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Teutonic Tuesday: Exit Kaka, Enter Cacau!
Oft-neglected Stuttgart striker Cacau was in the form of his life this weekend. Read on for a discussion of his performance, a round-up of all the other big games, and a review of the Bundesliga/Serie A battle for third place among European leagues.
| Bet: | Returns: | Hannover 96 £23.50 | Draw £31.00 | VfB Stuttgart £28.50 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Hannover 96 £23.00 | Draw £33.00 | VfB Stuttgart £31.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Hannover 96 £22.50 | Draw £33.00 | VfB Stuttgart £30.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Hannover 96 £25.00 | Draw £33.00 | VfB Stuttgart £28.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Hannover 96 £23.00 | Draw £32.00 | VfB Stuttgart £28.00 |
|
Feb 23, 2010 7:00:00 AM
By Clark Whitney
Only a crazy gambler would have predicted this weekend’s Bundesliga results: among the top five, only Dortmund took three points, and Cacau scored four. Yet, you know that somewhere, someone made a lot of money this weekend. To whoever you are: congratulations! If you’re ever in Boston, buy me a pint.
The first item to be discussed has to be the resurgence of Claudemir Jeronimo Barretto da Silva, also known as Cacau, and to the Koeln faithful, The Agent of Death. I’ll be honest: when Jogi Loew called him up to the German national team, I thought it was merely because: 1) immediately following the 2008-09 season, none of the typical German internationals were interested in touring Asia; and 2) having ruled out Kevin Kuranyi, Loew really wanted a Brazilian in his squad. Really, Cacau has never come close to averaging a goal every other game, and while he is industrious, at 1.79m, he is no Emile Heskey.
Oh, but how one game can change things. Finally given a chance following Ciprian Marica’s suspension, Cacau played like a man possessed on Saturday. Of his four goals (view here), only one was the result of a stroke of luck, and two were absolutely first-class finishes. For those watching the highlights reel: take note of his second strike. After forgetting to bring the ball with him, Cacau backtracks, wins back possession, tiptoes forward, and curls in an unstoppable shot from 21 meters.
Meanwhile, Lukas Podolski, who had been watching his international career slowly die all year long, saw the deterioration rate spike and decided to take matters into his own hands. The man who has repaid his hometown club’s irrational faith in him with nothing but laziness and a solitary goal suddenly looked like playing football. After Podolski flashed a long-ranged effort just wide (the story of his career, really), Jens Lehmann saved his former international colleague’s well-struck header.
Ultimately, the day belonged to Cacau, who will undoubtedly start for Stuttgart against Barcelona in midweek. Marica must be kicking himself for picking up a fifth yellow card in round 22.
Point of Discussion: I’m not going to get carried away here; one match, no matter how good it is, will never be enough to convince me that a player has anything more than potential. However, given the state of German strikers (Podolski and Miroslav Klose can’t score at club level, Mario Gomez can’t score at international level, Stefan Kiessling is out of form and unproven in a Germany shirt, Patrick Helmes barely plays at any level and Kevin Kuranyi is a pariah), what role can we expect Cacau to play at the World Cup?
Over in the Ruhr valley, Dortmund hammered Hannover, who have lost eight consecutive matches, the last two of which have been by a combined 9-2. Dortmund were good, but their first three goals came directly from or immediately following set pieces, and one would have to first lambaste the Hannover defense before praising Dortmund.
Point of Discussion: Will Hannover save face by taking more points (more than 6) in the second half of the season than Hertha did during the fall campaign?
Moving on to the match I thought would be the main discussion in this week’s edition, Bremen and Leverkusen played to a 2-2 draw. As it turns out, Sami Hyypia’s absence was no problem for Jupp Heynckes’ side, although Rene Adler’s terrible spill of Naldo’s free kick might give Loew nightmares until after the World Cup.
Before Adler pulled a Warren Moon, and gifted a goal to Claudio Pizarro, Eren Derdiyok blasted in a free kick that somehow cleared the Bremen wall and fell into the lower-left corner of Tim Wiese’s goal. While Leverkusen were arguably the better team in a fast-paced first half, neither side was really able to make penetrative moves, and real chances on goal were a rarity.
Realizing just how difficult it would be to break into the penalty area, Toni Kroos took a lesson from Derdiyok and opted to score the winner all by himself with an effort from distance. All it took was one shot, and one goal was scored, a perfectly placed effort from 28 meters. You have to wonder whether Kroos, if more selfish, could score one such goal every game.
Yet, for all their class, Leverkusen would not manage to take three points from Bremen. In injury time, Per Mertesacker headed in the equalizer, and the hosts stole a last-gasp point. It wasn’t pretty, but the way in which Werder came back must have pleased Thomas Schaaf, who recently had complained that his side needed to start grinding out difficult results rather than relying on pretty football to see them through every contest. Over the final 20 minutes, Werder dominated possession but started to rely on long balls and crosses rather than clever one-touch passing and dribbling. The tactic was meant to exploit the hosts’ physical advantages, and worked to perfection: Bremen’s method of taking a point on Sunday was distinctly the stuff of Schalke. In response, Schaaf simply said: “I was totally happy.”
Speaking of Schalke, even the Gelsenkirchen club could not pull a Schalke against Wolfsburg. While Zvjezdan Misimovic hit the bar and Edin Dzeko’s header was saved off the woodwork, a Kevin Kuranyi goal was the only strike of the match as it entered the final 20 minutes. Then, Grafite took over. After botching at least one clear chance earlier, the last year’s scoring champion beat Manuel Neuer to nod in a cross, and completed his brace with a powerful first-time strike as Schalke missed out on their opportunity to close the gap with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich…
…Which brings me to the next topic: Bayern’s 1-1 draw with Nuernberg. Reflecting on that match, the most energetic player in Bayern’s team was Arjen Robben, and he had to be substituted at halftime due to exhaustion. Admittedly, Thomas Mueller looked pretty good as well and scored a great goal, but the engine room (Mark van Bommel and Bastian Schweinsteiger) was out of gas, and the creative contingent (Robben, Mueller, and Franck Ribery) had just one rabbit to pull out of the hat. Even Daniel van Buyten, who was injured, was unable to bail out his team. Nuernberg had one chance, scored once, and the game ended in a draw. While Louis van Gaal said the match was “One of [Bayern’s] best performances,” I have to question whether he was referring actually to that of his old club, Ajax, who were 4-0 winners against Vitesse Arnhem.
Truly, Bayern’s performance was reminiscent of the Klinsmann era; lots of possession, but neither urgency nor direction in attack, punctuated by hapless defending. The result has brought to mind a very disturbing realization: Bayern are two injuries from reverting to last year’s standards. Fact: if Hans-Joerg Butt and Philipp Lahm are ever sidelined, the only replacements on hand are Michael Rensing (did you see him in the recent DFB Pokal match?) and either Christian Lell (last I checked, he was busy trying to win custody of his dog from his ex-girlfriend) or footballer-turned-rock star Andreas Goerlitz. Sure, this Bayern team has a better coach and several new and versatile players, but the fact remains that with only slight problems, Bayern can turn from a top-calibre side to the kind that struggles to beat relegation battlers. On the plus side, the Munich men will be pleased to have only two matches scheduled between now and March 6.
Point of Discussion: This summer, what are Bayern to do about their lack of depth and their surplus of underachieving bench players?
Bundesliga/Serie Coefficient Watch: Round 8
It’s all happening, and right on cue: once again the Bundesliga outperformed Serie A, increasing their 2009-10 coefficient advantage from +0.298 to +0.679. As usual, this week’s European matches were not without controversy.
To what could I possibly be alluding? Oh yes, the convenient slip-up of referee Tom Henning Ovrebo in allowance of Miroslav Klose’s late winner over Fiorentina.
In Italy, the verdict was unanimous: “We were robbed,” stated an unrestrained Riccardo Montolivo. “What theft!” exclaimed Gazzetta dello Sport.
In Boston’s West Fens, there was an altogether different reaction, one of satisfaction and mild amusement. I’ve got to say that, even though the legality of Klose’s position was debatable, he should have been called offside. Really, I feel somewhat bad for Fiorentina. But in terms of UEFA Coefficients, the Machiavellian side of me just considers Fiorentina’s bad luck to be sweet justice.
How could justice come from such injustice, you ask? All one needs to do is look back over the last 15 years and see how many offside goals Pippo Inzaghi scored in European play. Hindus rejoice: Karma strikes again!
But really, I have no hostility towards Inzaghi or Klose, for that matter. After all, they’re just trying to make their way in the world like everyone else. In the immortal words of Jay-Z, either love them or leave them alone.
As for referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, he might want to retire from refereeing soon, lest Fiorentina, Chelsea, and Latvia fans band together in protest. I don’t think he had any malice towards Fiorentina (and to be fair, he was just trusting the linesman’s call), and until video evidence is used to review calls, errors like his will remain a part of the game.
As mentioned in last week’s article, the Law of Large Numbers implies that teams that create chances will eventually benefit from either a legitimate or illegitimate goal. While Fiorentina were well organized, they had little intention to go forward and were forced to commit 27 fouls. They did not create chances, and accordingly, invited their own demise. Bayern played a much cleaner game (eight fouls committed), won 65% of possession, and controlled the game. Assuming they are not Scottish, the football gods should be pleased.
In other coefficient news, Wolfsburg were unlucky not to win in El Madrigal, but Villarreal escaped with a 2-2 draw. In that match, Grafite was both the hero and the villain; the powerful striker scored a brilliant equalizer and later won and converted a penalty, but he also missed a pair of sitters. Sascha Riether and Edin Dzeko were also responsible for epic misses, which cost the Bundesliga some valuable points.
The situation was different for Bremen, who following a disappointing 1-0 loss to Twente, are on the verge of an early exit from the Europa League. Rounding off the results, Hamburg were lucky to hold onto a 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven, and Hertha Berlin managed a 1-1 draw with Benfica.
While it could have been a better week for German teams, it was a pretty poor one for Serie A representatives: only Juventus won, with Milan, Fiorentina and Roma all suffering setbacks.
Check out the latest coefficients here.
Goal of the Week: Toni Kroos, Werder Bremen 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Video here
Simple, deadly. While some players try to pass the ball into the net, Kroos sometimes gets impatient and takes matters into his own hands, or rather, his own feet. Sunday was a perfect example. It wasn’t struck with incredible velocity, but Kroos’ shot was, as so often is the case, impeccably placed. If he strengthens his legs a bit more, he just might become the next free kick legend.
Match of the Week: Werder Bremen 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen
As previously mentioned, there wasn’t much penetration into either penalty area. However, this match stuck out because of the energy with which both teams played. It was really fast-paced, urgent football, which made for a fun-to-watch affair. Ultimately, Bremen’s grit was just enough to draw level with a Leverkusen side that easily was the classier side for most of the match.
The first item to be discussed has to be the resurgence of Claudemir Jeronimo Barretto da Silva, also known as Cacau, and to the Koeln faithful, The Agent of Death. I’ll be honest: when Jogi Loew called him up to the German national team, I thought it was merely because: 1) immediately following the 2008-09 season, none of the typical German internationals were interested in touring Asia; and 2) having ruled out Kevin Kuranyi, Loew really wanted a Brazilian in his squad. Really, Cacau has never come close to averaging a goal every other game, and while he is industrious, at 1.79m, he is no Emile Heskey.
Oh, but how one game can change things. Finally given a chance following Ciprian Marica’s suspension, Cacau played like a man possessed on Saturday. Of his four goals (view here), only one was the result of a stroke of luck, and two were absolutely first-class finishes. For those watching the highlights reel: take note of his second strike. After forgetting to bring the ball with him, Cacau backtracks, wins back possession, tiptoes forward, and curls in an unstoppable shot from 21 meters.
Meanwhile, Lukas Podolski, who had been watching his international career slowly die all year long, saw the deterioration rate spike and decided to take matters into his own hands. The man who has repaid his hometown club’s irrational faith in him with nothing but laziness and a solitary goal suddenly looked like playing football. After Podolski flashed a long-ranged effort just wide (the story of his career, really), Jens Lehmann saved his former international colleague’s well-struck header.
Ultimately, the day belonged to Cacau, who will undoubtedly start for Stuttgart against Barcelona in midweek. Marica must be kicking himself for picking up a fifth yellow card in round 22.
Point of Discussion: I’m not going to get carried away here; one match, no matter how good it is, will never be enough to convince me that a player has anything more than potential. However, given the state of German strikers (Podolski and Miroslav Klose can’t score at club level, Mario Gomez can’t score at international level, Stefan Kiessling is out of form and unproven in a Germany shirt, Patrick Helmes barely plays at any level and Kevin Kuranyi is a pariah), what role can we expect Cacau to play at the World Cup?
Over in the Ruhr valley, Dortmund hammered Hannover, who have lost eight consecutive matches, the last two of which have been by a combined 9-2. Dortmund were good, but their first three goals came directly from or immediately following set pieces, and one would have to first lambaste the Hannover defense before praising Dortmund.
Point of Discussion: Will Hannover save face by taking more points (more than 6) in the second half of the season than Hertha did during the fall campaign?
Moving on to the match I thought would be the main discussion in this week’s edition, Bremen and Leverkusen played to a 2-2 draw. As it turns out, Sami Hyypia’s absence was no problem for Jupp Heynckes’ side, although Rene Adler’s terrible spill of Naldo’s free kick might give Loew nightmares until after the World Cup.
Before Adler pulled a Warren Moon, and gifted a goal to Claudio Pizarro, Eren Derdiyok blasted in a free kick that somehow cleared the Bremen wall and fell into the lower-left corner of Tim Wiese’s goal. While Leverkusen were arguably the better team in a fast-paced first half, neither side was really able to make penetrative moves, and real chances on goal were a rarity.
Realizing just how difficult it would be to break into the penalty area, Toni Kroos took a lesson from Derdiyok and opted to score the winner all by himself with an effort from distance. All it took was one shot, and one goal was scored, a perfectly placed effort from 28 meters. You have to wonder whether Kroos, if more selfish, could score one such goal every game.
Yet, for all their class, Leverkusen would not manage to take three points from Bremen. In injury time, Per Mertesacker headed in the equalizer, and the hosts stole a last-gasp point. It wasn’t pretty, but the way in which Werder came back must have pleased Thomas Schaaf, who recently had complained that his side needed to start grinding out difficult results rather than relying on pretty football to see them through every contest. Over the final 20 minutes, Werder dominated possession but started to rely on long balls and crosses rather than clever one-touch passing and dribbling. The tactic was meant to exploit the hosts’ physical advantages, and worked to perfection: Bremen’s method of taking a point on Sunday was distinctly the stuff of Schalke. In response, Schaaf simply said: “I was totally happy.”
Speaking of Schalke, even the Gelsenkirchen club could not pull a Schalke against Wolfsburg. While Zvjezdan Misimovic hit the bar and Edin Dzeko’s header was saved off the woodwork, a Kevin Kuranyi goal was the only strike of the match as it entered the final 20 minutes. Then, Grafite took over. After botching at least one clear chance earlier, the last year’s scoring champion beat Manuel Neuer to nod in a cross, and completed his brace with a powerful first-time strike as Schalke missed out on their opportunity to close the gap with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich…
…Which brings me to the next topic: Bayern’s 1-1 draw with Nuernberg. Reflecting on that match, the most energetic player in Bayern’s team was Arjen Robben, and he had to be substituted at halftime due to exhaustion. Admittedly, Thomas Mueller looked pretty good as well and scored a great goal, but the engine room (Mark van Bommel and Bastian Schweinsteiger) was out of gas, and the creative contingent (Robben, Mueller, and Franck Ribery) had just one rabbit to pull out of the hat. Even Daniel van Buyten, who was injured, was unable to bail out his team. Nuernberg had one chance, scored once, and the game ended in a draw. While Louis van Gaal said the match was “One of [Bayern’s] best performances,” I have to question whether he was referring actually to that of his old club, Ajax, who were 4-0 winners against Vitesse Arnhem.
Truly, Bayern’s performance was reminiscent of the Klinsmann era; lots of possession, but neither urgency nor direction in attack, punctuated by hapless defending. The result has brought to mind a very disturbing realization: Bayern are two injuries from reverting to last year’s standards. Fact: if Hans-Joerg Butt and Philipp Lahm are ever sidelined, the only replacements on hand are Michael Rensing (did you see him in the recent DFB Pokal match?) and either Christian Lell (last I checked, he was busy trying to win custody of his dog from his ex-girlfriend) or footballer-turned-rock star Andreas Goerlitz. Sure, this Bayern team has a better coach and several new and versatile players, but the fact remains that with only slight problems, Bayern can turn from a top-calibre side to the kind that struggles to beat relegation battlers. On the plus side, the Munich men will be pleased to have only two matches scheduled between now and March 6.
Point of Discussion: This summer, what are Bayern to do about their lack of depth and their surplus of underachieving bench players?
Bundesliga/Serie Coefficient Watch: Round 8
It’s all happening, and right on cue: once again the Bundesliga outperformed Serie A, increasing their 2009-10 coefficient advantage from +0.298 to +0.679. As usual, this week’s European matches were not without controversy.
To what could I possibly be alluding? Oh yes, the convenient slip-up of referee Tom Henning Ovrebo in allowance of Miroslav Klose’s late winner over Fiorentina.
In Italy, the verdict was unanimous: “We were robbed,” stated an unrestrained Riccardo Montolivo. “What theft!” exclaimed Gazzetta dello Sport.
In Boston’s West Fens, there was an altogether different reaction, one of satisfaction and mild amusement. I’ve got to say that, even though the legality of Klose’s position was debatable, he should have been called offside. Really, I feel somewhat bad for Fiorentina. But in terms of UEFA Coefficients, the Machiavellian side of me just considers Fiorentina’s bad luck to be sweet justice.
How could justice come from such injustice, you ask? All one needs to do is look back over the last 15 years and see how many offside goals Pippo Inzaghi scored in European play. Hindus rejoice: Karma strikes again!
But really, I have no hostility towards Inzaghi or Klose, for that matter. After all, they’re just trying to make their way in the world like everyone else. In the immortal words of Jay-Z, either love them or leave them alone.
As for referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, he might want to retire from refereeing soon, lest Fiorentina, Chelsea, and Latvia fans band together in protest. I don’t think he had any malice towards Fiorentina (and to be fair, he was just trusting the linesman’s call), and until video evidence is used to review calls, errors like his will remain a part of the game.
As mentioned in last week’s article, the Law of Large Numbers implies that teams that create chances will eventually benefit from either a legitimate or illegitimate goal. While Fiorentina were well organized, they had little intention to go forward and were forced to commit 27 fouls. They did not create chances, and accordingly, invited their own demise. Bayern played a much cleaner game (eight fouls committed), won 65% of possession, and controlled the game. Assuming they are not Scottish, the football gods should be pleased.
In other coefficient news, Wolfsburg were unlucky not to win in El Madrigal, but Villarreal escaped with a 2-2 draw. In that match, Grafite was both the hero and the villain; the powerful striker scored a brilliant equalizer and later won and converted a penalty, but he also missed a pair of sitters. Sascha Riether and Edin Dzeko were also responsible for epic misses, which cost the Bundesliga some valuable points.
The situation was different for Bremen, who following a disappointing 1-0 loss to Twente, are on the verge of an early exit from the Europa League. Rounding off the results, Hamburg were lucky to hold onto a 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven, and Hertha Berlin managed a 1-1 draw with Benfica.
While it could have been a better week for German teams, it was a pretty poor one for Serie A representatives: only Juventus won, with Milan, Fiorentina and Roma all suffering setbacks.
Check out the latest coefficients here.
Goal of the Week: Toni Kroos, Werder Bremen 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Video here
Simple, deadly. While some players try to pass the ball into the net, Kroos sometimes gets impatient and takes matters into his own hands, or rather, his own feet. Sunday was a perfect example. It wasn’t struck with incredible velocity, but Kroos’ shot was, as so often is the case, impeccably placed. If he strengthens his legs a bit more, he just might become the next free kick legend.
Match of the Week: Werder Bremen 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen
As previously mentioned, there wasn’t much penetration into either penalty area. However, this match stuck out because of the energy with which both teams played. It was really fast-paced, urgent football, which made for a fun-to-watch affair. Ultimately, Bremen’s grit was just enough to draw level with a Leverkusen side that easily was the classier side for most of the match.
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