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Bayern Munich’s thrashing of RB Leipzig kicked off the new Bundesliga season, and now it was time for 10 more teams to kick off their seasons, several with interesting stories behind them.
How will Erik ten Hag do in his first game as Bayer Leverkusen head coach? Can Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg carry on their form from last season? How good are Stuttgart? How will Sandro Wagner do in his first major head coaching role at Augsburg? Are Hoffenheim any good after spending the GDP of a small nation?
Well, here are three things we learnt:
Bayer Leverkusen have work to do under Erik ten Hag:
Erik ten Hag’s first game in the Bundesliga was flat to say the least. Leverkusen lacked energy and intensity and were playing like it was the 34th matchday of the season, not the first. The only new signing to impress was Jarell Quansah, but that was because he had too much work to do. Everyone else was significantly outplayed.
More signings are expected to join before deadline day, and Leverkusen still have several key players out injured as well, which may improve their dynamic as a team.
Compare that to Hoffenheim and their front two of Tim Lemperle and Fisnik Asllani, who continuously caused issues for the Leverkusen backline.
But, as things stand, die Werkself must improve when they travel to Bremen next weekend.
New head coaches have mixed results :
Following on from ten Hag’s first game, we will now look at how the other new coaches did.
First, Sandro Wagner and Augsburg.
On paper, Augsburg beat Freiburg 3-1, in what was a good performance from Augsburg in Wagner’s first game in charge in the Bundesliga. In attack, which was a problem for Augsburg last season, they were a lot more clinical than Freiburg. Then, in defence, they continue to build upon their form from last season under Sandro Wagner.
Wolfsburg beat Heidenheim 3-1, to secure the three points on Paul SImonis’ first Bundesliga game in charge. A very convincing performance from the Autostadf side against Heidenheim, with Mohamed Amoura potentially scoring his last goal for the club.
Then we get to Horst Steffen and Werder Bremen. It is safe to say that this Bremen side is not built for Steffen’s style of play. Two of Frankfurt’s four goals came from mistakes when trying to play out of the back. Changes need to be drastically made, or Steffen may be lucky to see the other side of the September international break.
Eintracht Frankfurt – fun for everyone:
Speaking of Frankfurt, they proved to be a fun watch this afternoon, beating Bremen 4-1.
The departures of the summer saw a change in formation, with Frankfurt playing with actual wingers to accompany a number 10 and a striker, and it worked very well.
Today was a day for players who struggled last season, with Farès Chaïbi getting an assist whilst playing a lot deeper than he would be used to. Jean Bahoya scored twice to match his Bundesliga tally from last season, but the standout was Can Uzun.
Uzun has been waiting to claim a place in the starting 11, something which was difficult with Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitiké ahead of you. But today, the 19-year-old scored a great long-range effort to open the scoring before assisting Bahoya twice.
This should be the beginning of Uzun’s breakout season that we have all been waiting for.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga:
After proving wasteful against Bayern Munich in the Super Cup last weekend, VfB Stuttgart continued that trend today and proved wasteful against Union Berlin. Poor goalkeeping from Alexander Nübel did not help the Swabians, who went 2-0 down in the first half.
Despite averaging 75% possession in the whole game (yes, this is correct), they only managed to score once, in what was a deft flick from Tiago Tomas on his second debut for Stuttgart.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
