Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 St Pauli + German Cup match line-up

Firstly, I know this is late... But I missed the game live, and struggled to find the time to watch it. Although then the second half failed to work. Splendid. But, I did eventually see the first half and I was impressed with what I saw. Just keep in mind that I can, unfortunately, only comment on the first half.

We played the same formation as in the game against Ingolstadt, with the only change being Ebbers in for Bruns. Ebbers went up front as the lone striker and Takyi dropped into the midfield. It was an effective change and I thought we looked better holding up the ball and maintaining possession.

The defence stayed the same and in the first half they showed they deserved it. Again Sobiech was immense and probably our best in the opening half; He made vital blocks in the 2nd, 29th and 30th minutes as well as various other strong tackles and headers to win possession. He'll prove an extremely important player for us this season as he has already showed he won't be beaten easily.

Schachten had a better half than in the match last weekend I thought. With, again, a majority of our play being down the left, Bartels played relatively narrow. He often cut in behind Ebbers and even deeper to try give us a midfield advantage - Frankfurt lined up in the same formation - and so Schachten played very high up the field to overlap and provide some width on the right.

His 10th minute crross to Naki deserved to see an assist chalked up next to his name, but Deniz glanced it wide of the left post. 10 minutes later and another Schachten ball was headed by Bartels over the crossbar from just six yards out. His accuracy was promising as he hit both of those balls right onto the head of the attackers.

But it looked as though shooting accuracy would be an issue again when Takyi also hit over after 26 minutes. But all doubts were soon put to rest when Bartels saw his goal stand despite the furious protests of the Frankfurt players.

A neat bit of skill from Naki, who was standing still, saw his chipped pass go straight to Ebbers on the edge of the area. The striker showed his value as he jumped highest to header across to Boll. The bouncing ball was athelticly chipped across the area to Bartels - over the head of a defender and past a helpless Kessler - and Fin made no errors in finishing off into an open goal.

Tschauner also showed more of his abilities on the half hour mark when he managed to quickly get off the ground to palm away a shot that looked like it could be curling into the corner. Was a great save.

In the second half I missed it seems we almost stole it at the death when Kalla hit the post. But the 78th minute equaliser from Frankfurt was the final goal of the match which ended 1-1.

The bad news is in the 77th minute, Naki picked up an injury. He tore a tendon in his right thigh muscle.

v Eintracht Trier

We have our German Cup match today at 3:30pm (11:30pm AEST) against minnows Eintracht Trier.

Because of Naki's injury, he wont travel to the game against Eintracht Trier, instead Hennings will go in his place. Morena also has a hamstring injury and wont travel. The full team travelling is:

Benedict Pliquett
Philip Tschauner

Lasse Sobiech
Ralph Gunesch
Markus Thorandt
Sebastian Schachten
Jan-Philipp Kalla
Carsten Rothenbach

Patrick Funk
Fabian Boll
Florian Bruns
Fin Bartels
Max Kruse
Dennis Daube
Charles Takyi
Rouwen Hennings

Marius Ebbers
Mahir Saglik

St Pauli 2-0 Ingolstadt

Two fantastic strikes from distance by Fabian Boll gave St Pauli a well deserved 2-0 win to start the season.

We played a 4-5-1/4-3-3 of sorts with Boll as the holding midfield and Fin Bartels and Florian Bruns working the wings. Deniz Naki and Max Kruse were fluid in the midfield, making diagonal runs and finding space and often Naki was the furtherest man forward on the left wing rather than Bruns.

Naki, who was lively all match, had the first chance for us with a strike from outside the box that went over. Unfortunately those type of wasted opportunities became a regular thing from Naki and he probably could of had a double himself if he could just hit the target.

But he wasn't the only one who struggled to find the target in the first half and Kruse also took a shot that went wide after 20 minutes. That first section of the match went well. We kept the ball well, tried to pass to feet and we were solid at the back. Lasse Sobiech was brilliant and made three or four top interceptions/tackles in just the opening 15 minutes alone.

The left side was particularly strong for us with Bruns and Naki causing havoc, and Jan-Philipp Kalla overlapping to help keep that side of the field dominant. Kruse was pretty fluid in the midfield and often found himself down the left as well.

The problem in the scoreless first half, though, was that Charles Takyi looked a little troubled up front when he tried to hold the ball. He was out-muscled and lost possession far too often. It was probably the difference between going into the break a goal up and going in level. He should have done much better on the stroke of half time when his shot from a superb position inside the area was hesitant, allowing a defender to get across and deflect it out for a corner.

But at the other end of the field, there was a positive factor which kept the scores level at the break. Philip Tschauner on debut was fantastic and he pulled off three world class saves. The first came through his agility to save a shot destined for the top corner right on the stroke of half time as he jumped well to palm the ball out. The second was just on the other side of the break as he reacted quick to tip a ferocious shot over and the third was his speed to get down low and stop a shot heading to the bottom far corner.

The second half continued our good performance. Boll's first goal from a free kick was well deserved and his second, a cracking strike from 25 yards out into the top corner, was the icing on the cake.

Bartels and Boll showed class when they were on the ball, and while they didn't break the defence like Naki, they were instrumental. The right side wasn't as active as the left, though, where Bruns also had a top game with Kruse lending a very valuable helping hand.

Mahir Saglik didn't do much of note when he came on for his debut, but he wasn't bad and helped us hold the ball a bit better up front. Fabio Morena was good when he came on for Takyi at 2-0 up and added defensive stability to help us see the game out.

The fans were excellent and the atmosphere sounded great despite the crowd of just 10,000 up in Lubeck. A great start to the season, and even though everything may not be complete the signs are positive ahead of our big test against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Schalala lalala, we love FC Sankt Pauli, forza Sankt Pauli - 2-0 v Brondby!

The last two friendlies are over, the season is just a week away and excitement is in the air. Forza Sankt Pauli.

On Thursday evening it was a disappointing result against VfL Osnabruck, but we rectified that with a great win against Brondby the next day.

Andre Schubert took the opportunity to try a new formation against Osnabruck. Rather than a 4-2-3-1 he played a 4-4-2 with Filipovic and Becken up front. The only goal scorer in our 3-1 loss was Charles Takyi who, while playing in mifield, found the net through a diving header.

Pliquett was the 'keeper in this fixture - It was Tschauner against Brondby - and although he will be disappointed to be beaten three times, Schubert said post game it was individual mistakes that led to goals.

According to the match report we probably had the better of the first half with three fairly good chances before they scored from a misplaced pass. After Takyi's equaliser, Thorandt conceded a penalty and then they scored the third not long after.

It's of course a disappointing result but not one to dwell over. Post match Schubert said

"We have played for the first time in the 4-4-2. Here we have still lacked the compactness and we have often made ​​it too complicated. Individual mistakes led to goals against. We must develop more aggressive and feel."

But the win against Brondby on Friday night is the perfect end to preseason preparations. Changing back to a 4-2-3-1, I believe, goals to Schachten and Bartels gave us a 2-0 win.

Bartels, Kruse and Naki were in the thick of the action and both had chances in the first half - Bartels numerous ones. Brondby's first strike on goal didn't come until the 51st minute.

The most interesting about this match was Schubert's decision to play Takyi up front in the 4-2-3-1. With Ebbers unavailable due to a niggling injury and the coach still clearly not ready to give Saglik 90 minutes, the decision seemed to work out okay.

Fabian Morena - who will be captain next season - came on Boll in the 65th minute and played as a defensive midfielder, while Gunesch and Rothenbach both came on in the 75th minute to play center back - replacing Thorandt and Schachten. New loan signing Sobiech played at right back.

Schubert said after the match that he was "satisfied, but without breaking out into euphoria" and that "we could play more consistently to the end, more calm in front of goal would have been necessary - but it was very much positive here."

Florian Bruns said "That was a good match, we played much better today compared to yesterday's encounter" and that "Now we have another week to get to the final finish. Not everything worked, but we are well on our way." (Quoutes are rough google translations)

PS. We love FC Sankt Pauli!

Out with the old, in with the new + training knocks

When you move down a tier into the second division, change is expected. For St Pauli the changes have been relatively positive. New coach Andre Schubert is trialling new systems and formations, the new players are class and young and the average age of the squad has dropped to 26 years old.

A story on Hamburg Morgenpost has shown that the nine players who have left - Mathias Hain (38), Timo Schultz (33), Gerald Asamoah (32), Florian Lechner (30), Marcel Eger (28), Matthias Lehmann (28), Thomas Kessler (25), Bastian Oczipka (22) and Richard Sukuta-Pasu (21) - had an average age of 29.

While the loss of players in their prime such as 28-year-olds Eger and Lehmann is disappoint, the new lads have an average age of just 25.

The intake of these new young players will give the club a refreshing change, and if coupled with the perfect system we could see some decent success come about in the 2. Bundesliga next season.

Striker Mahir Saglik is the eldest of the five new signings. At 28 years old, he is the most experienced new face by two years, with defender Sebastian Schachten (26) and Philipp Tschauner (25) the next.

Lasse Sobiech (20) on loan from BVB Dortmund will add some youth to the defence and Patrick Funk (21) will add experience too. He was a captain in his youth days and will hopefully provide stability in the midfield.

Also, in training news, Max Kruse sat out of the session the other day due to a knock on the knee but was thankfully back into it yesterday.

Marius Ebbers couldn't finish training and was looked at properly yesterday to see the problem. An MRI confirmed he has a slight hamstring injury but it doesn't sound too serious.

During one on one's, Carsten Rothenbach, who only just returned from injury, starting limping. Thankfully it's only a small knock and he'll be back into training in a few days. I don't expect him to play in the friendly with VfL Osnabrueck, though he may appear the next day when we face Brondby.

Second training camp + Schubert to let team decide captain

The side has entered it's second training camp of the preseason, this one out at Bad Lippspringe, about 290km south of Hamburg. The physical side of things were covered at the first training camp in Schneverdingen, and this one is focused more on the tactics and the finishing touches to our game with the first match just over a week away.

Andre Schubert said the team was relatively strong physically and were fresh after the 1-0 result against Mydtjylland.

He's given no hints to what the formation will be for the coming season, but will continue to work on different tactics and formations in this training camp. He said on the official site:

"We now want to play football in different ways, rehearse different systems."

and

"The physical strain in the second training camp will not be so high. Working in Bad Lippspringe will be influenced more by tactics."

It'll be interesting to see how we line up in the first game. Their isn't much time until we start the season though, so I'd hope he decides on a system soon in the final two friendly matches between VfL Osnabrück and Brondby IF.

Another interesting thing of note is that Schubert will allow the team to chose the captain out of three or four candidates. MOPO believes it may be between Fabio Morena, Fabian Boll, Carsten Rothenbach and Marius Ebbers, although he is in no rush for the election.

Whether it'll bring the team closer or what, I'm not sure. Either way I wouldn't be surprised if Fabio Morena is elected.

Also, it looks like Carsten Rothenbach is definitely back and we'll be seeing more of him in the next few friendlies. Phew. Thank goodness.

St Pauli 1-0 FC Midtjylland

Deniz Naki scored his ninth goal this preseason to give St Pauli a 1-0 win against the Danish superliga fourth place finishers FC Midtjylland at Stadion an der Meldorfer Straße in Heide, Germany.

It's a massive win against a decent team. We'll be tested even further next week when we play the team that finished one above Midtjylland, Brondby, at the Millerntor.

In even better news, Carsten Rothenbach played the first half of the match before being replaced by Ralph Gunesch. It's good to see Rothenbach back in the squad and hopefully he has even more game time in the next friendly.

By the sounds of the report on the official site we played fairly well. Deniz Herber had a couple of chances in the 18th and and 38th. Mahir Saglik had a chance to score his first at the club just before half time but hit his shot over.

The goal for half time substitute Naki came after he teamed up with Marius Ebbers in the 65th minute.

Naki, Charles Takyi and Ebbers all had chances in the last 25 minutes. Paired with Benedikt Pliquett's strong goalkeeping it sounds like a great performance from St Pauli and one to take many positives from.

The team sheet was Pliquett, Rothenbach, Morena, Sobiech, Kalla, Funk, Herber, Kruse, Bruns, Takyi, Saglik. I assume in a 4-2-3-1 formation like so:

Another day, another injury

A fifth injury for FC St Pauli was announced by Hamburger Morgenpost.

Carlos Zambrano joins Moritz Volz, Carsten Rothenbach, Dennis Daube and Rouwen Hennings on the injury list as we tick over to July and the first game of the season creeping up on us.

Zambrano injured his right thigh muscle when playing for Peru in a 1-0 win over Senegal. The defender will now miss out on the Copa America, a dream destroyed for him, and I think google translator is telling me he'll be out until the end of August.

The loss of the CB, coupled with right backs Rothenbach and Volz out, is significant. If we move Markus Thorandt to the right, we'll be two CB's down. I can only assume Fabio Morena and Ralph Gunesch or Lasse Sobiech will play center back.

Unless Patrick Funk plays at right back instead of Thorandt. Without being able to watch the friendlies I can't know what Andre Schubert has in mind. Hopefully the friendly in a weeks time on the 8th of July against Brondby will give us a better idea.