The Virtual Season, Part II: The Search for a Defence

The Virtual Season is off and running, and the last time we checked in on our pixellated heroes, they were 1-1-1 after three matches, coming off of a 5-3 thumping at the hands of Karlsruher SC. It was time for a serious change after the back line was savaged by an admittedly-mediocre KSC strike force. Whilst playing Football Manager, the manager found success with the virtual virtual Arminia in a 3-5-2. So, during the week's practices, the team was forced to change from their traditional 4-3-1-2 formation to a 3-5-2 formation. In addition, goalkeeper Mathias Hain was replaced by South African international Rowen Fernandez. Going into what the manager called a "critical" match against defending-Bundesliga champion VfB Stuttgart, the lineup looked like this:

Goal: Fernandez

Defence: Kucera, Gabriel, Moises

Midfield: Böhme, Marx, Kauf, Kamper, Nkosi

Forwards: Wichniarek, Leonidas

Was it a success? Well... 

Match #4: Arminia Bielefeld 5-2 VfB Stuttgart

Scoring: Arminia Bielefeld: Wichniarek (18', 67' [Penalty], 72' [Penalty Miss], 72'), Nkosi (59'), Kauf (78') VfB Stuttgart: Cacau (45', 85)

What Happened: The struggling title holders were completely steamrolled by Arminia, who outshot the Swabians 20-8. Shots came from all angles, and Stuttgart was constantly trying to unlock the midfield, with limited success. Despite this, when the Stuttgart attack did break through, it was all hands on deck for the back line, who were barely able to contain them, as witnessed by Cacau's two brilliant runs. Despite these gaffes, the manager was happy with their performance. "Can't complain too much about the win," he said "But Artur's getting extra penalty practice this week." he said with a laugh.

Match #5: Hertha Berlin 2-2 Arminia Bielefeld

Scoring: Hertha Berlin: Pantelic (21'), Lakic (90') Arminia Bielefeld: Zuma (19'), Leonidas (79')

What Happened: This match was actually the second replay of the fixture, as I had to restart it twice because of some absolutely horrific calls made against me that simply required me to restart them. The first match got a restart when Andre Mijatovic got a yellow card on a play. The problem was that there was no foul, and his only crime was deflecting a pass past the end line for a corner kick. Considering he was already on a yellow. I was down to ten men for literally no reason. The second gaffe in the replay was at the halftime whistle, a shot for Hertha Berlin was in mid-flight from about 10 yards. All of the players began to walk off and the shot went in as a result of the goalkeeper not being in front of goal (it's automatic). On the splash screen of the halftime score, it showed 2-1 Hertha. I could have sworn I was playing Dynamo Berlin back during the Cold War after seeing that.

No shenanigans on the third try, unless you count the continued horror show that is the back line. Zuma scored on a nice volley to make it 0-1, only to see Pantelic walk through the defence to tie it up. After much consternation at the finishing ability of the forwards, the manager took off Wichniarek for Leonidas, and he immediately took a pass from Kauf and made it 1-2. The 3 points were in the bag until Lakic scored on a play in which he somehow evaded all three defenders which surrounded him. In the postgame press conference, the manager commented that Lakic must have had the wrong shirt on, as he should have had one with "Houdini" on the back. The press corps didn't get the joke, unfortunately.

Match #6: Arminia Bielefeld 4-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

Scoring: Arminia Bielefeld: Kauf (27') Wichniarek (32' [Penalty Miss], 32') Zuma (35'), Nkosi (45') Eintracht Frankfurt: Amanatidis (55')

What Happened: In the most dominating Bundesliga match to date, Arminia simply beat Frankfurt to a pulp. At the end of the match Arminia put 15 shots on goal to Frankfurt's 2, and at the time of Kauf's 35-yard volley, the shot count was 12-1 for Arminia (it ended up 22-6). Nearly immediately after, Wichniarek drew a penalty, which he missed once again. Replays showed that he didn't  get all of his foot on the shot, but he got the roubound to make it 2-0. Zuma made it 3-0 after a 50-yard dash left the Frankfurt defence in his wake, and on the stroke of halftime, Nkosi got a hold of a poor clearance, and chipped a shot past the shocked goalkeeper from 40 yards (A rather fortuitous shot on my part. I pressed the wrong button!). After halftime Arminia did their best to kill the clock, but the Frankfurt captain intercepted a pass and put a shot past a shocked Rowen Fernandez to make it 4-1. The rest of the half was set to the soundtrack of "Auf Wiedersehen"s and plenty of "Ole!'s, which actually began after Zuma's goal.

Going into their seventh match, Arminia sat in fifth in the table, only two points behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund with a game in hand. The switch to a 3-5-2 has been successful so far, as Arminia lead the league with 17 goals for, but despite 12 goals against, their +5 goal differential is joint-best in the league.

Bundesliga League Table, during Matchweek 7

Until next time!