FEATURE | One thing each Bundesliga team can improve heading into the second half of the season | OneFootball

Previously at Get German Football News, we gave each Bundesliga team a grade for their performances before the winter break. So keeping with the school idea and as a follow-up, we will now give each side one thing that they must improve on when the Bundesliga returns.

Bayern Munich

Current position: 1st

Must improve: Defending their high lines

Bayern’s first 15 games have been positive, but not perfect. The one glaring weakness has been their inability to defend well with their high line. Against Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund, Mainz and partially (for 2 minutes) RB Leipzig, Bayer have struggled to deal with counterattacks. Vincent Kompany’s desire to play such a high line often leaves Dayot Upamecano and Min-Jae Kim exposed, on top of this, Bayern also lack pace at right-back to play such a high line. If anything is to stop die Rekormeister’s pursuit of the Bundesliga title, it will likely be this.

Bayer Leverkusen

Current position: 2nd

Must improve: A way to share the goals

After winning just four of their opening 10 Bundesliga games this season, there’s no doubt that Bayer Leverkusen have improved of late with five successive league wins to end 2024, putting them within four points of Bayern Munich. Victor Boniface scored six goals in 10 league games prior to his injury and Patrik Schick has since picked up the slack with nine goals, finding the net every 55.4 minutes, but the drop in output – excluding Florian Wirtz’ seven – is concerning. Martin Terrier was brought in from Rennes but has scored just two in 558 minutes while Amine Adli and Jonas Hofmann have struggled with injuries. Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo haven’t been able to replicate their tally from last season and now Xabi Alonso has a task on his hands to improve Leverkusen in the final third.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Current position: 3rd

Must improve: Reduce reliance on Omar Marmoush

Frankfurt have had a great start to the season and the man at the centre of it all has been Omar Marmoush. The Egyptian has 13 goals and seven assists so far, however, this equates to a 57% contribution to the 35 goals Frankfurt have scored this season. In addition to this, Marmoush tailed off towards the end of the year, and this was notable as Die Adler are winless in three games. If Frankfurt wants to continue fighting for a Champions League spot, they need more players to step up when Marmoush is not at his best, if not they will likely fall down the table. This has begun increasingly important in the passing days after Manchester City have begun to step up their pursuit of the Egyptian this month.

RB Leipzig

Current position: 4th

Must improve: Get Benjamin Seško and Loïs Openda firing again

Leipzig’s problems were best shown when they faced Bayern Munich just before the winter break. Apart from their early goal at the Allianz Arena, Openda and Seško got very little service. Despite the pair being on six goals each this season, they have lacked consistency and look way off their levels from last season. On their day, the pair are one of the best striker partnerships in the league, but that has been too few and far between. The impending return of Xavi Simons may help.

Mainz 05

Current position: 5th

Must improve: Find a reliable backup for Jonathan Burkardt

If we are being honest, there is very little for Mainz to improve on. In a vacuum, they are having a great season, in defence and attack they are strong, they could have slightly better home form and most importantly they are fifth. The one issue is they do not have a reliable backup to talisman Burkardt. The 24-year-old can be a fitness concern at times and after the winter departure of Karim Onisiwo, Mainz are left with two striking options, Armindio Sieb and Nelson Weiper. The latter is meant to be one of Germany’s next great striking options but he, like Burkardt, has struggled with injuries. Another injury to Burkardt or Frankfurt’s pursuit of a Marmoush replacement could derail Mainz’s great first half of the season

Borussia Dortmund

Current position: 6th

Must improve: Away form

Aside from their unconvincing performances, lack of a clear identity, and the fact that they are fifth in the league, Dortmund has a good home record. At the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund are (currently) unbeaten and top of the league when it comes to games played at home. Away from home, they are 13th and won their first game away from home this season on the final matchday of the year against Wolfsburg. If Dortmund wants to end the season with any sort of respectability, whilst also finishing in the top four, they need to start winning more games away from home

Werder Bremen

Current position: 7th

Must improve: Defence

Werder Bremen had a fantastic end to 2024 with three wins on the bounce and well within a shout for European football next season. However, in order to achieve that, the team must improve their defensive record. Bremen have conceded the most goals than any other team in the top half of the league with 26. It’s clear that scoring goals isn’t the problem, in fact, they’ve scored more goals than RB Leipzig but it’s just the ease in which they’re conceding some goals which is letting them down. If Bremen can reduce the rate at which they’re conceding goals, they could be a team to watch out for in 2025.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Current position: 8th

Must improve: More players to share the attacking burden.

Gladbach currently has one of the best defences in the league. However, at the other end, their attacking play relies heavily on the same three players: Tim Kleindienst, Franck Honorat and Alassane Plea. After that, no other player (apart from Kevin Stöger) has more than four goals and assists combined. European football is a real option for Gladbach this season and if they want to continue on this positive trend then more players will need to contribute more.

SC Freiburg

Current position: 9th

Must improve: Score more

Freiburg’s season was never going to have hefty expectations as Julian Schuster picks up the reigns from Christian Streich. A respectable ninth and within touching distance of the European places is a good start, but Freiburg needs to start scoring more. They have only scored 21 goals, which puts them in the bottom half of the league in goals scored. It also doesn’t help that apart from Vincenzo Grifo (shock) and Ritsu Doan, their attack is lacking in goals with Lukas Kübler (a right-back) being their second-highest goal scorer. If Freiburg wants what would be an unlikely European place, they need to be hitting the back of the net more.

VfB Stuttgart

Current position: 10th

Must improve: Consistency

We all know how good Stuttgart can be, but at the moment, consistency is the thing that is letting them down from competing for a top-four position once again. Stuttgart were bound to drop off after last season and the losses of Serhou Guirassy, Waldemar Anton and Hiroki Ito but their inability to take their chances (2nd most missed chances in the league) and to keep a clean sheet is making the situation worse, so far they have only won two games in a row once this season. On top of this, too many players are inconsistent in their performances with the best example being Ermedin Demirovic. The positives for Stuttgart are that they are only two points off of the European places and Deniz Undav will be back from his injury in the new year. However, as we enter the second half of the season, any excuses of adapting to losing their best player or needed to integrate new signings is rather redundant.

VfL Wolfsburg

Current position: 11th

Must improve: Home form

Ralph Hasenhüttl has done somewhat of a remarkable job which sees his Wolfsburg side in 11th, but only four points behind sixth-placed Borussia Dortmund. Only four teams have picked up more points than VfL away from home, but it’s their form at the Volkswagen Arena that they have to improve. Just two wins in eight at home this season, there’s room for drastic improvement. Should they have aspirations to return to European football, which is certainly possible, then they have to tighten up their defence at home, where they’ve conceded 18 goals in eight games, with only two teams conceding more at home.

Union Berlin

Current position: 12th

Must improve: away form

Before a ball has been kicked in 2025, Union Berlin have replaced Bo Svensson, perhaps harshly, with Steffen Baumgart who was earlier dismissed by 2. Bundesliga side Hamburg. It rightly raised concerns among the Union fans, but what they need now is consistency. They’ve shown in spells that they can go toe-to-toe with the likes of RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund but following their 3-0 defeat against Bayern Munich in November, they’ve crumbled with no win in their last eight league games. Baumgart, with a minimal budget, has a big task on his hands.

FC Augsburg

Current position: 13th

Must improve: Away form

Jess Thorup’s side find themselves just six points above Heidenheim, who occupy the promotion playoff. No team has conceded more goals (22) than Augsburg away from home and they are one of three teams still winless away from the WWK Arena. For too long now they’ve been floating around mid-table, finding consistency in recent seasons that has seen them move clear of the drop, but failure to improve soon and they could well find themselves in a relegation battle. Only Bochum (1) have picked up fewer points than Augsburg (2) away this season.

St. Pauli

Current position: 14th

Must improve: Home form

Going into their first Bundesliga campaign for over a decade, you’d think that St. Pauli’s Millerntor-Stadion would have been a 12th man and helped them secure some notable victories. However, it’s been quite the opposite for the rebel club. In seven home games this season, St. Pauli have received just 5 points which includes a win over Holstein Kiel and draws against VfL Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig. What’s more, St. Pauli have scored the fewest goals on their home turf so far this season with a lonely total of just three. In comparison to their away record, the team have tripled their home goals tally and secured 9 points on their travels. If St. Pauli are to survive this season, they need to improve their home record quickly.

TSG Hoffenheim

Current position: 15th

Must improve: Stop relying on Oliver Baumann

Without the veteran number one, things would likely look a lot worse in Sinsheim. Baumann currently has the fifth-highest post-shot xG in the league which showcases his difference making in goal. The way to stop relying on your keeper is to get a better defence. Injuries and failed transfers haven’t helped Hoffenheim but their current crop of defenders are just not that good. This is why there has been little improvement from sacked manager Pellegrino Matarazzo and Christian Ilzer.

FC Heidenheim

Current position: 16th

Must improve: Home form

Heidenheim’s maiden Bundesliga campaign secured European football following their eighth-place finish, which was largely down to their home form where they lost just five of their 17 games. But this season is a concerning matter. Occupying the relegation playoff, Heidenheim have already lost five of their seven home games this season, winning one and scoring just six. Remarkably they’ve only conceded one more goal at home (14) this season than Bayer Leverkusen, but their inability to score following the departure of Tim Kleindienst has proved problematic. Frank Schmidt must once again find a way to turn the Voith-Arena into a difficult place for opposing teams to play.

Holstein Kiel

Current position: 17th

Must improve: Defence

With Marko Ivezic and Max Geschwill, both 23, occupying the back three, Holstein Kiel have one of the youngest defensive lines in history, and it’s showing. Another team that are playing their maiden season in the top flight, their inexperience is showing. No team has conceded more than Holstein Kiel’s 38 goals this season. Their 5-1 thrashing of Augsburg is just their second win of the season but with upcoming games against Freiburg, Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich in four of their first five games after the winter break, it will seriously test Kiel’s resolve and they could well find themselves well-adrift from safety.

VfL Bochum

Current position: 18th

Must improve: Everything

It’s been an abysmal season so far for Bochum and it’s going to take a miracle for them to survive. Bottom of the league with one win and three draws, the lowest scorers in the league, and the worst goal difference – you simply can’t pick one thing that needs improving at Bochum right now. Having changed head coach and a board member a few months into the season, things haven’t looked much better despite actually being unbeaten in their final two games of 2024. Bochum needs to score goals, do better defensively, beat those around them, and try and grind out results against better opposition. Even then, it may not be enough.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder | Jamie Allen | Jack Meenan