Bayern appear over-reliant on the goals of Mario Gomez

Five weeks without football in Germany ends this weekend as the Bundesliga comes out of the hibernation of its winter break. However, before we head into the hustle and bustle of Week 18, it is the perfect time to take stock of the first half of the campaign.

BAYERN MUNICH (37 points)

There is a pattern in the Bundesliga that Bayern are good one year and poor the next, usually after a major international tournament, so after their indifferent showing last term they were almost certain to become the ‘winter champions’.

They have been more fallible than usual in a good year, particularly in the latter part of 2011 when they have been over-reliant on Mario Gomez for goals, and their lead is only three points. With a lot of eyes on the Champions League, due to Munich being home to the final, concentration and the fitness of Mario Gomez will be hugely important in the title challenge.

BORUSSIAN DORTMUND (34)

After a horror start that saw the champions threaten to drop into mid-table obscurity, Dortmund responded with a great run of form capped by beating Bayern in Munich, to put them well and truly back in the title hunt. It appears they have finally adjusted to life without Nuri Sahin and finding themselves out of Europe may well be a blessing in disguise for their quest to retain the title.

Meanwhile, constructing a deal that sees Marco Reus join in the summer shows the forward thinking towards the long-term rather than just short-term success.

SCHALKE (34)

Over the last decade Gelsenkirchen has been home to the perennial runners-up with Schalke finishing second in the Bundesliga four times since 2001, the club and their fans still desperate to end their 54-year wait for the title. To put that into context, it was the pre-Bundesliga era when they last won the crown where winners of regional leagues played a group-stage with the group winners reaching the final.

They seem well placed for another runners-up finish this time round as well, coping with the unexpected resignation of Ralf Rangnick due to stress almost seamlessly. The loan signing of Chinedu Obasi from Hoffenheim added much needed pace to a side that, Jefferson Farfan aside, looked pedestrian.

BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH (33)

The surprise package of the season have shown that the title contender-like form they needed in the last 6-8 weeks of last season to stay up was no fluke, and as a result they now find themselves actual title contenders. However, the magic appears to be shortlived, with Marco Reus and Roman Neustädter already knowing that they will be moving come the end of the season, to Dortmund and Schalke respectively.

Without Reus, I still do not see how this team would be anywhere other than in the relegation position it held for most of last term, so any chance of a return to major European football for what was the team of the 1970s must come this season.

WERDER BREMEN (29)

Being a fan of Werder Bremen at the minute must be an equal combination of frustration and infuriation. They keep putting together good runs that see them creep on to the fringes of the title race only to see them bulldozed by a fellow challenger the minute they get there.

Schalke and Mӧnchengladbach hit them for five and Bayern grabbed four when routing Bremen and as a result, it appears a championship is out of reach but with the addition of a fourth Champions League spot to the Bundesliga, the race to get back there is certainly on for Bremen.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN (26)

It has been a difficult year for Leverkusen. Losing coach Jupp Heyneckes to Bayern and then having to adjust to Robin Dutt was hard enough, but their goalkeeping injury crisis forced them to bring in Stuttgart youth teamer, Bernd Leno, and it was a real struggle for the runners-up.

On the plus side, the performances of Leno not only earned him a permanent transfer but sent a now fit Rene Adler from being the German national team back-up goalkeeper to now be back-up for Leno at Leverkusen. As well as this, there were some terrific performances in Europe, although those looked to have had a negative effect on league form too.

HANNOVER (23)

After almost qualifying for the Champions League last season, Hannover decide to pretty much stand-back and attack this term with pretty much the exact same squad that finished last season. As a result, the Hannover performances have been similar to those of a year ago but others have improved to go past them.

They are well placed to qualify for Europe once again if one of those above them were to fall away which would once again be a terrific achievement for Hannover.

STUTTGART (22)

Stuttgart have seemed like an average mid-table side all year and that is where they find themselves at the half-way point. Despite having just one less point than Hannover, I doubt that Stuttgart have the quality within the squad to be any better than the eighth place they find themselves in at the minute without serious investment, that has not come as of yet.

HOFFENHEIM (22)

The half-way spot that Hoffenheim are in at the moment is a much better achievement than it appears with Holger Stanislawski struggling to impose his new ideas early on in his tenure. So to have climbed up to ninth is a sign of just how much they have improved since that bumpy start.

Allowing Chinedu Obasi and Gylfi Sigurdsson leave on loan, replacing them with Sandro Wieser from Basel and Stefan Thesker from Twente is another sign of Stanislawski imposing his ideas on the Hoffenheim squad.

KOLN (21)

It takes a double check to realise that Kӧln actually are as high as they are, because they have looked so poor so often this season. With Milevoje Novakovic out since mid-October, they are forced to play Lukas Podolski up-front which limits his effectiveness as the playmaker. It is a sign of just how good Podolski is that he has practically dragged them up to this position single-handed.

The hopeful return of Novakovic allied with addition of 18-year old Swedish striker Mikael Ishak will allow them to play to their potential and stay away from the drop.

HERTHA BERLIN (20)

It may not be the European challenge that was predicted on this site in pre-season, but Markus Babbel can reflect on what he must see as a job well done at the halfway point of the capital city side’s return to the Bundesliga. What will especially please Babbel is the performances and goals of summer signing, Pierre-Michel Lasogga.

WOLFSBURG (20)

Meanwhile, Felix Magath has ripped up the script in Wolfsburg. Obviously unhappy with a position that appears to suggest a second consecutive season fighting relegation, he has already signed eight new players from all over Europe, with Vieirinha from PAOK being the most well known.

The exit door has seen some rather more major names leave the club, with Arne Freidrich, Alexander Hleb and Thomas Kahlenberg moving on.

HAMBURG (19)

It seems an awfully long time ago that Hamburg were bottom; Michael Oenning had been sacked just six games into his first full season in the job and there was a real possibility of Hamburg leaving the Bundesliga for the first time in their history. They may still be just the three point above the play-off spot, but nobody seriously believes that Hamburg are in real danger thanks to the job that Thorsten Fink has done since then.

MAINZ (18)

It is clear that Mainz were one season wonders, although it is less to do with them being ‘found out’ and more with losing the likes of Andre Schurrle, Lewis Holtby and Christian Fuchs and not being able to finance replacements.

Their entertaining, high-energy style is similar to the one Dortmund use, not only making them good to watch but also allowing them to claim some pretty big scalps, like beating Bayern 3-2. However, without the quality in the squad to increase the regularity of those performances, they will be in a relegation scrap to the death.

NURNBURG (18)

Another team that will come under the category of one season wonders following their sixth place finish last year. Looking at their squad, it is tough to explain the reasons behind their fall down the league.

They only lost one major player in the off-season, Mehmet Ekici, but it appears that his loss alone has completely stunted the sides creativity, despite having a more complete striker in Tomas Pekhart than they had at any stage last season. As a result, it is tough to see how they can pull themselves out of the mire.

KAISERSLAUTERN (16)

Kaiserslautern have a problem that is much more obvious. They used to look pretty one-dimensional and reliant on Srdan Lakic for goals, and following his summer Bosman move to Wolfsburg that has been proven. They have scored just 13 goals all season and as a result their January pursuit of a striker is in full swing.

Nicolai Jӧrgensen has signed on loan from Leverkusen, where incidentally, he has failed to score in any of his ten appearances but the big hopes must surely be on the shoulders of 19-year old Polish signing, Jakub Swierczok, who scored 12 goals in 17 games for Polonia Bytom.

AUGSBURG (15)

It may be a relegation spot, but Augsburg would have probably taken it at the start of the season because they are in touch with those above them, which gives them a chance. For a tiny club on a shoestring budget, a chance is probably as good as can be expected.

If they can get more consistent goalscoring production from Sascha Mӧlders, they may just capitalise on that chance with Kaiserslautern struggling, to at least get the play-off place.

FREIBURG (13)

A horror show of a season where they have already conceded 39 goals means that Papiss Demba Cisse could score even more than the nine goals he has already slotted and they would still be in trouble. It has resulted in a winter of discontent in the Black Forest with coach Marcus Sorg and long-term captain Heiko Butscher both going, along with four others.

Former assistant, Christian Streich has taken over as head coach and signed three defenders to solve that goal-shipping problem. With Cisse at the African Cup of Nations though, they may be cut adrift before they have a chance to make an impact.