Best of the rest

Weighing up the early German, French, Dutch form

Hello all, here is part two of my early season review. After discussing Spain, England and Italy, I now concentrate on three other competitive leagues in Europe: The German Bundesliga, the French Championnat and the Dutch Eredevisie. Looking forward to your reactions.

Germany

Overachiever: Vfb Stuttgart. After a few years of bouncing up and down between the 1st and 2nd bundesliga, the club seems to have found its feet and is now starting to show the quality it used to have in the 80s when Juergen Klinsmann played there. Bulgarian veteran Krassimir Balakov is still pulling the strings although he is in his mid 30s and with a quality central defender in Portuguese international Fernando Meira and a dangerous center forward ( Ioan Ganea ) they have been doing well, losing only two of 13 games. Still, I don't think they are as good as the sixth position they hold right now and should finish in mid-table.

Underachiever: Bayer Leverkusen. An easy pick really considering how much they have struggled this season. It's not surprising if you consider they lost their top players from last season in Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto, but they still have a strong base. Klaus Topmoller seems to have rallied his troops and I expect them to still finish in the top five or six.

Surprise Package: Bochum. I still can't believe these guys were at the top of the Bundesliga! And they are still holding up in the top half of the table. A definite surprise for a club who was just promoted this season. Their defense was doing very well at the beginning of the campaign with veterans Raymond Kalla and Soren Colding holding up strongly, but it was their attack which is surprising the league -- they have 27 goals in 13 games. Danish striker Thomas Christiansen and Dariusz Wosz were on fire in the early going.

France

Overachiever: Nice. This club was in Division 2 last year and now it is leading the pack in the top flight. Unbelievable. Especially if you consider some of the results they have achieved. Just this past weekend they beat Auxerre 2-0 away! If you look at their squad, there are no stars. Just solid players who at the moment seem to have the right chemistry on the pitch. Kaba Diawara is maybe their highest profile player. Definitely surprised me in the way they have been playing. I was going to pick them as the surprise package, but I don't think they are as good as their position and will eventually tumble down in the table.

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Underachiever: Bordeaux. This side has too much talent to be hanging around in 11th place. They started the season with title aspirations, and although the table is tight, they would like to be higher right now. New signing Jean Claude Darcheville has struggled to adapt to the team's system and Portuguese international Pedro Pauleta cannot save this side every game with his goals (he already has eight this season). Elie Baup needs to get more out of his midfield, including Russian Alexei Smertin and Brazilian winger Savio.

Surprise Package: Sochaux. Did you expect them to be in the top five? I certainly didn't. Striker Mickael Pagis is a big reason why this side has started so well and their gritty style is getting the job done. They overachieved last year by finishing in eighth place, could they do even better this time around?

Netherlands

Overachiever: Roda JC. For a side that had to fight hard for its top flight status last season, Roda has certainly made a strong push in the early season. They are right behind the big guns in Holland. I don't expect them to hold on to the fourth place they own right now, mostly because of their lack of depth. A 4-0 drubbing at the hands of RBC Rosendaal this past weekend may be a sign of things to come.

Underachiever: Herenveen. This team should be challenging for a place in Europe, not battling against relegation. Stefan Selakovic, John de Jong and Petter Hanson are just three solid players that this squad has, and they should be doing a lot better. Three wins in twelve matches will not do the trick and they better start getting their act together or heads will roll.

Surprise Package: No surprises. Sad, but true. I was looking at the table and desperately trying to find a surprising team. But once again it's the top three (Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord) who are dominating and there are no signs of that trend stopping. There is not that much money around in Dutch football, and the wealth that does exist is confined to the top sides who keep buying the best players around the nation.

Pedro Pinto is an anchor for World Sport, the international sports show that airs on CNN International.

 

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