Matchday 8: BVB v. VfL Bochum [R]

[footyfan1]

After a big win in Cottbus, (I’m still embarrassed that we have to call a Week 7 win in Cottbus “big”) we get to come home for a “kleines Ruhr Derby” (Small Ruhr Derby) this Friday night with VfL Bochum. As I’m sure most of you know already, VfL Bochum were slammed 6-0 at home this past Saturday by Werder Bremen.


I think Bochum will be eager to redeem themselves and I’m sure their coach, Marcel Koller, will be telling his players, “What better place to do it than the Westfalenstadion?”


One thing I feel will work in our favor is that while I think Bochum will come in and fight, I really don’t think Bochum CAN put up the kind of fight we survived in Cottbus. However, we cannot go into this match thinking it’s going to be easy either.


We need to put Bochum away and put them away early. Don’t give them any notion that they can come into our house and win.


I hope BvM will play Ricken again. And I think he will. Especially with the way the team kept it’s composure on the pitch on Sunday.


I think Ricken’s experience had a bit to do with that.


However, with Valdez most likely being fit enough for Friday, BvM has to decide whether to stick with Frei/Smolarek or give Valdez another shot.


Even though Smolarek didn’t score against Cottbus, in my opinion, he still played well enough and I think, deserves to stay in the lineup for now. At least until his “hot streak” comes to an end.


I’m hoping this will be our lineup for the Bochum match:


Weidenfeller, Kringe, Brzenska, Wörns, Dede, Kruska, Tinga, Ricken, Pienaar, Smolarek, Frei

[Arlo]

3 points and not least!!! :) and i just know that Ricken is going to help us achive this

[footyfan1]

3 points and not least!!! :) and i just know that Ricken is going to help us achive this


Every player on the pitch should help achieve victory.


However, the players cannot look at what Bremen did to Bochum last weekend and think it will be easy.


We have to come out playing hard and concentrate on putting this match away early. The best thing for us would be an early goal without giving it right the hell back!


Kill any enthusiasm Bochum may come in with and try to pound them into submission. Because I can guarantee you, Bochum will come to fight.


This would be a great match for our guys to begin to learn what "killer instinct" is. If they could just develop that, then we would be a "hot" team.

[HypoLuxa]

As you've said, Keith, this is a great opportunity to continue a good display and maybe put together a good run of results to get the confidence a bit higher among the players.

Is it just me or does it seem like most everyone out there is trying too hard to make the perfect pass or hit the top corner with every shot or make the perfect tackle? It just seems to me that the boys are pressing too hard and not letting their confidence take over and play like we all know they can.

A 6-0 win would do wonders for our confidence, fans AND players! :)

Won't happen, but it'd be nice....

[footyfan1]

As you've said, Keith, this is a great opportunity to continue a good display and maybe put together a good run of results to get the confidence a bit higher among the players.

Is it just me or does it seem like most everyone out there is trying too hard to make the perfect pass or hit the top corner with every shot or make the perfect tackle? It just seems to me that the boys are pressing too hard and not letting their confidence take over and play like we all know they can.

A 6-0 win would do wonders for our confidence, fans AND players! :)

Won't happen, but it'd be nice....


I agree that the players seem to press themselves far too much, but I don't think they look for perfection, I think they are nervous and don't want to be the ones to screw up.

I think "HeyaBVB" said it best in the "How Much Is BvM To Blame" thread when he said that there is too much pressure being put on the team by management and fans.

I truly think this team wasn't ready for a goal of finishing in the top five. Even if Kehl and Metzelder weren't injured. It's a young team and it needs time to gel.

It's like I always say. You can't keep making player acquisitions (buying) for the future and then expect the future results immediately.

BVB has to learn that you can't replace experience with inexperience and expect to win immediately. It just isn't done.

However, the rest of the league seems to be cooperating with the time schedule this BVB team needs to grow. To have the problems we've had so far and still at least be in touch with the top teams has to be encouraging to the team.

We need to take these three points against Bochum because after that, one of the tougher parts of our schedule is coming up. After Bochum, we have to travel to Nuernberg, where it's tough for us even when Nuernberg sucks. They're a contender now, so they'll be doubly fired up to beat us. I intend to be at that match in Nuernberg.

Then we have two consecutive home matches. People might consider them "easy", but they are not.

The first one is against Bielefeld, who usually give us a tough match at our place or theirs. The next one is another Friday night match against Aachen. And you see what they've been doing so far this season.

After that, we have ANOTHER Friday night match IN BREMEN! :eek:

That's before we come home to face Hertha BSC Berlin (I intend to be at that match!) and follow that up with a trip to Frankfurt, where we got our asses handed to us last season!

After Frankfurt, we host Wolfsburg, go to the Arena auf Scheisse for the Derby with Scheisse 0-6 and finish the first half hosting Bayer Leverkusen.

Why did I go through all of that? To show that this match against Bochum could be a real high or low point in our season.

I think it's going to get tougher after this. Between here and the winterpause we don't have two "easy" matches in a row.

I also think we can't afford to throw away anymore points.

For me, anything less than a victory will be a huge disappointment.

[Arlo]

same thing with disappointment here, 3 points, not less!!!
every point we lose at home, in Westfallen, is a disappointment for our spectators

[Coon]

I agree that the players seem to press themselves far too much, but I don't think they look for perfection, I think they are nervous and don't want to be the ones to screw up.

I think "HeyaBVB" said it best in the "How Much Is BvM To Blame" thread when he said that there is too much pressure being put on the team by management and fans.

I truly think this team wasn't ready for a goal of finishing in the top five. Even if Kehl and Metzelder weren't injured. It's a young team and it needs time to gel.

It's like I always say. You can't keep making player acquisitions (buying) for the future and then expect the future results immediately.

BVB has to learn that you can't replace experience with inexperience and expect to win immediately. It just isn't done.

However, the rest of the league seems to be cooperating with the time schedule this BVB team needs to grow. To have the problems we've had so far and still at least be in touch with the top teams has to be encouraging to the team.

We need to take these three points against Bochum because after that, one of the tougher parts of our schedule is coming up. After Bochum, we have to travel to Nuernberg, where it's tough for us even when Nuernberg sucks. They're a contender now, so they'll be doubly fired up to beat us. I intend to be at that match in Nuernberg.

Then we have two consecutive home matches. People might consider them "easy", but they are not.

The first one is against Bielefeld, who usually give us a tough match at our place or theirs. The next one is another Friday night match against Aachen. And you see what they've been doing so far this season.

After that, we have ANOTHER Friday night match IN BREMEN! :eek:

That's before we come home to face Hertha BSC Berlin (I intend to be at that match!) and follow that up with a trip to Frankfurt, where we got our asses handed to us last season!

After Frankfurt, we host Wolfsburg, go to the Arena auf Scheisse for the Derby with Scheisse 0-6 and finish the first half hosting Bayer Leverkusen.

Why did I go through all of that? To show that this match against Bochum could be a real high or low point in our season.

I think it's going to get tougher after this. Between here and the winterpause we don't have two "easy" matches in a row.

I also think we can't afford to throw away anymore points.

For me, anything less than a victory will be a huge disappointment.

Great points... this match will be very important. This match reminds me a lot of the friday Gladbach game. Gladbach got their asses handed to them by Aachen the week before and we played them at home. Anyway the match ended up 2-2 and the players got booed at home. Hopefully they have learned from that and do not let it happen again.

[AMK3]

What i want to know is why Ricken is not playing all the time under BvM, and turning out for the reserves. In my opinion he's a quality player

[footyfan1]

What i want to know is why Ricken is not playing all the time under BvM, and turning out for the reserves. In my opinion he's a quality player


Because Ricken doesn't always show his "quality." Which is why until last week, his ass was DESERVEDLY playing on the reserve team.

He only shows it after his ass has been on the bench for awhile. And we have enough quality midfielders to keep his ass on the bench when he doesn't show his "quality", which over the past three or four years has been most of the time...

In other words, he didn't play before last week because he didn't deserve to.

He always seems to play well in Cottbus. Let's see if he keeps it up. As far as I'm concerned, he earned another shot.

[footyfan1]

Great points... this match will be very important. This match reminds me a lot of the friday Gladbach game. Gladbach got their asses handed to them by Aachen the week before and we played them at home. Anyway the match ended up 2-2 and the players got booed at home. Hopefully they have learned from that and do not let it happen again.


I think you have two matches mixed up. Yes, we played Gladbach after they got their asses handed to them in Aachen, but that was the match we lost to them 1-0 in Gladbach.

The match that ended 2-2 and with the players being jeered off the pitch at home was the next Friday night against Hannover 96.

[footyfan1]

I'm not sure how much you guys have been following the run-up to tonight's match against Bochum, Roman Weidenfeller's availability was in serious doubt because he's been battling lumbago (back pain) for the past week.

borussia-dortmund.com reports that Weidenfeller will play tonight.

However on the other end of the pitch, it is not certain who will partner Smolarek (Damn, what a difference a few goals makes! :) ) up front this evening.

Frei would be the obvious assumption, but supposedly, he's not 100%. Valdez hasn't had a lot of practice, but there's a chance he could play.

I expect the strike team to be Smolarek and Frei, with Valdez seeing action in the second half unless Smolarek and Frei are just on fire.

Degen should be on the bench again, with Kringe playing in Degen's right back spot.

I'm sure this means Lars Ricken will get another start in midfield. One he totally earned last week in Cottbus.

Looks like we'll see the lineup I said I hope we'll see tonight in my initial message of this thread.

http://www.westline.de/images/bvb_bochum_201006_rdax_400x269.jpg

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

I'll be staying home tonight so i'm gonna watch this game. Getitng arena wass the best idea ever :)

I think this should definetely be three points for Dortmund, anything less would be a poor results. Bochum should be more than happy if they steal a point, but i wouldn't be surprised to see Dortmund win by 3 goals, if Bochum play like they did last week.

[footyfan1]

I'll be staying home tonight so i'm gonna watch this game. Getitng arena wass the best idea ever :)

I think this should definetely be three points for Dortmund, anything less would be a poor results. Bochum should be more than happy if they steal a point, but i wouldn't be surprised to see Dortmund win by 3 goals, if Bochum play like they did last week.


Well, Bochum aren't playing like they did last week and BVB are playing like SHIT. S-H-I-T, SHIT!!

It's halftime and I can't tell you how angry I am watching this team shit their pants once again!

Even if they kick ass in the second half, I'm already f#cking angry. They are goddamned COWARDS! :mad:

Getting Arena is great. I can't see why every football fan who can afford an extra Euro 15 per month doesn't have it.......

[Arlo]

PATHETIC:mad:

[footyfan1]

PATHETIC:mad:


You're right! I just watched the post-match interview with BvM and he couldn't explain it, but he hardly pulled punches either.

Here's the last message I sent to the e-mail list:


I feel like we just got our asses kicked. I do. I feel like we lost 6-1.

And we SHOULD have lost!!

Bochum had a perfectly good goal DISALLOWED!

It was a close call and I can see how the referee blew it, but we should have lost.

BvM is on Arena now. He's keeping his cool, but he's f#cking pissed off. This team has him completely confused. He doesn't know what the f#ck is wrong with them.

Now he seems to be letting the team have it. They didn't play hard enough, they made too many mistakes, they didn't push forward hard enough and they did not play with confidence.

I know I will be f#cking PISSED OFF if Markus Brzenska is in the starting lineup against Hannover. PISSED OFF!!

Amedick was MUCH BETTER!!!

I'd love to see if Bochum paid Kringe a bit of money tonight! They should have just put his sorry f#cking ass on Bochum's team!!!

About the only guys I thought played well of the starting 11 were Frei (As more of a playmaker) and Tinga.

The rest f#cking sucked!

How many times can Smolarek be off-side in one f#cking match??!!

Piennar is clueless and cries like a little bitch when something doesn't go his way!! Instead of playing harder, he puts his head down and cries like a bitch!!!

PLAY NURI SAHIN!! HE CAN'T BE WORSE THAN THAT F*CKING GOD AWFUL PIENAAR!!!!

Who doesn't miss Tomas Rosicky now??!!


GRRR!! I need to cool the f#ck off!!!!

This sucks. 1-1

Like I said, I feel like we got our asses beat tonight. :mad:

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Ok, well i did watch the whole game.

dortmund should've put the pressure on from the first minute onwards, but instead they allowed Bochum to go forward and have a couple of shots which was surely encouraging for a Bochum side that really needed it. Just as Dortmund was getting better(Frei, offside or not, should never have missed that chance in the 30th minute), Bochum got them on the counter and scored.

After Dortmund equalized quickly(i thought it was a nice goal by Smolarek, he seems to be back on form for you guys) i figured they'd be able to control the game in the second half. I was wrong, Bochum was perhaps the better of the two sides in the second half as well, and i think fully deserved their point. In the last 30 minutes, where Dortmund really needed, they were pretty inept going forward and didn't create many chances. The only semi-trouble caused were by Kringe's long range efforts. I was really surprised by Dortmund's inability to control the match tonight.

some of Van Maarwijk's substitutions were a little odd i felt. Whe he brought on Valdez, he took off Ricken, who i felt had been one of Dortmund's few good playing midfielders tonight. It was an interesting choice of substitutuion and, needless to say, the Dortmund midfield was looking very weak after that. Substituting Tinga also surprised me. Pienaar was awful, i expected him to be much better.

Overall, the draw was a fair result. For Dortmund, this is a very dissapointing result, for Bochum, it was like a moral victory as Bade described it.

[HypoLuxa]

BvM is on Arena now. He's keeping his cool, but he's f#cking pissed off. This team has him completely confused. He doesn't know what the f#ck is wrong with them.




Well at least I'm not the only ones confused about this team....Have they put on a dominant 2 half performance at all this year?

[footyfan1]

Well at least I'm not the only ones confused about this team....Have they put on a dominant 2 half performance at all this year?


Yeah, last week in Cottbus. The major problem is, they can't ever put on a dominant FIRST HALF performance!

They always SUCK in the first half. I think BvM curses them out in the locker room at halftime and then they normally play better.

Thing is, they were "better" in the second half, but still just gave the ball away too f#cking much and couldn't seem to get that final pass.

They truly seem to be afraid to play at home. At least against teams they should beat!

[footyfan1]

Ok, well i did watch the whole game.

dortmund should've put the pressure on from the first minute onwards, but instead they allowed Bochum to go forward and have a couple of shots which was surely encouraging for a Bochum side that really needed it. Just as Dortmund was getting better(Frei, offside or not, should never have missed that chance in the 30th minute), Bochum got them on the counter and scored.

Whoa! One thing you don't mention is that they only scored because of a HORRIBLE, STUPID ASS mistake from fathead Brzenska.



After Dortmund equalized quickly(i thought it was a nice goal by Smolarek, he seems to be back on form for you guys)


Dude, Frei sent him in beautifully and Smolarek finished even more beautifully.

However, Smolarek killed about twenty other potential chances by having his ass offside.


i figured they'd be able to control the game in the second half. I was wrong, Bochum was perhaps the better of the two sides in the second half as well, and i think fully deserved their point.

I agree that Bochum deserved their point, but I don't agree that Bochum was "perhaps the better of the two sides in the second half".

Yes, we gave the ball away entirely too much and gave up some good chances, but for most of that second half, we were just missing the final pass or the finish.

I actually liked the pressure we put on them when we brought Valdez on.


In the last 30 minutes, where Dortmund really needed, they were pretty inept going forward and didn't create many chances. The only semi-trouble caused were by Kringe's long range efforts. I was really surprised by Dortmund's inability to control the match tonight.

I wasn't. They are always like that when a team comes to fight. We beat you guys because you didn't fight hard. Today, you guys would probably kick our asses. We were lucky to catch your team at the right time. This is why I say one of BVB's major problems is that the team is full of cowards. No one stands up to fighting opposition. And at the end, they always compliment the other team on how hard they fought instead of realizing they are just too f#cking cowardly to smack down a fighting, but inferior team like they should.



some of Van Maarwijk's substitutions were a little odd i felt. Whe he brought on Valdez, he took off Ricken, who i felt had been one of Dortmund's few good playing midfielders tonight. It was an interesting choice of substitutuion and, needless to say, the Dortmund midfield was looking very weak after that. Substituting Tinga also surprised me.

We watched different midfields. Yes, when he brought on Valdez, not only did I think he'd take off Pienaar or Smoarek, I HOPED HE WOULD TAKE OFF PIENAAR.

I was surprised when he took off Ricken, but I don't agree that Ricken was one of our "few good playing midfielders". As far as I saw, we had ONE good playing midfielder tonight. Tinga. I thought Ricken was below average tonight, but nowhere near as bad as Pienaar or Kringe.

One comment I made on our e-mail list tonight was that Pienaar and Kringe should have been in Bochum shirts tonight. :mad:

I was surprised when he took off Tinga, I thought he was crazy for doing it, but after seeing him come off on the camera, I think Tinga was tired. Tinga had been playing like a madman most of the evening.

Pienaar was awful, i expected him to be much better.

He was f#cking GOD AWFUL!!! And the thing I hate about him the most is that when things don't go his way, he gets completely frustrated and pouts like a little bitch.

Overall, the draw was a fair result. For Dortmund, this is a very dissapointing result, for Bochum, it was like a moral victory as Bade described it.

Honestly, I thought Bochum snould have won. I feel like we got our asses kicked tonight. Like someone punched me in the gut.

Goddamn this team is just so disappointing. And that's the nicest way I can put it.

If I'd written this about an hour or so ago, you would have seen "f#ck" more times than you've ever seen me write it.

Words can't describe how disappointed and angry I am with this team right now.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

The point you made on Brzenska is true, he definetely was another poor player tonight. I didn't mention him in my original post. I should've also mentioned Dede, another player who i felt was no good tonight.

I didn't think Frei was great. He did some good passes, especially on the goal, as you mentioned. But as a striker, he didn't do a great job. He HAD TO score that chance in the first half and he also got an opportunity in the second half which he messed up.

I felt your pushing in the last half hour was poor, i'm surprised you were satisfied with it. Bochum's defence stood firm and Dortmund never really looked like they'd break it, atleast to me.

Wow, hearing you say ******** more than ever before...does that mean every second word? :D

after you brought my team up, i agree with you, if we had played this Dortmund side tonight we would have won easily. Unfortunately for us we weren't playing this side. In a way, Dortmund's easy victory against us what seems like a year ago was a good thing, as changes were made based on that performance, and now we've been playing well these last few weeks. I expect us to beat Wolfsburg tomorrow and be right up there in European spots. But Dortmund aren't in a crisis, no matter what happens tomorrow, they won't be more than 4 points off the leaders after the weekend is over. The BL is so close so far this season, that it will be easy for Dortmund to get into the high spots as long as they improve their performances, which i think they will.

Honestly, i think Dortmund has a bit of a confidence problem. alot of you guys mentioned that whenever a game is of great importance, your side doesn't seem to pull it off. For example, you could've been leader for 19 hours after this game... but the side didn't pull it off.