Another new writer makes his debut for gibfootballshow – Saurabh Ananth or better known as looks at the teams that just didn’t cut it this season in the Bundesliga.

2010/11 brought out one of the best Bundesliga seasons ever, with a lot of stories throughout the season. Dortmund winning the league while stamping their brand of football on the league was one, Hannover and Mainz’ brave and eventually successful battle for European football was another big one. We could go down to the lower end of the table with Eintracht Frankfurt’s relegation after being 7th in December or Gladbach’s miracle comeback after being firm favourites for relegation. While all those were very interesting, the underachievement of perennial contenders Werder Bremen, Stuttgart and Schalke were surprising and it’s what this will focus on. And as they prepared for their seasons in the summer of 2010 none of these teams thought they would be where they were.

Werder Bremen managed to beat now relegated Sampdoria back in August during a dramatic Champions League qualifier. The additions of Wesley and Marko Arnautovic looked to really state the ambitions of Thomas Schaaf’s side. Arnautovic, who was known for his terrible attitude was a risk for Werder but they hoped that he would be able to put that past him and mature as a player. Meanwhile, the ongoing World Cup had brought to light the talent of Mesut Özil to the rest of the world. The eventual sale of Özil and the team’s failure to find a suitable replacement for their kingpin definitely played a part in what would follow.

Several hours south of Bremen in Gelsenkirchen, Felix Magath was putting together what many would’ve thought was a formidable Schalke team. Despite losing the likes of Heiko Westermann among many other solid players Schalke managed to make the appropriate moves in the transfer market. These losses were shored up with the arrivals of Real Madrid’s unsettled players Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Christoph Metzelder and Spanish trio Sergio Escudero, Jurado and the legendary Raúl. Schalke’s second placed finish the year before earned them automatic entry to the Champions League group stages. There were maybe a few doubts about Magath’s playing style however and it proved to hold Schalke back.

Even further south meanwhile, Stuttgart suffered at the hands of Real Madrid as well. They lost one of their main men, Sami Khedira to the Spanish giants. They did manage to bring in Martin Harnik, who proved to become an important player however the void left by Khedira had the same effect that the loss of Özil had on Werder. Stuttgart’s sixth place finish in 2009/10 meant that they had to qualify for the Europa League and after a close fought battle with Slavia Bratislava they managed to make the group stages. All was not well in Stuttgart though and at the start of October they found themselves at the bottom of the table with just one win in seven games. Manager Christian Gross was sacked and his assistant Jens Keller took over as manager. They had little luck under the new coach but managed to pull themselves up to 17th by the halfway point of the season.

Back in Bremen, Werder were having a tough time as well. Werder crashed out of the DFB Pokal at the hands of Bayern Munich, they were performing very poorly in the Champions League and were stuck at the bottom of their group during the course of the group stages. At the same time they were also sitting in the bottom half of the table and by the winter break they would fall out of the Champions League as well.

Schalke meanwhile, put in solid performances in both the DFB Pokal and the Champions League. Four wins by the end of the group stages saw them finish top, ahead of Lyon. They could have only wished for the same in the league and it took them until November to claw themselves out of the relegation zone. With the pressure growing on Felix Magath many questioned his approach with the team. Many other factors played into the dissatisfaction at the club. The man synonymous with the name Schalke, Ivan Rakitic was sold to Sevilla and raised some concern as to what Magath was doing. Players complained about Magath’s coaching methods and the inevitable sacking of the former Wolfsburg manager was coming closer and closer.

During December Werder were smashed out of the Champions League group stages quite embarrassingly and dropped perilously close to the relegation zone. While they never did actually fall into the danger zone during the season they came close on various occasions. Losing top scorer Hugo Almeida to Besiktas was no help and people wondered about the managerial ability of Thomas Schaaf but credit to Werder who didn’t sack their long serving manager. Despite the poor performances, Schaaf had guided the team to six top three finished in the last seven seasons.

At the same time, Stuttgart were still unhappy with their management and Jens Keller was sacked after just a few months on the job. Former HSV manager Bruno Labbadia was brought in to save the team but fans and pundits alike didn’t have the faith in Labbadia that the Stuttgart board did. Labbadia had to wrap up the Europa League group stages and play Bayern twice all within a space of a week. Stuttgart were not always short of goals and they showed their attacking prowess in their first three games under Labbadia by scoring 11 goals. There were definitely worries about the team on the defensive end as they conceded 12 goals during that course of those three games.

Schalke continued to baffle, as they did poorly in the league but well in the Pokal and Champions League. As Schalke made it out of the group stages every team in the competition saw them as the weak link, and with their performances in the league you couldn’t blame them. Valencia were the “lucky” team as they drew Schalke in the Round of 16, Schalke went on to beat Valencia over the two legs. They also met Bayern in the DFB Pokal semi finals, Bayern had knocked out Werder and Stuttgart to reach the semis. Schalke ran out 1-0 winners to reach a favourable final against 2nd division Duisburg. Magath’s continued disputes with the Schalke’s fans resulted in his sacking soon after and former Hoffenheim manager Ralf Rangnick was brought in to save his old club. Rangnick is lauded for his tactical brilliance but didn’t need it against a poor Inter Milan side who Schalke managed to beat 7-3 in a memorable quarter final to make their historic first appearance in the Champions League semi finals.

Through to the end of the season, Stuttgart, under Labbadia, made a miraculous recovery. A comeback from 2 goals down against Gladbach sparked their season into action. Stuttgart had dropped out of the Europa League by this point and it was worth it as they managed to lose only four of their last 14 games. A confident end to a sporadic season and Stuttgart finished 12th, mere points above Werder and Schalke. Considering their misfortunes earlier in the season Labbadia was lauded at a hero as he and his team proved their doubters wrong.

There’s barely any point even wasting a paragraph for Werder’s average end to the season. The men from Bremen managed to stumble across the finish line thanks to a handful of draws and wins, including a 2-0 victory over Dortmund. Werder finished 13th, just above Schalke by 1 point. Werder’s lack of defensive steel at the back was clear as they had conceded the most goals outside of relegation zone teams.

Meanwhile, on the European stage, Schalke’s weaknesses were made crystal clear against Manchester United, with Huntelaar out injured they lacked real bite in front of goal. Raúl did well up front but with the lack of creativity in midfield he was forced back and with very few quick players and many inexperienced youngsters on the field it became a nightmare for Schalke who were dispatched easily by United. The only good that came out of it was the performances of Manuel Neuer, who was amidst a transfer saga involving a move to arch rivals Bayern. Schalke continued to struggle in the league but managed to make up for their very poor season by winning the DFB Pokal by beating Duisburg 5-0 in a very one sided final. Schalke showed what they had lacked in front of goal with the return of Huntelaar who netted a brace in the final.

Neuer saves a shot against Hoffenheim forward Ryan Babel

2010/11 proved to be a very poor season for these teams and it’s a stark reminder of how cruel this league can be. Will these teams deliver next season? Only time will tell and preparations have already begun to get the squads ready for the new year.

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