SanguineStranded Union Berlin's nightmare of a season continues.
They won their first 3 games (2 league, 1 cup) but since then things have gone south, fast. Their 3-0 home defeat to Eintracht being their 12th straight defeat across League, Cup and Champions League.
They scored 12 goals in the first 3 games, managing just 6 since and failing to trouble the scorers in 8 of those 12 defeats.
Somehow though, those 2 early wins are still enough to keep them out of the bottom 2.
In the 2.Bundesliga, it is currently a Hamburg 1,2 with St Pauli leading the way, 2 points clear of HSV. Schlake finally seem to be waking up the danger of back to back relegations and have won their last 2.
Crikey. What on earth has happened?
And they have Leverkusen, Bayern and Napoli in their next four.
Lots of theories but no-one can really put their finger on it - they have been unlucky in some games but generally they have lost games comfortably and deservedly.
In terms of theories - rumours that buying a couple of bigger names to go with the CL qualification has caused a bit of upset in the changing room - they bought in the likes of Gosens from Inter, Volland from Monaco and an aging Leonardo Bonucci from Juve, all 3 earning a decent wedge more than those who have taken the club to the CL.
These signings were made as the squad simply wasn't big enough to cope with the rigours of the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and the CL. Results suggest that may still be the case with the quality outside the first 11 not being quite good enough.
Fixtures haven't helped too - they have Real & Napoli in their CL group and were unlucky not to get a point in both games, the home game against Braga was an upset, lost in the 94th min. Their first 2 games saw wins against fellow strugglers Darmstadt & Mainz but their recent run has seen them play every team from 3rd through 7th. Probably doesn't help that they are having to play CL games at the Olympic Stadium rather than their own ground.
Overall, it just seems like a massive readjustment to where they should be in the pecking order - they shouldn't go down as they will pick up enough points from the teams around them to, at worst, be in the relegation play-off - which they should win. The reaction has been calm by fans and club alike, there is absolutely no pressure on the manager at this stage and the players are still being treated as heroes for their efforts both this season and last. I guess that is a positive impact of the club having been as low as the North East Regional leagues as recently as 2005/06.
