Monthly Awards: January 2024

It’s the last day of January, and what a wonderful year this month has been. Whilst it has dragged on, we’ve had the return of the three leagues this website holds closest to its heart, and we’ve had some good moments as well. As we head into the shortest month that is a little bit longer this year, let’s look back at the opening games from the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga and the best that January offered.

Bundesliga

Player of the Month: Vincenzo Grifo
It was a tough call this month, but I went with the guy who had the most consistent, good performances, and that was Freiburg’s Mr Reliable, Vincenzo Grifo. Grifo’s best game of the month was his second, getting a goal and an assist as Freiburg beat Hoffenheim 3-2, he was also the one bright spot against Werder Bremen as he scored the side’s only goal. His game against Union in a 0-0 draw wasn’t as good, but he was solid enough in that game to earn the award overall.

Manager of the Month: Ole Werner (Werder Bremen)
This was really not a tough call. Werder were expected to really struggle at the beginning of the season, and whilst I don’t want to jinx them in the way I did on the A Beautiful Game podcast back in the day, they’re in a really strong position. The coaching of Ole Werner, and this month in particular have definitely helped matters. He kept his side believing as they got a late 1-1 draw with Bochum before very impressive wins against Bayern Munich and Freiburg. Seven from three this month and six undefeated, Bremen are looking really impressive right now.

Goal of the Month: Patrick Osterhage (Bochum vs Werder)
The choice for Goal of the Month this time was between one Werder scored and one Werder conceded. Slightly beating Mitchell Weiser’s goal against Bayern is Patrick Osterhage’s for Bochum. Sometimes the crowd are right, and when they say ‘shoot’, you should. Patrick Osterhage did that against Bremen, and it worked a treat.

2. Bundesliga

Player of the Month: Marcel Hartel (St. Pauli)
For an unbelievable third time this season, Marcel Hartel has won 2. Bundesliga Player of the Month. Perhaps a few more and I’ll name the award after him. I tried hard to find someone who could go up against him, and the man best for the job was Marvin Wanitzek, who played really well and scored twice in wins against Osnabrück and HSV. However, Hartel was involved in all four goals St. Pauli scored this month. He scored and assisted one each in their 2-0 win against Kaiserslautern, and scored both in the win against Fortuna Düsseldorf. I dread to think where Kiezkicker would be without Hartel, definitely not in first.  

Manager of the Month: Daniel Scherning (Eintracht Braunschweig)
On the contrary to Hartel, I tried really hard to justify picking Fabian Hürzeler as Manager of the Month. The fact he hasn’t won it yet despite being the best manager in the league so far this season is shocking. However, I couldn’t honestly say that he did a better job this month than Daniel Scherning, and I really wanted to. Scherning won two entering the winter break, and he’s so far left it in the same way, a shock 2-1 win away at Kiel in their first game before a comfortable 1-0 win over Magdeburg. Considering where the side were entering the month, the sides they’ve played and their performances, Scherning had to take the award.  

Goal of the Month: Jonjoe Kenney (Wehen vs Hertha)
For the third time in four this season, I have ignored a goal from past the halfway line as Goal of the Month. Steven Skrzybski’s goal against Eintracht Braunschweig was great, but Jonjoe Kenny’s perfect control and volley against Wehen was even better.