Working stream for today's crucial match against Real Sociedad here: http://www.stadium-live.com/Channel4.html TOR Toprak 1-0 Leverkusen!!!
Gritty win today. Many sloppy scoring opportunities not finished by Kiessling, Son & Co. Team really missing Sidney Sam right now for that additional offensive impact and support. But defensive line were able to hold it down. Several moments where Sociedad looked dangerous though, but able to grind it out in the end. Earlier wins against Sociedad and Shakhtar were so key in setting up today’s opportunity. Being able to score the decisive goal was clutch, & Man U were able to contribute on their end with a win over Shakhtar. Congrats on advancing to the knockout rounds, cheers!
I may be rooting for you to lose your CL spot to Gladbach and Schalke, but cheers on getting through to the next round. Good luck in the draw!
So excited! What a great win for us. I wish we would have been more clinical in front of goal, but a win is a win. Epitome990 is right -- we need Sidney Sam back from injury. Our lack of depth is the biggest problem with the team. Open up the checkbooks, Bayer!
That's the thing that really makes me dislike your team. You're a company team, being a cheap company doesn't make you more likeable. Not blowing big sums on big foreign names is smart, but being to cheap to have any depth is not when you can afford it. That's why I enjoyed how the united matches exposed that. May be now you'll add some depth and that #10 you so desperately lack.
Winning the race to sign Julian Brandt from Wolfsburg is a huge move, very promising talent at LW. Benjamin Henrichs is a promising CAM prospect coming through the ranks but I agree, finding a prime playmaker at the 10 spot is still critical in Leverkusen taking the big next step right now. De Bruyne would be the perfect fit. http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1...a-moenchengladbach-wolfsburg-interest?cc=5901
Loading up on more young talent. Ryu Seung Woo will join Leverkusen on a 1-year loan beginning in January. The 19 y/o Korean forward was a standout in the U-20 WC.
They may have landed some big talent but the young Greek LB who was supposed to be the next big thing on his position is still miles away from Bundesliga football. That Korean lad and Brandt will be probably no different. On the other hand they are going to lose one of their most effective offensive players, Sidney Sam. They may have a great harvest in a couple of years but they need to eat now. Well, perhaps they can land Kevin de Bruyne on a 1 1/2 year loan deal with option.
New additions and youth players doing well in winter training camp & friendly matches. Leverkusen won the first friendly game over Heerenveen 4-3. Emre Can assisted on Robbie Kruse's goal to take the 2-0 lead. LB. Kostas Stafylidis had 2 assists in the game, one setting up Son for the 3rd goal. The other assist was on a well taken corner, scored by Derdiyok's header. In the second win (2-0) over Heerenveen, Ryu Seung Woo came off the bench and scored his first goal in 44th min of the friendly. A minute later Ryu won a penalty for the team after getting fouled in the box, however the oposing goalie saved Kiessling's shot. Overall Ryu played well connecting with Kiessling for good chances and showing creativity. In the 2-2 tie with Swiss side Young Boys, Julian Brandt was very active subbing on in the second half. He later scored the game-tying goal in the 84th min, created by a nice pass-back play with Levin Öztunali. Highlights: http://www.bayer04.de/b04-deu/de/_m...B8CA1-A3AC-4AD7-95F6-EBF1FACCE06F-613&id=3528
Robbie Kruse out for the season with a torn ACL. Bad news for what is already a thin bench. Though this does give a chance for new signings Brandt and Ryu. Both players impressed during the winter training camp. In other news, Derdiyok is having a productive training camp playing well in the friendly matches. Scored 6 goals over those 3 games. He's gotten in better and form, and his attitude is more positive towards playing the Rückrunde. Now that he's focused, this is definitely time for him to finally step up.
He was the man who impressed me the most in this Leverkusen team during the first half of 2013/14. Who would have thought that the guy who almost lost his career at that go-cart track accident would still make it into a very good defender? If I recall correctly he was even praised by Jürgen Kohler as THE BEST cb talent in all Germany ahead of Hummels, Boateng and Badstuber when he was younger. That's of course only a single opinion but I really like the way Toprak has been developing. Good thing Leverkusen refused those offers from Galatasaray & Co. last summer.
As someone rooting for Dortmund, Gladbach and Schalke to make the CL, I wouldn't have minded seeing Leverkusen sell him in the summer ;-)
Leverkusen has hired Roger Schmidt as their new manager for next season. He's a tactically versed manager who lead RB Salzburg in a strong Europa League campaign playing entertaining football. Let's see if he can introduce his style of aggressive and effective pressing towards his new club. Bringing over a player like Kampl would also be a good boost, especially with the need of a creative play maker. A couple of articles describing Schmidt's style of play: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014...ters-soccer-europe-austria-salzburg.html?_r=0 http://spielverlagerung.com/2014/04/15/red-bull-salzburg-under-roger-schmidt-2014/
I'll be interested to see how the team lines up under Schmidt. Should be a lot more pressing, much higher up the field.
Bayer Leverkusen has signed 18 year-old Croatian central defensive talent Tin Jedaj on a two-season loan from AS Roma. Leverkusen boss Rudi Völler was full of praise for his new signing, stating, "Tin Jedvaj is a huge talent we have been watching for quite some time. We hope he will take the next step (in his development) with us. In him, we have a useful addition to our defensive group." Kicker article in German at this link. Leverkusen does have a purchase option on the player.
Bayer Leverkusen complete the signing of Hakan Calhanoglu. He joins the team on a 14.5 mio transfer from Hamburg. The preseason begins with a 5-1 win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. The game featured many new players along with top youth talents. Julian Brandt got the team off to a fast start, scoring 20 seconds in the game with a spectacular overhead bicycle kick. Karim Bellarabi and Roberto Hilbert scored the 2nd & 3rd. Other new signing, Vladlen Yurchenko scored on a nice chip shot. U19 striker Marc Brasnic finished with the fifth goal. Lineup: Leno (Kresic 46’) – Donati (Becker 63’), Wollscheid (Öztunali 46’), Jedvaj (Boeder 63’), Wendell (Stafylidis 46’) – Castro (Wagener 63’), Rolfes – Hilbert (Henrichs 63’), Brandt (Yurchenko 46’) – Bellarabi (Ryu 63’), Kießling (Brasnic 63’)