Was great seeing an Uwe Rosler side playing in the top flight somewhere. Dussesdorf were...aggressive yesterday. Rosler nearly got booked himself. That said, I do rate him more highly than most and think he's a decent manager. Think he'll end up like a Felix Magath-type hardman firefighter.
If Mainz had a goalscorer they’d be clear of the relegation zone, even tho their defence is equally bad.
Latze, Quaison and Oztunali link up well with Mateta, but he just cannot finish.
Went to Mainz v Schalke last season, Mainz won 3-0 and was a great game and day.
Mateta scored that day when he came off the bench, was a handful. In fact, he done well last season scoring 14 goals. Just not really done it this season and that seems to be what has cost them.
If Mainz had a goalscorer they’d be clear of the relegation zone, even tho their defence is equally bad.
Latze, Quaison and Oztunali link up well with Mateta, but he just cannot finish.
To be fair if you have no goalscorer AND a defence that is equally bad, that is probably the definition of being a relegation candidate
Apart from the Leipzig game, they’ve created so many chances since the restart yet not taken them. What I meant by equally bad is they can defend well yet make such sloppy mistakes, conceding after 44 seconds today for example. 1 slip up and 8 wasted chances seems to be their downfall.
If Mainz had a goalscorer they’d be clear of the relegation zone, even tho their defence is equally bad.
Latze, Quaison and Oztunali link up well with Mateta, but he just cannot finish.
Went to Mainz v Schalke last season, Mainz won 3-0 and was a great game and day.
Mateta scored that day when he came off the bench, was a handful. In fact, he done well last season scoring 14 goals. Just not really done it this season and that seems to be what has cost them.
What was the town like? I know it’s a ‘carnival town’.
Watched all their games since the restart so if I was go and do a game in Germany it would be in Mainz.
If Mainz had a goalscorer they’d be clear of the relegation zone, even tho their defence is equally bad.
Latze, Quaison and Oztunali link up well with Mateta, but he just cannot finish.
Went to Mainz v Schalke last season, Mainz won 3-0 and was a great game and day.
Mateta scored that day when he came off the bench, was a handful. In fact, he done well last season scoring 14 goals. Just not really done it this season and that seems to be what has cost them.
What was the town like? I know it’s a ‘carnival town’.
Watched all their games since the restart so if I was go and do a game in Germany it would be in Mainz.
We stayed in Frankfurt but jumped on the train to Mainz. Big rivalry, more than people probably think
Their ground is a way off the main road, you have to walk for around 5 minutes or so to get to it. There is a shuttle that takes the supporters to and from the ground and the station, all transport was included in the match ticket too.
The town around the station was very similar to what you might find here in England, maybe somewhere more up north. Supporters mixed that day and were very good with each other. The police also were very good and you saw a lot of people laughing and joking with them.
Inside the ground, you have to put all bags into a cloakroom and it’s all very open, but if you want to go to the toilet you need your match ticket to be allowed back into the stands, even though it’s only place you could have just come from. I stood behind the goal where the supporters have a platform with a microphone and huge flags to create the atmosphere. They sing You’ll Never Walk Alone, in English, before the game.
Very much recommend going. This is a pano picture I took when I first walked out.
Also saw that after winning last night, Bayern's reserve side are now top of the 3rd tier. Just shows how strong Bayern are when their kids are top of a division that features sides like Duisburg, Ingolstadt (who were in the Bundesliga 3 years ago) and Kaiserslautern.
Timo Werner to Chelsea for 47.5m in todays market is an absolute bargain.
Lampard is building a very good young side there.
Incredible signing at that price. Chelsea making some very good moves.
Indeed. Werner and Ziyech in for a total of around 80m to replace Willian and Pedro is great business.
Chelsea are also said to be making a move for Kai Havertz too as the other big players for him are out of the running this summer. Real Madrid can't afford him as they're lining up a huge move for Mbappe next year and they need to sell players and Bayern have prioritised Leroy Sane and also can't afford him.
This weekend so far - 5 away wins and one draw. Yes a lot of these were favourites (though two teams won at 11/4 and 5/2 respectively) but these away sides have to play at home every other week and their so called favouritism is simply not evidenced by their home form
Since the Bundesliga resumed we have had:
Home Wins - 10 Draws -15 Away Wins - 27
If we take out the home games for Bayern and Dortmund this becomes:
Home Wins - 6 Draws -15 Away Wins - 26
That is absolutely staggering - excluding the top two, the home side has only won 13% of games (6 out of 47) since the re-start. Once again, excluding those two sides, the home team won 40% of matches (79 from 199) before the break.
Even including all the teams in the League only 19% (10 out of 52) of games post break have been home wins as compared to 43% before the break (97 out of 224)
It will be very interesting to see if this is replicated in the Premier League but even more so in the Championship where the gap between the top and bottom sides is much narrower.
Today's 11 Championship matches produced:
Home wins - 1 Draws - 4 Away wins - 6
Of the 6 away wins only Brentford were favourites and they were only marginally so at that.
Monchengladbach need a point to secure the 4th champions league spot.
Bremen v Cologne Union Berlin v Dusseldorf
Dusseldorf should need just a point to secure the relegation play off spot, as Bremen would then need to win by 4 goals. Bremen have scored 1 goal at home in 7 games. If Dusseldorf lose then a Bremen win will take them into the play off.
Promotion could be decided today in the Bundesliga 2 where Bielefeld are already up.
Nurnbeg v Stuttgart Heidenheim v Hamburg (4th v 3rd)
Stuttgart will be all but mathematically promoted if they win and so do Heidenheim. If Stuttgart drop points then it opens the way for either of the other 2 and we could go into the last round with all 3 sides chasing the last promotion spot.
Stuttgart won 6-0 and barring a last day miracle are promoted.
Big drama as Heidenheim scored a 95th minute winner v Hamburg and leapfrog them into 3rd and a play spot. If they match Hamburgs result on the last day then Hamburg will miss out on promotion again.
Comments
Leverkusen are gonna be knackered against Schalke tomorrow
Mateta scored that day when he came off the bench, was a handful. In fact, he done well last season scoring 14 goals. Just not really done it this season and that seems to be what has cost them.
Mainz also played the diamond last season.
Their ground is a way off the main road, you have to walk for around 5 minutes or so to get to it. There is a shuttle that takes the supporters to and from the ground and the station, all transport was included in the match ticket too.
The town around the station was very similar to what you might find here in England, maybe somewhere more up north. Supporters mixed that day and were very good with each other. The police also were very good and you saw a lot of people laughing and joking with them.
Inside the ground, you have to put all bags into a cloakroom and it’s all very open, but if you want to go to the toilet you need your match ticket to be allowed back into the stands, even though it’s only place you could have just come from. I stood behind the goal where the supporters have a platform with a microphone and huge flags to create the atmosphere. They sing You’ll Never Walk Alone, in English, before the game.
Very much recommend going. This is a pano picture I took when I first walked out.
Should be enough to keep them up.
Werder Bremen need to win the last 2 and hope that Mainz lose the last 2.
They also need to overturn an 8 goal deficit.
Next game is Mainz v Werder Bremen
So todays results have massively increased the likelihood of Bremen v Hamburg in the relegation/promotion play off
What a massive game between those 2 that would be
Lampard is building a very good young side there.
Chelsea are also said to be making a move for Kai Havertz too as the other big players for him are out of the running this summer. Real Madrid can't afford him as they're lining up a huge move for Mbappe next year and they need to sell players and Bayern have prioritised Leroy Sane and also can't afford him.
Puts them in big big trouble
Home wins - 1
Draws - 4
Away wins - 6
Of the 6 away wins only Brentford were favourites and they were only marginally so at that.
Monchengladback v Hertha
Leverkusen v Mainz
Monchengladbach need a point to secure the 4th champions league spot.
Bremen v Cologne
Union Berlin v Dusseldorf
Dusseldorf should need just a point to secure the relegation play off spot, as Bremen would then need to win by 4 goals. Bremen have scored 1 goal at home in 7 games. If Dusseldorf lose then a Bremen win will take them into the play off.
Promotion could be decided today in the Bundesliga 2 where Bielefeld are already up.
Nurnbeg v Stuttgart
Heidenheim v Hamburg (4th v 3rd)
Stuttgart will be all but mathematically promoted if they win and so do Heidenheim. If Stuttgart drop points then it opens the way for either of the other 2 and we could go into the last round with all 3 sides chasing the last promotion spot.
Big drama as Heidenheim scored a 95th minute winner v Hamburg and leapfrog them into 3rd and a play spot. If they match Hamburgs result on the last day then Hamburg will miss out on promotion again.