Biggest surprise this season

[Coldplay]

Many young players this season. Who is the best surprise of far??

1) Castro
2) Tasci
3) Schlaudraff
4) Hunt
5) K.P. Boateng
6) Ebert
7) Dum
8) M.Gomez
9) Chihi
10) Helmes

[gk_milan18]

No.1 Schlaudraff No.2 Castro no.3 Ebert

[scorpion2a]

I can't say that Castro impressed me that much guys. Nor did Dum, Gomez, Chihi, or even Ebert.
I'm impressed with Schlaudraff, yet he's no surprize cuz I've seen him play before he was known and I guess he developed more. Helmes impressed me cuz he's young and topping the strikers list in Bundesliga 2. However don't let us get driffted. It's just the 7th weak and still long days to come. Let's see who will withstand the pressure and come victorious eventually.

[PiotrTrochowski]

1. Helmes (it's amazing how he has developed into a perfect player - I cannot wait until we see this guy in the national team! :))
2. Castro
3. Gomez (I thought he was **** until this season :D)
4. Fritz
5. Tasci (I expected him to be good - but not THAT good!)
6. Schlaudraff (still far from being a very good striker but he has the talent to become one)
7. Hunt (he's on fire at the moment. Very good for German football!)


players like Boateng didn't impress me because they were already great last year so I'm used to it :D

[elmubarak]

how good is this helmes? he's only in 2.bundesliga right?

[Schwalker]

I´m with Scorpion on this, let´s wait for the Christmas break before we proclaim the next messiah...

[Coldplay]

Ohh!! I've left out Andreas Ottl of Bayern Munchen, doing exceptionally well this season so far. And i think he has established himself as a starter in the squad ahead of Demi.......anywayz, this is really a good season for youngsters.

Mario Gomez, Schlaudraff, Hunt and Helmes are really impressing. But Kiessling, Lauth, Kuranyi and Hanke are really the "outs" of this season.

[Gerry_BMG]

1. Helmes (it's amazing how he has developed into a perfect player - I cannot wait until we see this guy in the national team! :))
2. Castro
3. Gomez (I thought he was **** until this season :D)
4. Fritz
5. Tasci (I expected him to be good - but not THAT good!)
6. Schlaudraff (still far from being a very good striker but he has the talent to become one)
7. Hunt (he's on fire at the moment. Very good for German football!)


players like Boateng didn't impress me because they were already great last year so I'm used to it :D

I agree with that list except Fritz and Tasci... for one because Fritz played decent in Leverkusen already and Tasci I have never seen play live

[Coldplay]

How about Ottl? How do u guys think about him?

I think he has been doing great lately. Commanding, solid and smart play. He is quite veratile as well imo. Can play RB, CB and DMF. Is he a NT meterial tho? Dont forget Kehl is injured

[Coldplay]

How is Ottl doing?

[Coldplay]

Just an update:

Helmes who did extremely well before they injured is back to training. And hopefully we'll see him in action next week or so.

and my ranking goes like following:

1) M.Gomez
2) Schlaudraff
3) Castro
4) Hunt
5) Tasci
6) K.P. Boateng
7) Ottl
8) Helmes
9) Khedira
10) Ebert
11) Neuer
12) Dum

Surprised that Ebert didnt get his chance after a run of good performances at the beginning of the season. M.Gomez, i thought at the first place that his good performance was only temporary, but now he is by far the biggest surprise this season. Schlaudraff's form fluctuate..........but he whenever he scores, he scores great goal. This week another classic performance by him. N seems like he has scored a few goals in this fashion this season already. Go The German version of Henry!!

But i have my disappointments for this season as well.........

1) Kiessling (Still yet to score a goal in Leverkusen)
2) Brzenska (He was once mentioned to be part of the NT!!):salute
3) Chihi (We dont need him, he is hyped anyway:salute :salute :salute )
4) Polanski

[Al_the drummer]

Hunt, Gomez and Schlaudraff have been excellent. Boeteng has always impressed, been surprised with his versatility, looks like a quality all-rounder. Never seen Tasci or Helmes play.

Ottl fits perfectly the description Eric Cantona once gave to Didier Deschamps, 'the water carrier', a real hard worker. I'm not really sure he can be a top class player because these days in the best teams even the 'water carriers' must have solid technique and I this is where I think Ottl falls a little short. I would say Kruska is a better bet in this position simply because he is a more technical player.

Best of the bunch has to be Gomez for his clinical finishing, never thought I'd say that.

[bastian]

Coldplay, Kiessling already scored once against Bayern.

[scorpion2a]

Hmmm.. with time and 13 rounds over now, I can say that Gomez is building a case. Schlaudraff still remains my greatest thrill. But Gomez managed to provide me with a smile for his consistent performance & determined approach. However.. give me more time, cuz I need to judge better. And let's hope injuries stay away from our prospects.

[saurabh_bvb]

What a beauty of a goal by schlaudraff against bremen...i've heard n its obvious that this guy can also play as an attacking midfielder...cud be an absolute asset for the NT...a out n out AM is what they have been lacking

[Mertesacker]

* Schlaudraff
* Gomez (I thought he was a 2nd Jancker)
* Wächter (I thought he would be better)
* Mnari (brilliant player)

[Distant Voices]

Ottl reminds me of a young Hamann-breaks up attacks, plays it simple...could be a very good player

[Faram|R]

1.Mario Gomez - He prove me wrong!!He can actually play football!!
2.Jan Schlaudraff - Never heard about him before but he is on the way to become a NT regular player soon.
3.Serdar Tasci- One of my favourite player. I will draft him to the NT rather than Madlung if I'm Loew!!
4.Andreas Ottl- Not really that bad anyway. Loew will call him soon, maybe some friendly match for him in 2007...
5.Manuel Neuer- Give him time... he will become one of the best gk in the Bundesliga soon..

[Faram|R]

I almost forget about Hunt, he's been on excellent form lately

[Coldplay]

Seems like Ashkan Dejagah will be added to the list. He played very well last match. Impressed me a lot.......

But didnt he say that he prefered to play for Iran before? This scenario reminded me of zandi, but anyway, we have Hunt playing in exactly the same position

[bastian]

Seems like Ashkan Dejagah will be added to the list. He played very well last match. Impressed me a lot.......

But didnt he say that he prefered to play for Iran before? This scenario reminded me of zandi, but anyway, we have Hunt playing in exactly the same position


He's playing for Deutschland youth atm, and i dont remember he saying that he'd prefer Iran. I think he'll chose Deutschland uber alles. :drinkbeer

[Gerry_BMG]

bastian aka deutschMaster ist right.... he will come crawling

[The Southern Dandy]

**** him.

[PiotrTrochowski]

But didnt he say that he prefered to play for Iran before?

He didn't. Look at the "Hunt Vs. Dejagah" thread, I posted something about his allegiance there. :drinkbeer

[bastian]

bastian aka deutschMaster ist right.... he will come crawling


Bastian should be written with Uppercase mein hübscher Schüler :drinkbeer :drinkbeer

[Coldplay]

After 31 weeks of the season, i now have to say that this season is a great season for youngsters developmet. 17-20 year old do stand up and played a few BL1 games. Marin, J.Boateng, Ozil, Khedira n Schorch have already been tested and have relatively good impace on their teams. Many "rising stars" such as Gomez, Tasci, K.p. Boateng n R.Adler are even very close to NT level


1) Mario Gomez (Still injuring, buthe is extremely dangerous when he is fit again, a big Man with pace and technique, that is always dangerous, comparing him to Gekas who is red hot in recent weeks,i still think Gomez is more of a threat when he isn't injured than any other strikers in the league even comparing to Klose, Gekas or Frei)

2) Sardar Tasci ( Well, he is already the 3rd best CB we could have in the NT
after Mertesacker, Metze. I can see him playing for our NT very soon)

3) Mesut Ozil ( A really good creator. Very good technique with a very good left foot. As a AM/Supporting forward, he has something to give our NT.Afterall, we lack this type of technical players in the squad despite the aging Schneider and Schlaudraff whpo hasn't really been tested or playing for top teams. Ozil reminds me of Scholl, and his creativity will be leading us to another level. Playing regularly with a team that is leading the league isn't easy for an 18 year old. And obviously he is handling well. But i hope he can work on his finishing and shots if he wants to be really comparableto other good AM in the league)

4) Manuel Neuer ( Best keeper in the League atm, enough said)

5) Jan Schlaudraff (A great assister instead of a great Striker, may well be playing AM in Bayern, but i think he will fit better at this position)

6) Andreas Ottl (Real fighter with solid long shots, start to play regularly in Bayern, good sign, but the DM nowadays usually possesses better techniques than the old days, just like Emerson, Vieira, Pirlo. He needs to work on his technique. However, i m glad that he can have experience playing in the Champion League when he can learn a lot. Playing as a starter makes him gain more as well. This is not a good season for him to break into Bayern's first team tho. )

7) Gonzalo Castro (Kinda overrated. IMO, a natural talent, no doubt, but we can still give him one more season to prove himself as a consistent good performer. He played great at the beginning of the season, but after the winter break we only produced some mediocre performances. If he was called to the NT earlier this saeon, i think thats more reasonable than now)

8) Sami Khedira (I see him as the successor of Ballack, prove me wrong if you've sen him played. Very dominating in the Central midfield, work hard, tough guy with solid long shots. )

9) Patrick Ebert ( Precise, accurate long balls, n decent technique has already made him known as "the new Deisler". IMO, he doesn't have the class yet as he is still 19, but he is even quicker and more creative in the central midfield. Love to see him play more but he is not a regular starter in Hertha unfortunately)

10) Rene Adler (huge Talent, in terms of talent he is even more impresssive than Neuer, but he cant maintain his good form n effieciency after the 4th week that he starts to play but at the age of 22, is still very young fora keeper. I m expecting so much more next season from him. He is the most talented keeper i've seen in years after Hildebrand)

11) Jan Rosenthal
12) Chuchy Pagenburg

Players such as Aaron Hunt, Mertesacker, K.P. Boateng, Kruska, Kiessling, Helmes. Their talents are disccovered in season 2005/06, so they are not on the list. But These two seasons in particular, there a many players who break into the NT with solid performance. Castro, Gomez, Kiesling, Schlaudraff are good example. I can see Tasci, K.P. Boateng, Ottl, and Ozil are coming in sooner or later. And M.Fischer, Kroos, Marin will be the next three players that i would like to look into.

Disapointments such as Polanski, Dejagah, Brzenska well i can only see Dejagah may reobrn again in Wolfsburg. The other two, well, they are just not good enough from what i can see. Nothing more to blame. I can see these players as Timm, Bierofka, Ricken, Michalke, Reich..........were once hyped and very close to international level but the result is that they failed to make a impact in long run or even for a season as they dont possess enough quality. I was blaming the management of Monchengladbach before for not playing Auer, but now i understand why. He is just not that material.

[Gerry_BMG]

Polanski was hyped and is/was overrated it seems, but Dejagah and Brzenska werent hyped and werent even close to NT honors. Dejagah has potential, but Brzenska is somebody who does the best out of his limited skills. No NT material for anyone reasonable :drinkbeer

As for surprises, I think Manuel Neuer is the surprise of the season...
How good he adapted to the BL and shows confidence is very impressive.
Gomez and Ottl got to be up there aswell - for surprises. About Ottl, I dont think he will be a good thing for National Team football. In near future modern football you can not affort to have a not very technical schooled player in midfield. The game changes... As the best example I can think of is Arsenal London where past Bundesliga playmakers, which only probably in Germany are still regarded as the most important player (Diego, Bayern discussion that they need a playmaker), are playing on the wings or as a "normal" player in midfield. The game changed and you can not give somebody the ball all the time like Wolfsburg does with Marcelinho. In the Bundesliga the defensive tactical abilities of the teams are not very far developed in contrary to other top class leagues, so this still works. But as you see in england and with all good teams, the real playmaker is dead.
Well, I was talking about Ottl... got drifted away.. :ninja
I wouldnt call him up until his technique improved a lot, else he would only slow down the game, since in modern football all midfielders (also the defenders), have to get involved in the attacking game, because of the developement of defensive (ball-orientated) tactical developement. For that they need quickness and technique. And both aint main skills of Ottl. Good enough for BL, in the state the BL is currently, but not international level. :drinkbeer

[Mertesacker]

Can't say that Tasci or Özil surprised me because I simply didn't know much about them before.

I was surprised by Gomez, because I thought he would be another Jancker. Also, i didn't think that Rosenthal would make the starting eleven of 96 lots of times this season.

[Faram|R]

I add another two player on my list :-
Sami Khedira - Talented player and with Stuttgart playing against big clubs around Europe next season he will get more exposure which is really good for him.
Mesut Ozil - I really don't want to see him playing for Turkey! Have a lot of potential and I think Loew should consider him in the next EC qualifier, maybe against San Marino...

[Coldplay]

I have left out Dennis Grote from Bochum as well. He is non-comparable to the top ten, but i'll say in terms of talent, he is pretty much the same as Rosenthal. Another left footer with decent dribbling skill and technique. Out of the youngsters that have listed, he is the only left winger who is discovered this season. Four assists in his first 5 BL matches this season is impressive, obviously a goal scorer like Gekas upfront can help this talented left winger's development a lot . Playing for Bochum this season may well make him gain a lot as well.
But honestly, i think Pagenburg will achieve more than Grote and Rosenthal one day. I see something special about this kid.

[Timonator]

Sami Khedira reminds me so much of Ballack. amazing. now what he needs to improve is scoring more goals.

[Coldplay]

Sami Khedira reminds me so much of Ballack. amazing. now what he needs to improve is scoring more goals.

Exactly, very dominating, very strong, very versatile..............I've seen him as the sucessor of Ballack and Boateng as successor of Frings. Hopefully these two imported players will be our future in the CM position. Ozil, Ottl, Marin and Toni Kroos too, the competition is massive in the CM position.

[OpaPritschikowski]

Mesut Özil and Manuel Neuer from FC Schalke 04 :nod

[mhrelayyan]

bayern poor form

[dixie]

The youngsters I have been most impressed with are Gomez, Neuer and Ozil

[Mertesacker]

It's a thing of beauty watching Khedira play.
I can't remember being so optimistic about German midfielders for a long time.

Don't forget a few years ago we had players like Heinrich, Bode or Strunz starting for Germany, things look much better now for the future with Özil, Kedira, Marin and Kroos (Dejagah and Boateng).

[Faram|R]

It's funny when I think back about those days in the late 90's when German NT have so many old player and it is almost impossible to find an 18 or 19 year old that can be nominated for the senior team... and now we have many talented 18-21 year old patiently waiting their chance to don the NT jersey..
I hope this trend will continue....

[Coldplay]

Neuer and Adler..........well both are highly talented keepers. England please dont envy us. But who is better?


I think Adler is more talented. His response, his handling is slightly better imo. But Neuer seems more consistent, more calm and more mature. Thats only what i think obviously.

[dixie]

Neuer and Adler..........well both are highly talented keepers. England please dont envy us. But who is better?


I think Adler is more talented. His response, his handling is slightly better imo. But Neuer seems more consistent, more calm and more mature. Thats only what i think obviously.

I like Neuer better but they are both very good. I remember thinking Neuer looked very confident if he had to come out of his area or take possession of the ball with his feet

[Faram|R]

I thought Adler was quite awesome in his first few matches but then he is still young and I expect him to do better next season. As for Neuer, look at Schalke now! He is really on fire and after Lehmann retired he alongside Adler will determine who have the rights to take the German 3rd choice GK.

[Coldplay]

To me, Neuer is already better than Hildebrand in terms of perofrmances n consistency.

But its tough, when u're still a 20 year old and there are more experienced keepers such as Hildebrand, Weidenfeller, Wiese, Enke in front of u. No matter how good u are, people especially the conservative Germans wont fully confident with a 20 year old keeper. Even Lehmann retire and no matter how good Neuer will be(he is currently the best keeper of the season), he wont be called up until he reaches 25-26 years old. Look at Wiese, he still doesn't get his chance.

3 keepers after Lehmann retirement will be Hildebrand, Enke and Wiese in a conversative view. But in terms of ability, Neuer, Wiese and Enke are my picks

[Timonator]

To me, Neuer is already better than Hildebrand in terms of perofrmances n consistency.

But its tough, when u're still a 20 year old and there are more experienced keepers such as Hildebrand, Weidenfeller, Wiese, Enke in front of u. No matter how good u are, people especially the conservative Germans wont fully confident with a 20 year old keeper. Even Lehmann retire and no matter how good Neuer will be(he is currently the best keeper of the season), he wont be called up until he reaches 25-26 years old. Look at Wiese, he still doesn't get his chance.

3 keepers after Lehmann retirement will be Hildebrand, Enke and Wiese in a conversative view. But in terms of ability, Neuer, Wiese and Enke are my picks

Excuse me, but are you having a laugh here?! Neuer better in terms of performance and consistancy?! :laugh You say that because the boy plays one good season? No my friend. Hildebrand is consistant for almost 5 years now...if Neuer repeads doing great like this season then you can say this but not now.

People never give Hildebrand credit and he IS one of the most consistant goalkeeper in the BL.

[Coldplay]

At the age of 20, with all these pressure and outplaying Rost. I think not only me but the managerial level can see something in Neuer.

Its kinda subjective to say Timo Hildebrand is more consistent and better keeper from ur mouth. But based on what i can see from Neuer, he is very mature and he is a gk talent that i have been waiting for after i first saw oli Kahn played in 1995. And answering ur question, yes! In terms of performances of this season, Hildebrand is good but just not as good as Neuer. And i can see this continuing as Neuer really has something special in him. I m not bias at all, since i m never a fan of Schalke. But Neuer deserves what he is having now.

It is obviously unfair to Hildebrand when comes to comparasion with Neuer. Czo Hildebrand has been producing solid performances for 5 seasons n Neuer is producing excellent performances in just one season that he has only played. I know how u feel. But at this point of time, Neuer is playing better this season n thats the key

Just kinda curious to know, after Lehmann's retirement from international football, who will be ur 3 top choice keepers in the NT?

[Mertesacker]

For now:

Weidenfeller
Enke
Hildebrand

Neuer, Adler and Rensing still need to prove themselves. They are in their first professional season for god's sake or not playing 1. Liga at all.

[Coldplay]

Will Ottl be a adequate replacement of Hargreaves? He is doing fine this season. Very determined, ver hard working and very energetic.

From importing Schlaudraff and their approach to buy Klose, promoting Kroos n Hummels to senior squad for training, i can see Bayern is following the trend and wanna play with more domestic youngsters in the long run. Hummels has played in the first team already in the DFB-Pokal. Does it imply that Ottl, who has been given many chance this season, is going to be an official replacement of Hargreaves from next season? I m hoping to see more German players playing in Bayern's squad. Celozzi on the Rb is also someone i like.

Der Kaiser's statment of 6+5 rule.......is it just a proposal. Or it is going to apply one day? I thought he was kidding when he said it. But now i can see the sign. Even Lell is involved in Bayern's first team. U can tell this 6+5 rule is going on. Good job DFB again!

[Timonator]

Hilde is not as spectacular as Neuer, thus it looks like he is "better". True quality will be seen next season. There are SO many player who have been a "one-season-wonder".

Timo was also young when he started to play for VfB. people seem to forget this. of course i m biased because i m sick of defending him. truth is timo has been a great leader this season and i will miss him a lot. dont even want to think about his last game for Stuttgart in Berlin when we fight for the Cup. this is going to be very hard for me. :(

[Schwalker]

I´m not really keen on the Neuer "hype", let the youngster mature for gods sake..But yes, he have had an outstanding year but funnily enough he and his mentor (Lehmann) expect him to have a slightly worse record next season...No one really knows why but goalkeepers often have this "second year" low before their performance becomes more stable.

That´s why we have signed an old Schalke GK in Mathias Schober..At 31 he will stand ready if/when Neuer hits a bad spell or get injured.

[Coldplay]

Neuer's mentor is Jens Lehmann? Or others?

[Zelda]

Jens Lehmann. He is Neuers huge idol, no wonder he plays similiar as a GK :drinkbeer

[Schwalker]

Lehmann was also coaching kid goalies when at Schalke...Neuer was one of the kids.

[ACBerb]

Biggest surprise of the season...
Bremen not winning the UEFA cup!

[Gerry_BMG]

Gladbach not reaching the UEFA-Cup spot :ninja

[Faram|R]

Bayern in the UEFA Cup next season?

[Coldplay]

One surprise of the season, Monchengladbach with decent player such as Keller, M.Jansen, Insua, Rafael has to be relegated. What a pity!

Dum did play extraordinarily well in first half of the season, whats going on with him now? Is he going to transfer to a new club like his teammate Schlaudraff? Going back to Leverkusen??

Seems like Leverkusen has a lot of talents coming in next season, Helmes, Sinkiewicz, Dum and Gekas.

[Mertesacker]

Seems like Leverkusen has a lot of talents coming in next season, Helmes, Sinkiewicz, Dum and Gekas.

Helmes will stay at Köln, They don't need the money. Eve without getting money for him from Leverkusen they will be able to ivest 8.500.000 in new players.
That's much much more than most 1. Bundesliga clubs.

Dum certainly didn't impress me that much this season.

[Timonator]

speaking of Köln spending money...they belong to the wealthiest clubs in the Bundesliga (even though they are in the 2nd league)

its not been said but köln was fourth in this:

03.05.2007
Werder Bremen kreditwürdiger als Bayern München

Tabellenführer Schalke 04 in der Bonitäts-Rangliste auf einem Abstiegsplatz


Der nächste Rückschlag für die Bayern in einer Saison ohne Titel. Werder Bremen hat bei einem Finanzcheck der deutschen Fussball-Bundesliga erstmals den regierenden Meister als Spitzenreiter abgelöst. Der UEFA-Cup-Halbfinalist ist nach einer Untersuchung der Wirtschafts-Kanzlei Creditreform im Auftrag der "Süddeutschen Zeitung" kreditwürdiger als der deutsche Rekordmeister. Die Bremer führen die so genannte Bonitäts-Rangliste mit einem Index von 1,56 vor Bayern München (1,86), VfB Stuttgart (1,86) und Hannover 96 (2,00) an.

In den Index gehen mehr als zwölf verschiedene Kriterien wie unter anderem der Umsatz, die Liquidität, die Zahlungsweise, das Vermögen und die Eigenkapitalstruktur ein. Bundesliga-Tabellenführer Schalke 04 belegt bei der Untersuchung, die seit 2003 jährlich durchgeführt wird, mit einem Wert von 2,90 nur den vorletzten Platz vor Energie Cottbus (3,14). Den mit Abstand schlechtesten Wert aller 36 Profiklubs weist der Zweitligist und ehemalige Schachner-Verein TSV 1860 München (3,94) auf.

Insgesamt stellte Creditreform-Vorstand Helmut Rödl den Profivereinen ein gutes Zeugnis aus. "Die finanzwirtschaftliche Situation im deutschen Profifussball hat sich im Vergleich zu den Vorjahren verbessert", wurde er zitiert. Die Klubs und die Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) befänden sich "bei der Konsolidierung der Finanzen auf dem richtigen Weg".

Laut DFL-Geschäftsführer Christian Müller machten sechs der 18 Erstligisten noch Verluste. Bei zwei Vereinen soll es sich um beträchtliche Fehlbeträge handeln. Die DFL hatte erst kürzlich allen Vereinen und Kapitalgesellschaften die Lizenz für die kommende Saison erteilt. Einige Klubs müssen aber Auflagen erfüllen. (apa) (hd)

[Zelda]

Werder Bremen kreditwürdiger als Bayern München

Tabellenführer Schalke 04 in der Bonitäts-Rangliste auf einem Abstiegsplatz :clap:clap:clap

Thx to Allofs and co :drinkbeer

[Schwalker]

Wait to cheer until Bremen must build a new stadium Zelda, how old is it now?...;)

[Zelda]

Wait to cheer until Bremen must build a new stadium Zelda, how old is it now?...;) At least its still called Weserstadion and has not the name of a beer :D :drinkbeer