<div><figure class="external-image"><img src="http://www.sportgate.de/typo3temp/pics/Die-Halbfinals-um-den-DFB-Pokal-wurden-ausgelost_e9ae1c1fc3.jpg" alt="Cup"></figure></div>
Finally Dusseldorf has come good for visiting dignitaries Bayer Leverkusen. After a poor run of form in the league at the LTU, the Werkself took apart Bayern Munich 4-2 in their temporary home to gain passage to the final four of the DFB Pokal. 
Klinsmann tinkered with his lineup a bit as congestion is building up for the Bavarian giants. He pulled Ze Roberto into the left back position to try and shore up a weak position and used Ottl as his replacement in the double six. He then went with a 4-2-3-1 with Klose giving Toni a rest. Overall a pretty strong starting XI, especially as Bayern have long been better suited to this formation, rather than the 4-4-2.
With this in mind, Bayer made easy work of Bayern, slicing through the holders to a 3-0 lead off goals by Helmes, Arturo Vidal and Barnetta. After the third goal, Bayer took their foot off the gas, and almost paid the price as Klinsmann’s substitutions worked wonders and they pulled two goals back in two minutes. The first came when Adler flopped at a cross that Lucio put away and the second came when Klose was left unmarked in the area to finish a perfect Ribery cross. 
The final 15 minutes was tense for the home side, with Adler making a couple of superb saves and the defense rediscovering their focus, but a fourth goal from the tireless Kiessling secured passage for Bayer. Bruno Labbadia joins Martin Jol and Thomas Schaaf in the semis.
Hamburg beat Wehen 2-1 at home. But a strong lead was almost squandered in this game, just as it had been in the headline game, when Frank Rost mishandled an easy Schwartz shot to pull the visitors within one with 3 minutes to go. As it stands, a first half goal by Petric and an own goal by Wehen’s Kopilas was enough to see the Dinosaurs through.
Meanwhile, Werder seems to have risen from the ashes after their come back against A.C. Milan and found their scoring touch. They put five past a hot Wolfsburg side at the VW. The game saw braces by Dzeko, Diego and Pizarro in a 7 goal thriller with Werder booking their place in the semis by a score of 5-2. 
They are joined by Mainz who upset Schalke last night.

Bayern Ousted as Bayer Join Werder, HSV and Mainz in the Semis

Bayern Ousted as Bayer Join Werder, HSV and Mainz in the Semis - World Soccer Talk

Here’s this week’s Bundesliga XI. It is packed with Bayer 04, Hoffenheim and Werder players. It does include a special shoutout to the man who ended Energie’s goal drought, an under appreciated defender from Arminia and a goalkeeper who lost.
<a href="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/8/files/2008/09/week5jpg.gif" title="week5jpg.gif"><div><figure class="external-image"><img src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/8/files/2008/09/week5jpg.gif" alt="week5jpg.gif"></figure></div></a>
1. Schalke 04 
Now 10 of their last 13 have been scored by defenders. This time it was Patrick Ochs. Unfortunately for the lad, he plays for Eintracht.
2. TSG Hoffenheim 
I guess you can hassle the <a href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=575080&amp;cc=5901">Hoff</a>. First it was Gladbach and now Dortmund fans. BVB was forced to apologize for protests that threatened violence to Dietmar Hopp. It’s no wonder the clubs voted against scrapping the 50+1 rule a fortnight ago.
I find it rather infuriating that fans are getting their knickers into a bind over a club’s patron. It’s within the rules of the game, and is no different that Bayer 04 or Wolfsburg. I think the issue is that Hoffenheim are building their club properly from the ground up. They aren’t just buying expensive talent, but good young talent as they establish their infrastructure, ground and academy. This worries the supporters of clubs who know their clubs are not making the same investments in these critical areas.
3. VfB Stuttgart 
Thoroughly dominated their fierce rivals to go third in the league. Mario Gomez has rebounded well from a poor Euro campaign.
4. Hamburg SV 
If you keep leaking early goals, its bound to catch up with you. While they pressured Wolfsburg relentlessly in the second half, the goals needed for another comeback were just not there. But as always, at least Martin Jol provides entertaining football.
Chairman Bernd Hoffmann presented a budget that puts the Dinosaurs third to Bayern and Schalke in revenue. He is also seeking to connect with three local investor/patrons to create a new club fund to help buy stars in the future. It has been dubbed “kick ³”, and could be a new innovation in the Bundesliga. Dortmund fans now have two to kill.
5. Bayer Leverkusen 
Anyone still taking bets that Bruno Labbadia will be the first trainer fired this season? Bayer are playing a fantastic brand of football and keeping pace with the leaders. Their dismantling of Hannover was a complete team effort from Augusto to Helmes to Henrique.
6. VfL Wolfsburg 
A thirty minute barrage against Hamburg sees Magath’s side creep up the standings and remain one of the few unbeaten sides this campaign.
In another piece of good news for the club, they had absolutely no players in <a href="http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/sport-news/football/bundesliga/2008/09/24/the-best-german-football-haircuts-from/panini-stickers-of-80s-and-90s.html">Bild’s list of worst haircuts from the 80’s and 90’s</a>.
7. Werder Bremen 
The good news: they own Bayern in Munich and they are through in the cup. The bad news: Hoffenheim and Inter are next.
8. Bayern Munich 
The good news: Ribery is back! The bad news: he will be deployed as a wing-back!
9. Hertha Berlin 
Having had success in Serbia with Gojko Kacar, who is putting in goals along with sweeping up in front of the back four, apparently Hertha are headed back for Partizan’s wunderkid Zoran Tosic.
10. Borussia Dortmund 
Valencia’s Timo Hildebrand has been linked with a move to BVB after being frozen out of the Valencia squad by new coach Unai Emery. I have never been convinced by Weidenfeller and view this as a great move by Klopp, but an even better move by Timo, who should have a role in the national team.
11. VfL Bochum 
They are going to regret dropping five points against fellow travelers KSC and Cottbus so far this season. Their next seven games include matches with Bayer 04, Bayern, Stuttgart, TSG, Dortmund and Werder. A home tie against Gladbach may be their only chance at full points over that period. Expect them to drop faster than the Dow.
12. Arminia Bielefeld 
I thought Artur Wichniarek’s clinching goal this weekend against Koln was candidate for goal of the season. He had a beautiful touch on the long delivery that took the ball away from the charging Mondragon. He then cut right to pick up the ball left by Breko and Matrip who were rushing back to cover the net and chipped the two players. Had he directly shot on goal, one of them would have stopped it. It was fantastic.
13. FC Köln 
Things are not good for the Billy Goats. Daum can’t settle on a midfield and thus it has been poor all season. Wome is a complete and utter liability.&nbsp; They were hammered by Arminia and Mainz within 5 days. And now comes rumors that they are trying to get trouble maker Albert Streit back from Schalke.
14. Hannover 96 
On the plus side, the flu eventually runs its course. But the Reds need their current pandemic to end sooner rather than later as it has effected at least seven squad members.
15. Karlsruhe 
I thought they could cope without Eggimann. They can’t. Funny thing is that he looks absolutely pants for Hannover. But so does Stefano Celozzi.
16. Borussia Monchengladbach 
The win against Werder is looking like an aberration. Inconsistency from players such as Marin and Alberman and even the tactics of Jus Luhukay, who can’t figure out if he wants to play a 4-4-2, 4-5-1 or 4-3-3, are the main cause. On the plus side, Jus has ended his feud with defender Steve Gohouri over injury treatment.
17. Eintracht Frankfurt 
After another loss left, which left them in the relegation zone, was followed by an exit from the Cup at the hands of Hansa Rostock, rumors were spreading that there were crisis talks between Bruchhagen and Funkel. This is not good news for Eagles supporters as the last time they fired a trainer mid-season, they were relegated.
18. Energie Cottbus 
They got their first goal and first point of the new campaign. Their midweek cup win was a gluttony of goals for Energie as they put three past Gladbach. We won’t mention that they were all from the spot.

die Tabelle lügt nicht: Week 5 (Now w/ the Bundesliga XI)

die Tabelle lügt nicht: Week 5 (Now w/ the Bundesliga XI) - World Soccer Talk

die Tabelle lügen nicht! Preview

die Tabelle lügen nicht! Preview - World Soccer Talk

<a href="http://www.bundesligatalk.com/the-new-gaffer-introducing-jol-at-hamburg/40/martin-jol/" rel="attachment wp-att-41" title="Martin Jol"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/8/files/2008/07/hsv.jpg" alt="Martin Jol" align="right" height="339" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300"></figure></div></a>Fred Rutten isn’t the only new Dutch manager in the Bundesliga, as ex-Tottenham Martin Jol took over the reigns of Hamburg earlier this month. It’s been nearly 30 years since Jol’s last appearance in Germany. He made 9 appearances for Bayern Munich as a midfielder in 1978/79 before returning to the Netherlands the next season. His managerial journey has now mirrored his playing career, rotating among the northwestern European triangle of the Netherlands, England and Germany. This time around he hopes to spend more than a year in the Bundesliga.
Jol will be Hamburg’s 26th gaffer in the past 45 years. While this seems like a lot it’s actually the norm for the league (as next week’s entry on Bruno Labbadia will detail). The only manager to last longer than 4 years at Hamburg? Ernst Happel. Yes, he of Ernst-Happel-Stadion fame (the stadium was named for the two time European Cup winner and not vice versa, in case you were wondering). While fans would love it if Jol could emulate Happel’s European triumphs, they’d be satisfied with replicating his domestic success. Coincidentally both Happel and Jol began their managerial careers at ADO Den Haag. Anyway, it’s been 25 years since he Happel brought home the team’s last championship. Since then they’ve been a steady, if not spectacular, club:
 <a href="http://www.bundesligatalk.com/the-new-gaffer-introducing-jol-at-hamburg/40/hamburg-position/" rel="attachment wp-att-46" title="Hamburg Position"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/8/files/2008/08/hsv-tabellenpositionen.jpg" alt="Hamburg Position" align="middle" height="200" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="480"></figure></div></a>
They own the unique distinction of being the only remaining original Bundesliga side never to have been relegated. To continue staying afloat in the Bundesliga and hopefully challenge for silverware Hamburg must first and foremost continue developing their Dutch pipeline.
Currently Hamburg employ four Dutch players in their first team: Joris Mathijsen, Nigel de Jong, Romeo Castelen, and captain Rafael van der Vaart. Chelsea-flop Khalid Boulahrouz is also a recent member of this group. Together they comprise the second-largest national contingent in the squad and arguably its most talented. Hamburg has developed in somewhat of a Dutch Portugal. Portugal, for obvious reasons, is the destination of choice for young Brazilian talent making their initial move to Europe. Those who display enough promise are then snapped up by larger clubs. A crude analogy, to be sure, but it effectively describes the situation. Like the Bundesliga at large, Hamburg in particular has evolved into a showroom for foreign talent before it moves on to more lucrative English or Mediterranean shores.
The most obvious example of this will soon be Rafael van der Vaart, who has made his feelings quite clear about leaving Hamburg over the past year. For a time the rumor was that he’d end up at the Mestalla with Valencia. Now the bids have centered around the Spanish capital, either as part of Atletico’s summer signing spree or as Real’s ersatz Ronaldo. Although his contract runs through the 2009-2010 season it is clear that he is on his way out and almost certainly to the land of his mother’s birth. Hamburg would be well-advised to sell soon rather than risk losing a hefty (approximately 15 million Euro) transfer fee thanks to the <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!CELEXnumdoc&amp;lg=en&amp;numdoc=61993J0415" title="Bosman Ruling Text" target="_blank">Bosman ruling</a>.
The best way to spend the van der Vaart money would be exactly how the club has in the past, on young players. While no one has or will likely ever confuse Hamburg for Arsenal, the club have made the decision to pursue mostly young professionals (three of the four Dutch players above are 25 or younger, for instance). It seems unlikely that Jol will alter this policy, although were he to try he’d find himself dealing with a much stingier board than Tottenham’s (and he won’t have a repeat of his run-in with Spurs’ director of football Damien Comolli).
Is Jol the man to have Hamburg fans partying like it’s 1983? Is there a limit to how many Dutch players German fans can stomach in the squad? Is it only a matter of time before Hamburg, taking their cue from North London, replace Jol with Sevilla’s current coach, Manolo Jimenez?
Next Week: Bruno Labbadia at Bayer Leverkusen

The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg

The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg - World Soccer Talk

<a href="http://www.bundesligatalk.com/?attachment_id=38" rel="attachment wp-att-38" title="Bundesliga Logo"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="/files/2008/07/bundesliga1.gif" alt="Bundesliga Logo" align="right" border="0" height="1" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="1"></figure></div><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="/files/2008/07/bundesliga1.gif" alt="Bundesliga Logo" align="right" border="0" height="1" width="1"></figure></div><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="/files/2008/07/bundesliga1.gif" alt="Bundesliga Logo" align="right" border="0" height="1" width="1"></figure></div><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="/files/2008/07/bundesliga1.gif" alt="Bundesliga Logo" align="right" border="0" height="1" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="1"></figure></div></a><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="/files/2008/07/bundesliga1.gif" alt="Bundesliga Logo" align="right" border="0" height="1" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="1"></figure></div><a href="http://www.bundesligatalk.com/?attachment_id=39" rel="attachment wp-att-39" title="Bundesliga Logo"><div><figure class="external-image"><img src="/files/2008/07/bundesliga2.gif" alt="Bundesliga Logo" align="right" hspace="15" vspace="15"></figure></div></a>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 about Bayern Münich beginning with Klinsmann himself and the rest following in alphabetical order:
Jürgen Klinsmann (Bayern München): “Our own expectation is that we will be German champions. Titles are expected at Bayern.”
Edmund Becker (Karlsruher SC): “Bayern Munich are the favorites. Schalke and Bremen could try to exert some pressure on them from behind.”
Christoph Daum (1. FC Köln): “The title goes through Bayern Munich, because they have the best personnel by far. After that probably comes Schalke and Bremen, while I’m very excited about Wolfsburg, who have invested a lot in new arrivals.”
Lucien Favre (Hertha BSC): “Bayern Munich, because they have the best squad. Schalke and Werder will try to make life hard for them.”
Michael Frontzeck (Arminia Bielefeld ): “Bayern Munich have, by a wide distance, the best squad. Six national team players sit on the bench there. Bremen, Hamburg, Wolfsburg and Schalke will be on their tail.”
Friedhelm Funkel (Eintracht Frankfurt): “Bayern Munich, because they have the strongest squad, professional management and the best prerequisites. ”
Dieter Hecking (Hannover 96): “Last year I said Schalke, this time even I’m betting on Bayern Munich. I hope, however, that their dominance isn’t so marked.”
Martin Jol (Hamburger SV): “Bayern Munich are favorites for the championship every season.”
Jürgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund): “Bayern are always the favorites. They have the most options and the best squad. I’m really thankful that Jürgen Klinsmann introduced to the public training methods that we Bundesliga coaches have been using for years. It’s that old song: If 12 sandbags in Mainz are knocked over, no one’s interested. With the national team or at Bayern a single grain would suffice.”
Marcel Koller (VfL Bochum): “The usual suspects will be playing for the championship: Bayern Munich, Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen, maybe a surprise team as well. But Bayern are the clear favorites. They have the best quality squad.”
Bruno Labbadia (Bayer Leverkusen): “Bayern are, considering both the quality and quantity of their players, the best positioned.”
Jos Luhukay (Borussia Mönchengladbach): “Bayern München!”
Felix Magath (VfL Wolfsburg): “Bayern Munich will be champions. We want to affirm our pre-season position and reach an international competition once again.”
Bojan Prasnikar (Energie Cottbus): “My tip is Bayern Munich. They haven’t lost any key personnel and strengthened their squad. There isn’t another team in the Bundesliga with access to such a high quality, balanced squad.”
Ralf Rangnick (1899 Hoffenheim): “I think that Bayern, as usual, will get the title.”
Fred Rutten (Schalke 04): “Bayern Munich are always favorites in the Bundesliga, but Schalke have progressed well over the years and are always playing near the top. We want to do that again this year.”
Thomas Schaaf (Werder Bremen): “Bayern are once more the class of the league. But all the teams who were at the top last season have a shot again at the title.”
Armin Veh (VfB Stuttgart): “Bayern Munich are the odds-on favorites. Whoever has the biggest budget and spends the most money is favored. That’s how it is in this business.”

Bundesliga Coaches Unanimously Choose Bayern as Preseason Favorites

Bundesliga Coaches Unanimously Choose Bayern as Preseason Favorites - World Soccer Talk

Latest news from Bruno Labbadia. Find out about all the news related to Bruno Labbadia on worldsoccertalk.com

ALL POSTS TAGGED "Bruno Labbadia"

News

Bayern Ousted as Bayer Join Werder, HSV and Mainz in the Semis

News

die Tabelle lügt nicht: Week 5 (Now w/ the Bundesliga XI)

News

die Tabelle lügen nicht! Preview

News

The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg

News

Bundesliga Coaches Unanimously Choose Bayern as Preseason Favorites