FAIRER REFS, MORE SUBS ...AND AWAY WINS GALORE!
German lessons on what’s in store when football returns
German football is now back in full swing, with another round of fixtures this weekend and the world of football has been watching. Sportsmail explores whether the Bundesliga is back with a bang or if there have been bumps in the road.
WHAT HAS THE ACTION BEEN LIKE?
To the players, it has felt the same as before and they expect the quality and intensity to improve as the season continues and rhythm returns. The statistics largely support that with tackles, sprints, shots all very similar to football pre-coronavirus. The increase in passes-per-game tallies with a slight increase in the amount of time the ball is in play.
The most startling stat, though, is the huge drop in home wins, down from 43.3 per cent to 18.5 per cent. Of the 27 games so far only five have been home wins and 12 have been by away wins. That points to home teams suffering from losing the advantage of having their crowd behind them.
There is also a feeling referees are being less influenced and more even with their decisions too. another observation is that having fewer eyes on them has been an advantage to the league’s technical players and risk-takers — with no pressure from fans, they have been thriving more.
Bundesliga chiefs believe normality will return in time regarding home wins.
HAVE THERE BEEN MORE INJURIES?
managers have voiced concerns about injuries if players have an inadequate ‘pre-season’.
Bundesliga players were thrust straight into action with less than two weeks of full contact training and no warm-up matches. There was no opposition to it such was the desire to resume but the injury fears have been justified.
One study after the first matches showed the injury-per-game rate almost trebled from 0.27-per-game to 0.88 per game, even though clubs were extra cautious with their injury reporting to start with.
now, Bundesliga chiefs feel things have started to level out, though one of the league’s big stars, Borussia Dortmund’s erling Haaland, was a casualty of the third round since the restart when he limped off against Bayern munich with a knee injury.
The value of the new five-subs rules to ease the workload on players has been clear since the Bundesliga restarted — in the first round, 15 of the 18 teams made four or more subs and the following two 13 of the 18 sides.
WHY THE SOCIALLYDISTANT CELEBRATIONS?
Watching the suited and booted Bayern munich hierarchy remember in the euphoria of a potentially title-clinching win at rivals Borussia Dortmund to celebrate by bumping elbows was bizarre. So too has been seeing maskwearing subs observing social distancing in the stands only to then get stuck into a full contact game.
Players’ socially-distant celebrations have been strange too. Some view those guidelines as over the top as everyone involved on a matchday has tested negative of coronavirus. But there is a wider issue at play. nico Schaefer, a member of the DFL Football Commission who is also managing director of second-tier Wehen Wiesbaden, explained: ‘The players understand it is a sign for outside that a player is nothing special, he is doing his work and he shows everybody: “I stick to the rules and everybody outside should stick to the rules too”.’
WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE INSIDE THE STADIUMS?
The atmosphere has been strange, with rB Leipzig’s former Liverpool goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi admitting ‘the emotions that belong to football are missing a little bit but we have to somehow generate that within the team’.
referee Deniz ayetken revealed his heart rate dropped as a result of taking charge of a game with no fans. Fans have generally complied with orders not to congregate outside stadiums. TV viewers can improve the experience by adding crowd noise to coverage and some of the ideas for Bundesliga coverage have cropped up in discussions within other european leagues, Scotland included.
Broadcasters are also trying to limit shots of empty stands to reduce the reminders.
Pumping noise into stadiums was quickly dismissed in Bundesliga meetings, though, to avoid making an already artificial scenario ‘more plastic’.
Borussia monchengladbach have allowed fans to pay for cardboard cut-outs of themselves to be placed in stands to compensate for the lack of crowd while Cologne invited fans to send in shirts and other memorabilia.
HOW HAVE THE PLAYERS TAKEN TO IT?
Former Chelsea forward
Salomon Kalou’s brazen flouting of coronavirus guidelines aside, the players have been disciplined and fulfilled their responsibilities to help get football back.
The silver lining to the Kalou cloud was that it was such a highprofile one it ensured the rest of the league’s players kept their behaviour in check.
Players have adapted to the new hygiene rules and restrictions, being tested twice a week — there have been no positive tests since clubs restarted — and took staying in quarantine hotels for the week before their first game in their stride.
There was resistance to the long hotel stays remaining for the rest of the season, though, and the rules have been relaxed slightly now, allowing players to go between home and training grounds but while keeping any travel outside that to a minimum.