Starting this semester, I'm going to be writing a sports column in Georgetown's newspaper, The Hoya, with my favorite African man Mike Appau. So, we have written samples to get the position as the sports columnist. And we have decided to write previews for the major European leagues. This is my part of the column, and I wanted to post it here as well. They are very brief previews, but I had to make it as simple as possible because obviously there will be readers who are not as into soccer as I am. So, it's more like an introduction of soccer in Germany and Spain for the Georgetown students.
Bundesliga Preview by Cem Yolbulan
After having a great season last year both in domestic and European competition, Bayern Munich are the big favorites for the 2010-2011 season in German soccer. The skeleton of the team also had an amazing World Cup run over the summer and players like Arjen Robben, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Muller, Philip Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger are starting the season with a big confidence boost. They will be the team to beat in Germany and I don’t see any other team being a competition for them for the title. I also expect them to make a deep run in the European Champions League like last year. They just have a really strong and deep roster, the fact that Miroslav Klose does not start for them should demonstrate how strong they are.
Although I can’t see any other team having a shot at the title, there will be a lot of teams to compete for the European competition spots. We did not really see any expensive moves from Bundesliga teams this summer, but there were some moves who will have a big impact on the league like Michael Ballack returning to Leverkusen, Raul signing for Schalke 04, Steve McClaren coaching Wolfsburg. I expect all these teams along with Hamburg, Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund making a run for the top three spots. If you are wondering where Werder Bremen is on this list, with the future of rising star Mesut Ozil unclear, I don’t see them having a real shot at top spots.
Keep an Eye on:
Borussia Dortmund: They don’t have flashy players, or expensive signings for the new season, but they have been playing together for a long time now, and they are on a steady rise with the young coach Jurgen Klopp. He is dubbed Mourinho of Westfalen, and he has deserved that nickname with the attractive playing style and the fifth spot in the league last season. They are one of the teams to watch.
Robert Lewandowski: He is Dortmund’s new signing from Poland. He is a 22-year old striker who was the consecutive top goal scorer in the Polish League last two seasons.
Marko Arnautovic: Werder Bremen’s new 21-year old Austrian striker who had a short fling due to injuries last season with Inter Milan. He is a promising talented scorer who could be Werder Bremen’s new star after Mesut Ozil.
Steve McClaren: Wolfsburg’s new British coach, who lead Twente of Holland to their first ever championship last year who also previously had a fling with the England national team. One of my favorite coaches could bring back the energy and dynamism Wolfsburg lacked last year after their hard-fought championship on 2008-2009 season.
Raúl: The legendary Spanish striker who left Real Madrid where he played for 17 years and became the top scorer both for los Galacticos and the Spanish National Team to sign for Schalke 04, will be very interesting to watch with a jersey other than a Real Madrid one.
La Liga Preview by Cem Yolbulan
The recent years have left Barcelona and Real Madrid alone by themselves on top of the Spanish soccer. It’s not really possible to see any other clubs competing with Barca or Real Madrid in Spain, including teams like Valencia, Sevilla or Atletico Madrid who historically have challenged these two giants.
This year, I expect an even more polarized league in Spain; as Real Madrid-Barcelona and the others. Jose Mourinho is taking his label as the “best coach in the game today” to Madrid. Although I agree with that label as well, I believe Barca just has too much depth and quality compared to Real Madrid. And especially with the addition of David Villa, I think they found the perfect piece for their system. Although both Eto’o and Ibrahimovic scored tons of goals for the Catalan side, neither of them were the right strikers. Barcelona needed a good finisher who is also fast, good dribbler, with good footwork and passing abilities, and Villa possesses all these qualities. Their only problem is in the goalkeeper area, but that should not be a problem with the best defense duo in the world; Puyol and Pique. I predict Real Madrid to be close second after Barcelona, because although Mourinho has the mental and tactical edge over Barca’s coach Guardiola and I expect Real Madrid to do well in the games against Barcelona, but if you just look at each the overall team quality, Barcelona is just superior than Real Madrid, especially in the midfield area. And that Xavi-Iniesta duo in the midfield, will once again will be the dominating element for Barcelona, La Liga and the Champions League in general.
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