You hate Weigl that much? Or you'd have to if you think his not being in the 18 was an excellent performance
I meant to say Reus, but I have Weigl on the mind. I am a huge fan of Weigl and feel he can become one of the best players, but I am not sure he starts for us at the moment.
Leipzig are one of the best pressing sides around at the moment, so it's difficult to pass out from the back against them. What really holds us back from passing out are the full backs, they both did well overall today, but they lack the technique to build from the back. I expect LP to remain in the team, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Raphael start most home games. Pulisic had excellent delivery and with Delaney/Witsel we are even more dangerous from set pieces. As you said he still over dribbles and did a poor job defensively. He allowed LP to be isolated far too often. Philipp did his best for a player learning a new role. Whilst I think he is better than both Pulisic and Sancho, to keep the balance the team needs a dribbler. Philipp will likely be Reus' understudy for balance.
Couldn't watch the game due to a power cut, but based on the result we conceded a goal, we must improve defensively. This is merely the first league match, still another 33 matches to go, and if we win 8-10 Bundesliga matches in a row then maybe there is a title race after all (unlikely).
Good match overall - however Diallo struggled more than I expected him to. You can see the potential with him and Akanji.... but it will take time. I would have preferred to see Gotze get in the second half to replace Delaney. Will be an interesting season for Weigl, Gotze, and Kagawa given all the new bodies in that midfield. A lot of able players for only a few roles. To me Witsel was our best player today.
Top performers for us : 1. Schmelzer - can't believe I would be saying this, but he did really well both at defense and offense 2. Witsel - brings in physicality, strong in the air 3. Burki - amazing saves to deny Leipzig 2 clear goals 4. Dahoud - he is a season away from being a world class player Good show: 1. Philipp - did his job as a target man quite well 2. Reus - brilliant moves throughout Poor show: 1. Piszczek and CB coordination - the flank was wide open throughout the game. Lucky to not have conceded 2-3 more goals. 2. Wolf - hardly got a few mins, but looked very slow to react and was not comfortable with ball
I agree with the rest, but this wasn't how I saw it. I thought he managed to be invisible and didn't bring anything. I don't recall anything dangerous other than that one time he didn't get to a ball at the far post.
A very nice start. 3 points coming from behind with Burki playing well. Many things to work on, but we knew that would be the case. Win and move on.