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Teutonic Tuesday: On The Hunter, Wolfe And European Draws
Teutonic Tuesday uses the international break to catch up on recent events.
| Bet: | Returns: | Viktoria Plzen £30.00 | Draw £32.00 | Schalke £22.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Viktoria Plzen £30.00 | Draw £31.00 | Schalke £21.50 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Viktoria Plzen £31.00 | Draw £32.50 | Schalke £21.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Viktoria Plzen £33.00 | Draw £33.00 | Schalke £22.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Viktoria Plzen £30.00 | Draw £32.00 | Schalke £22.00 |
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Sep 7, 2010 9:00:00 AM
By Clark Whitney
The Bundesliga paused for an international break last weekend, but that wasn’t enough to stop Teutonic Tuesday from being published. Given the lack of domestic matches, I figured this would be a good time to discuss late moves in the transfer market, as well as the Champions League and Europa League draws.
First on the docket: the flurry of last-minute transfers, starting with Wolfsburg. It was a sad thing to see Zvjezdan Misimovic leave the Bundesliga, but the writing was on the wall as soon as Diego joined die Wolfe. Dieter Hoeness made it clear that he would not sell the Bosnian to a Bundesliga rival, and Schalke missed out on a top class signing.
To their credit, Schalke didn’t get hung up over the one that got away; coach Felix Magath opened his little black book, and hours later Jose Manuel Jurado joined die Knappen from Atletico Madrid. A graduate of Real Madrid’s cantera, Jurado adds much-needed technique and creativity to the Schalke attacking midfield.
Jurado was a good addition, but Schalke’s real transfer coup was the signing of striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. He may have struggled for playing time at Milan and Real Madrid, but the Dutch striker was good for nearly a goal per game at Ajax, and signalled his readiness to succeed in Germany by netting a hat-trick for the Netherlands last Friday. A goal machine, Huntelaar is a perfect fit for the Bundesliga, and has the potential to be Schalke’s best striker in years.
The signings of Jurado and Huntelaar naturally prompt questions of how Schalke will line up in midfield and attack. Because Jefferson Farfan is incapable of playing as a shuttler, a diamond-shaped midfield with the Peruvian, Jurado, Huntelaar, Raul and Ivan Rakitic included in the same line-up is off the table. However, the quintet can play in a hybrid 4-2-2-2/4-2-3-1 formation, with Rakitic and Jermaine Jones in defensive midfield, Jurado and Farfan on the flanks and Raul in his natural role supporting main striker Huntelaar. Of course, Magath has been known to regularly rotate his line-up, so the aforementioned may only play together in big game scenarios.
After watching Schalke win ugly throughout the 2008-09 season, it’s great to see Magath making moves to revert to the more forward-minded tactics used during his spell at Wolfsburg. The only thing missing now is a reliable defence, which admittedly is a major problem, and is very strange for a Magath-coached team.
The signing of Nicolas Plestan at the very least will put pressure on centre-half pairing Benedikt Hoewedes and Christoph Metzelder, who have started the season in abysmal form. If the starters do not improve, they will be replaced. Magath always has back-ups, and due to his regular rotation, tends to keep all players more or less satisfied. That explains his signing of Ciprian Deac, who will provide competition for Jurado.
Moving away from Schalke, there were a few other noteworthy moves late in the transfer window. Talented 21-year-old Iceland international Gylfi Sigurdsson moved to Hoffenheim for €8.9 million, and judging from his highlights (click here), appears to be quite a diamond found in the rough that is the English Championship.
On the other end of the age spectrum, Stuttgart signed Mauro Camoranesi, who is about to turn 34, from Juventus, and made a move for Mladen Petric, but their offer of an estimated €3.5m was laughed off by Hamburg. He may be well past his prime, but Camoranesi offers the versatility of being able to play both on the right wing and in central midfield, which are both problem points for Stuttgart. Nonetheless, his addition is a short-term bandage over a major problem. The signing of Petric would have been perfect, but Stuttgart’s decision to focus on stadium expansion left them with minimal funds to facilitate a deal.
In continental news, the Champions League and Europa League draws were a mixed bag for German teams. Bayern avoided Real Madrid, but were drawn with perhaps the second-best team from pot two, Roma. Basel will be no push-overs, and Cluj have been known to cause the occasional European upset. Bayern will be favourites to win the group, but not by much; Franck Ribery is suspended for their first match, which happens to be against Roma, and Arjen Robben is likely to miss the entire fall campaign.
The draw for Schalke was great, especially after their recent signings. Lyon made it to the Champions League semi-final last year, and will greatly benefit from the addition of Yoann Gourcuff, but are no longer the domestic powerhouse they once were. Four points in their first four Ligue 1 matches suggests they could struggle even in Europe. At the very least, Schalke can be satisfied by having avoided Chelsea, for example. The second team in their group, Portuguese champions Benfica, have great potential, but are reeling from the loss of Angel di Maria to Real Madrid, and have lost two of three matches to start the 2010-11 season. Rounding off the group are European newcomers Hapoel Tel-Aviv, who cannot be underestimated, but have far less experience in Europe than do Schalke. I expect Magath’s men to advance to the knockout rounds, and would not be the least bit surprised if they were to win the group.
For Bremen, the draw was very, very cruel. Die Hanseaten may well have beaten Inter in the past, but at the time their opponents were nowhere near their current quality. Tottenham are new to Champions League football, but have a good team that has been especially reinforced with the addition of Rafael van der Vaart, and reigning Eredivisie champions Twente are not your typical pot four team. It will be a very difficult thing for Bremen to place third in their group, much less qualify for the knockout rounds. With any luck, they’ll be in the Europa League heading into 2011.
Speaking of the Europa League, that draw was a bit tougher for German teams. Leverkusen are in a group with reigning champions Atletico Madrid, but should be able to qualify ahead of Rosenborg and Aris. Stuttgart have Getafe, Odense and Young Boys, and in their current form, the Swabians might not have been favoured to qualify out of any group. Dortmund’s pot three status was no help either; Sevilla and PSG will provide stiff competition, and Karpaty Lviv are an unknown quantity. It’s been a long time since Dortmund last competed in Europe, and while their quality and potential are not to be underestimated, their ability to manage with the pressure of playing in three competitions remains a cause for concern.
Many will note that Bayern-Roma and Bremen-Inter will be huge clashes in the Bundesliga’s struggle with Serie A for superior UEFA coefficient, but of equal interest is the competition between Bundesliga and La Liga. At the end of next year, the Spanish league’s incredible 2005-06 European campaign will no longer count towards its coefficient, and the gap between Germany and Spain will be diminished significantly. Over the last three years, La Liga has only a slight (0.845) advantage over the German top flight, and that could soon be overturned. This year, the Bundesliga’s Europa League teams each have a chance to make up the ground on La Liga opposition.
That’s all for this week’s installment. For comments on the German national team, check out my pre- and post-match analysis for the Belgium and Azerbaijan matches. Until next time, all the best.
First on the docket: the flurry of last-minute transfers, starting with Wolfsburg. It was a sad thing to see Zvjezdan Misimovic leave the Bundesliga, but the writing was on the wall as soon as Diego joined die Wolfe. Dieter Hoeness made it clear that he would not sell the Bosnian to a Bundesliga rival, and Schalke missed out on a top class signing.
To their credit, Schalke didn’t get hung up over the one that got away; coach Felix Magath opened his little black book, and hours later Jose Manuel Jurado joined die Knappen from Atletico Madrid. A graduate of Real Madrid’s cantera, Jurado adds much-needed technique and creativity to the Schalke attacking midfield.
Jurado was a good addition, but Schalke’s real transfer coup was the signing of striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. He may have struggled for playing time at Milan and Real Madrid, but the Dutch striker was good for nearly a goal per game at Ajax, and signalled his readiness to succeed in Germany by netting a hat-trick for the Netherlands last Friday. A goal machine, Huntelaar is a perfect fit for the Bundesliga, and has the potential to be Schalke’s best striker in years.
The signings of Jurado and Huntelaar naturally prompt questions of how Schalke will line up in midfield and attack. Because Jefferson Farfan is incapable of playing as a shuttler, a diamond-shaped midfield with the Peruvian, Jurado, Huntelaar, Raul and Ivan Rakitic included in the same line-up is off the table. However, the quintet can play in a hybrid 4-2-2-2/4-2-3-1 formation, with Rakitic and Jermaine Jones in defensive midfield, Jurado and Farfan on the flanks and Raul in his natural role supporting main striker Huntelaar. Of course, Magath has been known to regularly rotate his line-up, so the aforementioned may only play together in big game scenarios.
After watching Schalke win ugly throughout the 2008-09 season, it’s great to see Magath making moves to revert to the more forward-minded tactics used during his spell at Wolfsburg. The only thing missing now is a reliable defence, which admittedly is a major problem, and is very strange for a Magath-coached team.
The signing of Nicolas Plestan at the very least will put pressure on centre-half pairing Benedikt Hoewedes and Christoph Metzelder, who have started the season in abysmal form. If the starters do not improve, they will be replaced. Magath always has back-ups, and due to his regular rotation, tends to keep all players more or less satisfied. That explains his signing of Ciprian Deac, who will provide competition for Jurado.
Moving away from Schalke, there were a few other noteworthy moves late in the transfer window. Talented 21-year-old Iceland international Gylfi Sigurdsson moved to Hoffenheim for €8.9 million, and judging from his highlights (click here), appears to be quite a diamond found in the rough that is the English Championship.
On the other end of the age spectrum, Stuttgart signed Mauro Camoranesi, who is about to turn 34, from Juventus, and made a move for Mladen Petric, but their offer of an estimated €3.5m was laughed off by Hamburg. He may be well past his prime, but Camoranesi offers the versatility of being able to play both on the right wing and in central midfield, which are both problem points for Stuttgart. Nonetheless, his addition is a short-term bandage over a major problem. The signing of Petric would have been perfect, but Stuttgart’s decision to focus on stadium expansion left them with minimal funds to facilitate a deal.
In continental news, the Champions League and Europa League draws were a mixed bag for German teams. Bayern avoided Real Madrid, but were drawn with perhaps the second-best team from pot two, Roma. Basel will be no push-overs, and Cluj have been known to cause the occasional European upset. Bayern will be favourites to win the group, but not by much; Franck Ribery is suspended for their first match, which happens to be against Roma, and Arjen Robben is likely to miss the entire fall campaign.
The draw for Schalke was great, especially after their recent signings. Lyon made it to the Champions League semi-final last year, and will greatly benefit from the addition of Yoann Gourcuff, but are no longer the domestic powerhouse they once were. Four points in their first four Ligue 1 matches suggests they could struggle even in Europe. At the very least, Schalke can be satisfied by having avoided Chelsea, for example. The second team in their group, Portuguese champions Benfica, have great potential, but are reeling from the loss of Angel di Maria to Real Madrid, and have lost two of three matches to start the 2010-11 season. Rounding off the group are European newcomers Hapoel Tel-Aviv, who cannot be underestimated, but have far less experience in Europe than do Schalke. I expect Magath’s men to advance to the knockout rounds, and would not be the least bit surprised if they were to win the group.
For Bremen, the draw was very, very cruel. Die Hanseaten may well have beaten Inter in the past, but at the time their opponents were nowhere near their current quality. Tottenham are new to Champions League football, but have a good team that has been especially reinforced with the addition of Rafael van der Vaart, and reigning Eredivisie champions Twente are not your typical pot four team. It will be a very difficult thing for Bremen to place third in their group, much less qualify for the knockout rounds. With any luck, they’ll be in the Europa League heading into 2011.
Speaking of the Europa League, that draw was a bit tougher for German teams. Leverkusen are in a group with reigning champions Atletico Madrid, but should be able to qualify ahead of Rosenborg and Aris. Stuttgart have Getafe, Odense and Young Boys, and in their current form, the Swabians might not have been favoured to qualify out of any group. Dortmund’s pot three status was no help either; Sevilla and PSG will provide stiff competition, and Karpaty Lviv are an unknown quantity. It’s been a long time since Dortmund last competed in Europe, and while their quality and potential are not to be underestimated, their ability to manage with the pressure of playing in three competitions remains a cause for concern.
Many will note that Bayern-Roma and Bremen-Inter will be huge clashes in the Bundesliga’s struggle with Serie A for superior UEFA coefficient, but of equal interest is the competition between Bundesliga and La Liga. At the end of next year, the Spanish league’s incredible 2005-06 European campaign will no longer count towards its coefficient, and the gap between Germany and Spain will be diminished significantly. Over the last three years, La Liga has only a slight (0.845) advantage over the German top flight, and that could soon be overturned. This year, the Bundesliga’s Europa League teams each have a chance to make up the ground on La Liga opposition.
That’s all for this week’s installment. For comments on the German national team, check out my pre- and post-match analysis for the Belgium and Azerbaijan matches. Until next time, all the best.
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