what a fantastic player.....naturally gifted and incredibly smart on the pitch.... absolute pleasure to watch
Last season, Reus had 24 goals and 20 assists in 57 matches(including for Germany). Those are fantastic numbers. He is only 24 years old. Maybe he can even score 30 goals this season ?
Exactly. When Scheisse and Bayern beat us in the Super Cup, we were talking about how it didn't mean anything. We win and all of a sudden it means something to this guy trying to make a point? Wow.......
Again, our opponents for the season currently sit in 6th place, 12th through 15th place, and dead last respectively. If our team is truly as good as what we think they are, what should our record be??? Great work Kloppo? I don't f#cking think so. We're still surrendering leads to clearly inferior teams. Every match this season, save for the opener in Augsburg, has contained unnecessary drama. No, I am not saying we should steamroll over every team. But I am saying we shouldn't be suffering from the same lapses in concentration we have since before Klopp took over. You guys will soon see that there is a lot more to football than what you see on the surface. If it doesn't happen, I will enjoy every "I told you so", you guys give me. This next sentence is not directed at you "CanStriker". It is borne of my general frustration with the tunnel vision of so many fans. Mostly not at these threads. This season has a very long way to go. And yes, things can get better. They can also get worse. I get so sick and tired of fans acting like things can only get better and anyone who dares mention the other side being "pessimistic." It is funny. "Reality" is only good to mention when it totally favors your side. If it does not, or doesn't put your club in a "shining light", it then becomes "pessimism." I talk about the other side because almost no one else does.
You know why you had to name a glorified friendly to try to make your point about "raising our game against stronger teams?" BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T PLAYED ANY "STRONG TEAMS" YET THIS SEASON! You talk about making the CL Final. You know what's wrong with this? IT WAS LAST SEASON! This is not the same team. This is not the same season. There will not be the same circumstances in the CL. We will no longer be a surprise. Others will be gunning for us because we made that Final. Teams who are "just so f#cking good" don't surrender two goal leads to f#cking HSV! I love the reaction the TEAM gave to their embarrassing f#ck-up. But it shouldn't have been necessary in the first place.
Completely agree with footyfan. The basic Dortmund approach is akin to what Juve and Manchester United did in the mid to late 90's...just outscore opponents. That's where the similarity ends by the way in case this becomes a side conversation. It's a dangerous approach because it doesn't really work in modern football where the key to success has always been defensive stability, which Dortmund don't have because it's not an attribute that sustains the current Klopp-philosophy of quick transitions and gegen-pressing. It's a great start for sure but have seen seen Dortmund become a team that controls matches better? Not at all. It's just more of the same, like building high speed motor after high speed motor into a car without bumping up the breaks, etc (I don't know anything about cars by the way) It's hard to imagine Dortmund will reach the ultimate goal of winning the CL or be a consistent contender and reach the semis each season, that it will be Dortmund that breaks the general trend in football now.
I get what you're saying but we're 15 pts clear after 5 matches. Yes we had a bit of a lapse in our last match. We also won 6-2 and the final score is what really matters. BFD is was level for a few minutes. This is another strong and dangerous team. Of course things can get worse and they invariably will. You can only stay undefeated for so long.
I would say that the most important thing is that they didn't lose any points, but won all of them despite the defensive problems. Problems can be fixed and must be fixed if they want to do anything special this season, but these 5 wins in the BL give them peace to continue improving. I think that is the most important thing! I have a feeling the CL match will have a positive outcome for Dortmund. They do have problems defensively that can't be fixed in a few days, but they also have an attack that can certainly score more goals then the opponent.
You will find out that same effort won't cut it against the better teams. If this were something new to start this season, I would not be concerned. However, we've had these same issues for more than a season. A couple, we've had since before Klopp ever took the job. As far as your saying "we've had a bit of a lapse in our last match", have you been watching this season? Do you get to see the matches?? We have had unnecessary drama in every match save for the opener. And even in that one, Augsburg arguably outplayed us in the first half. But then they beat up on the bad teams and all is forgotten. Yeah, let them try that shit against Napoli tomorrow...... BTW, talking about our record. We are not "15 points clear". We have 15 points. Where I'm from saying someone is "15 points clear" means they're 15 points ahead of the closest competition. We are not "15 points clear." Bayern is right on our tails with 13 points and only because they decided to take a match off (they had the European Super Cup later that week) and paid for it. Again, our opponents this season currently are in 6th place (Augsburg won't be there long), 12th through 15th place, and dead last in the Bundesliga. What else should our record be? WE HAVEN'T PLAYED ANYONE GOOD YET! Napoli will be the first good team we've played in a true competitive match all season. Believe me, I know how good we actually are and how good we can actually be. But a team who is TRULY as good as BVB fans love to think our team is already does not f#cking surrender a two-goal lead at home to a shitty team like HSV. It just should not happen. We still have loads of work to do. And again, these issues aren't new. Some of them have been "BVB issues" since before Klopp........
I would say the most important thing is actually getting the issues fixed. Masking over them by beating bad teams is not helping anything. Then, when the problems finally do cost us something, everyone will act as if the problems are "new." They won't be "new." It will be just that they got masked over by victories over bad teams.........
@footyfan1 I understand what you are saying all the time and I'm with you on everything. Klopp knows about the problems, I don't think HE is being misled by victories. He knows he must do something and I'm certain he is working on it. I'm just saying that fixing these problems is easier when they are top of the league with 5 wins then when they are behind Bayern by 3,4 points. It's mentally easier, there is less pressure. Once again, if somehow Klopp thinks everything is great, then we are doomed... I don't think that is the case, anyway.
You know, I used to be certain of this too. However, as stated, some of the issue pre-date his time in the job. Tells me if he's working on these things, he isn't doing a very good job at them...... But of course, how dare I criticize the great Juergen Klopp??? This makes no sense. You keep saying "top of the league with 5 wins, 15 points, etc." It isn't as if we are 'clear at the top'. There is still pressure. Bayern is only two points behind. Leverkusen three. We might be five out of five, but when four of our five opponents reside comfortably in the bottom half of the table and the other will be back there soon enough, what the hell do you expect?? Bayern and Leverkusen have both played tougher teams already. That part of our schedule will be here soon enough....... Klopp always says we're working on things. Yet, the same old issues continue to pop up. When we're winning, no one cares. But wait until we start dropping points. And if the team doesn't concentrate and find their killer instinct before they f#ck up, we will drop points we have no business dropping.......
defense issues aside, yes they are probably BVB's number one glaring problem on the field. We do have a great attacking mix, so if we do get in a rut in terms of we fall behind, we have a lot of attacking options which is great. D just needs to hold on while the attack does that work and hopefully as the season progresses we fix the Defense situation bc you cant expect to score 4+ goals every game till May
Nor will we continue to play opponents who concede 4+ goals. Remember, we've scored 4+ goals twice. In the other matches, we've scored 2, 1, and 2 against the dead last placed team, the 14th placed team and 13th placed team respectively. On top of this, not many people realize we just happened to catch Eintracht Frankfurt (13th) on the right day. When we played them, they were missing their three best players. They got two of those guys back this past weekend and thrashed Bremen 3-0 at Bremen. The same Bremen team we beat 1-0 at home. Different circumstances, I know. I will be fair here. I realize Bremen did have a player sent off against Frankfurt for a gruesome foul. All I'm saying is having watched our match at Frankfurt three times, I would bet if Frankfurt had those two players back, we would have lost that match. There was no way in hell that makeshift Frankfurt team should have played with us as well as they did. Sorry man. I know it seems I'm being "Negative Nancy." However, it burns me up to no end that almost no one wants to discuss "issues" until they become "problems." Reminds me of the parents who leave their kids in the sunshine as a f#cking storm rolls over the horizion.
Footy you certainly are on point with the issues you are discussing, and I'm sure most of us here agree with these points, including members who bring up 15-point season start and 6-2 scoreline against a team in deep crisis. But generally, as football fans, we seek excitement from watching our team play, and customarily become "blind" to the issues at hand. Just like with the child we love, we understand the issues but have blind faith that he/she will persevere any moment and will succeed. Dortmund's issues are clear as day to me, but that doesn't stop me from being "confident" that my team will win the treble this year, because if I can't imagine my team winning, I can't look forward to it either. If and when the treble doesn't happen, I will be disappointed and will more or less understand why the task wasn't quite achievable, but at this point overthinking the issues will not solve them and will take away from the euphoria of supporting my team no matter what.
Trust me, I know I'm not a normal "fan." I pride myself on not being one. I can be realistic about BVB and still enjoy and love them just as much as anyone who prefers to remain unrealistic about them. I only say the things I do because I care so much and I want to see the issues handled before they become problems.
You don't need to. The "other types of fans" are the majority. I know this. It is why I come across "the wrong way" to so many. I get it. But I'm not changing for others. I take the bad along with the good. And if people actually look at what I'm saying and what's behind it, they'll know I'm not saying the things I do simply to be "negative" or "pessimistic." Back before our horrible financial problems became known, back when Matthias Sammer was our coach, I had no clue about the money issues. But I did see problems in the team which eventually brought it down. Of course, no one wanted to talk about those issues as long as we got the results. I told them eventually, we wouldn't get the results and what would happen. It happened quicker than even I thought thanks to money issues the old management team had hidden well until the CL money stopped coming in. Quite a few of those "normal fans" I mentioned above? They tried to blame me for the problems. They said I "wished them" on the club. Ridiculous right? Just because I could logically see what we were heading for before we got there. I was not then nor am I now some kind of psychic. I just keep my eyes open for everything. Bad as well as good. I just don't dwell on the "good" very much because everyone else takes care of this. I praise the team when they are praiseworthy and it is worth saying. I'll rip the team when they deserve ripping. I'm sorry. For me, getting your head out of your ass after you've already embarrassed yourself does not change the fact you embarrassed yourself in the first place. It shouldn't take embarrassing themselves or close calls to get a performance out of this team. I don't think this is too much to ask. This is a problem which we've had since well before Klopp's arrival. I can't see that he's done much to change it. But put this to most fans and they take things to the other extreme claiming I want "perfection." I don't want "perfection" from this team. I want to see them stop doing the same dumb shit. As I always say, people who have to take things to the other extreme to prove or refute a point, usually don't have a point at all. So believe me, I know there are other types of fans out there. I deal with them every day. I just can't be like them anymore. Believe it or not, I was like them once upon a time. I kept myself blind to lots of things in this world. Not anymore. And especially not when it comes to something I love as much as I love Borussia Dortmund.........