[01-02-08] Hansa Rostock vs Bayern Munich

tracylynn · **Post subject: [01-02-08] Hansa Rostock vs Bayern Munich**

Though this game is still a week away I figure we could get started talking about the first game of the new year. Hansa Rostock are not that bad at of a team so I think this game should be interesting to say the least. Any thoughts on who will win? What the score will be? Formations?

walter

Bayern wins, Schlaudraff will score his first goal of the season. Sosa will play a good game as well...

FCBinNYC

Is it kickoff yet? Why is the Bundesliga winter break so long? I'm ready for some entertainment tomorrow, I think Bayern will win comfortably though Hansa will probably find a goal somewhere. But as long as the Klose-Toni express keeps rolling along we'll be fine!

bogdan

gooool Ribery Mr. Green

0-1

Schweini_rules

I must say the best player was Sosa....then Toni. Klose and Ribery were just not themselves today. Anyway good game , tough game, not quite sure if we deserved to win 'coz Hansa fought for it. Glad we won though, and 3 points added.

Schweini_rules

oh and we could have done a lot better than we did today.

FCBinNYC

Ze and Van Bommel were horrible, Ze's only good touch of the ball was to set up Ribdog. Van Bommel was talking to the ref more than playing ball. First half was ok, but that second half made me want to poke my eyes out to make it stop!
As far as positives go, I liked Sagnol today, he gives that extra little bit that we were missing in the first half of the season. Sosa was ok too, Toni could've been sharper but he seemed his usual goal-scoring self for the most part. Despite the 2nd half sucking, these games are what win titles so I'm happy with 3 points. Bremen next week is what it's all about, anyway!

bogdan

mackoy

Not a good second half display from Bayern. I just don't know why Hitzfeld doesn't use all of his substitutes in every game. He could have at least give Schlaudraff some minutes on the pitch.

Swellu · Getting the hang of it Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 11

If Bayern continue to play like this it will be very hard to win anything! Hansa Rostock players were much better positioned in ground than Bayern players! Its not a players problem, it lies in Hitzfeld that should have never had his contract renewed last year!

When Hitzfeld replaced Magath remember? Bayern made absolutely no improvement finishing fourth because of God's help and because opponents where in worst condition than us!

tracylynn

I will have to disagree with you on the notion that it's not the players fault but Hitzfeld's. Actually, the problem lies between Hitzfeld and the players. It's obvious that this team can not go without Ribery. Once he was removed, and for good reason too since he was having problems with his thigh, that this team is lost without him. No other defender wants to truly stand up and claim a position and that is not good. That issue has to be addressed by Hitzfeld and the players' themselves.

As for last year, well, that team was a mess and Hitzfeld did what he could to keep the team from falling further behind. I think without him Bayern would probably not have made the UEFA Cup because there was no respect between the players and Magath and that really f**ked up the team.

IMO, the test will be next week when they play Werder Bremen. This game was the first game of the year and they came away with all three points. It may not have been a pretty win but, nonetheless, they still got the three points.

walter

I think a team fails because either a) players are not good quality, or b) the coach is making poor decisions tactically and/or not creating the necessary team cohesion and team spirit for the players to perform at their highest. Obviously there can be a combination of (a) and (b).

I think nobody doubts that Bayern has the best roster in the Bundesliga, including excellent depth in the bench. That said, I do feel that it is because of Hitzfeld that we are not getting the most out of the team. If a team with such great players depends so much on a single player such as Ribery, then thats a problem that has to do more with the coach rather than anything else.

The team has not lived up to expectations lately and struggles to impress. Hopefully Klinsmann will change things. A change is certainly needed. I think Hitzfeld is to rigid in the use of two defensive midfielders and should let MVB or Ze take more attacking roles. Its like every game we play with the same formation and tactics and this should actually change according to the opponent.

tracylynn

IMO, I don't think Bayern has excellent depth, including the bench. A fan should not get an uneasy feeling when certain players play or are subbed in. For example, Ottl. Heck, even when Van Buyten plays at time I do not feel too comfortable. Anyway, I would say that Bayern have a good bench but not an excellent bench. It may be an excellent bench for the Bundesliga but when compared to other teams in other leagues they do not have an excellent bench. There should be no reason for the team's play to go down when a player such as Ribery is removed. If the player taking his place is of high quality then the team's play should stay at the same level or go down just a little bit, but not go down a whole lot.

The reason why I am defending Hitzfeld so much is because everyone thinks it is so easy for a coach to motivate players and so forth but they are not looking at the players themselves. You can compare this situation to what a teacher goes through on a daily basis. Some players/students will perform better for some coaches/teachers but not for the others. Why is that? There could be many reasons, such as dislike or simply they feel not appreciated or liked themselves. Either way, no matter how much a coach/teacher puts in to get certain players/students to try their best and be motivated it all comes down to the players/students themselves to put that extra effort in. It's easy to say a good coach can do those things but in reality it's not. It's a give and take situation.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Hitzfeld is not part of the problem because I do think he is part of the problem. I'm just saying that he does not deserve all the finger pointing because we do not know what some of these players are giving back. If we were at their training grounds and in the locker room everyday then maybe we would know but we don't.

FCBinNYC

Despite all these issues between Hitzfeld and the team, I think it's important to remember that even teams with a squad as good as Bayern's can have bad days sometimes! I can't think of any top team in Europe right now that is 100% fun to watch every game. There's no doubt that our midfield needs to be more involved and that at times our defenders need to take a stand and just GO FOR IT more, but cut the guys some slack, at least they're still winning playing badly. It's not like Rostock was making it easy to play football, there was a whistle every 30 seconds! It's not the end of the world. Plus, BREMEN LOST TODAY so does anyone really care about Friday anymore? I sure don't!