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Germany: Schalke, Stuttgart under fire [Fri Sep 16th, 2005]
Bayern Munich have coasted to four straight wins at the start of the Bundesliga season. Their performances look even more impressive when compared to those of some of their top rivals.
Stuttgart coach Giovanni Trapattoni is under fire for a winless start, while Ralf Rangnick faces growing pressure after two wins and two draws at Schalke 04 left them four points off the lead.
Rangnick, who spent heavily on players in the offseason, faces a crucial match on Sunday when Schalke host Hertha Berlin. General manager Rudi Assauer voiced his discontent with Rangnick after Tuesday's 1-0 UEFA Champions League loss to PSV Eindhoven.
"That was a catastrophe, a performance I can't expect," Assauer said. "If we had our normal form, we would have blown them away. Either I speak with each player about the problem - or I talk to the coach."
Rangnick has several problems.
Ebbe Sand and Kevin Kuranyi have yet to gel up front, while the midfield relies on out-of-form Brazilian player Lincoln. The once solid defence has been erratic and Germany midfielder Fabian Ernst hasn't been as effective as he was last season at Werder Bremen.
Pundits have pointed out that Rangnick's predecessor, Jupp Heynckes, was fired last season after just four rounds.
But Rangnick refuses to believe his team is in crisis.
"A catastrophe? I don't think the manager (Assauer) is right," he said. "I can't say if the manager has a problem with me; I don't have a problem with him."
Fifth-placed Hertha Berlin appear to have solved their scoring problems with newcomer Marko Pantelic, who scored on debut in last week's 3-0 win over Wolfsburg.
Stuttgart travel to Mainz on Saturday with problems, after racking up three draws and a loss. Trapattoni, in his first season, is taking heat for constantly reshuffling his lineup.
The biggest sore point is a defence that have yielded six goals in four league matches, plus another three in a German Cup match.
"The team needs a few matches to learn to play together," said Trapattoni, one of the world's most successful coaches with 19 club titles. "It's completely normal that the team and the new coach have to get used to each other."
Second-placed Bremen, who have done the best job of integrating new players, faces Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern play Hannover. Both those games are on Saturday.
Bayern's only problem appears to be replacing Michael Ballack, who's out with an ankle injury.
After Bayern struggled to a midweek 1-0 Champions League win over Rapid Vienna with Mehmet Scholl as his replacement, many wondered if Germany's best team was that good without the country's top player.
"Losing Michael is a handicap," coach Felix Magath said. "But we must and will learn to play without him."
In other Saturday matches, it's Cologne v Moenchengladbach, Wolfsburg v Nuremberg, and Bielefeld v Kaiserslautern. Duisburg host Bayern Leverkusen on Sunday.
PA Sport
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