The Bundesliga: A Veritable Goal Machine
Munich - The goals have been flying off the 2013-14 production line quicker than you can say 'Bundesliga is best', but still the wait goes on for that elusive goalless draw.
Club 1000
bundesliga.com addresses the whys and wherefores of the scale-tipping goal glut...
In 63 outings so far this season, a staggering 212 efforts on goal have hit the back of the net. To put that into context, that's 17 more than Spain's La Liga (193) and a 36 per cent leap on England's Premier League (136), albeit with the latter having completed six matchdays compared to the Bundesliga's seven.
So that means the German top-flight is averaging 3.4 goals per game, with only the 1984-85 season boasting a greater number (240) at the same juncture. Indeed at this rate, the 2013-14 campaign could break the 1000-mark for goals scored; a feat last achieved almost 30 years ago (1073, 1984-85).
Talking tactics
That's not to say this season's 18 combatants are necessarily more clinical than their predecessors, but they are at the very least more adventurous: 1732 attempts on goal (an average of 27.5 per game) compared to 1532 after seven rounds of fixtures in 2012-13 attest to that.
Perhaps, then, we can attribute the rising shot and conversion count to a change in mind-set on the coaches' part, with a 4-2-3-1 formation today's prevailing, and effective, setup of choice. The fact that lone strikers , Anthony Modeste and each have six goals to their name would appear to reinforce that theory.
Good value
It should also be noted that of the 212 goals to have been scored this season, 184 have come from inside the opponents' 18-yard box (excluding 22 penalties and five own goals). That alone suggests today's breed of Bundesliga players are more willing than ever before to share the goal-scoring load. Midfielders and , for example, have already found the net five times in seven outings.
While the abovementioned numbers might be hard to stomach in defensive quarters, Bundesliga fans are sitting pretty, safe in the knowledge that no matter who they might be watching, they are guaranteed to get their money's worth. Make no mistake, last season's all-German UEFA Champions League final was merely the precursor to something very special indeed for the Bundesliga.
Christopher Mayer-Lodge
