Yesterday we previewed the four clubs looking at the immediate threat of a relegation battle, so today we’ll follow up with a look at the clubs that should finish “Mid-Table”. There are eight teams in this group, and they will be divided in two groups of “Upper Mid-Table” and “Lower Mid-Table”.
German Bundesliga 2011-2012 Preview: Mid-Table Clubs
Upper Mid-Table
Hannover 96
The 96ers come into this Bundesliga season with dual focus. For the first time in their history they have European competition in addition to their annual Bundesliga campaign. With the club competing on three fronts (including DFB Pokal), their depth, or lack thereof, will be greatly tested. The summer signing that stands out is former Schalke 04 left back Christian Pander to a one year contract. If Pander can stay healthy, and that’s a big if, then Hannover could find themselves with another elite fullback opposite right back Steve Cherundolo. Their other two signings, holding midfielder Henning Hauger and forward Artur Sobiech at much needed depth at those two positions. A lot will be expected from forwards Mohammed Abdellaoue and Didier Konan Ya to score goals as there’s not a lot of goals from the rest of the side. A successful season for Hannover will be a solid run in the Europa League and an upper mid-table finish in the Bundesliga.
1. FC Nürnberg
Nürnberg spent the last few months of last season with Mainz 05 for the final Europa League position. Though they faded down the stretch, the experience will be good for a fairly young club. The big test for the club this season will be how to replace the players that have left this summer. İlkay Gündoğan has moved to Borussia Dortmund, Andreas Wolf has moved to Werder Bremen, Mehment Ekici (on loan from Bayern Munich) has moved to Werder Bremen and Julian Schieber has returned to parent club Stuttgart. The loss of Ekici will be difficult to replace as he was the creative midfielder of the side. The club has brought in defender Timm Klose, defensive midfielder Manuel Zeitz, and forwards Alexander Esswein and Tomáš Pekhart. I think Pekhart could be an excellent buy for the club if he continues to develop.
VfL Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg's season last year was such a disaster, the only way it could be worse is if they were actually relegated this year. I look at the signings that Felix Magath has made this summer, and I really like every one of them. Christian Träsch, Marco Russ and Patrick Ochs add some needed depth to a defense that includes some very good players in Simon Kjær, Arne Friedrich and Marcel Schäfer. The signing of Croatian forward Srđan Lakić is a great one for Wolfsburg, and I expect him to score close to a dozen goals for them. Koo Ja-Cheol moved to the club last January and looks to be a solid midfielder for them. Bringing veteran midfielder Hasan Salihamidžić back to the Bundesliga is a great move and adds experience and a winning mentality to the midfield. Even though they were unceremoniously dumped from the DFB Pokal by fourth division club RB Leipzig, I believe that Magath will have the club solidly mid-table this season.
VfB Stuttgart
The start to Stuttgart’s season will be difficult with injuries to defenders Ermin Bičakčić and Georg Niedermeier along with the sell of Christian Träsch to Wolfsburg. The club also brought in defender Francisco “Maza” Rodríguez from PSV Eindhoven. The club is expecting Maza to be a stabilizing presence in the defense moving forward along with Serdar Tasci. Goals should come more often now with the return of Julian Schieber from his loan spell at FC Nürnberg. He’ll join a rotation with forwards Cacau, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Martin Harnik. Expect good things out of midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanović as they move forward throughout the season.
Lower Mid-Table
SV Werder Bremen
I really like Bremen's attacking midfield options with Mehmet Ekici, Marko Marin and Aaron Hunt. The addition of Ekici should free up Marin and allow him to have a more free role in the attack. Claudio Pizarro will be out for a few matches to being the season, so the forward rotation will be limited to Sandro Wagner and Marko Arnautovic. They'll need a more productive season from Arnautovic this year to move further up the table. The addition of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Andreas Wolf to the defense add depth to a defense in need. Mikaël Silvestre will start the year injured, and both can start if needed. Torsten Frings saw his contract expire at the end of the season, and the club chose not to resign him. Replacing his steadying presence in the midfield will be key for Bremen if they are to succeed at all.
1. FC Köln
One thing people not familiar with the Bundesliga know about Köln is that it is the club of Lukas Podolski. Aside from his three year stint at Bayern Munich, Podolski has been at Köln his entire career. It made sense when he went back in 2009 that he assume the armband and the captain of “his” club. Last season the club managed to finish 10th which was their best finish since 2000-2001. The club decided to bring in a new manager with Copenhagen manager Ståle Solbakken taking the position. Solbakken named defender Pedro Geromel captain. Köln supporters will hope that this does not impact Podolski as he managed 13 goals and 7 assists last season. His partner up top Milivoje Novakovič had an outstanding season banging in 17 goals last year. The addition of Sascha Riether from Schalke should strengthen the defense, but it will still be tough for the club to repeat last season’s performance.
1. FSV Mainz 05
Mainz started off in unbelievable form last season taking 24 points from their first 9 matches. They began to fade as the year progressed, but the players put together another nice run at the end of the season to take the final Europa League place. The club is losing arguably the two most important players to last season’s success in Lewis Holtby and André Schürrle. Holtby is returning to Schalke from his loan and Schürrle was sold to Bayer Leverkusen. Schürrle was unbelievable for Mainz last season tallying 15 goals. Forward Sami Allagui partnered well with Schürrle, and he’ll be hoping to do the same with Anthony Ujah. He is their new forward signing from Lillestrøm. Mainz will struggle to recreate the brilliant soccer seen from them last season and will likely finish toward the bottom of the table.
Hertha BSC
Of the two promoted clubs, Berlin appear on paper to have the better squad to stay in the Bundesliga this season. They’ve made three very shrewd signings in goalkeeper Thomas Kraft, defender Maik Franz and midfielder Andreas Ottl. Kraft will be the number one for the club and add Bundesliga experience (though minimal) to the position. Ottl is an extremely talented player and pairing him in the middle with Raffael will add to a dynamic midfield. Gustavo Ramos had a great 2.Bundesliga season last year. If he can bang in goals in the top flight, Berlin will be well on their way to staying in the first division for the season.
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