5 things we learned from Matchday 4 in the 2. Bundesliga
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There will typically be three articles for a matchweek: The Matchday preview, the Matchday review and 5 things we learned from the Matchday.
Another exciting weekend of German second division football ends and it's time to digest the results.
One — Werder Bremen fans need to accept the rebuild: It wasn't pretty on Saturday. Werder Bremen played for over 30 minutes with a man advantage and couldn't win the game. On the bright side, it stops the awful rot of poor results for Markus Anfang's men. However, on the bad side, it is the perfect game to show where Werder Bremen are at in terms of the squad. Granted, Anfang has nowhere near a full pool of players available for him to select, and it doesn't help when your best players are being sold. But it was never going to be a smooth ride. Frank Baumann must have a plan, even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment. Is the market for his players like Josh Sargent at their highest? Very possibly yes. Getting rid of these players to give the club more flexibility financially must be the top aim, it will take a miraculous swing for Werder to be up and fighting at the end of this season, and Baumann must be trying to make the squad for next season. When all the players are back, they aren't a relegation-quality team. Much, much better than that. Werder fans have to accept that this isn't going to be the season, but have to also give Baumann one chance - if he messes up next summer then it can be Baumann-out. This all seems too much Hamburger SV like.
There will typically be three articles for a matchweek: The Matchday preview, the Matchday review and 5 things we learned from the Matchday.
Another exciting weekend of German second division football ends and it's time to digest the results.
Two — Was I wrong about Jahn Regensburg: What a win for the Jahn! Last week I stated "I don't think Regensburg are in the promotion discussion." I still stick by this. They were brilliant at home to Schalke, waiting for the mistake that did come from Ralf Fährmann. The game plan was perfect again, the players knew exactly when to initiate the press and when to drop back pressure. I still don't think Regensburg are in the conversation, I do think they will be far in the top half. By now, though, I don't even have a good and valid reason for this. I just do not see a team like Jahn Regensburg having enough legs to get enough points to be in the top 3, but it has been done before. I still think Dynamo Dresden are more likely.
Three — Kiel finally show what they're capable of; yet to win still: Holstein Kiel were a lot better away to Fortuna Düsseldorf but still couldn't find the three points. Steven Skrzybski must've thought he'd have given the Storks a decent chance of their first win of the season when he made it 2-1 on 65 minutes. That wasn't the case, though, but they came so close to winning. Kristoffer Peterson headed home from a corner with three minutes to spare, finding Fortuna a point from nowhere and Kiel had to settle for a draw. The signs are looking a lot better, they weren't good at times but employed a strategy that was smart and they were clinical. We've seen Ole Werner's Kiel regroup many times before and with Erzgebirge Aue next, it could be finally time for three points.
Four — HSV needed to win against Darmstadt, they didn't: Darmstadt travelled to the Volksparkstadion after thrashing Ingolstadt 6-1 and HSV needed to win. People will say "It's the fourth match of the season, it's not 'must win'" but I would argue it was. HSV were playing on the Sunday and saw Düsseldorf, Schalke, Werder Bremen and St. Pauli fail to win, now was the time for Tim Walter-ball to flourish and play their best tune of the season. The statistics tell you HSV dominated the match, with 64% of the ball and 15 chances created, but they failed to do many basics well in the game. They met Phillip Tietz at the wrong time, but they really could've dealt with the striker better. The one problem I have with this Hamburg team is their defense, they brought in Sebastian Schonlau to try solve the problem, but he really hasn't been a defensive rock in his career - playing for a Paderborn team that always shipped goals for fun. Do they have the players to go out with the mentality of "We'll just score more than our opponents"? Probably not, I would argue yes with Terodde but now he's gone there needs to be a defensive philosophy in the team. To go back to my original point, Hamburger SV really needed a win in matchday 4 to send a statement to the rest of the league, but they stay win-less at home this season so far.
Five — Is Paderborn a team to watch... for promotion: As a fan of the club personally and as a guy who's usually very pessimistic, I genuinely think this is a topic that can be taken seriously. At the start of the season I predicted schwarz-und-blau to be comfortably in mid-table, around 10th. I know it's only four games in, but I really like the look of the Paderborn team. And it's successful even with a Dennis Srbeny struggling. Felix Platte's 'Doppelpack' away to Bremen showed he can play and the defense isn't too bad, Jasper van der Werff has really helped 35-year-old Uwe Hünemeier. Ron Schallenberg is the defensive midfielder and the new captain. It'll be interesting to see how Paderborn do this season, but I don't think the squad is good enough for promotion yet.