A bit of a round-up...

...and some thoughts on the Liga Total Cup.

First, a warm welcome to Takashi Usami and Jerome Boateng who have arrived in Munich, completed their physicals and, in Usami's case, already played in a match. We're glad to have you both, especially you, Jerome, if you can help us come up with, you know, an actual defense.

Two matches in and this season looks a bit like last. Now, I could spend my time bitching about the fact that our defense has repeatedly been caught napping (my solution is that Neuer should be allowed to smack them upside the head every time they screw up), but I'd rather look at the bright spots. Because we are, after all, FC Bayern, and everyone knows that we perform best under ridiculous amounts of pressure and in the second half. 30 minute halves really don't favor our tendency to play down-to-the-wire football. If the match against HSV had been a full 90 minutes, we would have won.

On to some good stuff...
-Toni Kroos. He came off the bench in yesterday's match and added a lot of energy and creativity and today, he was by far one of our more solid players. His crosses looked good, he was a threat in the box, and his PK was stunning.
-Nils Petersen. Even though his second PK was saved, his PK after the foul on Muller was beautiful. And he's got some real flair. He's going to be fun to watch.
-Holger Badstuber. Okay, he was pretty bad in game one, but in today's first half, he was much better. And the boy has a pretty cross.
-Ivica Olic. He's back. And he got to wear the armband today.
-David Alaba. Our Austrian bb came through with a beautiful goal (and mad props to Contento for that cross). Plus, he's just adorable.
-Daniel Pranjic. For all the stress he causes me every time he touches the ball, he had a gorgeous shot on goal and his PK sealed the win for us. So, for what may be the only time this season, he makes my good list.

All in all, it could have gone better, but let's just pretend we're working out the kinks. That's what I'm using to reassure myself.