Talking Fussball

With their win away to Hansa Rostock on match day 14, FC St. Pauli are sitting pretty on top of the 2. Bundesliga for a seventh straight week. That suits our Maik just fine, of course, but he, Nik and Jasmine know that the stakes of Friday's big Hamburg city derby against HSV are still massive. The gang also takes a look at Tobias Schweinsteiger's exit from VfL Osnabrück, a scary incident in Dresden, and more from the lower leagues.

Over the past five years, sometimes it's felt like 1. FC Union Berlin could only go up. The Köpenickers' rise from little-club-that-could to European contender has been among the best in world football over that span, but now it's come to an end after Urs Fischer, the coach who took them from the 2. Bundesliga to the UEFA Champions League, decided they'd be better off without him...

FC St. Pauli continued to set the pace in the 2. Bundesliga on MD13, even as they slumped to a 0-0 draw at home to the rising Hannover 96. But enough about the result, the real story at the Millerntor was the Polizeieinsatz, which felt to many like an overreaction. Nik and Maik talk that incident over, try and figure out what's gotten into two of the 2. Liga's newly-promoted sides, and much more from the lower divisions.

As you might have heard, FC Bayern München went to Dortmund and took their hosts BVB apart...but that's the way the Klassiker seems to go in recent years. Nik and Terry dig into that and other stories, including a tempestuous week for Mainz 05 that ended with a win, Cologne's persisting troubles, coming changes at the top for Werder Bremen and more.

With nearly one-third of the season in the books, FC St. Pauli look a good bet to go up to the top flight. Nik draws out our resident Pauli fan Maik on what's going so right at the Millerntor, and whether the club's lengthy unbeaten run is at rick anytime soon. Jasmine weighs in on whether Eintracht Braunschweig is beyond help, and the gang break out their rain gear to talk about the sodden mess in Saarbrücken that wrought havoc in the 3. Liga and the DFB Pokal...

With Bayer 04 Leverkusen riding high, it was high time for a check-in with one of their biggest fans Eric Bruehl. He and Nik have been busy putting together the new TORWART series on the TF Patreon, so we thought getting them together for a discussion of Match Day 8 was a natural. Matt steers things toward a discussion of Leverkusen's hot start before entering the choppy waters of FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern München's social media messaging around the Israel-Palestine conflict...

Nik is back with Maik and Jasmine to talk over the lay of the land in the 2. Bundesliga and the German lower leagues! FC St. Pauli are still riding high, FC Schalke 04 have looked to the West for assistance in getting out of the latest ditch they've fallen into, and a legal fight in Karlsruhe continues.

What in the world has gotten into 1. FC Union Berlin? After a string of tight low-scoring losses, the irons got a bit more ambitious this past week. They scored two goals in both their UEFA Champions League and their Bundesliga fixture...and still managed to lose them both...

Recent seasons have not always been kind to Germany's northern Traditionsvereine, but their luck may be changing in the 2. Liga. Take a glance at the table and you'll find the two Hamburg clubs in first and second, followed closely by Hannover 96 and Holstein Kiel. What's behind all the success? Find out as Nik and Maik (northerners both) talk you through all the top storylines from Germany's non-top-flight football leagues...

Five games into the 2023-24 Bundesliga season, FC Bayern München, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and RB Leipzig are - as expected - looking pretty damn good. But there are a number of surprises: TSG Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart are also setting a blistering pace, while 1. FC Köln, Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FSV Mainz 05 have yet to record a win. Matt, Nik, and Terry are ready to talk all those teams' prospects over, as well as take a look at what Julian Nagelsmann might do in his new job...