Should have probably been a pen but Lezcano was only looking for the contact with Bürki, his movement was not towards the ball. Still, that was lucky.
The best teams can win when not playing well. This was an ugly win but it doesn't really matter. It's 3 points.
Don't care how we do it. 3 points is all that matters. And we do it. Apart from Bürki who was MOTM, the whole squad was shite.
That was a tough game to watch. Winning like this is still better than the losses against Darmstadt or Berlin.
This is true, but this performance was down to the manager and why I don't particularly care if Tuchel stays or not. Ridiculous lineup, which everyone could see and mentioned. Playing players out of position and destroying their confidence for future games. The only thing I am not sure about is whether he was telling Castro to push up to play further forward or telling him to drop back. If it was the former then it just makes things worse. Lastly I don't see how Schmelzer is being praised. He wasted the our build up so often with poor passes, or passing backwards. He was out of position constantly and then to cap it off he gave away two stupid and dangerous free kicks in injury time. Against Inglostadt of all teams, the same team that scored 2 against us from set pieces and an area we are weak at.
We would easily be 2nd had we won those matches. United played a whole season like this and lifted the title.
Auba was good especially since he fed off scraps. Castro, Piszczek, Schmelzer, Ginter and Durm are not good enough to be starting for us next season.
In a weaker league than the current Bundesliga and not having to overcome anyone even close to as strong as this Bayern.
I think you are a bit too harsh on Schmelzer today. One of these two situations was bad, I agree, in the other situation he had to foul to stop a counterattack when there was disorder at the back. He had to do that almost in the middle of the pitch which shouldn't be his job. Overall, I felt he was one of the better players today. Several interceptions, surprisingly good going forward on some occasions and a tireless worker till the end.
No he was bad. Just watch the match again and see how often he was out of position, allowing a free runner down the right. Lucky for us, despite working very hard, Inglostadt lack quality and the striker could not turn quick enough and play the simple pass. Watch the game again and see how often he does not give a good pass into the midfield or just passes it backwards. He is in the team, because like Castro he is the teachers pet and does not question Tuchel's madness. Just look at how the team lined up today. ---------Burki---------- ---LP---Sokratis--Ginter Durm-------Castro------------Schmelzer -------Kagawa-------Raphael---------- ----Pulisic-----------------Auba--- Does anyone think that was a smart formation? Castro, Raphael, Kagawa and Pulisic all playing out of position. What do you expect to happen? Tuchel could easily have played ---------Burki----------- Passlack--Sokratis--Ginter--Raphael ---------Merino---Castro---------- Pulisic--------Kagawa-------Schurrle -------------Auba---------------- This would have actually tested a useful formation and given players much needed practice. Or he could have continued to perfect the 3-4-3 -----------Burki---------- ----LP----Sokratis-----Ginter Passlack--Merino---Castro----Raphael -----Pulisic---------------Schurrle/Kagawa ---------------Auba----------------- Consistent formation with everyone except Kagawa (if he plays in his right position.) I am really disappointed with Tuchel last two games and it's ruined my good mood about the draw.
Today is an example of how important Weigl is to this team. Castro was just making a mess of the defensive midfield for much of the game. Ginter is just terrible, and should not be with this squad next year. Toprak may not be the ideal solution, but he is without a doubt an improvement over Ginter. Not sure anyone else caught the fight between Burki and Ginter at the last whistle. Ginter made a terrible decision and Burki got right in his face. Without an outstanding match from Burki along with a little luck we wouldn't have won this match. Overall, I didn't like the line-up and we played poorly..... but 3 points is 3 points.
Didn't see it but can't blame Burki. Had to deal with that shit performance from Ginter the entire match. We all wanted to punch him.
It's really unfortunate that Tuchel doesn't trust Merino or Sahin with an opportunity even when Weigl's out. Still, win's a win no matter how ugly.
I just don't see the point of keeping Ginter, Castro, LP and Durm for next year - none of them are good enough to start for us. While in LP's case it is age catching up to him, the others are a tier below our aspirations. When are Passlack and Merino going to get the chance they deserve? Yeah, we won and 3 points are 3 points, but the only players that did something were Auba and Burki. This fielding of players out of position is just stupid now. I have the feeling that like his idol Pep, Tuchel is more concerned with looking tactically innovative, rather than being effective. The only thing that saved us was pure luck and Ingolstadt's bad forwards.
So very true. Castro as the lone 6 pivot? Madness, just madness. Apart from the stupid tactics almost costing us this match or players playing out of position hurting their confidence and then form, it stops team cohesion. I will just use Raphael as an example. The more he plays at left back the better he gets with repetition. However, Tuchel believes in the extremist Dutch position, which Guardiola holds that positions don't matter and a good player can play anywhere. Ridiculous. Like with any job the more you do it the better you get. Not only that, but it helps with team cohesion. Sokratis, Burki and Weigl will begin to see Raphael's strengths and weaknesses and understand his game. Raphael is not good at tracking runners, so the more he plays at left back not only will he improve on this, but Sokratis/Burki/Weigl will know to shout at him to track the runner. All this means when we come up against Bayern in the cup or Monaco in the CL, the players will play better. Even when Lahm reverted back to right back for the one off games against Madrid, he wasn't good there, because he hadn't played there. Now should be all about securing top 4 quickly and giving the team as much match practice as possible for the Monaco/Bayern games.
I would go a step further - Castro in our starting XI? Madness. The lack of chemistry is a clear result from the lack of consistency on Tuchel's part. Guardiola's statement is a heap of trash - if it were to hold any merit, then Kevin Großkreutz must be on Messi's level, yet he has hanged the boots (for the time being). My hope is that with the very likely addition of Dahoud, Raphael will be permanently shifted to LB. A clear upgrade on Marcel and a no-brainer of a decision. Probably then will Merino have somewhat of a chance to play on a regular basis, that is if the ''golden boy'' Castro isn't out injured or suspended.
What makes you think more has not been said about this? Before and after every home match this feat is talked about on Twitter. Perhaps our shoddy away record and being 3rd sullies or diminishes our achievement so far. We've also reached a level where like Bayern, we are judged by our failures than our successes. So overtaking RB won't change a thing because we would still not be in first.