestically, but Christian Gross seems to have righted the sails since his takeover as head coach.
Many of you will recall that Markus Babbel had similar success in his first term at Stuttgart (like Gross’, Babbel’s team went undefeated with four wins in their first five matches), but we all know how that ended. It seems that Stuttgart have developed a recurring fall curse, perhaps placed by Tinga when he went through his witch doctor hairstyle phase.
At any rate, Stuttgart are, as usual, climbing ever upward, and while they won’t Stuttgart their way to the title (yes, Stuttgart’s second-half performance has in recent years become so regular that it is now a verb), a top-five spot is eight points away.
A week ago, I discussed whether Bastian Schweinsteiger would be a good replacement for oft-injured midfield anchor Simon Rolfes in Jogi Loew’s Germany squad. After watching Stuttgart play this weekend, I’ve got another potential candidate: Sami Khedira. The man who last summer captained Germany to the U-21 European Championship may have missed much of the first half of the season, but his quality since Christian Gross’ takeover as Stuttgart coach has been undeniable. Khedira offers a strong physical presence in the centre of the park, and his work rate is second to none. A true box-to-box midfielder, his playmaking vision is also remarkable, as exemplified by the two assists he provided this weekend. All this prompts the next point of discussion:
Point of Discussion: If Simon Rolfes cannot recover his form before the World Cup, should Sami Khedira be his replacement? At the moment, only Schweinsteiger and out-of-form Thomas Hitzlsperger are suitable backups in defensive midfield.
A week ago, Shady Nehme from Lebanon asked how I would explain the success of Felix Magath. To me, the answer is simple: fitness, discipline, and efficiency. Magath, who was coach, sporting director, and CEO of Wolfsburg, is a natural leader who is as much competent as he is a control-freak. The son of a United States soldier stationed in Germany, there is no doubt wherefrom Magath derives his militaristic approach to coaching.
Looking upon his Wolfsburg and Schalke teams, Magath’s fitness-first approach has produced results for two reasons. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that Magath’s players never tire. During their title-winning season, Wolfsburg (and Schalke this year) scored more goals in the final quarter hour than any other time because they remained focused and wore down opposing defenses with relentless counterattacks. This season, a largely unchanged Wolfsburg has failed to repeat last year’s success, and much of the blame can be placed upon Armin Veh’s lesser commitment to making his team the best it could have been before he was sacked. His players were less fit than a year ago, and the results are conclusive: Grafite, whose game requires use of his tremendous physical potential, scored 28 goals last season, but has only managed six strikes this year.
The other benefit of Magath’s fitness-oriented strategy is that it takes advantage of the Bundesliga’s foul-lenient refereeing culture. As compared to their counterparts from other top European leagues, Bundesliga referees tend to be more hesitant to call penalties and issue red cards. Accordingly, teams like Magath’s Schalke are given more liberty to use their physical nature to throw their more technically skilled opponents off their rhythm. As any Barcelona fan can attest, possession-based attacking football requires a metronomic pulse, and that can be unattainable against close-marking, hard-tackling defense.
Ironically (depending on your opinion of how football ought to be refereed), it was a bit of refereeing incompetence that saw Schalke drop two points against Freiburg this weekend. Schalke were, as usual, solid at the back and gelatinous up front, but were denied a goal on 47 minutes when Marcelo Bordon’s header bounced off the crossbar and into the goal. It was another Christian Tiffert-type shot, but actually went over the goal line and was still not called a goal. After the match, Magath argued for video replay technology to be used, but was probably more dismayed by his team’s otherwise complete inability to break one of the league’s worst defenses.
Schalke’s draw was Bayern’s gain thanks to the reds’ 3-1 win in Wolfsburg. The score might suggest another easy-going affair for Bayern, but in truth, it was anything but. After a classy team goal on two minutes, Bayern looked sluggish, and a few moments of brilliance saw Wolfsburg waste a number of good goal-scoring opportunities. Edin Dzeko had trouble finding space, but his clever flick put Grafite through on goal and, if not for his terrible finishing, the Brazilian could have equalized and scored several more over the course of the match. Instead, he took a penalty worthy of Peter Devine (or Patrice Evra, if you prefer), which probably should have been re-taken considering Butt was well off his line when the shot was taken. The referee probably noticed Butt’s location but did Grafite the service of avoiding another potentially embarrassing moment.
In the end, last year’s top scorer would get a chance to redeem himself. Daniel van Buyten, whose poor play led to the penalty, botched another clearance at the death to set up Grafite’s consolation goal, a tap-in. After the game, Bayern coach Louis van Gaal called his team “arrogant,” but later corrected himself. Either way, he was not at all pleased with his team’s commitment at either end after going 2-0 ahead, a testament to both his team’s current form and his own high standards.
Van Gaal’s words also underlined his ambition, which brings up another pressing issue:
Point of discussion: How well must Bayern do in the Champions League for Franck Ribery to sign a contract extension? Ribery has made it clear that he is fond of Munich, but would only sign an extension if Bayern were true contenders for the Champions League trophy. Must Bayern make it to the semifinals to convince Ribery to stay? Or is a finals berth necessary?
Over in Bochum, Leverkusen fell victims to the same team that two weeks before held Schalke to a draw. It was a gritty match in which 44 fouls were committed, and although Leverkusen controlled possession and created many goal-scoring opportunities, Bochum goalkeeper Philipp Heerwagen was on hand to save all but one shot taken toward his goal.
During that match, Eren Derdiyok, whose ankle was badly turned from a poor challenge, was forced to limp off the pitch. He scored the go-ahead goal after being initially hurt, but in the second half was unable to play. How serious the injury is has yet to be determined, but if Derdiyok is set to spend some time on the sideline, Juup Heynckes is now left with some difficult decisions to make. Patrick Helmes would be the obvious replacement but is lacking match practice, and a 4-2-3-1 formation with Renato Augusto in the lineup might be too conservative. Either way, Leverkusen have a reputation to break, and their season lies in the balance over the next few weeks.
FC Hollywood News of the Week:
Now that Bayern are successful once more, the drama continues. Here are this week’s highlights:
1) Christian Lell (remember when Ottmar Hitzfeld tipped him to become Germany's next great fullback?) has won custody of his dog from his ex-girlfriend. You can’t make up these things.
2) Arjen Robben may be in trouble with the DFB for wearing grey long johns. No, the German FA is not waging a campaign against long underwear. Instead, their rationale is that the color of the tights did not match the rest of Robben’s kit. Oddly enough, the league has no problem with Franck Ribery’s gold, yellow, or pink boots.
On a side note, the word Liebestoeter (translation: “passion killers”) is commonly used to refer to Robben-style tights. You really can’t make up these things.
Goal of the Week: Timo Gebhart, Nuernberg 0-1 Stuttgart
I wasn’t kidding when I said Khedira’s assists were brilliant. Watch the highlight here. The obvious pass would have been to Pavel Pogrebnyak, who was well covered and probably would have had little chance of scoring. The exceptional pass was Khedira’s low cross to Gebhart. The ball was threaded through a crowd of defenders, and almost came to a full stop before Gebhart sent a first-time rocket into the net. The goal required instinctual playmaking from Khedira, power from Gebhart, and precision from both as they produced a real gem.
Match of the Week: Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
Like Koeln/Hamburg, this match involved a late comeback, but was much more cleanly played, and had continuity. Benjamin Koehler put Frankfurt ahead after just eight minutes, but Mats Hummels equalized shortly thereafter with his third goal in four matches. After the break, Dortmund’s Mohamed Zidan capitalized on a defensive error, setting up Lucas Barrios for the go-ahead goal. Luck would favor Frankfurt, however, as Sebastian Jung’s long-range shot took a nasty deflection into Marc Ziegler’s net. The deadline was broken a quarter hour from full time as Alexander Meier put Frankfurt ahead for good, a lead that would see the visitors move to seventh place in the league.
First on the agenda, I’d like to congratulate Stuttgart for climbing into 10th place. It was downright depressing watching them in the Champions League while they were fighting relegation domestically, but Christian Gross seems to have righted the sails since his takeover as head coach.
Many of you will recall that Markus Babbel had similar success in his first term at Stuttgart (like Gross’, Babbel’s team went undefeated with four wins in their first five matches), but we all know how that ended. It seems that Stuttgart have developed a recurring fall curse, perhaps placed by Tinga when he went through his witch doctor hairstyle phase.
At any rate, Stuttgart are, as usual, climbing ever upward, and while they won’t Stuttgart their way to the title (yes, Stuttgart’s second-half performance has in recent years become so regular that it is now a verb), a top-five spot is eight points away.
A week ago, I discussed whether Bastian Schweinsteiger would be a good replacement for oft-injured midfield anchor Simon Rolfes in Jogi Loew’s Germany squad. After watching Stuttgart play this weekend, I’ve got another potential candidate: Sami Khedira. The man who last summer captained Germany to the U-21 European Championship may have missed much of the first half of the season, but his quality since Christian Gross’ takeover as Stuttgart coach has been undeniable. Khedira offers a strong physical presence in the centre of the park, and his work rate is second to none. A true box-to-box midfielder, his playmaking vision is also remarkable, as exemplified by the two assists he provided this weekend. All this prompts the next point of discussion:
Point of Discussion: If Simon Rolfes cannot recover his form before the World Cup, should Sami Khedira be his replacement? At the moment, only Schweinsteiger and out-of-form Thomas Hitzlsperger are suitable backups in defensive midfield.
A week ago, Shady Nehme from Lebanon asked how I would explain the success of Felix Magath. To me, the answer is simple: fitness, discipline, and efficiency. Magath, who was coach, sporting director, and CEO of Wolfsburg, is a natural leader who is as much competent as he is a control-freak. The son of a United States soldier stationed in Germany, there is no doubt wherefrom Magath derives his militaristic approach to coaching.
Looking upon his Wolfsburg and Schalke teams, Magath’s fitness-first approach has produced results for two reasons. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that Magath’s players never tire. During their title-winning season, Wolfsburg (and Schalke this year) scored more goals in the final quarter hour than any other time because they remained focused and wore down opposing defenses with relentless counterattacks. This season, a largely unchanged Wolfsburg has failed to repeat last year’s success, and much of the blame can be placed upon Armin Veh’s lesser commitment to making his team the best it could have been before he was sacked. His players were less fit than a year ago, and the results are conclusive: Grafite, whose game requires use of his tremendous physical potential, scored 28 goals last season, but has only managed six strikes this year.
The other benefit of Magath’s fitness-oriented strategy is that it takes advantage of the Bundesliga’s foul-lenient refereeing culture. As compared to their counterparts from other top European leagues, Bundesliga referees tend to be more hesitant to call penalties and issue red cards. Accordingly, teams like Magath’s Schalke are given more liberty to use their physical nature to throw their more technically skilled opponents off their rhythm. As any Barcelona fan can attest, possession-based attacking football requires a metronomic pulse, and that can be unattainable against close-marking, hard-tackling defense.
Ironically (depending on your opinion of how football ought to be refereed), it was a bit of refereeing incompetence that saw Schalke drop two points against Freiburg this weekend. Schalke were, as usual, solid at the back and gelatinous up front, but were denied a goal on 47 minutes when Marcelo Bordon’s header bounced off the crossbar and into the goal. It was another Christian Tiffert-type shot, but actually went over the goal line and was still not called a goal. After the match, Magath argued for video replay technology to be used, but was probably more dismayed by his team’s otherwise complete inability to break one of the league’s worst defenses.
Schalke’s draw was Bayern’s gain thanks to the reds’ 3-1 win in Wolfsburg. The score might suggest another easy-going affair for Bayern, but in truth, it was anything but. After a classy team goal on two minutes, Bayern looked sluggish, and a few moments of brilliance saw Wolfsburg waste a number of good goal-scoring opportunities. Edin Dzeko had trouble finding space, but his clever flick put Grafite through on goal and, if not for his terrible finishing, the Brazilian could have equalized and scored several more over the course of the match. Instead, he took a penalty worthy of Peter Devine (or Patrice Evra, if you prefer), which probably should have been re-taken considering Butt was well off his line when the shot was taken. The referee probably noticed Butt’s location but did Grafite the service of avoiding another potentially embarrassing moment.
In the end, last year’s top scorer would get a chance to redeem himself. Daniel van Buyten, whose poor play led to the penalty, botched another clearance at the death to set up Grafite’s consolation goal, a tap-in. After the game, Bayern coach Louis van Gaal called his team “arrogant,” but later corrected himself. Either way, he was not at all pleased with his team’s commitment at either end after going 2-0 ahead, a testament to both his team’s current form and his own high standards.
Van Gaal’s words also underlined his ambition, which brings up another pressing issue:
Point of discussion: How well must Bayern do in the Champions League for Franck Ribery to sign a contract extension? Ribery has made it clear that he is fond of Munich, but would only sign an extension if Bayern were true contenders for the Champions League trophy. Must Bayern make it to the semifinals to convince Ribery to stay? Or is a finals berth necessary?
Over in Bochum, Leverkusen fell victims to the same team that two weeks before held Schalke to a draw. It was a gritty match in which 44 fouls were committed, and although Leverkusen controlled possession and created many goal-scoring opportunities, Bochum goalkeeper Philipp Heerwagen was on hand to save all but one shot taken toward his goal.
During that match, Eren Derdiyok, whose ankle was badly turned from a poor challenge, was forced to limp off the pitch. He scored the go-ahead goal after being initially hurt, but in the second half was unable to play. How serious the injury is has yet to be determined, but if Derdiyok is set to spend some time on the sideline, Juup Heynckes is now left with some difficult decisions to make. Patrick Helmes would be the obvious replacement but is lacking match practice, and a 4-2-3-1 formation with Renato Augusto in the lineup might be too conservative. Either way, Leverkusen have a reputation to break, and their season lies in the balance over the next few weeks.
FC Hollywood News of the Week:
Now that Bayern are successful once more, the drama continues. Here are this week’s highlights:
1) Christian Lell (remember when Ottmar Hitzfeld tipped him to become Germany's next great fullback?) has won custody of his dog from his ex-girlfriend. You can’t make up these things.
2) Arjen Robben may be in trouble with the DFB for wearing grey long johns. No, the German FA is not waging a campaign against long underwear. Instead, their rationale is that the color of the tights did not match the rest of Robben’s kit. Oddly enough, the league has no problem with Franck Ribery’s gold, yellow, or pink boots.
On a side note, the word Liebestoeter (translation: “passion killers”) is commonly used to refer to Robben-style tights. You really can’t make up these things.
Goal of the Week: Timo Gebhart, Nuernberg 0-1 Stuttgart
I wasn’t kidding when I said Khedira’s assists were brilliant. Watch the highlight here. The obvious pass would have been to Pavel Pogrebnyak, who was well covered and probably would have had little chance of scoring. The exceptional pass was Khedira’s low cross to Gebhart. The ball was threaded through a crowd of defenders, and almost came to a full stop before Gebhart sent a first-time rocket into the net. The goal required instinctual playmaking from Khedira, power from Gebhart, and precision from both as they produced a real gem.
Match of the Week: Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
Like Koeln/Hamburg, this match involved a late comeback, but was much more cleanly played, and had continuity. Benjamin Koehler put Frankfurt ahead after just eight minutes, but Mats Hummels equalized shortly thereafter with his third goal in four matches. After the break, Dortmund’s Mohamed Zidan capitalized on a defensive error, setting up Lucas Barrios for the go-ahead goal. Luck would favor Frankfurt, however, as Sebastian Jung’s long-range shot took a nasty deflection into Marc Ziegler’s net. The deadline was broken a quarter hour from full time as Alexander Meier put Frankfurt ahead for good, a lead that would see the visitors move to seventh place in the league.
| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £100 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power for a free bet up to £50 |
|
Thank you for your comment!
Please enter your name
Please enter your location
Please share your comment!
14 Comments
Advertisement
Live!
Champions League LIVE!
Join Goal.com for all the Champions League action as we bring you the latest team news, press conferences and analysis. Contact us on Twitter @goal_intl with any questions...
Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
2/15/12
And with that, we're going to call it a night, folks.
We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!
Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.
From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!
We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!
Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.
From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!
2/15/12
All this focus on the Arsenal and Milan game should not take away from another cracker earlier tonight between Zenit and Benfica. The Russians came from a goal down to lead 2-1 in the closing minutes before Oscar Cardozo levelled things for Benfica, but it wasn't over there as Roman Shirokov won the game for Zenit in the 88th minute.
Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
2/15/12
Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny bemoaned his side's luck tonight but refused to give up. Here's some of his quotes:
"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.
"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.
"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."
Full story HERE
"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.
"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.
"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."
Full story HERE
2/15/12
Another Milan player who was willing to share his thoughts after the match was Mark van Bommel, who has urged caution ahead of the second leg in London.
“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.
(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)
“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.
“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.
Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.
“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.
“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”
“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.
(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)
“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.
“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.
Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.
“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.
“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”
2/15/12
Next up is the Milan maestro Clarence Seedorf. He only managed 12 minutes on the pitch, but watching from the sidelines he was delighted at how his team mates had dominated the game.
"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."
"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."
Inside Goal.Com
-
Champions League Player Ratings: AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal
Goals from Kevin-Prince Boateng, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic handed the Italian side a victory that all but seals their progression to the next round of the competition
-
Champions League Player Ratings: Zenit 3-2 Benfica
Goal.com casts a studious eye over the performers at the Petrovsky Stadium as a late goal settles a thriller in the Russian's favour and sets up enthralling second leg
-
Serie A Player Ratings: Parma 0-0 Juventus
The Bianconeri missed a great chance to go back to the top of Serie A, but they caused the home side plenty of problems thanks mainly to Andrea Pirlo
-
Messi breaks Champions League knockout record
The Argentine, still only 24, is level with current record holders Raul and Andriy Shevchenko, but can surpass the two European greats with a solitary strike at Leverkusen tonight
-
Should 'Vanishing Spray' be introduced globally?
The spray, which has been designed to stop defensive walls from encroaching closer than 10 yards to the ball at free-kicks, is set to be discussed at next month's IFAB meeting
Advertisement
Advertisement
