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Hollerbach's Knackwurst - Bundesliga 2018/19

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    Dortmund up 1-0 at the half in the Revierderby away.

    Schalke somehow allowed Thomas Delaney a free header off of a Reus free kick within the first ten minutes, but have managed to be more competitive since that lapse.

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      Schalke came back via a penalty but then Dortmund scored again late(ish) in the second half to win 1-2. The announcers noted that there were 20 something points between the two sides. Schalke is obviously having a rough campaign even if they are assured of second spot in their CL group.

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        Lovely to see Allan Simonsen waving his ‘77 Ballon d’or on the pitch before the latest Gladbach home win yesterday.
        It was a privilege to see him that season and even to see brief clips of his revisit

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          Flew home from Germany yesterday after my sporting weekend break. Primarily I was there for 2 DEL hockey games (Die Adler won both matches) but I had the chance on the Saturday to take in Stuttgart v Hertha.

          Initial impressions of the stadium were reasonably positive. It's not quite as impressive as the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt (last December's trip) but it's decent enough. Good views of the pitch from everywhere but further back in the middle tier you can't see the scoreboards. The stehplatz was full but there were a fair number of empty seats. The ultras were noisier than their Frankfurt counterparts. Around the ground the facilities didnt quite match up. The walk from the U station to the ground doesnt have the same facilities that were available at Frankfurt. Distinct lack of bars, food stands and unofficial merch. Club shop is as you'd expect for a big club - decent size and range of products. Food at the ground was also a little less varied than at Frankfurt the previous year but it did the essentials really well, although the currywurst portion my mate got was rather small. Travel to the game was easy on the U11 and I like that they have 4 or 5 U11 trains waiting on sidings for full time to make sure that there's a constant stream of trains back to the HBF. Typical chaotic over-crowding on the U11 after the game but that's been my experience of football and hockey crowds and despite there being no segregation at any of the games I've gone to, I've never seen any trouble. Noticeably less police before the game than at Frankfurt last year, although there was a police presence at full time with road closures helping the crowd leave quickly and easily.

          The game itself was decent enough and probably highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of both teams pretty well. Stuttgart were by far the better team going forward but looked a little exposed at the back. Their final ball was woeful for much of the first half and Mario Gomez was given very little service. Hertha looked to play a solid, if unspectacular game, and tried to exploit chances when they came but you felt that it was a game that desperately needed a goal to come to life. Hertha duly delivered with an opening half strike that the keeper almost got behind. I'd blame poor goalkeeping for giving Hertha the chance as the Zieler looked to have lost his footing a little, before trying to recover and getting something on Mittelstadt's shot. 0-1 was a fair half time score but you always felt that Hertha would need a second if they were going to secure all 3 points. It was a lead that they wouldn't hold and Stuttgart started the 2nd half well. They changed shape, going to a back 3 when pressing for an equaliser, and their distribution was noticeably sharper and more purposeful. Service to Gomez was far better in the 2nd half and he bagged the equaliser, bundling home the ball after a nice header across the face of the 6 yard box by Nicolas Gonzalez . Stuttgart continued to press for a winner and Gomez again delivered a powerful header 7 or 8 yards out to beat the Hertha keeper. Gentner's ball into the box was a moment of class in a game that he'll remember for tragic reasons, his father having passed away in the stadium a little after full time. The visitors had their chances to level themselves in the closing minutes of the game and it took a nice save from Zieler to tip the ball over the bar for Stuttgart to secure all 3 points.

          You could see why Hertha have been in decent form in the league. They were pretty well organised and had chances, although they couldn't quite get a 2nd goal that would have probably put the game beyond the hosts and struggled to deal with Stuttgart's more aggressive attacking in the 2nd half. Stuttgart looked pretty good going forward and were by far the team more likely to make something happen but terrible service to Gomez in the first half left you wondering if they'd ever score and Hertha were finding some decent first half chances from a questionable Stuttgart back line. Mario Gomez showed the class that he's had his whole career. He's an old fashioned penalty box player - don't expect him to dictate outside the box or bring others into the game but if you get the ball to him in the 18 yard box then he knows how to put it in the back of the net.

          An enjoyable day off from hockey duties and my 2nd Bundesliga game now under my belt. Depending on the timing of next season's visit, I'd like to try either Kaiserslautern or Karlsruhe for what may well be a Bundesliga 2 or 3.Liga game depending on how this season pans out for both sides. I'd even like to see SV Waldhof Mannheim given that I'll be in Germany primarily for Adler Mannheim hockey. It's crazy that the Carl Benz Stadium in Mannheim can hold about 27,000 and yet Waldhof are languishing in Regionalliga Südwest.

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            Excellent report. It's worth noting that a lot of that infrastructure at Frankfurt is relatively new. It really wasn't there before the ground was rebuilt for the 2006 World Cup.

            For atmosphere, I'd recommend Lautern over Karlsruhe, though that is somewhat dependent on them at least being competitive. Their average attendance has fallen off a table in the last year or so.

            It is good to see Adler at the top of the table. I'd hate to see German hockey go all big money and leave the Traditionvereine by the wayside.

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              Originally posted by BallochSonsFan View Post
              everywhere but further back in the middle tier you can't see the scoreboards. The stehplatz was full but there were a fair number of empty seats. The ultras were noisier than their Frankfurt counterparts. Around the ground the facilities didnt quite match up. The walk from the U station to the ground doesnt have the same facilities that were available at Frankfurt. Distinct lack of bars, food stands and unofficial merch.
              Until about a year ago, there was a Shell petrol station about halfway along the road from Bad Cannstatt S-Bahn station (and very near to the end of the U-Bahn line), that was always rammed with football fans on match days. Was a very handy pre-match meeting place as virtually everyone on the way to ground walked past it and they must have made a small fortune in beer sales, and by charging 50 cents a time to use the bogs. But when I last went to a match in Stuttgart at the tail end of last season, the Shell station was no more. I think it's made way for residential development - the club want fans to congregate instead in the bars and official outlets in the commercial center just outside the stadium. You can also no longer hang about on the concourse for a post-match bevvy as the private security firms who are now responsible for the stewarding get everyone out and the stadium locked down as soon as possible after the match finishes.

              I would recommend either Lautern or Mannheim for your next visit - the way things are going, it could be a derby in the Regionalliga. Lautern will probably end up in mid-table in the third division but their financial problems (which have been ignored or not mentioned too loudly for the last year or so, the wailing and gnashing of teeth about relegation took priority) are mounting and the latest figures make for sobering reading. The club has to find 12 million Euros to get a license for the 3. Liga next season, they are losing five million per season (at least, and that's even after they got the town council to agree to reduce the stadium rent costs), and they have to repay 6.7 million Euros from a fan loan (which generated a load of cash the last time they had a financial meltdown) on August 1st.

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                Another home win for Gladbach and Dortmund lose for once.

                Now all we need is Bayern to drop points again tonight and the Herbstmeister table should look very nice indeed.

                (And of course I know it won’t last. In our case, there’s probably IngPrem money ready to fillet the team at Xmas)

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                  Contemplating going to Mainz tonight, getting to the stadium at least two hours early to secure a referee's ticket, then getting home probably after midnight. Have never been to the new stadium, and there's always the thrill of an away game under floodlights.

                  Most likely, though, I'm going to end up watching it at home on the high-definition televisual device in the corner of my living room with already bought snacks, beer and no stress. Shame on me.

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                    A referee's ticket? You're saying there's an upside to your masochistic hobby?

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                      Originally posted by Felicity, I guess so View Post
                      Another home win for Gladbach and Dortmund lose for once.

                      Now all we need is Bayern to drop points again tonight and the Herbstmeister table should look very nice indeed.

                      (And of course I know it won’t last. In our case, there’s probably IngPrem money ready to fillet the team at Xmas)
                      Watch Bayern not drop points and go on to win the bloody thing again. I truly hope not but...

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                        Like I said, I know it won’t last... but then again- who does..?

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                          Originally posted by G-Man View Post
                          A referee's ticket? You're saying there's an upside to your masochistic hobby?
                          There is - free entry to any game on German soil, theoretically. Often with restricted view or standing only, but still. When Eintracht play Bayern you have to get there hours early before supplies run out. And now that frau imp and younger impette have jumped on Adi's bandwagon, it's three rather than free tickets. And not tonight because I opted to get my most loathed task of the year - wrapping xmas presents - out of the way instead.

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                            Is it possible that, if all the referees and assistant referees at a Bundesliga game are struck down by the shits or whatever, that you'd be called upon to police the game? Like when the pilot says, "Is there a doctor on board?"

                            "Nein, Herr Ribery, glatt rot. Warum? Wegen Ignoranz. Fort, Sie Lump!"

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                              I fantasise it could be so. If it was Bayern, after red-carding both Ribéry (as you pre-suppose) and Robben ("Klare Schwalbe, du Glatzkopf!"), I'd then see if it really is possible to stuff a football in Thomas Müller's gob. It looks like it would be possible, but I'd like to be absolutely certain.

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                                Schalke 1 Leverkusen 2 at HT. Schalke pull one back with the last kick before the break after a desolate first half, saving themselves from getting booed off the park. Scorer was the American Haji Wright, a toe-poke from three yards out, the only thing he did all half - he was so utterly shite I was convinced he wouldn‘t be back out for the second half.

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                                  Originally posted by imp View Post
                                  I fantasise it could be so. If it was Bayern, after red-carding both Ribéry (as you pre-suppose) and Robben ("Klare Schwalbe, du Glatzkopf!"), I'd then see if it really is possible to stuff a football in Thomas Müller's gob. It looks like it would be possible, but I'd like to be absolutely certain.
                                  Leave Thomas Müller alone. He's all right, he is.

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                                      Originally posted by Wouter D View Post
                                      He didn't do it on purpose.

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                                        Originally posted by treibeis View Post
                                        Leave Thomas Müller alone. He's all right, he is.
                                        Apart from his willingness to endorse pretty much any product. Including charcoal briquettes of all things.

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                                          Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
                                          Apart from his willingness to endorse pretty much any product. Including charcoal briquettes of all things.
                                          Yes, all right, very true. But so does Jürgen Klopp, and everyone (apart from Guardiola and Matthias Sammer maybe) adores Jürgen Klopp.

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                                            Originally posted by treibeis View Post
                                            Yes, all right, very true. But so does Jürgen Klopp, and everyone (apart from Guardiola and Matthias Sammer maybe) adores Jürgen Klopp.
                                            I can\t stand Jurgen Klopp. (Though I realise that even if everyone in the entire world felt the way I did, there would still be an overall love/hate balance for Herr Klopp owing to the galactic quantities of love that he has for himself.)

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                                              Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
                                              I can\t stand Jurgen Klopp. (Though I realise that even if everyone in the entire world felt the way I did, there would still be an overall love/hate balance for Herr Klopp owing to the galactic quantities of love that he has for himself.)
                                              I can't stand him, either. He was bearable when he was at Mainz all those years ago, but the loveable-clown persona he developed at Dortmund set my teeth on edge. "What can we do? We're just little old Borussia Dortmund, no money in our pockets, but with fire in our hearts, doing our best to make life for Bayern Munich as uncomfortable as possible" and shit like that. He was on a five-year contract worth something like €30 million when he said it.

                                              And, as mentioned upthread, he does way, way too many adverts.

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                                                11 Freunde rightly awards Rudi Völler the Interview of the Year Award for this.

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                                                  Völleriges Arsch.

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                                                    He is, but it's a wonderful counter to the inanity of Sky-era interviews, especially when it comes to trying to squeeze out a quote on a particular coach's future. I suppose I should have more sympathy with the journalist, but somehow I can't. I've sat through too many post-game pressers inwardly groaning at the crushing tedium of the questions to be able to empathise with this breed of hack.

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