Bundesliga Baby!!!

August 5th marks the beginning of the 49th Budesliga season. I for one, can not wait. I often tell my fellow football junkies that the Bundesliga is Premier League Lite. The Bundesliga is everything that the EPL is except for the marquee signings that the Premier League has in abundance. Outside of Bayern Munich no other Bundesliga club can reel in the big fish like the big money clubs in England.

In honour of the upcoming German season I give you ...

5 reasons the Bundesliga rocks

1. The Fans ... The atmosphere in the places like Westfalenstadion , The Allianz , Volksparkstadion and Veltins-Arena is second to none. These fans and stadiums can easily hang with the big boys at Anfield, Old Trafford, The San Siro and The Nou Camp any day. The opening day match of the season is Dortmund taking on Hamburg. I challenge any football fan to watch that game and not get chills from the Dortmund faithful.

2. Parity ... The last 5 years of the Bundesliga has seen 4 different champions. A team like FC Bayern, with their considerable resources and tradition, will always win the league every few years. But even with Bayern's dominance Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Dortmund have all managed to crash their party recently.

3. The Rivalries ... The German rivalries may not be as Gigantic as the El Classico or as deadly as they are in England or even as colorful as they are in Italy. However, German derbies are steeped in tradition and intesity. If you can, check out Borussia Dortmund v Schalke 04 or Bayern Munich v Werder Bremen or Hamburg v Leverkusen.

4. Goal Scoring ... The Bundesliga saw an average of 3.13 goals per game last year. That's more than the EPL at 2.59 and more than La Liga at 2.66. Watch the attacking style of Dortmund, FC Bayern, Leverkusen and Hamburg and you will know where those numbers come from

5. Top notch Talent ... The young player of the tournament at the last World Cup was Bayern Munich youngster Thomas Muller. Munich is loaded with German and international talent likeMario Gomez, Manuel Neuer, Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben. Schalke 04 saw the arrival of Spanish legend Raul last year. The Bundesliga is never short on talent. In the last European Cup the Bundesliga was the most represented league.

The 2011-12 campaign should be a great one. FC Bayern has reloaded with some quality signings. Dortmund is going to be fantastic again. Look for these two sides to fight for the top spot all year. Also, look for both Dortmund, Leverkusen and Munich all to make deep Champions league runs. I wouldn't be shocked if all three of these sides made it to the final 16.

Latin Kings

With this victory, Uruguay is now the most successful nation in South American football history! 15 Copa America titles! Diego Forlan scored two goals to bring his international total to 31, tying him for the top spot in Uruguayan history. Luis Suarez scored a goal and set up Forlan’s second goal.
Luis Suarez showed early determination, making plays all over the pitch. His first goal was deserved. Brilliant in fact! He faked right and went left. El Pistelero?? Indeed! Forlan then scored a cracking goal to make it 2 – 0 and surely the parties started in the terraces as well as Montevideo.

The second half thankfully did not turn into a kicking and diving contest. Both sides kept creating chances and Paraguay actually got into the game with some excellent pressure. However, Uruguay and Forlan closed the game out with a fantastic counter attacking goal. Cavani passed out to Suarez who then played a perfect header to Forlan who finished with class. Final score: Uruguay 3 – 0 Paraguay
Viva Las Charruas!!!!

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What happened to Argentina and Brazil?

The Albiceleste were clearly the pre-cup favorites. Argentina had a high powered squad that included Tevez, Lavezzi, Aguero, Di Maria and of course the all-world talent of Lionel Messi.
In Argentina's first two games of the tournament, head coach Sergio Baptista played a midfield that included three holding midfielders. A trio including Mascherano, Cambiasso and Benega were dispatched to the middle of the park. Why? They are basically the same player. This left Leo Messi as the only creative force in the side. Terrible early squad selection led to inconsistent football and Argentina never hit their stride.

Baptista finally played a creative squad in their third game of the tournament. Including Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain should have been from the start. Even Maradonna knew to select the young creative guys! Not playing this squad early in the tournament kept the players from gelling. By the time Argentina met the Uruguayans in the semi finals, Uruguay were in form and were capable of beating anyone. It didn’t hurt that Uruguayan keeper Nestor Muslera played out of his mind. His Penalty save against Carlos Teves is for me, one of the plays of the tournament

The Samba Boys.

Watching Brazil in this tournament was like watching an NBA All Star team. All the forwards seemed to be playing for themselves. No one made a pass until they dribbled past two or sometimes three players.

The selfishness of Neymar, Robinho and Dani Alves was embarrassing and hard to watch. Dani Alves biggest contribution to the team was his new mohawk. Brazil coach Mano Menezes deserves a bit of credit for making some good changes to his side. He removed the glory hound Robinho and the world greatest diver Dani Alves from his starting 11.

Brazil looked like they might start playing some Joga Bonito when they put 4 past the Ecuador. However, their run was short lived as they ran into a more determined Paraguayan side. Brazil outplayed Paraguay in the first 90 minutes but fell to pieces in the penalty shootout.

Free Floating Hostility -->Transfer Style

Last year, when crybaby Fernando Torres handed in a transfer request to go to Chelsea and Roman Abramovich payed 50 million pounds for the the pathetic puke, the transfer market was changed forever. 50 Millions pounds for a guy who had 4 goals and was hurt for the better part of a year and a half?!?!

Clubs in Italy and Spain can smell the blood in the water. They know that they can charge whatever they like for players like Javier Pastore, Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata. Smaller clubs like Udinese, Palermo and Valencia know that "bigger" clubs that are backed by oligarchs (Chelsea), Sheiks (Manchester City) and Qatari sponsorships (Barcelona) can pay inflated prices for players that are not even close to being superstars. At least when Torres was sold the Chelsea he was a bona fide superstar.

Enough of that "money is the root of all evil" sounding garbage. Lets move on to who has been moving and shaking in the transfer market.

EPL:
Liverpool FC ... LFC have already brought in Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Alexander Doni. Henderson and Downing were way over priced but that is just the current state of the market. Liverpool are still looking to bring in a left back and possibly a center back. King Kenny might not be able to bring in a new players until he unloads some of his dead wood. Players most likely to go are Aquilani, Cole, Jovanovich, Poulsen and N'gog.

Manchester United ... Mr. Ferguson has already made three key acquisitions so far  in this transfer market. Bringing in England International Ashley Young and up in coming stars Phil Jones (ENG) and David De Gea. Young and De Gea are expected to slot right in the starting lineup while Jones is likely seen as Rio Ferdinand's heir. As usual Man United have been linked with a host of High Priced transfers including Wesley Sneijder and Luka Modric

Chelsea and Machester City ... These clubs are basically the same at this point. Because they have so much money they are linked with everyone. Machester City has brought in Gael Clichy to play left back. They are strongly linked with Athletico Madrid's Kun Aguero and Arsenal's Samir Nasri. Chelsea have a new manager in Andre Villas-Boas. They are pushing hard to sign Luka Modric from Spurs

Arsenal are surrounded by drama this off season. The biggest noise is coming from the ongoing saga of Cesc Fabregas. Will he or won't he go to Barcelona? Arsene Wegner seems to be resigned to losing his captain at this point and he is just holding out for top dollar for the Spaniard. Wegner is also desperately trying to hold on Samir Nasri. Nasri is high on Mancini's wish list at Man City. Arsenal have showed their fans some ambition by signing Ivorian Coast international Gerhvino from french side Lille. Arsenal have been strongly linked to Valencia's Juan Mata and Bolton's Gary Cahill.

La Liga:
Real Madrid have added attacking left back fabio Contraeo from Benfica. They also signed free kick specialist Nuri Sahin from Borussia Dortmund

Barcelona have added Alexis Sanchez and have ben linked with Cesc Fabregas for what seems like 10 years.

Malaga. Yes Malaga! Sheikh Abdullah's purchase has the club very rich. They have already purchased Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Jaoquin and jeremy Toulalan. They are buying up every over the hill player with a little left in the tank they can get their hands on. For every fading star look to Malag for your last big contract.

There should be plenty of more action before the transfer market closes so stayed tuned for more hostility.

YNWA

Hull City 3 - 0 LFC

Frustration:
This seems to be the perfect place to start. Absolute frustration is what Liverpool fans must be feeling after this weak pre-season performance. Sure, some can say, "This is just pre-season, who cares". Well, how about those traveling supporters? I bet they cared. All those young kopites sitting in the stands to see their hero's could not be happy to see the lads in red (white and blue today actually) get shut out against a bunch of young boys on loan from Manchester United.

Shop Window:
Liverpool ran out a first half side almost entirely made up of players who fans hope will move out of the squad. Players like Cole, N'gog, Poulsen, Aquilani and even Maxi, have all been linked with moves away from the club and a performance today would surely raise the eyebrows of potential buyers.

Aquilani was the only one among the possible movers who put on a good display. He looked lively and fairly creative. Come on Fiorentina this is your guy! Joe Cole looked 100 years old. What club in their right mind would take on his 90,000 pound a week wages? Poulsen looked like he was made of stone out there. He couldn't tackle or distribute the ball like a premier league player. Does FC Copenhagen really want him? N'gog gave the ball away far too easily and looked his usual clumsy self.

The Debuts:
The second half saw the debuts of Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson. They were partnered with Andy Carrol, Charlie Adam and Dirk Kuyt. Downing looked particularly sharp with his crosses and footwork. A fantastic save by the Hull keeper kept his name off the score sheet. Henderson had a goal called back after he was judged offside. Liverpool looked far more lively in the second half but could not manage to get a goal. The blooming partnership of Downing, Carrol, Kuyt, Adam and Henderson looks very encouraging.

Final Thoughts:
Yes it would have been nice to get a victory today. Hell, it would have been nice to see a goal. But it was just a pre-season game and some of the lads are just getting settled into the club. The second half showed the promise of the new players and gave us a glimpse of exciting times to come!

YNWA

What to expect

Big Time Football will bring my point of view towards all the football I feel like commenting on. Expect to read a lot about Liverpool FC as they are my favorite club. I will comment on all action from the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and action from all the big club competitions including Champions League and Europa League...

This blog is currently just getting started so please hang tight. I want to have plenty for you to read and comment on by the start of the Premier League season.

YNWA