Bundesliga : First Report Of 2011

I feel like its been a year since I last updated my search for a team, but there is still a little less than half a season left. I can't tell if I managed to start this at the right time, with Bayern Munich struggling, so the standings may be deceptive over the long term. I'm loving Bayern's problems, whats that word? Oh yes, schadenfreude.

Borussia Dortmund : UP. Way up, Dortmund has been on fire. There are still alot of games to play, but they currently sit 13 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. They have two 8 goal scorers in Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios, both guys I have come to enjoy, and have posted a whopping goal differential of 31. To put that last stat into context, the 2nd place team (Hannover 96) has a differential of 0, and the next highest is Bayern Munich at 15. Dortmund has shut out their opponent in half of their games (9), which seems to be a good way to win.

Bayer Leverkusen : UP. Mostly move up since so many teams moved down. They are currently in a log jam for third, have a positive goal differential, and haven't been playing Michael Ballack. Nothing wrong there.

Eintracht Frankfurt : UP. I have to admire their spirit. They have been playing fairly well, have probably settled into their final position somewhere in the middle of the table, and have a 30 year old Greek guy doing their goal scoring. Theofanis Gekas is second in the league with 14 goals, and is basically doing all of Frankfurt's scoring since second on the team has 2 goals.

Kaisersluatern : DOWN. Just got hammered by Bayern Munich 5-1. That 2-1 victory at the start of the season doesn't look so impressive anymore. Kaiserslautern has settled into the middle of the table with a sad 6-4-9 record. They should stay up barring a massive collapse, but they probably won't challenge for the title.

Werder Bremen : DOWN. How do I put this. This team sucks. I have Werder has a long history of being a good team, but this season is one they would probably like to forget. 5th from the bottom, 6-4-9 record, -14 goal differential, and some of the ugliest uniforms in the world. Marko Marin has failed to impress me with his two goals, at least they have someone in the Top 10 for goal scoring. I need more.

VfL Wolfsburg : ELIMINATED. I haven't eliminated them based on how they are playing (crap), or because their best player (Edin Dzeko) was just sold to Manchester City, its because of how the club is run. I heard that VfL Wolfsburg, which is owned by Volkswagon, is basically used as a way to entertain the people of Wolfsburg who are mostly VW employees. This seems to make alot of sense, and on the surface doesn't seem like an issue, but they tend to piss money away on this team. Part of the Dzeko saga was VW not wanting to upset its workers/fans by selling off their best player. On top of that, they have the ugliest jerseys. I can barely look at pictures let alone a game.

Yeah, this doesn't help.