Germany, of course, famously has a Christmas break in their football season, something that various non-native Premier League managers have been campaigning for en masse for years, usually once they first encounter the mad rush that is the seasonal football fixture list. I’d miss Christmas football, but they probably have a point.
Arminia’s break lasted from December 19 to January 2, which meant they’ve played three games since the table looked like this:
Those games have gone exactly as the table would suggest, and they have helped Arminia a little in what is – below the top few at least – a fiercely competitive league.
First up were Augsburg, who are a side who don’t get a lot of credit or acknowledgement internationally, but have become increasingly competitive in the Bundesliga.
Arminia actually had slightly the better of this game, but conceded late on when they really deserved more. The struggle to score goals continues.
Next up was Schalke, who are bizarrely bad at the moment, making this quite the relegation six pointer. In fact, for Schalke it was probably a game with the potential to turn their season.
Arminia had far the better of this, though, with last year’s key forward Klos finally finding the net in a game the should have won more comfortably, and condermning Schalke to an even bigger mess. Arminia played in a fairly revolting orange, but a win’s a win!
Finally, Arminia played Borussia Monchungladbach, who are a serious team these days. The visitors racked up over 20 shots and should really have won far more comfortably.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Arminia are going to have to pick up their points in the bottom reaches of the league if they’re to stay up, with scoring and attacking threat in general a serious issue, though they’re defending fairly well.
Arminia are doing better than many of the teams around them, though, and remain in the play off relegation spot, so there’s plenty of cause for hope…
