The Monday Bulletin: Union find their next head coach, Augsburg march on, Bremen plot Keïta return
Hello and welcome to the eighth edition of the Gegenpressing Monday Bulletin. This newsletter hopes to provide a vital source of information for any serious Bundesliga fan, as we round up some of the most intriguing aspects of the matchday thanks to snippets of insight from our writers. Let us know what you think of the format and the talking points in the comments section below.
This weekend’s results
Bayern Munich 1-0 FC Köln
Wolfsburg 2-1 RB Leipzig
Werder Bremen 0-3 Bayer Leverkusen
Union Berlin 1-1 Augsburg
Freiburg 1-1 Darmstadt
Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Stuttgart
Heidenheim 0-0 Bochum
Hoffenheim 1-1 Mainz
Bjelica instead of Raul – Union Berlin, find their Fischer replacement
After finally ending their Bundesliga losing streak this weekend, Union Berlin have found a replacement for Urs Fischer, and it isn’t Spanish legend Raul. The former Real Madrid and Schalke striker appeared to be the favourite on Saturday night. But ultimately, Raul opted to stay in Spain and continue his education with Real Madrid’s second team. We will never know how Raul would have worked out at Union, but there is a good chance the 46-year-old will one day have a similar impact as Xabi Alonso is having at Bayer Leverkusen at the moment. There is also a good chance that it could be in the Bundesliga; Raul, after all, keeps getting linked with Bundesliga teams. Perhaps the situation at Union was just too precarious to make the jump now, or it was just not seen as a good fit by Raul. Instead, Union Berlin have hired Nenad Bjelica. Unlike Raul, the 52-year-old Croatian is an old dog in the business with plenty of experience in his native Croatia, Italy, Austria, Poland, and in Turkey. Bjelica also played in the Bundesliga for Kaiserslautern and speaks German. Looking back at his career, the most successful period came at Dinamo Zagreb, where he helped a certain Dani Olmo come to prominence. But what sort of style can we expect from Bjelica? “My task is to lead the team out of a difficult phase and bring out its strengths again,” Bjelica said. “I'm looking forward to this challenge. I want to see well-organised, active, and dominant football and players who are prepared to take on responsibility. We will work on this together from now on." Bjelica will be supported by Danijel Jumic and Marie-Louise Eta, who wrote history this weekend by becoming the first female coach or assistant coach in Bundesliga history. [Manu Veth]
Cologne 0-1 Bayern Munich: Bundesliga Friday night talking points
Bayern Munich returned to Cologne for the first time since their dramatic final-day title win in May and came away with three points which were never really in danger. Harry Kane’s first-half tap-in was his 18th and perhaps easiest Bundesliga goal so far, but the England captain once again stood out for his excellent link-up play. Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel’s decision to start Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting ahead of Thomas Müller raised eyebrows in a week where Müller signalled his desire to extend his contract. As for Cologne, goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe kept the score down, but FC have far more important fixtures to come in their relegation battle.
Augsburg are unbeaten in five games under Thorup - now comes the hard part
All things considered, Saturday’s clash with Union Berlin in Köpenick probably went as well as could be expected for Augsburg. Away from home, against a team that finished in the top four last season, as well as the unquantifiable measure of the “new manager bounce”; many predicted that the Berlin club would bounce back. They certainly had the chances to do just that. Yet, once again, Jess Thorup’s side somehow found a way to bag important points and continue an impressive unbeaten run that has remained unbroken since the 53-year-old Dane arrived at the club. That run, coincidentally, not only has the Fuggerstädter sitting comfortably in tenth place, but when it comes to points won over the course of the last five match days only two clubs (Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen) have picked up more points than Augsburg. And yet, things may get a little bumpy in the coming weeks. While five games without defeat is impressive in isolation, when we dig deeper into those results we find that it’s actually made up of three draws - against FC Köln, Hoffenheim and Union - which could really be read as four points dropped against relegation fodder, as well as the fact that Augsburg actually went behind first in three of those fives games and to date have failed to keep a single clean sheet along the way. The real concern comes when we look at what’s to come. The likes of Heidenheim, FC Köln and Union may have offered a gentle start for Thorup, but before the end of the year his side now have to lock horns with Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart. As well as a tricky away tie in Bremen. Four games in which Augsburg will likely have to rely on a lot more than their luck if they want to continue picking up points under their new head coach. [Stefan Bienkowski]
Dortmund 4-2 Gladbach: Talking points from the Westfalenstadion
Borussia Dortmund got back to winning ways after their disappointing defeat in Stuttgart before the international break, but they didn’t do it the easy way on an afternoon of pure Bundesliga madness. Deservedly trailing 0-2 at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach after half an hour, there were more whistles from the Westfalenstadion crowd. Less than three minutes later, however, Dortmund were somehow level thanks to Marcel Sabitzer and Niclas Füllkrug – the latter with a very neat finish into the top corner. And by half-time, they were in front, a Jamie Bynoe-Gittens strike from the edge of the box capping a wild first half. The second half was less spectacular – until the final minute when, with Gladbach pushing for an equalizer and goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas up for a corner, Donyell Malen sprinted clear to tap the ball into an empty net, waving his arms to a now ecstatic crowd.
Werder Bremen want to manage Keïta return
It was certainly a surprise when Naby Keïta joined Werder Bremen this summer. Once considered the best midfielder in the Bundesliga, the now 28-year-old never fulfilled his potential after a high-profile move to Liverpool. Both Werder and Keïta viewed last summer’s return to the Bundesliga as a marriage of convenience. Signed on a very performance-based centric contract, the financial risk is low for Werder. Keïta, in the meantime, hoped to use Werder as a stepping-stone to a more ambitious club. The result thus far has been just 80 minutes of football spread over three competitive matches for Werder. Most recently, Keïta missed four games with a muscle injury and then missed the 3-0 defeat to Leverkusen with an illness. The good news is that Keïta might be back soon. But after Keïta immediately picked up another knock after returning from an abductor injury that kept him off the sidelines earlier this season, Werder will be more cautious. “We will definitely be more careful this time,” the head of Bremen’s department of professional football, Clemens Fritz, said to Sport 1 on Saturday. “After all, it impacts the player when you always talk about his injury history. That’s something that will be in the back of your head.” As a result, Keïta is now expected to travel with the team to Stuttgart next week but, at best, will only feature in limited minutes before hopefully making his full return the week after at home against Augsburg. The more conservative approach is supposed to stabilise the midfielder and create the win-win situation all parties were hoping for last summer. [Manuel Veth]