FIFA Updates

Hamburg pulled off one of the biggest coups in the January transfer window, bringing in experienced Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy on a free transfer from Real Madrid. The cultured Dutchman was struggling to find first team football in Madrid and was looking for a team willing to give him an opportunity. Hamburg stepped in, with ambitions of at least earning a Champions League spot for the 2010/2011 season.

Seems to make sense, right? Hamburg brought in one of Europe’s most prolific strikers in the past decade to help the club in a push for a European spot. Van Nistelrooy certainly won’t make Hamburg any worse off for the rest of the season. For one, they don’t score many headed goals. In fact, just three of their forty goals this season have come from headers. Van Nistelrooy, with his size and aerial prowess, gives Hamburg that extra dimension. Should Hamburg need a goal late on in a match in a desperate situation, the former Manchester United man is the perfect target man to knock down long balls for teammates or score with his head.

In essence, van Nistelrooy is the perfect goal poacher. His ability to find the goal in any situation is still arguably unmatched in Europe. He had an incredible 46 goals in 68 league matches whilst at Real Madrid, and eventually was only slowed by injuries. But because of his recent injuries and lack of playing time, he might find himself coming off the bench at least at first, as was the case against Cologne in their 3-3 draw this past weekend.

“Hamburg are just what I need at this moment in time,” stated van Nistelrooy in a recent interview with ESPN Soccernet. “I’m going to be their main striker and will have plenty of opportunity to work on my match fitness and sharpness in front of goal.”

There is a lingering question regarding this move, though. Was it the right move for Hamburg? As it stands, with no contribution from van Nistelrooy (his appearance came in the 90th minute), Hamburg are third in the league with 40 goals scored. With that sort of offensive potency, there is only one reasonable explanation as to why they aren’t sitting in a Champions League spot at the moment: The amount of goals they concede.

Henceforth, we’ll refer to Hamburg as the “75 minute team.”

Why the moniker? Hamburg it seems, believes that the match is complete once 75 minutes have been played. Proof, you ask? In 21 league matches this season, the “75 minute team” has conceded 10 goals after the 75th minute, costing them 11 points. Add those 11 points to their current total, and they would be top of the league. Add half (6) to their current total, and they would be occupying a Champions League spot.

Here is a horrific stat. (The queasy might want to cover their eyes.) Taking the first 75 minutes from their 21 league matches, Hamburg has conceded just 14 goals in those 1,575 minutes. If you take the last 15 minutes from those 21 matches, Hamburg have conceded 10 goals in 315 minutes. Comparing the two rates, in the first 75 minutes, Hamburg concedes one goal every 112 minutes. In the last 15 minutes of games, Hamburg concedes one goal every 31 minutes.

Ouch.

The point here is that instead of strengthening their front line, it might have been more worthwhile for Hamburg to add a defender or two to help shore up the defense. Stamina seems to be an issue, yet Hamburg failed to address that. In the due course of the rest of the season, manager Bruno Labbadia just might lament the fact that his defense was not reinforced over the winter break.

A perfect example of their late game struggles was the past game against FC Cologne. After going up 3-1 early in the second half, Hamburg went into cruise control, and eventually conceded twice late on to dramatically drop two points that seemed to be in the bag. Obviously, that is enough to boil the blood of any manager. “We’re massively disappointed with the way the game panned out and of course the result. We stopped playing football at 3-1 up,” stated Labbadia after the match to bundesliga.de. “We should have made it four or five. We weren’t as dominant today as we have been in recent matches.”

Should Hamburg miss out on a Champions League spot at the end of the season, it just may be down to the amount of goals they end of conceding, especially late on in matches. And that’s something not even van Nistelrooy can fix.

Game of the Week:

FC Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund (2/13)

Appetizing to say the least. Two of the more entertaining (and well supported, mind you) teams face off in the game of the week. Last time these two teams played each other in the league, Bayern demolished Borussia 5-1 in Dortmund. Yikes. Munich is coming into the game as the form team in the league. With their 3-1 win over Wolfsburg last weekend, the Bavarians have now won eight straight games in the league. Bayern manager Louis van Gaal might have the luxury of bringing Franck Ribery off the bench, again. The Frenchman contributed a goal against Wolfsburg in his third match back from a long injury layoff.

Dortmund comes into the match on the heels of a devastating loss to Eintract Frankfurt. Up by a goal at home, the European hopefuls conceded twice in the second half, and eventually fell to Frankfurt, 3-2. Dortmund has lost their past two games, conceding seven goals in the process. Not the kind of form one would prefer before facing Bayern.

Prediction: Bayern 4-1 Dortmund

Quick Hits:

- Don’t look now, but Bayer Leverkusen finally stumbled, drawing at Bochum. Coupled with Bayern’s victory, the two teams are now tied atop the table on points, with Leverkusen holding the goal differential tie breaker. Is this the moment that Leverkusen turns the corner and becomes Neverkusen, again?

- Wolfsburg’s caretaker manager, Lorenz-Gunther Kostner, will stay in charge until the summer time, according to general director Dieter Hoeness. Kostner replaced Armin Veh in January, after a string of disappointing results. “He’ll go to the end of the season,” Hoeness told reporters after the Bayern Munich match. “We want this solution to create stability, to allow the team time to make the right decisions.” However, the 3-1 demolition at the hands of the Bavarian giants surely doesn’t offer much hope to Kostner, the players, or the fans.

- Raise your hand if you had newly promoted boys Mainz sniffing around a European spot after 21 games. It’s been one of the most surprising stories in Germany this season. As it stands now, Mainz sits just six points out of an Europa League spot. With their 1-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, Mainz remain one of three undefeated teams at home.

Upcoming Matches:

2/12: Borussia Mönchengladbach – 1. FC Nurnberg
2/13: Bayer Leverkusen – VfL Wolfsburg, VfB Stuttgart – Hamburger SV, VfL Bochum – 1899 Hoffenheim, Hannover 96 – Werder Bremen, Hertha Berlin – Mainz 05, Bayern Munich – Borussia Dortmund
2/14: Schalke 04 – FC Cologne, Eintracht Frankfurt – SC Freiburg

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