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Teutonic Tuesday: Oezil Sizzles in Freiburg, Hoffe Dispose Of Koeln, Bayer Hold Crisis-Stricken Bayern

In addition to a few standout team performances, round 13 saw all sorts of crazy/beautiful events, writes Clark Whitney...

Nov 24, 2009 7:40:55 AM

Bundesliga: Werder Bremen, Mesut Özil, Sebastian Boenisch (firo)

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Bundesliga: Werder Bremen, Mesut Özil, Sebastian Boenisch (firo)

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The Bundesliga returned to action with a series of highly entertaining encounters. There were upsets, blow-outs and a number of strange and noteworthy events (including Hertha winning a point), which are discussed towards the end of this column. But before all the individual awards, let’s first review some of the outstanding team performances from this weekend.

The first match that comes to mind is Werder Bremen’s 6-0 massacre of Freiburg. The visitors may have been held scoreless for the first 33 minutes, but by that time it could have easily been 3-0 after Daniel Jensen and Mesut Oezil both hit the post and a flurry of other shots came in. After Hugo Almeida opened the scoring in the first half, Werder attacked with the kind of clinical finishing that would have made the 2008-09 Barcelona squad proud. Nine shots were taken, eight were on target and five beat Freiburg goalkeeper Simon Pouplin.

Of the six goals, all but Marko Marin’s free-kick had one thing in common: Oezil was directly involved in each. On the day, the 21-year old earned a penalty, scored a goal in free play and recorded three assists. True to his role on the pitch, Oezil was something of a magician: he was always at the centre of Werder’s attack, yet he popped up all over the place. His ability to slide out to the left flank gives Oezil uncommon versatility as a playmaker, and makes him extremely difficult to man-mark. Whereas most playmakers can be marked out of a game, Oezil is slick and can elude a Simon Rolfes-type midfield anchor, while not compromising his effectiveness as his team’s main source of creativity.

Although there are some questions about whether such a young star will be able to perform at the World Cup, I say it would be foolish to underestimate him. Having been christened in Germany’s U-21 European Championship victory in June, not to mention handily replacing Diego in Thomas Schaaf’s lineup, Oezil is no longer a rough yet shapeless talent. Now he is refined and he is absolutely ready to play a starting role in Jogi Loew’s squad. Sebastian Giovinco, eat your heart out.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim’s 4-0 rout of Koeln may have been overshadowed in terms of goals, but could have been an even bigger victory than Werder’s. Pedro Geromel, in particular, had been immense in central defence and was among the league’s best in his position. Yet, against Hoffenheim, it was like a completely different Koeln side had turned up. The visitors were 2-0 up within 11 minutes and coasted to a comfortable 4-0 win. Carlos Eduardo was inspired, scoring the opener before setting up Demba Ba’s fantastic effort to make it 3-0. In between, Eduardo dribbled through the Koeln defense and set up a number of other good chances. Even Geromel was beaten late on, conceding a penalty to Vedad Ibisevic in the closing minutes. Having risen to fourth place, Hoffe remain in the title race and stand a good chance of qualifying for a European berth. Wouldn’t it be great to see the village team compete on Europe’s grandest stage?

In Munich, the 'match of the year' was anything but. Bayern started off with some confidence and took the lead after a classy finish from Mario Gomez, but Leverkusen fought back and took advantage of a horribly organised offside trap as Stefan Kiessling netted his league-leading ninth goal of the season. Leverkusen should have scored another, but missed their chances. In the second half, Leverkusen were content to sit back and absorb the pressure. It didn’t take long for Bayern to resort to passing along the defensive line, the midfield having completely run out of ideas. Gomez had a great chance to win it late on, but was denied by the brilliant Rene Adler. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Many maintain that Louis van Gaal is on his way out at Bayern, but I’m not convinced. They cite Van Gaal’s record, which is slightly worse than that of Juergen Klinsmann at this point a year ago. What they forget is that Klinsmann had Franck Ribery at his disposal for most of the fall campaign, whereas Van Gaal has not. The current head coach has vastly improved his team’s defence, for one thing, but his players’ morale has diminished to nothing after a series of poor results. Failure breeds failure and, at this point, it’s hard to tell what will happen next. At the very least, it would be tremendously expensive for Bayern to sack Van Gaal and getting rid of him would not guarantee any upturn in results.

Last on today’s menu, some sobering news that is unravelling away from the pitch. On Thursday, police in Britain, Switzerland, Austria and Germany carried out 50 raids and arrested a number of people associated with match fixing. Sunday’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung revealed an even bigger investigation, citing 200 matches that were allegedly fixed. Thus far, no Bundesliga matches have come under investigation, but several 2. Bundesliga matches have. I won’t say much because public knowledge is currently limited. That said, it would be a real shame if Europe’s most competitive league were only so unpredictable due to foul play. Let’s keep our fingers crossed…

Comedy of Errors Award: Daniel van Buyten, Holger Badstuber, And Bastian Schweinsteiger

This was a real team effort. First, a little background: it was the 86th minute of a 1-1 draw between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen. Bayern had been pressuring their guests for quite some time and Mario Gomez had just seen a brilliant effort denied by an even more impressive save. Mark van Bommel drew a foul at the edge of the penalty area, setting up a golden opportunity for the hosts.

Van Buyten, Badstuber and Schweinsteiger all stood around the ball. Who would take the free kick?? The suspense was immense! The events that would unfold were…less so. The ball was touched into play, the three hesitated and the ball was passed away as Leverkusen’s wall rushed forward.

And so, I ask: is that Louis van Gaal’s fault?

Near-Assist Of The Week: Toni Kroos
Runner-up: Logan Bailly

Watch Kroos’ clever set-up here, at 2:05. His pass caught the defence completely by surprise and was reminiscent of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s assist to Pedro in Barcelona’s recent victory over Mallorca. Too bad Stefan Kiessling was a hair offside…

To see Bailly’s (yes, he’s a goalkeeper) less impressive but infinitely funnier near-assist (Karim Matmour was offside), go to 6:05 here.

Gary Neville/Paul Robinson Award For Outstanding Own Goal: Marco Russ/Oka Nikolov

Yes, it’s a bit of Schadenfreude, but then again this is a Teutonic column. Watch here as Russ clears a cross…off his goalkeeper’s head and into his own goal. A Failblog-worthy moment.

“How Did He Get Away With That???” Award: Andreas Wolf
Runner-up: Raphael Schaefer

Nuernberg may have beaten Wolfsburg on Saturday, but they didn’t do it in a pretty way. After Grafite drew Wolfsburg level, Wolff, who was already on a yellow card, performed a Kung Fu kick on Edin Dzeko’s face (7:30 here) and was only called for an ordinary foul. Yes, for his Cantona-worthy effort, Wolff was rewarded with the same punishment awarded for shirt-tugging.

For Schaefer’s near award-winning kick, fast forward to 7:50. Gents, cross your legs.

Goal Of The Week: Marko Marin, Freiburg 0-2 Werder Bremen

This is what happens when a goalkeeper doubts that a shot can be made directly from a free-kick. Simon Pouplin set up a meagre wall of two players, prepared for a cross and was beaten at his near post. Excellent execution from Marin, who curled in his shot with pinpoint accuracy, and made a tricky shot look easy.
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3977356/

Match Of The Week: Wolfsburg 2-3 Nuernberg

This one may have gotten a bit ugly towards the end, but overall, it was an exceptional match. A relative lack of fouling allowed the play to flow well and both sides earned their share of possession and goalscoring opportunities. The score was 0-0 at the half but in the second period a flurry of goals came in. Albert Bunjaku and Ashkan Dejagah traded goals before Bunjaku put Nuernberg ahead again in the 64th minute. As full time approached, tempers flared, and Wolfsburg drew level following a penalty. Nuernberg got the last laugh, however, as Peer Kluge finished on a breakaway just before the referee’s final whistle.

Clark Whitney, Goal.com

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