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To paraphrase the title of my last entry, the fun didn't start on Sunday. Not that it was a horrible showing against 'Gladbach to open the season, but when the final whistle was blown, our 0-1 loss was highly disappointing. Funny that it came in the form of mistakes by two men, Jerome Boateng and Manuel Neuer, who cost FCB upwards of 40 million Euro on the transfer market this summer.
Neuer has accepted blame for the miscommunication between the two in the 62nd minute ("I got it!" "No, I got it!" "Errrrr... I don't have it..."). And the German press not-so-subtly let him have it; juxtaposing pictures of de Camagaro's ball sailing past him with pictures of him recieving his German Footballer of the Year trophy before the match. I'm inclined not to be too hard on him, however. I'll blame a short preseason for the two together, coupled with a literal belly ache for Manuel. Not an auspicious start, but not the end of the world, either.
Much more entertaining to me was Wednesday's glamour friendly match seeing Bayern / Dortmund taking on Brazil in Stuttgart. After not having beat the Brazilians in 18 years, Germany finally pulled one back. It was an excellent match for Bastian Schweinstieger, scoring a peno and assisting Goetze and Schurrle on their goals. Toni Kroos had a few near misses from outside the box and controlled the ball well. But, Mario Goetze, deputizing for Mesut Oezil, was rightfully the star of the day. Fantastic play by the Dortmunder! Looks to me like Lukas Podolski will be the odd man out when Mesut is called back to the DFB.
One note on Brazil: Where did they learn to dive like that? One can only surmise that too many Brazilians are playing in Serie A.
So, now we're back at it in the Bundesliga again, facing former Bayern trainer Felix Magath and Wolfsburg. Mr. Magath commented on our loss to 'Gladbach, "I'd rather play Bayern at the beginning of the season, before they're warmed up." True, true. We've now got a history of being slow starters. But with everyone available except Breno, our probable starting line-up is not too shabby.
Neuer, Rafinha-Boateng-Badstuber-Lahm, Gustavo-Schweinsteiger, Robben-Muller-Ribery, Gomez
The Wolves are also nearly full strength only missing Friedrich and Kahlenberg. And, will certainly be missing Diego.
Benaglio, Hasebe-Kjaer-Russ-Schafer, Ochs-Trasch-Josue-Salihamidzic, Helmes-Mandzukic
While Borussia Dortmund has come blasting out of the gate, and we took a stumble? Bayern fans? Have heart! After all, Dortmund lost their opener last season as well. So, perhaps Saturday is when the fun begins. Auf gehts!
You can follow Susie on twitter at: www.twitter.com/fussballsusie
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Comments
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Posted by Johann on 08/12/2011
Blaming Neuer and Boateng for the loss is unfair. While they are to blame for the goal which led to the loss, the Bayern Munich offense is equally to blame for not putting away their chances given the number of opportunities they were given.
Pointing fingers at the "new guys" in their debut isn't the proper way to deal with a disappointing game. Rather, let us understand that while those two in the defense didn't do their jobs, neither did the whole of the offense.
It is the entire team (and not just Boateng and Neuer) who need to come out and prove themselves at Wolfsburg. I have a feeling they will.
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Posted by Jay on 08/12/2011
Hey Susie,
You know what really pissed me off? That interview fcbayern's website had with Christian Nerlinger with the title "We have eliminated all our weaknesses". I admit we've gotten better but I feel our defense is still a bit too exposed and shaky & we still can't finish teams off/protect a lead the way Bayern used to.
I'd say we still need to get a classy CB/LB to have a shot at the CL Final. Lahm is having problems playing on the left (Brazil's penalty came because of his right-footedness and 180 deg. turn).
I was really impressed with the Schweini/Kroos double anchor in the brazil game, I wonder if Heynckes will give it a try (but hopefully it won't cost him his job like Van Gaal)
Neuer hasn't made the glittering start everyone was expecting of a $20 million goalie , I don't think he would have conceded Neymar's goal at his peak last year. The things I don't like is how he always throws his hands up and complains after every goal conceded.
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Posted by AHeartOfGoal on 08/12/2011
^ He throws his hands up as any keeper should. If the keeper has to make a stop at all, that means the back-line hasn't done their job.
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Posted by susie on 08/12/2011
Johann---
To be fair, Manu accepted the blame. Also, the CD's for Gladbach had a great match.
Dunno why we are not accepting that most teams won't run out at us.... We have to figure out a style that suits our opposition playing 10 men behind the ball.
Jay----
On paper, we are a better team than last year. Whether that translates to the pitch is another thing all together.
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Posted by johann on 08/12/2011
Susie-
Manuel may have accepted the blame, but as an excuse that's absolute bullshit. He accepted it because that's the noble thing to do. Because the CDs had a great match for Gladbach means Bayern just should accept that they were outplayed? In which half of the pitch was the majority of football played? Was Gladbach the better team overall?
To be fair, how many chances did the forwards blow? Manuel made a mistake, sure, but where was everyone else? How many mistakes did the forwards make? How many times was Gomez totally lost? When he wasn't, when was he actually on target? Are we going to praise the CDs for Gladbach or just accept that the Bayern offense brought little to the table?
I thought we Bayern fans were done making excuses...
To be fair, I'll call a spade a spade.People accept blame so the rest of the team doesn't have to. It's called being a team player. Neuer had a bad match. So did the rest of the team.
Time to step up.
Punkt.
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Posted by susie on 08/13/2011
Johann--
I spent a considerable amount of time, last season, bitching about not finishing. Didn't feel like doing it now, after the first match.
I'm never going to be an exhaustive blogger. I make snap opinions based on news stories, the match, or whatever catches my eye, really. And while I don't profess to know everything, I do hope I can entertain.
Maybe you have a better idea of where I'm coming from? :)
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Posted by Ryan on 08/13/2011
Despite the mix up that let in the goal,I don't think the defense has been entirely to blame for the loss against Gladbach. The Bayern attack lacked creativity the entire match. We can't keep trying to cross the ball if it doesn't materialize good scoring chances. There needs to be more flexibility, starting with Robben and Ribery (assuming they are both playing) making more cuts across the middle that can free up Müller and Gomez. Bayern needs to have a plan B ready for when teams park the bus in front of net, and we certainly have the lineup to make things happen!
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Posted by Johann on 08/13/2011
Susie-
I love your blog. I hope you haven't misinterpreted my criticism of die Bayern as a shot at you. A frustrating start to the season always leaves fans wondering if it's just more of the same. Let's hope for better today!
As for your blog, keep up the good work. Und scheiss Schalke.
JB
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Posted by Scott Meier on 08/13/2011
Schweini did not assist the Goetze goal. Kroos did.
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Posted by Dan on 08/13/2011
Definetely not a good start for Bayern , I am very disapointed after I saw today game , they gotta work something out since they arent playing well at all .
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Posted by Stefan on 08/15/2011
Bayern lack pace and movement in the final third, in comparison to Barca, Real, Man U, Dortmund who all attack with an intensive amount of pace and movement. This is the fundamental issue with the team right now (against Borussia and Wolfsburg). It maybe a tacticall error but Gomez has been static and slow as has Muller, also there is no place for Schweini, Gustavo and Kroos all together as it slows up the build up play. Byaern need to decide on the best midfield pairing and use Ribery and Robben to increase the pace and movement in the final third. Also Gomez and Muller need to wake up. I think our defense is getting there barring a few errors here and there
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Posted by Salim Abdulatif on 08/15/2011
Hey Susie, i still think we are too slow with our play, we play too many passes between defence and midfield and by the time we get the ball upfield the opposition are all packed at the back. We need to also play on the counter.
Posted by latibaba on 08/16/2011
hi susie,no matter what happen to bayern at a moment,i still strongly believe we have a better squad now and will definitely produce a better result as against last season and previous nearly TREBLE.
mia san mia.
Posted by Mitchell on 01/18/2012
It was dark when I woke. This is a ray of susnihne.
Posted by bystolic on 03/01/2012
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About
Susie Schaaf is a footie-obsessed German-American with a Brazilian passport. She promises to be completely biased whilst eliciting as many chuckles from you as she can. When she’s not writing, you can find her pouring pints at her local or on an airplane to anywhere. If you’d like to swear at or praise her, she can be reached at susie.schaaf@gmail.com |
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