Schulz and Hazard are now official. Brandt to be confirmed this week. Not a bad start. Sure seems as a sign of change, but it remains to be seen. I am still not sold on our GK options. Think we can do better than Switzerland's second choice IMHO. We have only Paco as a true striker, Haller also seems mandatory. Toprak is likely gone. That would leave us with Akanji, Zagadou, Diallo and Ballerdi. Might seem a little iffy, but it should do the job. Provided Weigl stays, he could also be used there. Werner is Bayern-bound. If not this summer, than the next one.
Hazard done for 25,5 million + bonuses. No one would have minded Werner but when the player has no interest to come and would have been more than twice as expensive, it's kind of useless to chase him or wonder about him. The problem for him is that he isn't a priority for Bayern right now and Lewa could easily still be at this level for another 2-3 years. I think Werner has no problem playing another year for Leipzig, after that we'll see.
Thanks. I don't know, I think the way the game is today you have the mega-clubs like; RM, Barca, Bayern, Juve, PSG, ManC & U, etc then you have the next tier like Dortmund. Clubs like Dortmund and Roma are never going to have the money to compete annually with those clubs, IMO. Clubs like Dortmund simply can't fix their mistakes or misfortunes by simply writing a check. Look at Neuer one of the highest paid players in the league and he was out for almost 2 years. That would cripple a club like Dortmund or Roma but Bayern simply absorb the cost and get another decent GK. Those mega-clubs have depth that other clubs simply cannot afford, which is why I think you saw Dortmund fade at the end. Be careful because the grass isn't always greener. The next guys (if that were to happen) may very well be worse. Its wasn't too long ago the Dortmund were nearly bankrupt so I'm ok with being fiscally responsible. As for Roma... the fans are insane. They would rather finish mid-table with 6 Romans, 4 Italians and 1 foreign player than win the league with 8 foreign players. They are nearly rioting because the club didn't renew De Rossi's contract. The guy is 36 years old, has 2 bad knees and is a shadow of the player he used to be. But he's Roman so the idiot fans think he should be allowed to play for the club as long as he wants. At any rate, thanks for the info Paco finally lived up to his hype and really had a fantastic year, IMO. Hakimi really looks to have a bright future, its a shame he won't be here long.
That defence looks young, I think they will benefit from an older guy in their midst someone late 20s
🤝 Borussia Dortmund verpflichtet Julian Brandt! 🔥 #WirHabenBRANDT - Der 23-jährige Nationalspieler unterschreibt bis 2024 beim BVB! Alle Infos 👉 https://t.co/BcoCIp8Syo pic.twitter.com/QowNKpHooe— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) May 22, 2019
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.c...liverpool-linked-thorgan-hazard-julian-brandt I like the brandt signing a lot. I would love to have just a tad bit more youth as these three are finished products per se. But to get a player like a Jao Felix you have t spend more than pulisic money
We've signed three good players. At least statistically. All of them have potential to be even better. As long as we don't get Topraks and Schurrles I'll live with Zorc still leading our transfer business. Defensively, we are still weak. Akanji has stagnated. Diallo looks average. Weigl doesn't want to play defence. Balerdi is too young. I hope some day we get the next Carles Puyol or Paolo Maldini.
What ... Nico Shultz, Hazard, and Brandt for <75mil ?!? I can't believe it ... what a bunch of idiots management are ! The guy at my local club down the street was FREE, and he scored 28 goals last year playing in the pee wee league ... Out with Zorc, out with Watzke, bunch of numptees, management are morons, they're running this club into the ground. WATZKE OUT, FAVRE OUT !!! My grandma could have won the league last year as manager ... and shes got Alzheimer's. FFS, can't this club do anything right ... where did they get their coaching badges, from Zimbabwe or something ?!? Honestly man ... I've had it, I'm going to start supporting Arsenal from now on !!
you feel better having typed that? My sarcasm meter isnt that far off and Im not sure who you directed it to, but good luck if they take the bait. However there are still some holes that have to be addressed both defensively and up top. Im not sure Alcacer can be the play every day kind of guy and holds up over a season. We need a 2nd striker in a bad way. Though Isak really did well at Willem. I would love to see that carrry over into this season as he was very highly thought of at one point.
Well then you'll believe this. 4 coaches in the last three years. One trophy in the last 7. Yarmolenko, Schurrle and Philipp cost just as much. The less said about salaries for Toljan, Castro, Toprak, Kagawa, Rode the better since Lucas Moura makes somewhere as much. Humiliated by Schalke and Spurs two seasons in a row. As for Favre, he bottled the league title after having a 9 point lead. Götze, Gurreiro, Diallo, Weigl, Hakimi, DAZ, Wolf, Philipp all play in unfamiliar positions on a regular if not permanent basis. So Zimbabwe would be apt. Guy down the street was free? I'm gonna guess his name was either Lewandowski or Goretzka. Pull your head out of Zorcs ass.
The crazy thing is man, I don't even disagree with you. But at the end of the day, you and I are living in a world of incomplete information ... personally, when I look at world football, there are not many management teams I could say would rank over Dortmund. Juve and Liverpool are the only i can think off ... Did u think that Dortmund were going to drop euros while going through a transition period ... ? Not even Liverpool under Klopp dropped cash on a signing to 'ensure' the title. And u conveniently forget the Castro, Toprak, Schurrle, Rode fiascos were all Tuchell signings ... if you want a fairytale u should probably just switch to the Disney channel.
I have never wanted the club to spend more money than they do. I've wanted them to spend that same amount smartly. Damn near everybody could foresee that signing Toprak, Rode, Castro, Schurrle, Yarmolenko was a bad idea. The club pulled the trigger anyway. And stop blaming Thomas Tuchel. He was a coach, not the co-technical director. He can want Neymar, doesnt mean he will get him. You can't heap praise on Zorc for Dembele, Brandt, Hazard, Lewandowski, PEA and blame the coach for the flops. That's ludicrous. That's a rookie mistake made by loser clubs like Manchester United. And it's not just the incoming players but the club has screwed up with retention as well. Götze in. 2012, waiting until the last summer for Hummels. The biggest mistake was Lewandowski. They should have sold him to Alex Ferguson when they had the chance; they didn't and Bayern swooped in. He's the reason why we don't have the BL title from 2016 and 2019. I'm extremely thankful to Real, Barca and Atletico (including their "subpar" mgmt) for not letting Bayern get to the UCL finals. Else the gap between 1st and 2nd would be like Ligue 1 or Serie A today.
The amount that BVB have spent on players in recent years is actually pretty high, the problem is how poorly it's been spent. If that money was better spent then the club would have won at least a couple more trophies in the last few years, the opportunity was there, and would have subsequently increased it's profile and commercial revenues a lot more then has happened. The selection of coaches and cowardly public statements from Watzke haven't helped either.
For a 60 year old CEO who ran his own company and somehow enjoys the support of the board, Watkze is mind-numbingly slow on the uptake. He can run a football club but he cannot run it successfully. That said, he is an eloquent speaker and its amazing how eloquently he can BS the general assembly.
I really don't understand u man ... How do u expect a club to get a new manager and consequently not back him in the transfer market ? U get a bunch of players in and he doesn't like them, or they don't fit into his system ... u only have to look at Max Phillip and Dahoud for an example here. U can't ave it both ways man ... the Tuchel appointment set the club back 2-3 years easy, and its been a process trying to shift off that dead weight, I mean just look at what Tuchel did at PSG, their sporting director is/was fired after a Tuchel power struggle ... people like that are toxic, and it was good riddance in my opinion, let alone trying to make sense of others placing him on a pedestal (who in fuks name plays 5 at the back when u r chassing a title and are behind the leaders playing them at home ??). And i'm in no way giving either of them a blank slate, for instance Watzke being 10 or whatver points clear into the Bosz tenure going on television and saying 'oh, once Bayern get their stride back they will win the league'. I mean, u have to b a complete moron to say something like that ! But hey, lets leave it at that, we each have our different perception of events ...
Getting Thorgan and Brandt at such bargain prices was excellent business, but the problem is I am sure for an extra 30 million or even 40 million if needed be, we could have got one of them in January and that would have given us the league title. However, this summer I am very impressed with the business we have done. We have an excellent team and anything is possible. The only worries I have, sadly are Burki and Favre. Twice in the last decade we have had a team ready to take on the world and be in the top 4. Klopp's excellent CL final reaching team and Tuchel's team that lost to Liverpool at Anfield. I know we were in the Europa, that season, but we were as good as any team in Europe. As Barca saw, Anfield is a scary place. I am just so excited for next season. The only other options I would take oddly enough, though I was firmly against it, Hummels or another experienced CB and a world class keeper if we could get one. Now we have time to sell the deadwood like Philipp, Kagawa, Rode and Toprak. I just hope Favre has the guts to go out and play this team from the start. ------Burki-------- Hakimi--Akanji--Zagadou--Schulz Sancho---Weigl---Dahoud--Brandt ----------------Reus----- -------------------Thorgan---- This is a dream set up, because in tough games Brandt can come inside and Thorgan is very comfortable going out left, whilst Reus occupies the centre. It also leaves us with real game changers on the bench in the likes of Alcacer, Gotze and Raphael. We will have Delaney, Witsel, Diallo, LP to rotate with. It's a great squad, I am just worried Favre is going to blow it.
Dahoud, as much potential as he has, has not done anything with any of the chances (albeit few) that he has received and the one thing he requires at this point is not something Dortmund can offer and that is consistent playing time to develop. If the team is to challenge for the title next season then two things need to happen: adding quality depth to the squad and rotation. Now, they have added quality depth with the purchase of Brandt, Schulz, and Hazard and now it it up to the stubborn Favre to integrate more rotation into the squad as the bench will contain any of the following: Paco, Gotze, Guerreiro, Delaney, Weigl, Dahoud, Pizczeck, Hakimi, Diallo, Zagadou, and Bruun-Larsen. He will also need to start integrating Balerdi and Gomez into the squad as well. Rotation should theoretically give Dahoud more playing time but it will not be consistent playing time and that's the biggest issue as he needs playing time the most. But how do you justify consistently playing Dahoud while someone like Gotze and Witsel get sacrificed after such strong seasons? Also, if Paco is physically fitter and ready to play more games there's no way you leave a guy like that on the bench either.
Dahoud had his low moments and he gives the ball away in dangerous areas, but the best performances last year was, because he was controlling midfield. Atletico and Bayern being the stand out matches. It's do or die with Dahoud. I justify playing him, because Witsel and Gotze just are not good enough against the best teams. Witsel especially is a 6/10 player, but when he comes across a strong team he is found out. His passing is far too slow. Favre favoured the safety approach and it ended up in embarrassing thrashings, because they aren't good enough. Dahoud IS good enough. He needs to be more consistent and cut out his risky passing. With Dahoud in the team there is hope. Take him out and we will be exposed and destroyed in midfield again.
I am not sure it is Witsel who is found out. I really think it is the coach who is found out. Witsel can play a fast pass but I think most often the ball goes to him when the rest of the team is out of ideas and needs to slow it down. I don't feel the Favre knows how to properly deploy Reus, Alcacer, and Sancho. They do well on their individual talent, but they could use help from a coach with a more apt strategy for them. I was swamped for a month, so I just finally watched the final four matches in a single sitting, and Witsel didn't stand out for being bad, but the team as a whole did stand out for its inability to react to changes made by the opposing coach which I put that on Favre. Hopefully this list of transfers, which on paper looks very good to me (and at a good price), suits Favre and he can up his coaching level. I definitely like Hazard more than the average poster on this thread. I know he hasn't had the final product, but so much of that is not down to individual talent, but interplay and usage.
Once in a blue moon Witsel can play a fast past, but is not often enough and he stops the ball getting quickly to our attacking players, which waste their movement. I don't think Reus and Sancho have been ill used. Those two have had excellent seasons. The problem is the pass does not get ton them quick enough or Witsel/Delaney just play sideways again. Watch the Bayern and Atletico matches and the change was Dahoud coming on. In fact Kovic even said, Dahoud coming on was the difference when we played Bayern. The speed of his passing, his ability to always find space and his quick turning opens up the game. He lacks experience, but he is only 23 and needs minutes. Witsel is a good squad player, but he is not at the level we need to challenge Bayern and the European elite. A Weigl/Dahoud partnership might be at the level. I agree with Favre, I have serious doubts about him. I sadly think he will hold this team back and we need to do huge things next season or it will break up. As for Thorgan, if we can convert him into a striker he would be exactly the player we need. He is quick, stretches the game and can get involved with the build up.
I don't know what Favre did with his previous teams, but for some reason I can see him implementing changes in the off-season. Perhaps he needed to prove that his system worked and having had a semi-successful season, he may feel that he has the luxury to experiment in the pre-season.