The first place in the table rotated by 180 degrees is awarded to SpVgg Greuther Fürth. That won’t surprise anyone, not even those responsible in Fürth. The “clover leaf” would certainly have wished for a little more competition.
Scale upper performance limit
There have been clubs like SC Paderborn, which was relegated on the last match day, but was still allowed to rightly speak of having mostly reached its upper performance limit. That should be the benchmark.
“If we actually managed to stay in the league, we would have done a miracle and it would be the culmination of my coaching career so far.“That’s what Thomas Reis said, and that’s okay for a coach at VfL Bochum.
The club has proven to have more modest resources than many of its competitors. But it would certainly not be a “miracle”, because Arminia Bielefeld, for example, has demonstrably modest means. VfL Bochum is undoubtedly one of the clubs that, according to their standards and those that are created from outside, have a plus behind the preliminary round.
This also includes SC Freiburg, 1. FC Köln and 1. FSV Mainz 05, who have a coach in Bo Svensson who doesn’t tell you what his team should or should do great. You can see that with the Mainz team. With the Cologne residents too, and with the Freiburg residents too.
Frankfurt needed a little time for the plus
At Eintracht Frankfurt it took a little time for the team and Oliver Glasner to trust themselves so much that their plans were turned into good results and an attractive football game.
TSG Hoffenheim is also one of the clubs that have more arguments in favor of a plus than a neutral.
This is how Bavaria works
FC Bayern loses at home to a then still ailing Eintracht and at FC Augsburg. Munich then wins the only duel at Borussia Dortmund with which the Bundesliga can still cause a stir from an international perspective.
This is how Bavaria works. It’s nine points ahead again, although Julian Nagelsmann still has a lot to improve. Anyone who sees how a Leroy Sané has already developed under him, especially in defensive behavior such as counter-pressing, suspects that the Munich team will probably move further away from the rest.
BVB in a tight spot
Apart from Bayern, the Bundesliga and Borussia Dortmund still have the force of nature Erling Haaland as marketing potential. The striker saved BVB from many a precarious situation in which poor defensive behavior had brought him. But it didn’t work out in the end either: four points only from games against Bochum, Fürth and Hertha.
Dortmund lost five games in the first half of the season, more than Freiburg, Frankfurt, Union Berlin and 1. FC Köln. BVB is in a fix between Bayern, which he cannot get at, and the rest, who still can’t get at him.
Long list with minuses
VfL Wolfsburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart, FC Augsburg, Hertha BSC despite the upswing after the change of coach – the list of negative teams is quite long, but the reasons for many poor results and undesirable developments must always be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Union and Leverkusen remain. The Berliners get a plus, although they left the points where they are on the street – in Fürth. The factory club gets a neutral, although – as of now – would be qualified for the Champions League.
Voltage only for the domestic market
Mediocrity is the benchmark in the Bundesliga. As fourth, Leverkusen has a bigger deficit on the leaders than a lead on a direct relegation zone. So there are big changes in the table, at least for small series.
Voltage can also be sold in this way, but only on the domestic market. The situation is cemented at the internationally relevant end of the table because there are no efforts whatsoever to change this.
Status: December 20, 2021, 10:00