A four-day weekend leaves us with loads of stories on the Bundesliga beat. From the Friday night kickoff to the Monday six-goal thriller, we've got it all covered for those who missed out on the initial post. League-Wide Talking Points: Round 21 Nagelsmann defers until Tuesday The Friday night fixture between Leipzig and Augsburg predictably proved a wretched game of football. Heiko Herrlich's Fuggerstädter racked up four first-half bookings; two of which could be considered accumulator cards. The outclassed Bavarians engaged in so many wince-inducing tactical fouls that, with better finishing, the Saxons might have heading into the dressing room up 4-0. Heading into this … [Read more...] about Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round 21
Hans Dieter Flick
Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round 19
German footballing enthusiasts could have hardly wished for a more intriguing round the second matchday of the 2020/21 "Rück-runde". All the madness of transfer deadline day may leave some still yearning to catch up with the previous weekend's talking points. There's no shortage of riveting storylines heading into week 20. League-wide Talking Points: Round 19 Cooling Iron After losses to Leipzig and Augsburg, the Bundesliga's Cinderella team couldn't quite hold off Gladbach at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. The 1-1 draw now makes it three winless matches for Urs Fischer and die Eisernen. While such a streak certainly doesn't offset all of the Köpenick club's marvelous … [Read more...] about Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round 19
Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round 13
We may not officially be at the half-way point of the season just, but the turn of the calendar year still constitutes a turning point of sorts. With 2020's final edition of this column long since filed, we'll re-post here for those with a little extra time over the Christmastide break. League-wide Talking Points: Round 13 Wolves scrap for the points The Bundesrepublik's final league fixture of 2020 might have been a higher-scoring affair were Oliver Glasner and Germany's green company team forced into a contingency plan. Shortly before the highly anticipated duel with VfB Stuttgart, starters Maximilian Arnold and Jerome Roussillon tested positive for COVID. At the behest of … [Read more...] about Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round 13
Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round 12
Nothing quite like midweek football in the Bundesrepublik! Writers and players alike have their fair share of extra work to get through; not that we would have it any other way. Those perhaps to pre-occupied to catch this Wednesday's post can catch up here. League-wide Talking Points: Round 12 The top two contenders roll on With Dortmund's status as a title contender put on indefinite hold after the coaching change, the two next best challengers to Bayern's uninterrupted eight-year-reign both kept pace with three-point hauls; albeit in radically different fashions. Julian Nagelsmann's Leipzig finally appeared burdened by lethargy against his old club Hoffenheim. Sebastian … [Read more...] about Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round 12
Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round Eight
Miss out on another comprehensive recap of last weekend's Bundesliga action? As a German would put it, "Keine Ursache". We've got you covered with the re-post. Some week. Stories galore! League-Wide Talking Points: Round Eight The best Golden Cannon race in years It gets immensely interesting. Erling Haaland's four goals put him on 10 for the season, just one off Robert Lewandowski's league-leading 11. Three players lurk behind in third place with seven tallies. Some may forget that, in Dortmund's 5-2 drubbing of Hertha, the rapidly improving Matheus Cunha also netted a brace. He sits in fourth place with six strikes Regarding the three players in third, Lucas Alario did … [Read more...] about Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round Eight
Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round Seven
Everything takes just a bit longer to come out of America these days. Miss out on the weekend round-up amid all of bluster and noise? No worries, we'll repost. League-wide Talking Points: Round Seven Hertha: "Symptome einer Besserung" Quick little German translation for those who enjoy the exercise. This is how the Süddeutsche Zeitung opted to describe Hertha BSC following their encouraging draw against Wolfsburg last week. It translates to "symptoms of improvement." Perhaps Germany's football writers could have picked a better description in a pandemic-age. The concept of "symptoms" doesn't really come attached with positive connotations these days. In any event, Hertha's … [Read more...] about Bundesliga Tactics Talk–Round Seven