Pre-match: Bundesliga day 13, FC Bayern-Hannover 96

I remain a bit more cautiously optimistic than you. But to each his own!

 

Dante I love you...

 

Awesome Tor! Thanks for the update. Hope your FCBayern store shopping trip when according to planned. Remember, XL for Kirk. I am buying his Larges off him.

Safe travels home.

 

I miss one match, and Martinez, Dante, Gomez score! and Kroos showed that when he's in the mood, he's just unstoppable. I hope we get a repeat against Freiburg and more importantly, against BVB. Maybe not a repeat in terms of goals scored, but the way we played and that attitude.

 

We had a ton of space in midfield, unbelievable. Kroos and Ribery beasted it today.

 

Also happy to see Gomez scoring on his first game this season, fantastic.

 

He's just that good ... Despite some here think otherwise ...

 

Who the fock cares about what people think of Gomez so long as he scores. LMAO!!!

 

If you're referring to me, I never said he wasn't good.

 

And by the way the Kroos goal was unbelievable, what a shot!!

 

Share some of your pix/video when you get a chance!

 

It wasn't to you ... But there's a lot of people here that talk trash about him, but whatever, he'll continue to shut them up ...

 

The problem really isn't talking trash... it is sensitivity to any sort of criticism on these boards, whether it be negative or positive. The majority of these boards consist of posters that a devoid of a filter for such things. I makes it nearly impossible to actually have an intelligent conversation about the strengths and weaknesses of each of Bayern's strikers.

What my personal hope is would be that Gomez simply picks up where he left off as far as scoring. Scoring in his first game Bundesliga action is great sign! Unfortunately, I know from watching countless of seasons of Bayern's to not jump the bandwagon too early as players coming off injury will need time.

I am hoping also that Gomez has been improved in areas I personally feel he has lacked in the past, the same as others have for the side this year as well (Ribery - defending for once as example). Scoring has NOT been one of them. For instance, his assist to Mueller vs Valencia was pure brilliance! Anyone who has played the game and been in a striker roll or scoring position knows that was NOT by accident.

Heres to hoping Super Mario is just starting on a string of amazing performances!!!

 

The scene where he scored the goal underlines the attributes that I missed most compared to Mandzukic. It's not only the more clinical finish but the speed! Amazing how he just closes a 2 meter gap to Haggui in the blink of an eye and fairly brushes him off like an insect whereas Mandzukic rarely is able to challenge defenders without being called back by the ref because of a foul.

I expect much of the Torrero and the competition will only make him better.

 

Javi Martinez

With Gustavo having his best season to date and keeping Javi on the bench, yet out injured until January, I thought it time to take a look at Martinez's strengths and weaknesses.

- possession... his passing and keeping of the ball is better than Gustavo's
- winning ball in the air... better than both Gus and Tymo IMO
- tackling... needs more steel, he is too cautious, both Tymo and Gus better in the dept
- positioning... good but not good enough at times defensively
- speed of play (defensively)... ability to recover and keeps up with play well, but not as well as Gus, better than Tymo
- speed of play (vision)... ability to transition in attack and support it, sees and does things sooner than both Gus and Tymo
- shooting/finishing... needs more confidence (hopefully 1st goal will change this), Gus more confident, equal with Tymo
- midfield pairing with Schweini/Kroos... work in progress, communication and understanding of roles not as good as Gus, possibly below Tymo's.
- 1v1 defending... again, needs more steel, too cautious still at times
- reading the game (destroyer)... not as good as Gus or Tymo here yet, needs improving

Much of this will improve with each match as his confidence builds. Still too much attack and shots on frame are coming from the opposition in that zone just in front of the two CB's that Martinez is supposed to shepherd for my liking. Would like to see him anticipate the play more and destroy it prior to this becoming an issue.

 

Completely agree. The instincts Gomez has in the penalty area and his ability to close is excellent. There are times I wish Mandzukic would commit to actually throwing himself at the ball for the sake of putting Bayern in the lead to stay. A critique of mine with Gomez in the past was he as too slow to react in these situations, but never was it because he wasn't brave enough to attempt it.

I wish I could see the goal. The downloading of this game has proven to be challenging. I have seen only up to the 34th minute! URGH!!!!

 

These guys all have their positives and negatives and Eis you did a solid job there. I think Martinez will get better with his positioning after getting to know the team and the language. Some things just take time. The moments of brilliance are there, I would like to see more consistency, and that's who should be in the starting 11.

As for Gomez, I think he's hungry to get playing. He's fresh and if he trusts himself, has confidence, he is the man. He has great athletic upside on many levels that combined with confidence in his abilities make him a great player. I hope he finds his stride and if Bayern are this hot without him, we can only get better with him as an option.

 

This Martinez guy is so overrated...

 

LOL. well... I never said that and I did get the sarcasm.

He is smooth, as in silky smooth. Does things with little effort and so naturally. For a guy of his size it is impressive.

I think he is getting the proper time (at Gustavo's expense) to settle in. I look to see improvement from game to game.

 

When I saw that play (and the Volley of course) I thought to myself: "When this guy is fully integrated with the team and used to our game flow and system, he'll be beyond class" ...

 

He has amazing technical ability..

After some time we can really see what kind of player he is..

 

The issue wasn't trash talking but thinking two above average strikers like Mandzukic and Pizarro would displace a world class striker. Pizarro was here before and even then he had several issues, otherwise here's the shocker.. he wouldn't have left for Klose. Now that he's 34 years old, he's coming back and is better than a striker that's much better than Pizarro was in his prime. As for Mandzukic .. well other than FR who never spoke about him until he got here and apparently always knew he was good + Croatians, no one knew who the hell he was because he is your typical ok Bundesliga striker. Nothing special.

I have talked that these signings makes sense and I am not against them (esp Mandzukic looks like a good signing so far), I've just always laughed my ass off that these two in particular could be seen as realistic options to displace one of the best strikers in the planet. Rooney, Falcao, Benzema, I can see a point to it. Pizarro and Mandzukic? lol