Have to say one of the strangest Teuchey matches so far. It's as if he lives in October 2016 and it is the first match of the year: this is my starting lineup! A bit of a limp wristed performance by the coach.
Tuchel's lack of investment in d and over-investment in o this offseason is also costing him. That was a rather predictable consequence. Then ironically in the big moments he goes pretty defensive/conservative. That hardly fits the roster construction. It's just his go-to when it's a virtual must-win and he plays not to lose or to not lose too badly.
Right! That's the indefensible thing to me. If you're going to commit to attacking soccer, youth, then TRUST YOUR VISION. To change the lineup today so drastically and to remove the two kids that played a huge, massive role in your success earlier in the competition -- it just doesn't' make any sense. Pulisic got around 65 minutes total in the two matches. Dembele got what, about 85? That's just inexcusable.
It's not like he's going to get players that the Head Coach doesn't say he wants. It probably goes something like this: Tuchel: I want young attackers Zorc: Not defenders? Tuchel: No, attackers Zorc: But Humm- Tuchel: ATTACKERS ATTACKERSATTACKERSATTACKERS! Zork: OK OK I'll buy some attackers!
Dortmund visit Bayern for the DFB Pokal semifinal on April 26. That competition will be Pulisic's last chance at a club trophy this season.
Okay, got it, was just confused by this: "not start to run downhill around 28." I agree "fizzling out towards your 28th" would be bad, very bad. Starting to run downhill around 28, not so bad.
I don't get Tuchel's selection at all. I've seen it argued that he started with defensive shape/mentality so he could gas Monaco and put Dembele/Pulisic on to run at them and open the floodgates in the second half. But why on EARTH would he trust his backline after the last leg?! He does not have the talent to wear a team out defensively. It's like he's actually never seen Schmelzer play or something.
Blame UEFA for this. Had Dortmund rescheduled the first game, they might have won. and who knows how the 2nd leg would have gone.
So much for the silly Sirius XM FC promo going on the past week - "...listen as Christian Pulisic leads Borrussia Dortmund against AS Monaco..."
He's a more direct and less elegant or skilled player than Henry but he has been incredibly effective (I think he had the MLS-assist on Falcao's goal). A different former FCB forward may be a better comparison. France has been my on-paper favorite since the last Euros at that looks like it could continue to be the case for awhile.
Still don't quite see how he didn't control that relatively easy pass where he'd have had another sure goal. No defender in sight, Burki stuck on the wrong side. I think he was mentally celebrating already.
They don't have the all-time generational talent that Spain from 2006 - 2012 had in the form of Iniesta and Xavi (perhaps 2 of the 5 best midfielders of all time) on top of the world class players they had everywhere, but they aren't incredibly far off that mark. France is loaded right now. I think the best in the world.