Smolarek's New Chance

[footyfan1]

I didn't know whether to make this a part of the Gladbach v. BVB thread, the Injury Thread or to make a new one.

I decided to make a new one. TOLH or DF, if you guys think it fits in one of the other two, please correct my error.


Now, with Valdez' injury, Ebi Smolarek gets a new chance to prove he should be playing regularly.

Check that. He plays regularly now, he gets a chance to prove he should be STARTING.

Most of you have seen how I've slammed Smolarek's lack of performance since the first half of last season. I even called for him to be sold during this past off-season to help pay for Valdez and Frei.

I still stand by that. However, I also said during that time that if Smolarek finds that scoring touch again, I'd be happy about that too.

Now, we need him to find it. We need him to make "Gunning4Chelsea" right and to play so well that even when Valdez is healed, BvM keeps Valdez on the bench. :)

Not that I want to see Valdez on the bench.

I am happy with Valdez's play although he hasn't scored a Bundesliga goal. I never thought I'd see another offensive player I would think works as hard for the team as Jan Koller did, but Nelson Valdez does.

Right now, we need goals from strikers. In four matches this season, BVB only has four goals scored by BVB players. Two by defenders (Amedick & Woerns), one by a midfielder (Kringe) and only one from a striker (Frei).

I want to see Ebi Smolarek take this chance and show the attitude Artur Wichniarek showed this past Saturday for Bielefeld. Wichniarek only scored one goal, but he was a thorn in the side of the Bayern defense the entire day. That's what we're going to need from Smolarek while Valdez is out. Especially in Gladbach this Friday as they are going to want to appease their fans after getting their asses handed to them in Aachen this past weekend.

Ebi Smolarek had a goal disallowed in the HSV match for offside. It was a good call. However, except for another offside call against him about a minute or so later, I don't recall seeing much of him.

Ebi Smolarek has a new chance to prove himself. Whether it is to take Valdez' spot or to show potential new clubs that he's still got what it takes to be an effective striker in the Bundesliga.

No more bitching. He's got the chance he and his fans wanted for him to prove himself again.

I hope he doesn't waste it.........

[HypoLuxa]

I'll go along with you on this. However, I'm not holding my breath. It'll be interesting how HE takes it. Does he grab the opportunity with both hands and make the selection decisions difficult when Nelson gets back, or does he just float along...This should show his true character. Last year he was thrown into a difficult situation and for the first part he responded quite well. let's hope he can duplicate that...

[footyfan1]

I'll go along with you on this. However, I'm not holding my breath. It'll be interesting how HE takes it. Does he grab the opportunity with both hands and make the selection decisions difficult when Nelson gets back, or does he just float along...This should show his true character. Last year he was thrown into a difficult situation and for the first part he responded quite well. let's hope he can duplicate that...


I think he can score some goals. Especially against the likes of Gladbach, whose defense is sucking badly this season. But yes, I wouldn't advise anyone to hold their breath on this one.

If Smolarek doesn't come through, we'll probably see Amachaibou or Tyrala. Maybe even Senesie.......

[The Old Lady Hertha]

I want to see Ebi Smolarek take this chance and show the attitude Artur Wichniarek showed this past Saturday for Bielefeld. Wichniarek only scored one goal, but he was a thorn in the side of the Bayern defense the entire day. That's what we're going to need from Smolarek while Valdez is out. Especially in Gladbach this Friday as they are going to want to appease their fans after getting their asses handed to them in Aachen this past weekend.


As a Hertha fan I find this highly amusing to say the least :p

W.R.T. Smolarek, his disallowed goal was a good goal, he showed good confidence there. I think he can still do a job for you guys and I think he'll be okay. Frei doesn't seem to have his shooting boots as of right now, but maybe a little bit more time for him, he's probably a bit tired due to the WM.

[footyfan1]

As a Hertha fan I find this highly amusing to say the least :p

Laugh if you like. Wichinarek showed the attitude we haven't seen out of Smolarek in over a year. He was out to prove van Heesen wrong for not playing him.


W.R.T. Smolarek, his disallowed goal was a good goal, he showed good confidence there. I think he can still do a job for you guys and I think he'll be okay. Frei doesn't seem to have his shooting boots as of right now, but maybe a little bit more time for him, he's probably a bit tired due to the WM.


I think Frei isn't used to Bundesliga defenses. I'm not buying this "tired from the World Cup" shit. Valdez was at the World Cup too and he wasn't "tired". Klose went further than Frei and he hasn't been "tired". Frei has to get used to a tougher league.

He'll do it, but don't feed me excuses. He's just getting stopped right now. This is what I was talking about before we got him when I said that for the most part, leading French scorers don't do much when they move to tougher leagues.

[The Old Lady Hertha]

mmmh you're probably right, but he does look a bit sluggish.

[footyfan1]

mmmh you're probably right, but he does look a bit sluggish.


Getting stopped will do that to a player. :cool:

[The Old Lady Hertha]

Getting stopped will do that to a player. :cool:

Hehe...

Maybe that shows that we are better than the French League (minus Lyon of course) :cool:

[footyfan1]

Hehe...

Maybe that shows that we are better than the French League (minus Lyon of course) :cool:


From top to bottom, I'd say so. And I said it all summer.

[KUBI_nu11]

This is what I was talking about before we got him when I said that for the most part, leading French scorers don't do much when they move to tougher leagues.


Well what about Drogba, Henry, Trezeguet just to mention a few?

But you are right Frei needs to get use to Bundesliga even if he should have scored 3 goals right now. (1 post against Bayern Munich and one against Stuttgart)

I am confident that he will start scoring soon you will see :)

It will be interesting to see if Smolarek can come back to the top...

[footyfan1]

Well what about Drogba, Henry, Trezeguet just to mention a few?

I said "for the most part French leading scorers don't do much when they move to tougher leagues."

Henry didn't do jack shit when he first left France. He had to go to England to find his game. Remember? Juve dumped his ass after the didn't do shit for them.

Drogba?

Put him with Liverpool or Newcastle instead of Chelsea and see what he does. I say not as much. Just like Cisse. They aren't much different. Drogba just has more attitude than Cisse.

You could put a sorry ass striker like Smolarek on that Chelsea team and he would score goals. That's how good they are.

Trezeguet? Same thing. Put him on a team not filled with superstars and see what he does.

You said "just to mention a few." Name more. I can think of very few French scoring leaders in recent memory who have gone anywhere and been what they were expected to be right off the bat.

Although, admittedly, Henry EVENTUALLY turned into what people thought he already was with Monaco and Drogba has the potential to get there no matter who he's with. But for each of them, you have a Cisse and a Wiltord.



But you are right Frei needs to get use to Bundesliga even if he should have scored 3 goals right now. (1 post against Bayern Munich and one against Stuttgart)

In my opinion, he should have had two against Bayern. I don't blame him for the one against Stuttgart becuase Hildebrand made an awesome save. Frei did everything right on that shot. Hildebrand was just too good for him.



I am confident that he will start scoring soon you will see :)

I hope he does. We need it. But he is providing good setups for other guys too. I like how he works for the club. I also like his sense in front of net. Of all the guys we have I expect to start producing goals, he's at the top of the list.



It will be interesting to see if Smolarek can come back to the top...

Yes, it will be. Friday will be particularly important.

[jonam]

This is what I was talking about before we got him when I said that for the most part, leading French scorers don't do much when they move to tougher leagues.


You can't judge from just 4 matches. Let's look at his performances at winter break.

[HeyaBVB]

You can't judge from just 4 matches. Let's look at his performances at winter break.
Yeah, we have a completely new offense, this guys have to find each other first

Frei Valdez Pienaar and Tinga ....we should at least give em till the winterbreak to find each other

[footyfan1]

You can't judge from just 4 matches. Let's look at his performances at winter break.


Why don't you go back and read my entire comment? I said he's getting stopped RIGHT NOW and then I made the comment about French leading scorers.

I didn't f#cking "judge" anything, the man is getting "stopped" RIGHT NOW!

That's not to say that he won't come out of it in the future.

[footyfan1]

Yeah, we have a completely new offense, this guys have to find each other first

See previous response to "jonam".



Frei Valdez Pienaar and Tinga ....we should at least give em till the winterbreak to find each other

When you have the aspirations our club does, that's not a f#cking option.

[Gunning4Chelsea]

I didn't know whether to make this a part of the Gladbach v. BVB thread, the Injury Thread or to make a new one.

I decided to make a new one. TOLH or DF, if you guys think it fits in one of the other two, please correct my error.


Now, with Valdez' injury, Ebi Smolarek gets a new chance to prove he should be playing regularly.

Check that. He plays regularly now, he gets a chance to prove he should be STARTING.

Most of you have seen how I've slammed Smolarek's lack of performance since the first half of last season. I even called for him to be sold during this past off-season to help pay for Valdez and Frei.

I still stand by that. However, I also said during that time that if Smolarek finds that scoring touch again, I'd be happy about that too.

Now, we need him to find it. We need him to make "Gunning4Chelsea" right and to play so well that even when Valdez is healed, BvM keeps Valdez on the bench. :)

Not that I want to see Valdez on the bench.

I am happy with Valdez's play although he hasn't scored a Bundesliga goal. I never thought I'd see another offensive player I would think works as hard for the team as Jan Koller did, but Nelson Valdez does.

Right now, we need goals from strikers. In four matches this season, BVB only has four goals scored by BVB players. Two by defenders (Amedick & Woerns), one by a midfielder (Kringe) and only one from a striker (Frei).
I want to see Ebi Smolarek take this chance and show the attitude Artur Wichniarek showed this past Saturday for Bielefeld. Wichniarek only scored one goal, but he was a thorn in the side of the Bayern defense the entire day. That's what we're going to need from Smolarek while Valdez is out. Especially in Gladbach this Friday as they are going to want to appease their fans after getting their asses handed to them in Aachen this past weekend.

Ebi Smolarek had a goal disallowed in the HSV match for offside. It was a good call. However, except for another offside call against him about a minute or so later, I don't recall seeing much of him.

Ebi Smolarek has a new chance to prove himself. Whether it is to take Valdez' spot or to show potential new clubs that he's still got what it takes to be an effective striker in the Bundesliga.

No more bitching. He's got the chance he and his fans wanted for him to prove himself again.

I hope he doesn't waste it.........

lol

Koller scored goals for us....Valdez hasnt yet (still stand by my comment "Valdez played second fiddle to Klasnic" for a reason....the mere fact that you 'just work hard' is not good enough for a team that has European ambitions....

btw - interesting comparison to Wichniarek - his solid effort against Bayern - was the best game he has played since.....Arminia was in Bundesliga 2 .....loooooong time ago....

personally - I reeeeeaaaally would like to see Tyrala get some minutes - he has been absolute dynamite for Germany's Under 19

[footyfan1]

personally - I reeeeeaaaally would like to see Tyrala get some minutes - he has been absolute dynamite for Germany's Under 19


Doesn't mean it will translate to the Bundesliga.

I trust BvM to play Tyrala when BvM feels he's ready to help AT THE BUNDESLIGA LEVEL.......

[footyfan1]

lol

Koller scored goals for us....Valdez hasnt yet (still stand by my comment "Valdez played second fiddle to Klasnic" for a reason....the mere fact that you 'just work hard' is not good enough for a team that has European ambitions....


Smolarek has "Koller Disease". I think that's Smolarek's problem right now.

Koller scored goals when they didn't mean a f#cking thing.

When the club needed goals the most, Jan Koller would disappear on most occassions. Just as Ebi does now.

I hope Ebi gets over it. His disallowed goal last weekend shows he still has some quality.

[AMK3]

Don't any of you people see BVM as the problem?

[Shep4BVB]

Don't any of you people see BVM as the problem?
I totally agree!