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Bundesliga Recap: Three Points From Sunday

Bundesliga Recap: Three Points From Sunday

14.09.2014 21:47

Sunday's matches in the Bundesliga capped a weekend where the first signs or concern are forming on the brows of certain Bundesliga trainers. That includes Mirko Slomka, Thomas Schaaf, and - surprisingly - Pep Guardiola. Back to the drawing board for Hamburg Mirko Slomka was appointed towards the end of last season to save Hamburg from relegation, which would have been the club's first in its history. He did the job, but the next part of the plan in Hamburg was for Slomka to keep the team out of relegation danger from the offset this season. That is still a work in progress. After a goalless draw against Cologne - one of the league's promoted teams - and an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Paderborn, the other promoted team, to kick-off the season, Slomka started seven new players compared to last week for Sunday's match with Hannover. Brazilian defender Cleber, Matthias Ostrzolek, Lewis Holtby, Zoltan Stieber, Nicolai Müller and Julian Green were new in the lineup. Czech goalie Jaroslav Drobn

Sunday's matches in the Bundesliga capped a weekend where the first signs or concern are forming on the brows of certain Bundesliga trainers. That includes Mirko Slomka, Thomas Schaaf, and - surprisingly - Pep Guardiola.

Back to the drawing board for Hamburg



Mirko Slomka was appointed towards the end of last season to save Hamburg from relegation, which would have been the club's first in its history. He did the job, but the next part of the plan in Hamburg was for Slomka to keep the team out of relegation danger from the offset this season.



That is still a work in progress.



After a goalless draw against Cologne - one of the league's promoted teams - and an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Paderborn, the other promoted team, to kick-off the season, Slomka started seven new players compared to last week for Sunday's match with Hannover.



Brazilian defender Cleber, Matthias Ostrzolek, Lewis Holtby, Zoltan Stieber, Nicolai Müller and Julian Green were new in the lineup. Czech goalie Jaroslav Drobny got the nod in goal over German international Rene Adler.



But Slomka, who served over two decades as a player and coach at Hannover, quickly saw that even a revamped lineup did no hold the answers for his struggling side. Tayfun Korkut's side dominated the game from the beginning and took a 2-0 lead by the 24th minute.



The loss has put Hamburg in dead last in the Bundesliga. There's still over 30 matches to play this season, but surely Slomka thought he'd get a little more time to prepare before Hamburg - and Slomka himself - landed in hot water once again.



Next week, the Red Shorts are up against Bayern and then they're on the road against Gladbach. Neither are exactly friendly opportunities to fight for points in the table or to protect Slomka's job.



Bayern's Badstuber blues



It was a more or less a perfect day to be a Bayern Munich fan on Saturday: the team welcomed back Franck Ribery to Allianz Arena - he came on in the second half and scored a goal - and easily beat Stuttgart 2-0.



Everything seems to be good in the Bayern universe – except for one seemingly irrelevant play that turned out to have serious consequences.



Holger Badstuber was subbed off near the end of the first half after twisting his thigh awkwardly on a shot on goal. It didn't look too bad: he walked off the pitch and looked more annoyed than hurt. Upon closer inspection Sunday, however, word came back from the team's doctor that the defender had ruptured a tendon in his left thigh. He'll need surgery, and we're not likely to see him again before Christmas.



His return to the first-team was only just beginning, as he'd been out since December 2012 with a serious knee injury.



Bayern have enough depth to survive without Badstuber in the league, but Pep Guardiola could have used the versatile left-footer at full strength for the later stages of the Champions League. Now, even if he is fit, Badstuber will have find his way very quickly back into the squad when he's fit again.



Can Frankfurt find the frequency?



The beauty of the Budnesliga lies in the fact that there are never a lack of surprises. The early season standings are, of course, not indicative of where the teams will end once it's all said and done this year.



However, there are moments now that can make all the difference. For example, when it comes to fighting for a spot in the Europa League qualifiers.



Take Eintracht Frankfurt: by all accounts, they'll probably end up in the upper half of mid-table by the end of the season. But, if they go on to miss out on a spot in European competition because they're a point or two shy of a team like Hannover – who looked great on Sunday – they can look back to Sunday's game against Augsburg.



In front of their own supporters, Frankfurt were in a position to move even with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table. It's never bad to maintain pace with Pep Guardiola's side for as long as possible, even if it is just three games in.



Instead, Frankfurt squandered their home advantage and they were outplayed by Markus Weinzierl's Augsburg. Yet, Frankfurt, in fairness, were robbed of a clear penalty early on in the game when Augsburg's Dominik Kohr pulled on Vaclav Kadlec's jersey and clearly kept him from chasing a loose ball that could have at least yielded a shot on goal.



The referee for this match, Manuel Gräfe, apologized to Frankfurt coach Thomas Schaaf after the game for the missed penalty. Apparently, the sideline official tried to inform Gräfe of the infraction via headset, but the communication devices weren't working properly.



"The penalty would have certainly helped us," Schaaf said after the game. "We made too many mistakes. We'll have to work on many of them – but not the headsets."



Schaaf won't think of the misfiring headsets if, down the line, he's finding that his team is constantly a few points adrift of the leaders in the league – but he'll know exactly where he could have picked up at least a point in the early days of the season.



On the subject of the Bundesliga table, the new cellar dwellers offer at least an amusing reminder that no one is safe in the Bundesliga. Hamburg and Stuttgart would be sent down to the second league if the season ended now, while Schalke would find itself in a relegation battle.



 
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