<div><figure class="external-image"><img src="http://eter22.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/p_brazil_.jpg" alt="Ze Roberto"></figure></div>
Hamburg shook off their early season funk and tore apart Dortmund at the Nordbank Arena. It was the 4th straight victory for the Dinosaurs at home against BVB. A series of early goals seemed to settle the match by the 12th minute. Guy Demel pushed the first over the line after a massive keeper error in the 4th. Ze Roberto found a gap, a post and a rebound for the 2nd in the 10th and Guerrero finished, after a blistering run by Elia in the 12th. Dortmund who scored an equalizer after the first goal, when Hamburg were guilty of a lack of concentration never seemed up to the fight after Elia’s run and would conceed a 4th late in the game. 
For Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp, he at least escaped Hamburg without a fine this year. And that’s about the only positive thing that can be said for his team’s performance. 
7 Notes About the Match
<ol>
<li>
I think Hamburg were a little guilty of what English clubs do in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. They didn’t take the second leg of their tie with Randers seriously, having a 4-0 road victory in hand. They then let themselves get complacent, which happens when teams don’t take a game seriously. They then went out and lost at home to Randers, barely scraped by Fortuna Dusseldorf and put in a pedestrian performance against Freiburg to start the season. Aston Villa last year and Tottenham two years ago never seemed to recover. This week in their first home game of the season, they seemed to get over their slump and thus the change in Fortuna.</li>
<li>This must be the best-rounded midfield Hamburg has had in a while. With Eljera Elia being an excellent left wing, Piotr Trochowski back in a more natural RW position, Ze Roberto as the runner and Jarolim as the holder, this midfield is perfectly balanced. It seems even better than when van der Vaart was there with De Jong behind him, because they didn’t have such good wingers at the time. Jarolim and Ze Roberto overwhelmed the Dortmund midfield.</li>
<li>Part of this was Sahin. Unlike last week, he seemed absent as Kehl’s replacement. Had the captain been out there, I don’t think Hamburg would have had such dominance in attack. Sahin didn’t show up until the 29’ minute and that was for a shot on goal. </li>
<li>Roman Weidenfeller’s error on the first goal was ridiculous by the standards of ridiculous keeper gaffs. He came out for a cross and pulled away from it. It took more effort to stop himself punching the ball to safety than to carry through with his initial moment. He’s never came off to me as shaky on crosses, like Neuer, but maybe it’s time to reevaluate. </li>
<li>Marcus Berg (who has also scored today) had good movement and looks to be another great addition to the Dinosaurs. On the final goal, it was his pressure on Santana that forced and errant clearance, which Ze Roberto one-timed for an effort on goal. Weidenfeller got to the ball but parried it in front of goal, where Berg was ready to pounce, splitting Schmelzer and Santana.</li>
<li>This is the second week in a row that a tactical decision by Horst Hrubesch at the U21’s in Sweden seems to have made an impact on a Bundesliga coach (last week I mentioned Hummels). Jerome Boateng, who had played mostly as a fullback, was given a job in the center for the winning German team. Labbadia is now playing Boateng, who had a solid game, at center-half too, despite spending money on Rozenthal during the summer. </li>
<li>I’ll admit that I allowed Ze Roberto’s age to cloud my judgment. I dismissed his move to Hamburg, rating is as interesting rather than significant. I couldn’t have been more wrong as he is just ageless. And I think Bayern Munich will indeed regret not granting him a two-year extension. He was wonderful against Dortmund, with his goal coming out of sheer determination. He also set up Berg’s and should have aided Elia in the 38’ on another. </li>
</ol>
<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" style="width:0px;height:0px" border="0" width="0" height="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNTA4MDI5NDM5MjEmcHQ9MTI1MDgwMjk*ODA3OCZwPTIzNDQ3MSZkPSZnPTEmbz1lYjQ4NGQyOGFmNWQ*YTBjYTg2ZWM*ODRhN2EwYzE5MA==.gif"></figure></div> <a href="http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2j26t5k&amp;s=3">Original Video</a> – More videos at <a href="http://tinypic.com">TinyPic</a>

The Set: Hamburg 4 – 1 Borussia Dortmund

The Set: Hamburg 4 – 1 Borussia Dortmund - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/wf/assets/_300x300.jpg" alt="BBC"></figure></div>
I had the opportunity to speak with Andy Brassell of the BBC’s excellent World Football Phone-in on Up All Night. I want to emphasize that for those of us who follow the Bundesliga, this show, although based in England, can be a massive resource. Tim Vickery, with his knowledge of South American Players, and Andy with his knowledge of the continental players as well as the Bundesliga itself can aid us in getting to understand new players to the league. Although I don’t cover it with Andy, he is an expert on the European competitions and he wrote a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-Nothing-Season-Champions-League/dp/1412080738/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1250617442&amp;sr=8-1">All or Nothing: A Season in the life of the Champions League</a> and he can answer questions about our clubs/opponents playing in Europa and Champions League. Feel free to call-in to the show and ask questions. I did. If you do, they will take your name and number and call you back so it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. I still want to call back about Geromel.
How did you become an expert on the continental game?
I kind of fell into it through freelancing via some European football titles. I was always interested. It may seem odd to someone younger today, but flying was a luxury when I was young so we didn’t get to see a lot of the European teams as England were shut out of the competitions due to Heysel. Seeing the likes of Real or Milan or even an Eastern bloc team was quite romantic in those days. It became a way of travelling inside his head 
Next I began to ask about new players in the league. 
I’ve heard from some that Anatoliy Tymoschuk might have come 3 years too late. What do you think?
It’s a very interesting thing. When he signed, I thought that is it for Mark van Bommel, as he seems like a double for Tymoschuk. However, he still is the captain and started the first game. But I know what you mean. If you look up the stats, you notice that he’s only 2 years younger than MVB. But he is still in fantastic shape.
Overall I think he’s going be a good signing. While there is a difficulty switching from the East to Center of Europe because they play at different season times, he should make the transition smoothly. There’s no sense of development as he will be able to come in right away and be a leader. He was bought for some immediacy and should be a hit straight away. And if you look at his skills, there shouldn’t be a doubt at his ability to be a big impact at Bayern: he never dives in, he has a good range of passing and he’s a leader. He’s always been a captain since he was a kid. So he’s not exactly a short term signing as they can still hope to get a good 3 years out of him. 
Danijel Pranji? and Edson Braafheid
The question is how the new signings will do. There’s a difference between proving yourself at a high level and proving yourself at a massive club. Boumjohann and Pranji? have proven themselves at the highest level, but how does that translate to the particular pressure of Bayern Munich, where every point lost is a crisis. Pranji? should be nailed on to be really good. He didn’t rush into his big move, waiting until the prime of his career. And his relationship with Braafheid, who should slot in at left back, will be important as they. LB is a position which Munich have been looking to fill so they can move Lahm to the right. Since both Braafheid and Pranji? are coming in at the same time from the same league, they could develop at the same rate together and it should be really interesting
Marcus Berg
Losing Olic was a big blow, so they needed more bodies up front. Berg has shown he can score, albeit in Holland and the U21’s. Can he make the step up to a bigger league? There are a lot of players that have scored in the Eredivisie only to fail elsewhere, so that is always a worry. However, he won’t have to start every game with Guerrero and Petric already there. He should be able to develop without pressure mounted upon him.
Eljero Elia 
He is “GREAT” signing. There were lots of big clubs in for him as he was great in the UEFA Cup. But he’s not a one year buy. More like a five year buy hopefully. I expect big things from him this year. 

David Rozehnal
He was excellent at PSG, but lost his way at Newcastle and Lazio. It’s odd, but he’s in so he’s in his prime but needs to re-prove himself. He’s rugged and physical, which is something Hamburg have lacked in the past. Since Van Buyten left, they’ve lacked a defender to take control of the game. But he can do it if he gets back to his PSG form and could form a great partnership with be a great with Alex Silva. 
Eren Derdiyok
His voice got very excited at the mention of this young player.
He looked absolutely terrific when he came into the Swiss national team and has been very good for Basel in Europe, scoring at the highest level. He looked to be going elsewhere, but I think he made a smart move to go to the Bundesliga where he will play more often. It’s so important to be playing every week when you are 20 or 21. He did take his time with his first move. After all, he has been fated for greatness since he was 17. He’s a terrific finisher. Very intelligent. He’s a big guy who can take a battering but has a nice touch and can see a pass. He’s definitely one to watch this season.
Maniche 
The key for him is to get fit. In the first game, he looked his chubby worst. When he’s on form, he can release an attack with the best of them. Even last year, he started off with Atletico like he ended with Porto, but faded. He’s always struggled with weight, which will matter in such a fast paced league, thus fitness will be his key. And he may play forward at times as they see that he can’t run enough to play central midfield all the time. 

Pavel Pogrebnyak
He is a great finisher: ice cold in front of goal. Good with both feet and good in the air too. He’s the guy you want when you have to have a goal. It might take a while to transition from Russia, but the Christmas break will help. I don’t think Pogrebnyak is inferior as a finisher to Huntelaar who would have cost 4x as much. He fell a bit of the radar due to his injury during the Euros but he is far superior to Pavlyuchenko, who is good, but wouldn’t have been noticed by the likes of Tottenham had it not been for the injury.
I asked about Hleb in respect to Martin Lanig and whether his progress would suffer. 
It’s all about having a squad. The thing that can derail teams, that out-do expectations, is dealing with the extra games, therefore Hleb will help them rather than derail Lanig. And it’s a good deal, as Barca are paying part of his wages.
I didn’t ask about Sami Khedira, but he did volunteer that he thinks the Stuttgart midfielder is going to be a really big star in the next 5 years.
Another player he offered up was Wolfsburg midfielder Karim Ziani. He is is defintely one to watch. He was underused at Marseille, who had an abundance of attacking midfielders, but he could be a terrific signing. 
I want to thank Andy for his time, as he allowed me to stray off-point to talk about Spurs at times. That was kind of him.

The Beeb's Andy Brassell Talks Bundesliga Transfers

The Beeb's Andy Brassell Talks Bundesliga Transfers - World Soccer Talk

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The Set: Hamburg 4 – 1 Borussia Dortmund

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The Beeb's Andy Brassell Talks Bundesliga Transfers