Reus and Witsel are the two starters who can't be even nearly replaced. Reus is too old for the next WC, so let him rest and let the German's find their next generation.
Witsel is injured and will miss at least the Union Berlin match. As long as Union are fresh and possibly more dangerous in counter situations, I wouldn't mind a Weigl/Delaney midfield for the first 60 minutes. But that is solely for defensive reasons. Depending on the situation, a 3 man midfield of Weigl, Dahoud and Brandt would be interesting for offensive purposes as well but that's probably not likely if Hazard can't play.
So the Belgian players are all out. That's great. I'd rather see Brandt, Dahoud and Weigl than see Delaney at any point other than to defend a slim lead. Whatever the lineup, I just want three points.
I would love to see a lopsided midfield with Weigl, Brandt and Dahoud. That's a midfield that can cope with any in the world.
Schulz came back with an injury from NT duty, some kind of ligament damage (partial tear if that's the expression in English). He joins Akanji who got injured as well.
This is really bad news. Our squad depth is being whittled away. I guess we will have to play Hakimi there or perhaps Raphael. He played there for Portugal. I wonder who we will play at the back, Weigl or Zagadou. Hopefully no more injuries. I think the likes of Brandt could have done with staying in Dortmund and playing a couple of friendlies.
I would be fine with Raphael and Daxo playing in defense under the circumstances. At least the buildup should be less ugly, in theory. Hakimi on the right side in place of LP.
I hope we just go with natural positional players. Gurreiro at LB and DAZ at CB. And Hakimi at RB. Play Weigl next to Brandt in the middle. Play Dahoud slightly ahead of them. Shift Reus to the left. If not I'll be fine with Gotze in the no. 10 in place of Mo. So no Witsel, Hazard, Akanji and Schulz. Awesome. I just don't want to see Schmelzer anywhere on the pitch.
I would be happy to see this team as well. -----Burki----- --Hakimi--Zagadou--Hummels--Raphael --Sancho---Weigl---Dahoud---Brandt ‐--‐-‐---‐-------------------Reus------- ‐----------------------------Alcacer------- Reus and Brandt can rotate on the left. Gotze needs to come on when Brandt is exhausted at 60 minutes. Dahoud is best when he plays deeper not in an advanced position and Brandt is best when he can create chances.
That's a big loss as we still have some tough matches ahead, especially Leipzig. Weigl needs to step up big but in this season, he was played a more creative/offensive role when used in midfield. I don't see other options.
Reus will miss the last game because of a ruptured muscle fiber (not sure that's the right term). Sancho is questionable. I also think it's stupid that there is a Friday game when we had games during the week. And of course, we get the Friday game.
Bad news, however at least RG will hopefully be fit in the next week or so. Otherwise Passlack can do a job.
Awful news it seems he is very injury prone. He is still young and I would give him his new contract.
https://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/bvb/...-profi-morey-meldet-sich-zu-wort-1629509.html Google-translated the above. It's good to see Morey smiling. I feel so bad for him! Hope he can come back to play! Vamos Mateu!
maunier schulz and haaland (2 weeks) out with injuries, prepare for a whole lot more or ajax like games to come
This is awful news. However, it goes to show why we should have sold Haaland and Bellingham and rebuilt the squad. A strong team is better than one or two players. I still think we can get acceptable results if we play the right team