Hamburg has been terrible to start the season, so much so that former Chelsea DoF Frank Arnesen fired coach Michael Oenning on Monday after the club has managed only one point from their opening six fixtures. I was fairly happy with this news, as a new coach probably meant that Jeffrey Bruma would have a better chance of cracking the starting lineup and seeing regular playing time at Hamburg. As it turns out, Bruma will already get another shot to shine today. After Michael Mancienne suffered an injury that will see him miss at least the next two games, Jeffrey Bruma was named to the starting lineup for Hamburg's game against Stuttgart this afternoon. For anybody interested in watching, the game can be found on ESPN 3 at 2:30 PM EST this afternoon or in their archives shortly after it's completion.
Bruma will now be given the chance to establish a partnership with former Chelsea prospect Slobodan Rajkovic in the center of the defense. I actually think that pair has a very nice chance of being successful as their skillsets compliment each other very well. Hopefully interim manager Rodolfo Cardoso stays away from Oenning's ultra-defensive approach that really doesn't allow for Bruma's best skills to shine. It's really hard to say what he'll do today though, as he's had less than a week as the manager and is certainly only a place holder until a permanent replacement arrives. If nothing else, Mancienne shouldn't be terribly difficult to displace if Bruma performs well as he's not played particularly well thus far. It's a big game today for Bruma, so best of luck to him as he tries to establish himself with his temporary club.
Funny side note...The rumored front runner for the Hamburg job is Marco van Basten (whom we looked at here), another guy with heavy ties to Chelsea at one point. Keep going to the well Frank, I hear Avram Grant is also available.