Bayern 3 - 1 Bochum
By: Angela | April 6th, 2008
Today Bayern Munich took on Bochum. The game kicked off intensely right away. Four minutes in saw Bochum step ahead by a goal from Azaouagh. The game was a pretty aggressive one from the start. van Bommel was shown a yellow card fifteen minutes in. It was a deserved card, but I’m still on the fence about the second yellow/red that followed just twelve minutes later. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of van Bommel’s, but I really am not sure a yellow was warranted the second time. The first time, absolutely. Of course, it could just be because I hate seeing him kicked off the pitch.
Schweinsteiger reacted by pleading on his knees with the ref, but it was a yellow/red and Mark was sent off. There were a lot of attempts by Bayern. Franck missed several shots. Podolski was pretty much non existant in this match. This is why I keep saying that he will not get off the bench playing like this. Consistency is key and he just doesn’t have it. I would put Miroslav Klose on the pitch every time over Podolski. Miro may not score, but he creates chances for his team mates. He is constantly providing Toni with goal opportunities. On games like today, it makes me wonder where Podolski’s head is. He will have a fantastic game and you think that he’s on his way back, it will warrant him a starting place because he’s earned it and then he goes out and is practically invisible on the pitch. This is not the way you earn a consistent starting spot and for him to think that he deserves to be off the bench is a little bit absurd. We spent the entire game a man down from twenty seven minutes on and that brought out our fighting spirit.
The commentators on Gol talked about the presence of Mark and how important he is to the team. See, it’s not just me 
They discussed how this season Bayern have not lost a game with him on the pitch, but have lost two without and how they’ve conceded fewer goals with him on the pitch then without him. Evidently they really adore him too. They responded later to one of Lucio’s attacks by saying he’s no van Bommel…. I had a good laugh over that.
Contain your shock people… I’ve actually posted a picture of Lucio in my blog! I’ll give you all a moment to recover. … Ready? Okay great. Four minutes after Mark got sent off, Lucio responded by scoring our equalizing goal. I’m still not a fan, but I can admit that there are times when he has some great qualities. Unfortunately, I notice all the mistakes he makes more than the good plays.
Schweinsteiger was seen off for Ottl and Klose came on for Podolski. Miro had a couple good chances, but nothing found the back of the net for him. Ribery capitalized on a penalty shot and fortunately for Mark, he was off the pitch and not able to make any more bets with Franck or he may have been out another 100 Euros. Christian Lell capped off the score to give Bayern a 3-1 victory over Bochum.
Below is a break down of goals and yellow cards as they were awarded.
// (4′) M. Azaouagh, (31′) F.d.S Lucio, (74′), F. Ribery (pen.), (88′) C. Lell
// (15′) van Bommel, (31′) D. Fuchs, (36′) D. Imhof, (51′) B. Auer, (62′) M. Pfertzel
// (27′) van Bommel
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Comments
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Mark van Bommel: Genius or Dumbass? I think that’s the appropriate headline for this match. Although the Bochum goal early on was certainly legitimate, Bayern came out with their same pathetic, can’t-be-bothered attitude. I would have to agree with you Angela, I’m really not sure the 2nd yellow was legit–sometimes that’s a matter of the player in question though; maybe a player with van Bommel’s rep gets that card, where Ribery would not have. At any rate, it was the defining moment of the match, because after that, Bayern came alive. No one tuning in at the half-hour mark would have noticed the 10 on 11 unless they meticulously counted players (or noticed Schweini drifting to the middle). Bayern suddenly got collectively pissed off and decided to play with the class they actually possess. After 1-1, they never showed a sign of “Well, we got our equalizer, let’s settle in and not blow a point”. Franck may have made his Elfmeter, but it was still a close thing. It is concerning that his game seemed off today. On the bright side, you’ve gotta love a pissed off Lucio. I believe he was mouthing “That’s 3 million more, Barca!” after the goal. Even Lahm was looking for his shots. Klose was much better, seemed to have a better sense of when to pass and when to look for his shot. Podolski, pathetic as usual. Hopefully two starts was enough to pacify his ego, as I don’t want to see him starting on Thursday. Overall, a very odd match, one that we might credit to van Bommel lighting a fire under his sleepwalking teammates–we’d certainly like to think of it that way, right Angela? A 9 point lead in the league over Schalke? Are you kidding me, Schalke? As we can automatically disregard Schalke as a legitimate challenger, we actually have a 10 point lead, and it may be time to order your Paulaner mini-kegs for a celebration about 3 weeks from now. That is, if you didn’t order 3, with a plan to use the first a week from Saturday
Posted from
United States
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Luke: I will definitely pacify my Mark love by saying he’s a complete genius and knows exactly what the team needs to give them that spark. But, you knew that didn’t you?
Podolski definitely needs to find himself back on the bench. He does not deserve to start on Thursday. He really seems to come out fighting for a chance to start when he’s been sat down for awhile, but when he gets the chance to start seems to give up altogether. I’m tired of seeing his poor performances. I’d choose Klose every single time. But, that’s just me.
Posted from
United States -
Podolski is now waiting for Klinsmann to save him, but if he plays like this in front of his former manager in the National team, what will Klinsi do about him? It’s hard to NOT play Luca Toni. He just batters defenses. Klose, although he may not score, he will still play the ball forward regardless. Although some may say he’s too unselfish himself. Podolski…well to prove a point, he can be selfish to prove his worth, but if he doesn’t start playing like the Lukas Podolski #20 for Deutschland, he won’t have time to think about staying at Bayern, especially that we’re gonna be pushing in the Champions League next season, we need all the quality to shock Europe again.
Posted from
Australia -
Podolski is talking about leaving in the summer. At this point, I’d say let him go. Let him get some experience and then see how he plays. Right now, he’s not playing consistent football and that’s what it takes to continue starting. Klose, while I do feel is too unselfish at times, is also continually creating chances for others. It’s not all about you, it’s all about the team and Klose can see that. Podolski sometimes is all about himself and that is not a very good attitude to have in a team sport. With the gel that has happened between Toni and Klose and the lack of gel that has happened between Podolski and either of them (which is surprising because he meshes very well with Klose in the NT), it is not surprising that Hitzfeld continually chooses the duo of Toni/Klose.
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