Week 1 was a fun and great start to the season. With any luck, this series of strong matches and good fights continue! Anyway, after seeing the cup results and league results from week 1, here's my Power Rankings entering Week 2! (note, + and - are changes from the preseason power rankings from WinWithoutKnife) 1) Bayern Munich +3 Bayern are clearly the top dogs in the league right now. The best record in league play and having only one loss out of the six games this week leaves them in a really strong position. Add the fact that they've made a good trade, and this week certainly couldn't have gone much better for them. 2) FC Köln +3 I don't think Köln fans could've asked for a stronger week. The real issue this team in the preseason had was it's scoring ability, missing out on the pre-season playoff on goals scored. They've fixed this issue, scoring 8 in just four league games. Match that with some strong trades, and oh boy, it's a good time for Matt, Mike and Berto. 3) Borussia Dortmund -2 Despite a few struggles this week, Dortmund is still a formidable foe. Once this team really gets going, they may be impossible to stop. This team needs to find a real scoring rhythm, and they'll be just fine. 4) Schalke -2 Schalke remind me of Arsenal's invincible season. They always make sure to draw instead of lose! They've had a strong start, despite only having 1 win this season in 6 games. In the long run, they need to figure out how to convert 1 point into 3 if they really want to fight for the title. Their only win being a not-convincing 2-1 win over an 8 man Frankfurt definitely means this team still has this issue. 5) Wolfsburg -2 I'm shocked at this team's struggles. On paper they are the best team in the league, but even giants can't be perfect. Nabbing just 2 points in the first week of league play, they are last with the lone exception of the team without a draw this season. However, things do seem to be looking a little better for the Green team, having won both their cup matches. 6) RB Leipzig: -- This rating definitely doesn't show the strengths of Leipzig this season, but they've been kind of a mixed bag. They've done great when it comes to record and from, but I'm not fully confident in their ability to continue this run throughout the year. They do have the top scorer, and did hand a heavy loss to Köln recently, but time will tell to see how this side improves. 7) Frankfurt +1 You're probably laughing at me putting this side over Hertha Berlin, and you aren't wrong to do so. Frankfurt has yet to win a game all season. They didn't even win in the pre-season, having to settle for a measly draw only once! However, Frankfurt is slowly getting stronger. Ricky is rediscovering his top-form, and the team results have been steadily improving, and they have gotten more competitive. There's still hope for them, although their trades haven't been perfect. 8) Hertha -1 Ah, Hertha Berlin. They have played better than Frankfurt, but this team hasn't shown huge signs of improvement yet. Some teams have made moves to try and fix weaknesses or get stronger players, like Köln making a move for NickerLover and vnod, Wolfsburg getting Hazey, or Frankfurt and Bayern getting some extra depth when trading for defenders, including me, who moved twice! Berlin has been quiet on the trading market so far. True, teams don't always need moves, like Dortmund and Schalke, who are doing pretty well, but Hertha might use a move for a stronger player at some positions. Rating Trades: Wolfsburg and Leipzig - $500,000 + Maximillian for Tich Wolfsburg Grade: B Leipzig Grade: B Solid trades for both sides, Wolfsburg get a great GK for depth, and Leipzig now have some more cash for next season, or to make that move for that hidden gem blind bid. Wolfsburg and Frankfurt - $1,000,000, mightypenguin, joeypistol, Stain for HazeyF Wolfsburg Grade: A- Frankfurt Grade: A- Another good trade for both teams. Sure, losing HazeyF hurts Frankfurt, but it was clear Hazey wanted a move to a stronger side. Frankfurt got a good deal for him, and two players involved in the move are now first XI regulars for them, and Frankfurt secured an extra $1,000,000 too! Wolfsburg got a class midfielder, but did they overpay? Frankfurt and Koln - NickerLover and vnod for Stun Gun, Es_Jefe and $1,000,000 Frankfurt Grade: B- Köln Grade: A+ Definitely a better move for Köln than Frankfurt. Jefe and Gun along with the $1,000,000 brought great depth for Frankfurt, but the pay off of two strong players certainly gave Köln the better investment in this move. Frankfurt didn't get a bad deal, but Köln certainly benefitted more. Frankfurt and Koln - jchain and boodizzy for caveman and classic_merkz Frankfurt Grade: C Köln Grade: B+ Köln made another strong move here. Dumping two weaker players for a decent attacker to help with depth, and for a weaker player. Caveman has been pretty weak in his time with Köln, and merkz hasn't done much good as well. I don't think they'll magically find talent with Frankfurt, although Caveman should be happy about playtime, which has been quite important for him. Bayern and Frankfurt - NiceAshHole and 2.5 million for Stun Gun, BroadwayCj, SuperBolt and OkemosBoxedWater Bayern Grade: A Frankfurt Grade: B This is another reason Frankfurt got a B- for their first trade with Köln, as Stun Gun was involved in this move. He has been a Bayern target for a while, with Bayern having declared interest in him on Sunday night, but Frankfurt wanted more things in the deal, and it looks like this agreement worked out. Bayern gets CJ and Stun Gun, two great defenders to give them depth in the back, which is one of the team's only weaknesses, along with decent depth defenders in SuperBolt and Okemos (if Okemos actually shows up and becomes active.) Frankfurt gets a B since they've been getting a lot of cash recently. I smell a Demon ACL team or Napoli Lowry sneaky blind bid deal brewing for them....
