Wednesday musings

By: Chris | November 19th, 2008

Let’s get right to it. Nice to have an international break to catch up on all the news.

•Not sure whether you’ve heard or not, but there is a friendly match Wednesday evening between Die Mannschaft and England. Hamburg’s own Piotr Trochowski looks to start at midfield for Jogi Löw, particularly in light of his incredible goal versus Wales. Defender Marcell Jansen has been passed over as he looks to sustain his good health for another week. Jerome Boateng got the call for Germany’s U21 for Tuesday’s match versus Italy.

•Nigel de Jong is out an additional two weeks, following the results of an MRI on Monday in Amsterdam. His strained ACL has not healed completely (and he is experiencing swelling in his knee). This eliminates him from the Nord-derby with Bremen on Sunday, and also in the UEFA Cup tie with Ajax on 27 November. De Jong came up through the youth academy at Ajax and was looking forward to battling his former club.

•David Jarolim is out for the Bremen match as well, having picked up his fifth yellow card of the Bundesliga season. We should see a lineup similar to the one that took the pitch against Hertha, with Colin Benjamin likely taking Jarolim’s spot.

•Speaking of the Hertha match, the defensive midfield combination of Jerome Boateng and Alex Silva was fairly effective for being paired for the first time. BMJ wants Alex Silva in the midfield to shadow and contain Bremen über-flopper Diego (who may be the most despised opponent at the Hamburg Offside, despite the fact that I have him on two of my Champions League fantasy teams).

•This just in–Marcell Jansen is still un-injured . . .

•A story in the Hamburg Morgenpost today wonders when Tunay Tourin will get the call from the German U21. Tourin has 4 goals in 3 matches for the Turkish U19’s, and 18 goals in 34 junior international matches. I wonder when he’s going to get the call from BMJ to get on the pitch for Hamburg. Maybe in the upcoming DFB-Pokal match versus 1860 Munich?

•Another good story in the MoPo detailing HSV’s failures early in matches, particularly on the road. To a man, they say they need to focus when the come out of the dressing room and play solid defense, but after 13 matches, your record is what it is for a reason.

•Alex Silva has been in Brazil this week and trained with his former club Sao Paolo. He will return Friday and BMJ has confirmed Alex Silva will be in the starting XI versus Bremen. He was in Brazil to testify in a civil trial.

•And finally, the Nord-derby this Sunday at the ‘Bank is not sold out–as of Wednesday 19 November, 2500 tickets remain unsold. This is, in and of itself surprising, as the last five matches versus Bremen were early sell-outs. Prices of prime grandstand tickets are as high as €97, though–the priciest tickets of the season for HSV, which makes the NFL ticket prices seem like dollar night at the movies. The global recession is biting everybody in the ass it seems.