0 – The number in Frankfurt's win column (still, and I'll keep on mentioning this until Frankfurt take note and do something about it) 5 – Difference in points between 1st (Hamburg) and 11th (Bayern). 6 – Number of goalscorers Hamburg and Werder Bremen have in the top 12 (ie, those who have scored at […]

0 – Number of wins by Frankfurt, the last remaining winless team 5 – Total number of shots by Gladbach in their 0-1 defeat to Hamburg 7 – Goals scored by Patrick Helmes this season, that's equal to or more than 8 teams (Hertha, Köln, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Bochum, Cottbus, Frankfurt, and Gladbach) 8.06 – The […]

Having had the time to digest Bayern's 2-5 mauling by Bremen (no need to rehash things here, if you need a refresher check out the excellent post at Deutsche Welle's Ballspiel or the video highlights at 101 Great Goals), I wanted to know exactly how bad it was for the Bavarians. No matter what your […]

Football is not always a beautiful game; sometimes bookings are necessary. Thankfully, we're on hand to keep all these bookings straight. There are 34 distinct offences that the DFB considers bookable. In their honor I've written this paean to the punished: We are here not to castigate but to celebrate these masters of misconduct, ballerinas […]

st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } 1. Parity Okay, let’s not kid ourselves. Not any team can win the Bundesliga. But since the inception of the EPL in 1991, four teams have won the title: United, Blackburn, Chelsea and Arsenal, but United has won 11 of those titles. In that same span, five teams have won the title in […]

Schalke, currently sitting at the top of the Bundesliga, have surged ahead to the peak of another, less prestigious table – the goalkeeper injury table. First choice keeper Manuel Neuer has yet to make an appearance this season, having broken his fifth metatarsal during a pre-season friendly against SpVgg Erkenschwick (currently playing in the equivalent […]

Gladbach’s victory over the stalwart’s of the league, Werder Bremen, gave us a glimpse at a team that has been revitalized under Jos Luhukay and Christian Ziege, and could well be in for a bright future. The addition of Michael Bradley added another young international the next day. So what is it about Gladbach? Is […]

I have just returned from my summer holidays, where I had a lovely respite from footie. However, here we are with the season two weeks deep and I am behind. But I am afforded the luxury of making my tactical analysis on two games rather than one, which can be useful. I decided to spend […]

1st Schalke What You Know: If baseball's Chicago Cubs had a baby with the Red Sox prior to 2004, Schalke would be the offspring. What You Don’t: All things both good and bad must end. What to Expect: Yes, Campeones! I say that, bucking all trends, and knowing full well that Schalke could be leading […]

The new Bundesliga season is just days away, so Bundesliga Talk writers Mark Moll and Double Pivot decided to interview one of the preeminent writers and authors on the topic of German soccer, Raphael Honigstein. Many readers may know Honigstein best from his appearances on the Football Weekly Podcast by The Guardian. Here's the transcript […]

The Deutsche Presse Agentur released a poll yesterday about predictions for the upcoming season. Bayern Munich was the unanimous favorite of Bundesliga coaches to repeat as champions. The most common reason given was the quality of Jürgen Klinsmann's squad. What follows is a hasty translation of what each of the 18 gaffers had to say […]

The fixtures for the opening day of the 2008/2009 Bundesliga season have been announced. All of these matches will be played on Saturday, August 16: FC Bayern v Hamburg Schalke v Hannover Wolfsburg v Cologne Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia Dortmund Eintracht Frankfurt v Hertha Berlin Karlsruhe v Bochum Energie Cottbus v Hoffenheim Arminia Bielefeld v […]

The 45th season of the Bundesliga has come to an end with comparatively little drama or theatrics. Bayern all but guaranteed itself the title with a busy summer in the transfer market, spending 70 million Euros on Luca Toni (the league's top scorer), Franck Ribery (world class playmaker) and the rest. While this investment was […]