New Year's Resolutions for the Bundesliga in 2013

It's that time of year again when everyone just stops for a while, reflects on the passing year and rethinks how they can improve themselves as everyone makes unrealistic promises and resolutions.

Here at Bleacher Report we decided to imagine what each of the biggest European leagues may have to say on their resolutions.

Read on and find out how we cover the New Year's resolutions for the Bundesliga and what the league can do to become even better in the coming year.

Keep More Players Away from European Giants

December was a turbulent month for Bundesliga fans as news of players leaving their clubs to join the English Premier League came up almost regularly each day.

The Robert Lewandowski saga has been ongoing for almost a year now and his exit from the Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund seems imminent at the moment.

All in all, Manchester United and their coach Sir Alex Ferguson came calling and it appears there's only one outcome—Lewandowski's transfer to Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Lewis Holtby declared that he will not be extending his current contract with Schalke, which runs out at the end of the season, as the midfielder may too favor a move to the Premier League.

However, there is a brighter side to all this.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Thomas Müller have set an example to younger players by signing contract extensions with their current clubs despite numerous offers from England and Spain. (via Guardian and Sky Sports)

This exodus of world-class players from the Bundesliga has become a worrying trend and putting an end to it would be a huge achievement for Bundesliga clubs.

Stay on Track in European Competitions

This season could prove to be one of the most successful in recent history for German football.

Three Bundesliga representatives in the Champions League—Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Schalke—have topped their groups and all German clubs in the Europa League—Borussia Mönchengladbach, Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen and Hannover 96—have progressed through to the knockout stage.

An incredible feat for any league, but especially for the Bundesliga, which has been regularly looked down on in the football world.

Now, the only thing that remains is to continue performing this well for as long as possible.

Invest More in Former East Germany and Berlin

The Bundesliga might just be the only European league that has no teams from their capital playing in the top tier.

Hertha Berlin has been hovering around the 2. Bundesliga and the top tier for so long that one could easily imagine how little investment it would take for the club to regularly compete at the highest level in Germany.

What is more, this season, the league has no representatives from former East Germany in the first division. And to truly evolve as a league the Bundesliga needs teams from all over the country.

However, teams should not play in the Bundesliga unless they have the quality to compete—simply pushing the clubs into the top tier without any investment will only harm and weaken the league.

Also, when I say investment, I do not exclusively mean money, but also experienced and knowledgeable personnel which could help the clubs evolve into Bundesliga regulars.

Step into the Transfer Market

German teams need more depth in their squads.

Relying on youth systems is admirable, but the clubs need more depth that cannot come solely from the youth academies.

Dortmund, Hannover, Schalke, Stuttgart and Mönchengladbach have all seriously under performed in the league due to hard, tiring European matches.

The fact is that they simply do not have enough depth to successfully compete in numerous competitions and more often than not the clubs have to decide on which competition they will focus.

The results of this are easy to notice—the clubs have a lot of problems in the Bundesliga as they often choose to field stronger squads in Europe.

There is perhaps no better example than Schalke who went on to play the semifinals of the Champions League in 2010/11, but finished only two places above the relegation zone in the league.

Don't be afraid to take a risk on players and step up in the transfer market!

Stop the Formation of 'the Big Two'

Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are slowly building a duopoly in the Bundesliga and unless other clubs stop selling their best players to them, they will only get stronger and stronger as the gap between them and the rest grows.

It is only natural for players to want to join the biggest football clubs in the country, but selling star players to Dortmund and Bayern will simply weaken the league, and in the worst-case scenario the Bundesliga could one day become the new La Liga.

Examples aren't hard to find—Marco Reus, Dante and Mario Mandžukić have all ditched their former clubs in favor of Dortmund and Bayern.

This slide probably seems a bit contradictory to the first one, but finding the right balance is key to the Bundesliga's improvement.

Don't forget to check out:

Standout Performers for Bayern so Far