The never champions season forecast 2020/21

No sooner has the last season ended than the Bundesliga starts again. I am no prophet when I say that this will be the most difficult season for all clubs, especially those that play in international competitions and still have to send national players. This is a matter of going from one English week to the next. In this respect, every club should be keen to tackle the issue of 2020/21 with an appropriately broad squad.

With this season's forecast you can once again measure my footballing prowess. Last year my season forecast was consistent in that I correctly predicted three out of four Champions League participants as well as one Europa League starter, just like last year. It's just a shame that the Werkself was the fourth club I've seen in the Champions League, but they had to give the Gladbachers this place. And my predictive power was also not bad when it came to relegation, as I saw both Paderborn and Düsseldorf as relegated.

And here are my entry expectations for the coming season:

1.) Bayern Munich: Yes, unfortunately, the Bavarians will probably remain the measure of all things in the league again, even if many - like me - don't like that.

2.) Borussia Dortmund: Even if the coach discussion starts again after the first defeat. The team is well-positioned and anything less than a placing of three or worse would be a disappointment.

3.) Borussia M'Gladbach: You have to acknowledge the sporting development without envy. The second year is getting more and more difficult for a coach because expectations are raised. Nevertheless, I see Borussia as the number one chaser, but with a distance to the first two.
 
4.) Dose Leipzig: Will certainly have a more difficult year ahead of us after the small change in personnel. The triple burden takes its toll. But we have also learned that, if need be, we can add on more staff during the winter break.

5.) WE: By the end of the transfer period, there will certainly be one or two things happening in both directions. In view of the tight calendar it is important to have a broad cadre. For the EuroLeague it should be enough in any case, the rest has to be seen.
 
6.) Hoffenheim: On balance, it's difficult to judge: good players gone, one or the other brought in, but they still have to settle in. Besides, the coach is new and has to settle in. This year again, there is no more than sixth place.
 
7.) VfL Wolfsburg: Actually, there should be more to it with the squad. The structures have improved, but here too, the triple burden takes its toll.
 
8.) Eintracht Frankfurt: After a disappointing previous year, the Eagle should attack again, especially since he can almost concentrate on the league.

9.) Werder Bremen had barely jumped off the scales last year. I assume that the grotesque home balance will be improved significantly and that a secure midfield position will be achieved.

10.) Hertha BSC: At some point you have to invest properly as a capital city club, market yourself properly and have crisp investors to do better. But all this is of no use if your investor has money, but the right players don't necessarily want to go to the capital.

11.) Schalke 04: I think young coaches are good. But the structural improvement does not happen overnight. So I expect Schalke to remain almost unchanged, but not more. The high financial debts do not allow for more either.

12.) SC Freiburg: Konstanz will be outstanding again this year. The SC will be able to maintain its class with the squad this year as well.
 
13) 1 FC Köln: Class retention is absolutely realistic. The one or other surprising home point should be enough to get into the lower end of the midfield.

14.) FC Augsburg: Actually this non-super-team can't tear more than to sort themselves in just before the relegation ranks.

15.) Union Berlin: Good personalities, supported by the environment, should keep the class again in view of the continuing euphoria in the environment, although not as easy as last year.

16.) VfB Stuttgart: For years VfB has felt the need for a change in personnel in order to achieve more with fresh blood. In year one after promotion the relegation spot is a realistic goal.
 
17.) Mainz 05: From 2021/22 carnival songs will once again be sung in the second league.
I expect the first coach release of the season in Mainz. The teams in direct competition will certainly profit from the higher euphoria.

18.) Arminia Bielefeld: Unfortunately, Arminia will not be able to storm through the Bundesliga as she did last year in the second division due to the lack of financial possibilities. Thus the club remains a clear candidate for relegation in the year of promotion.

You can find the prediction of the bookmakers here:
https://www.fussballportal.de/wettquoten-deutscher-meister

Those of the fans should be available soon at the following link:
https://www.bundesligabarometer.de/

And if you participate in betting games, then take a look at the following link:
https://www.bundesliga-prognose.de/

Room for improvement

After today's cup match against Norderstedt and the clear 7:0, there is still plenty of room for improvement, but we are only just beginning.

I was happy to be one of the 300 chosen ones today to support the Werkself. If you're honest, you could have let a lot more spectators into the stadium, the state government's limit of 300 is an arbitrary number. There's still a lot of room for improvement, and all the hygienic concepts have been adhered to.

There is certainly room for improvement when it comes to exploiting the chances of the Werkself. If you lead 6:0 after 30 minutes and then leave some things lying around, well. But our new assistant coach has already indicated that the yield after standard situations must be improved.

Thanks also to the Norderstedt team for a fair game, so that all Bayer players survived this round unhurt. And thanks also to the Norderstedt coach, who thanked us several times during the press conference alone for the hospitality and the great experience for his boys to play in this stadium. Unfortunately, this is not something you hear every day.

Next Sunday will be the first day of play with the Werkself's guest appearance in Wolfsburg. We have always played better away from home than at home, at least under the current coach. That gives. hope.

Thank you Kai, thank you Kevin

That was some expected and anticipated news that has reached the Bayer fan in the last few days.

It's a pity, Kevin, that you are leaving the club after four years. I always liked your commitment to the club and you were certainly one of the leaders who taught the boys a lot on their way to the top. I had thought that you would continue to play under the Bavarian Cross for many years to come, but obviously a lot has happened that is not discussed in public with regard to money and management. All the best in Monaco, where life is probably a little better than in Düsseldorf.

All the Best also at Kai. Ten years and thus half of life under the Bayer Cross. Thanks for the emotional farewell. London is different, of course, but everyone keeps their fingers crossed for a successful future. I still regret the situation in November last year when some people whistled and verbally attacked you in your own stadium. That's not right for a young, successful player. Kai, stay safe.

When Lars gives up his captaincy, it's certainly not good news at first glance. From my point of view it's absolutely understandable because of his vulnerability to injuries. It's a pity, but Charles as successor is one of the leaders and a worthy successor.

And to all those who are now despairing because no newcomers have been named yet. The transfer window is still open for a long time. You don't have to act immediately, because everyone thinks the Bavarian is sitting on a sack of money. The next season will be difficult anyway with all the English weeks. Our management is aware of this and will work on the breadth of the squad, I'm sure. And the one or other price for a player will certainly be lower than today in two weeks' time. Just like on the stock market, the return on investment is in purchasing.

Off, over

Sometimes the season comes to an end sooner than expected. Bayer were eliminated from the Europa League last night against a strong Inter Milan, so the season for the Werkself is now over. To sum up, a strong lukaku and a top defence from the Italians were the deciding factors against a too harmless offensive from the Werkself. But it is not appropriate to pin this on one player at the end of the season.
 

The 2019/20 season can be summed up as follows: fifth in the standings and qualified for the Europa League, finalist in the DFB Cup and quarter-finalist in the Europa League. In the two cup competitions he failed against the German champions and the runners-up in the Italian league.
 

Now it's break and the news that there are more ghost games to come at least until November makes me sad like many of you. Sometime there will be normality again, but unfortunately nobody knows today when it will be back on the agenda.
 

Stay healthy.

Easier than I thought

Those were the days when we were in Glasgow 148 days ago for the away game. It was the last game in Europe with so many spectators.  In retrospect, today's victory was only a test, because the Rangers were harmless from the start, quite different from what we had seen in the first leg at home.

So our Bayer team has done the obligatory task. Now it's all about it. Anyone who watched Inter - Getafe last night knows that a different calibre is waiting with the Italians. But I'm sure that our team will then also switch to bite mode.

My 2019/20 season forecast was not that bad - Werkself unfortunately overestimated

At the end of a more than comical season, it is time to recapitulate the niemeister 2019/20 season forecast dated 31.7.2019. Nobody would have thought back then that the league would be finished under these circumstances.

Somehow my season prognosis seems to show consistency in that I correctly predicted three out of four Champions League participants as well as one Europa League starter, just like last year. It's just a pity that the Werkself is the fourth club I've seen in the Champions League, but they had to give the Gladbachers this place.

And my prognosis for the relegated teams was not bad either, because I saw Paderborn as well as Düsseldorf as relegated. Last year I had not seen him relegated.

In detail, I had assumed that the Bavarians would again, unfortunately, The Bavarians remained in the league and also in the cup the measure of all things, even if many - like me - do not like this. I had seen Dortmund close up, even if it wasn't close at the end, and I thought the cans would have a top place under the new coach. Our team did not reach my forecast goal, as I mentioned before, but I maintain that we lost sight of this goal in the fall and not in the second half of the series. I had seen the Gladbacher on place 6 and expected a lot of momentum from the new coach. Secretly, he then ignited too much momentum for my fan glasses and reached the Champions League place. Wolfsburg finally did the finishing touches and ended up in the Europa League as I expected. The Hoffenheimers, whom I had put two places lower, will play there.

The disappointment of the season is certainly Werder Bremen. I had expected the team to start the season with momentum, because the consistency of the coach pays off. The 16th place on the last day of play and the win of the relegation against Heidenheim without winning a game makes the Werder Bremen team miss the relegation by a paper-thin margin. It was mainly the weak home performance with only two home games won. You can't get that many points away from home.

I had put Schalke on 11th place, not a bad prognosis, even if I didn't see this course of events with a good back and forth and a catastrophic back series. I wasn't surprised by the fact that Cologne and Union Berlin kept their classes. With Union I had assumed that the euphoria would carry the club. That was certainly true until eight matchdays before the end. Constance in Freiburg has paid off again. And Augsburg and Mainz are realistically not over-teams and can't do more than sort themselves out shortly before the relegation ranks.

At Fortuna Düsseldorf, as expected, the second year was the tougher one. And last but not least, Paderborn unfortunately - but as expected - did not manage to implement the offensive spirit of the second division one to one in the Bundesliga. 

For many teams the season is now over, but not yet for the Werkself, as the Glasgow Rangers will be coming to the BayArena for a ghostly return match in early August. Those were the days when we were able to celebrate the Werkself's 3-1 win in the first leg in Glasgow.

Stay healthy, everyone.

Even two days later it still hurts

Unfortunately the Werkself missed to get the thing on Saturday. Afterwards it is always useless to discuss what the reason was, that's why I don't want to take part in the speculation.

The only thing I find regrettable is how the social media deal with individual players and the coaching team. There are expressions that are only found in social media. None of the people with these contributions would express themselves like that in a face-to-face conversation, but in the social media they are unrecognized.

Of course we're all disappointed, but if you're honest, that was the expected outcome, even if I had more than hope. The Bavarians are playing in a different dimension, even if I personally do not like it and it is not good for the league. And they have lost their role model character anyway. This became clear not only after the game when Rummenigge said in an interview with ARD that, thank God, they are in Berlin and not in Bavaria, because the Corona rules are looser in Berlin. In my opinion, this is not possible at all.

In addition, the DFB must pay attention to more neutrality. Even if the association is supported by adidas, it is not possible for Mr. Keller to hold a mask with a large adidas logo in front of the camera in an exemplary manner during the award ceremony. We should not forget that the President of Bavaria, Herbert Hainer, was a member of the adidas board of directors for a long time and was involved in all the deals. Good corporate governance works differently.

But we should not point to the others. For better or for worse: and no matter how much it hurts .....We are Leverkusen and our day will come.