Yes winning the league and going far will be huge for this club. Perceptions change very quickly in football just look at Liverpool, who have no trophies. Even in the summer they were the no 1 destination for many players and respected by all of the world's elite. A strong CL showing and Dortmund will immediately gain respect. Playing English teams is always great, because the English media is still the most powerful football media in the world and they will over hype any team that beats an English one.
More good news. Dele Alli is out until March. So no Kane, no Dele and Son will be back after an exhaustive Asia trip. We have Reus back. Witsel firing on all cylinders. Gotze playing decent. DAZ should be ready. Otherwise Weigl is playing well. We should beat them in both matches.
We don't know who we have. Injuries can still happen and we have a lot of hard matches to come. It makes the task easier, but it will still be tough. I still think it's worth paying a bit more for a summer target to be brought in now.
Our mgmt. is looking at Wilfred Zaha. Not a big fan of his. He is going to cost as much as Hazard with no significant upside.
As much as it will hurt me to see Zaha, leave him moving to Dortmund will be the only thing to soften the blow. Zaha would be an incredible signing. He is nothing like Thorgan Hazard, in fact they are completely opposite players. However, that is Zaha's weakness: he is a poor finisher and most importantly is a terrible player off the ball. Terrible. He is a hard worker, is physical has the right attitude and will fight with everything he has. He is exceptionally strong, fast and there are few players in the world better at beating a man. In this Dortmund team, if he is left one on one he will destroy his opposite man. The space he will free up, because teams will have to double team him is scary. Having Zaha on one side and Sancho on the other would be a nightmare for any defence. Now there are two big risk factors. 1. How he would settle in Germany 2. Can he improve his movement. Zaha has never had intelligent or good coaches to train his off the ball movement. So it's hard to see if he can improve in this area or not. With Allardyce he noticeably improved in this, but he is awful at. Even a kid like Larsen is several leagues above him. I think it's worth the risk and if he is willing to come in the summer go all out.
I didn't say he was like Hazard. I've seen him play and I know he's a completely different. But he'll be overpriced like Hazard. At 26 he won't have a good sell on value. We need a dangerous dribbler opposite Sancho but not only is the price too high, he's lacking complementary skills as well. He cannot finish and his passing is awful. And he cannot defend. For 50M I'd rather get a player like Zaha but with the added ability to either dish out key passes like Mikhitaryan or finish like Aubameyang. If he were 22 or 23 I'd be fine going for him. But at 27, he's not going to be getting much better.
Players that finish like Auba are not going to cost 50million in this market though are they? I think getting a finisher that can score like him is a pipe dream unless you are willing to pay for it.
Trophies are more important than resell value. Quality is more important than the price. If Zaha helps the team win the Bundesliga next season and get to a CL semi-final then who he is value.Liverpool went out and got Van Dyke and Allison, because they were the right players. Zaha would be a better player than Mkhitaryan and would create a lot more chances. His passing will need a lot of work as well as his finishing, but his defending is fine. He sometimes let's his man go, but he is more than adequate at defending. He has played for Palace most of his career and played on the left wing. He is still currently 26 and this obsession with young players is too much. Delaney and Witsel might be vital in us regaining the Bundesliga. It's when the club signs average players for huge sums that is the problem. Zaha is not an average player. To take the next step you need to take the gamble and go for quality now. There aren't more than a handful of players better at dribbling than Zaha. In the Premier League there is just Hazard. Outside of that you have Messi, Sancho, Dembele, Neymar and Mbappe. Ideally I would have wanted someone with vision, hence why I always advocated Brandt, but Zaha is just too good one on one. In a strong team you still have to double up on it, leaving way too much space for Reus and Sancho. Get Zaha and there's a very good chance Dortmund win the Bundesliga next season too no matter what Bayern can realistically do. Speaking on other matters, it seems like Werner is desperate to join Bayern, but Bayern dont really want him. Despite, what Dortmund leaked to Kicker to save face, they really want Werner, but he is not keen to come. A strong CL showing and that can change his mind. A summer where Zaha, Werner and a decent left back come in, would make Dortmund as good as any team in the world. I said at the time Reus, Dembele, Auba was only behind Barca/Madrid as the best front three in Europe. It's a shame they never really got to play together much. Auba is doing brilliant at Arsenal and Dembele, despite his attitude is shining and keeping Coutinho at the bench. Reus is the best player in the Bundesliga. An attack of: Sancho---Reus---Zaha ---------Werner-------- Would be the best in the world.
If BVB, as they are right now, is not enough for Werner to be excited, then I think he should not come. We've had enough players who were skilled but not excited to be here, it doesn't go well.
Leipzig have apparently placed a clause in his contract that prevent 10 big clubs from signing him. I'm sure BVB and Bayern are amongst them.
I think almost every new player is enamored with BVB at the beginning of his tenure, save for maybe Dembélé. The question is whether Dortmund can become a "final destination" for world class players aside from special cases like Reus, and more realistically how you manage a relationship that has run its course. More to the point, obviously Werner would be great if he really has any interest in BVB, but I'm sure they are looking at other CF talents from abroad who are more sturdy than Paco.
I wouldn't agree. It's disappointing nw, but he wants to go to a club he knows are the real deal. I think Bayern are definitely wavering and Liverpool won't guarantee him first team football. Dortmund is the logical and smart move for him, but it seems he is leaning towards signing a new contract with a minimum release fee. A victory against Tottenham and a strong showing in the Bundesliga will probably change his mind.
I agree. That is why we shouldn't sign someone who isn't, who has gone to the trouble to publicly say they don't want you (by saying they only want someone else, knowing you are right there listening), when even if you don't like a team many players don't say it because... why? It is like dating someone who you know doesn't like you, but meets some need: it looks bad, causes people to lose respect, creates a mildly toxic environment, etc. I don't want to get carried away with it, but I think a player ruling themselves out should be respected.
Looks like I'll be attending the Wembley leg in person. Had a business trip pop up the previous week in Dublin - so hopping over to London for the following week.
Haha sorry I know it's a big deal...I just realized this was possible today and it still hasn't set in yet
Reus almost certainly not going to play against Tottenham. Hopefully we can take something. I really hope Favre gives some players a mini-break. Not that we should take Nuremburg too lightly, but Witsel, LP, Hakimi, Sancho and of course Reus should be all not start. Let them have a break until the Leverkusen game. Of course this depends on getting a positive result against Tottenham.
Let's hope he is back for the most critical part. The return leg against Tottenham, the Leverkusen match and the away game against Bayern. I feel those 3 games will define the season. It still annoys me the board choice to not ask Chelsea for extra money to let Pulisic leave in January and pay extra for Brandt.
As far as one could tell, the Pulisic deal only got done in January because Chelsea wanted to insure themselves against a potential transfer ban. It seems that CFC, BVB, and Pulisic are all quite happy to have him stay for the time being. Was Brandt on the table at any point? I imagine he could receive an offer from England on the same scale as Pulisic, putting him on the upper end of what BVB could afford, if not beyond.
Chelsea wanted him as soon as possible, but it was Dortmund, who insisted on keeping him. Chelsea aren't particularly happy with him staying, but would rather that and have him set for the summer. No Brandt was out of favour and nobody was in for him. It was the perfect time to go and sign him. All the effort was on getting Thorgan, but now Brandt is playing so well he will be chased by the English clubs. I still think Brandt is not money minded and will choose the best option for his career over money. So Dortmund would have a strong chance of signing him, though he has rejected Dortmund before.
No match thread yet but in addition to Reus, LP, Weigl and Alcacer will miss the game against Tottenham as well. Zagadou might return but I'm not sure whether he's back at 100%.
LP's absense is a cause for worry. He has a problem with his heel. Alcacer has a shoulder problem. How bad could it be? Weigl has the flu. Looks like it will be something like this: Hakimi - Diallo - Balerdi - Gurreiro Witsel - Delaney Sancho - Götze - JBL Philipp I would have preferred a 3 man midfield with Dahoud so we dont have to deploy JBL in this important fixture. I am expecting a loss. Balerdi is too young and inexperienced. Son will roast him or Diallo more likely. As of late Diallo cannot find his brain.
Maybe drop Phillip for Dahoud Spurs will likely play 3 in midfield with the power of Sissoko, Dier Eriksen