The final 3rd is near the box. Do you mwan the passing was good until the final third? They weren't able to camp there with any real intent after the first 20 minutes because the passing was so slow. There was a lack of quality. Kagawa did better than Gotze but he is far from being good enough. Reus has not been good as a striker but when he plays on the left he is our only attacking player of the required quliaty. This is made worse because we have terrible full backs.
By clarifying I didn't mean in the box, what I meant to communicate was "in the semi-final sixth" but that isn't something people usually say. So in the final third, but worse the closer they got to goal. Did you not feel there was good creative play there? But they created second-to-last balls and not final balls, which equals bad soccer. It isn't as hopeless, to me, since I can imagine adding just an Alcacer and it unlocking things nicely.
Not sure what Wolf has been doing well that Favre keeps selecting him to start........ This was a a very ugly match. We were lucky to walk away with a point. Not sure what Favre is trying to do......
Aaaaaaand our lucky streak continues. I hope this finally grounds the expectations of the idiotic local fanbase who rejoiced at the news of Delaney as if he was the second coming of Edgar Davids. Witsel's novelty factor seems to have quickly worn off. Favre is way out of his depth as he's spent his entire career coaching midtable feeder clubs. I don't understand why he's so highly rated.
Wasnt very happy with what I saw and we cant keep getting lucky in the end to salvage points.. that kind of luck run out. Of course you put yourself in good situations to be lucky and luck happens but we should not be in these unfortunate situations for so much time like we are. Even the announcers today were wondering why wolf was in the game and also why he was starting. Its clear to all of us but him
To put the result into perspective, we have been less than impressive on the road this season but for Hoffenheim in particular we have not won an away game there for six years even though the place is small and half empty. It is a small rivalry since they got promoted because our fans hate the owner Hopp and he in turn hates Dortmund and our fans with a passion.
When Wolf and Dahoud were substituted it looked for a minute as if Favre was gesturing to bring someone else off instead off Wolf. At the press conference the coach explained that this was simply miscommunication, but he was not pleased when Stefan Buczko followed up by asking, "who were you going to take off instead?". Favre simply said that he didn't want to speak of the matter any further, lol. Anyway, a decent tactical synopsis here. I get that Favre might be wary of shipping goals like Bosz's team, but he sets the team up way too conservatively. Lining up Witsel and Dahoud (and sometimes Delaney) together is is one thing, and given the center backs' on-ball skill and intelligence they should be enabled to create more coming out of the back. As it stands the opposition is content to mark Dahoud and let Schmelzer and Piszczek have the ball.
I don't think Favre's line up yesterday was particularly conservative really. The only criticism was going for Wolf instead of Philipp. In truth he picked a very attacking lineup especially when you take into account we were playing the 3rd/4th best team in the league away from home. The problem is we just don't have the required quality. LP and Schmelzer are really bad players. When Schmelzer stepped up a bit in the second half it shows the difference good full backs can make. The amount of times our full backs get the ball and just pass it backwards, the amount of times they don't overlap or just give the ball away. Then we have no striker, Kagawa is an average player and no where near good enough. Pulisic is kid no where near consistent enough for a top club. Sancho is a kid and less consistent than Pulisic. I hope Hakimi gets to start against Nuremburg.
FB's are a major problem right now. We lose so much width without any technical attacking talent in those positions.....
You have made plenty of comments about Pulisic to start this season out. I get it. You dont think highly of him, but honestly he is the last one I would rag on right now.. There are so many holes that need to be filled in this team but currently he is one of the few bright spots. I get that I am a Pulisic fan, before that comes out of anyones mouth. But he has had good runs, good passing and is engaged in the game (or else the deflection goal never comes). We just need Favre to quite dicking around with so many lines and trying to be the evil genius and just line them up and let them play. too much tinkering for my taste. Meanwhile, Alcacer is injured and its clear that we need him up front. Very clear. But again, Pulisic is nowhere close the problem at this point. He is the least of our worries currently. The back, the middies and striker position have way more holes.
I ami gong to be brutally honest. Pulisic and Sancho in absolute terms are no where near our top players. Not even close. In fact at the moment they are weaknesses in the team. Reus and Akanji are our top players and by a country mile. Pulisic is a fantastic talent and excellent for a 20 year old. He will have flashes of brilliance, but then lose the ball the next 6 times. Even someone as talented and 2 years like Asensio is not ready and weakens Madrid. Iniesta one of the best players of all time was a sub at that age. It's not that I don't rate Pulisic. He will probably become a world class player when he is 24/25. He could become one of the best in the world. He is great for a 20 year old, but great for a 20 year old does not mean you are great overall. In absolute terms the weakest positions in our team are: 1. Right Back: but Hakimi might be the player we needed 2. Left Back 3. The two other attacking positions where Reus does not play.
Thats just silliness... Pulisic is nowhere near the weakness on the team. A lack of a second striker, delaney, LP, Gotze, Schmelzer, Wolf.. You want so bad for Pulisic to fail and you take every opportunity to take a shot at him. While he certainly isnt a star yet and may never be, but he isnt a weakness on the team currently unless of course you think the entire God damn team is shit and in that case you should probably follow Man City, Real or Barca. You constantly take shots at the team. There are quite a few issues on it but we arent terrible. Just sometimes terribly put together on the pitch sometimes by Favre
CP is one of the best players on the team currently, but that also speaks to how diminished the BVB squad is compared to past seasons. And the fact that this team will still snooze their way to the CL places is an indictment of the Bundesliga, much as I love following it. On the other hand, it’s hard to state that someone like Götze is one of the key weaknesses of the team when he can’t get into the 18. I don’t think anyone feels great about his situation. The reality is that BVB’s only path to the upper crust of European football is identifying young players and coaches on their way to superstardom, since they can’t buy them as finished products. Akanji could do it, Weigl looks stuck in a rut, and Pulisic (cross our fingers) looks to be on that trajectory. But it doesn’t look like enough of them will stay through their peaks, sadly.
There is no way to predict a young player's career trajectory five or ten years into the future and tell if they will be worldclass. We don't know if they will have career changing injuries or illnesses like Götze. We don't know if they have bad personality or lifestyle habits that distract them from their career or demotivate them as they get older. Tons of high potential players have lost motivation because of food, clubbing, wags, poker, gambling or just the realization that they already earned millions or have reached a point in life where they can earn millions just by posting Instagram ads for Nike and Adidas thanks to their celebrity fame, so they stop working as hard in training. Players who grew up in the social media generation will probably be different to their predecessors in how calculated and ad revenue-driven their entire lifestyle is, and because of how easy it is to monetize their fame they may simply not give as many ********s about being world-class or whatever. Eagle you've probably watched Akanji play for half a season lol. Ever heard of one season wonders like Michu or Berahino, or even players like Jack Rodwell or Wilshere who looked like worldbeaters ? Or youngsters who never reached their potential like Bojan, Pato, Götze? That is not necessarily negative, when you see players like Sanchez go through the motions at a top club. Every year we get to watch players like Bats, Hakimi, Alcacer, Pulisic, Sancho, Dembele who are at the most determined and focused stage of their career, who are still humble and hungry to make it to the top. They are so motivated it forces the older players to work hard too. Players come to Dortmund because they want to prove their talent in football, they do not come here to collect a paycheck and that is a good thing.
This is pretty much completely wrong. There is no way to know for certain, but it's not hard to predict a young players' career trajectory, that's exactly what scouts, managers and directors of football do for a living. Nothing is certain and there are many examples of players flopping and failing to fulfil their potential, but for the most part predictions tend to be accurate. Far more often than not the likes Robben, Ronaldo, Rooney, Messi, Iniesta, Tevez, Kroos, Schweinsteiger, etc go on to become world class. I repeat it's not certain, but it's not a random guess. Even Gotze with his illness went on to win several league titles and the world cup. Youngsters who make it to top clubs at a young age already have a strong drive. Nothing seems to suggest the likes of Mbappe etc are not going to fulfil up their potential. It's quite clear you have not watched the players you mentioned. Rodwell, Michu and Berahinho were never putting in top class performances. Michu played better than the other two, who were just decent youngsters. Rodwell and Berahino never had an exceptional season. I never said Akanji was world class. I said he is one of the top players in the team and has the potential to become world class. At the moment Akanji is one of of top performers. If you can't see that, then I question your judgement on football. If you are unable to judge players, then this is your failing. I never rated Bojan particularly highly. Gotze has health issues and Pato loved money. However, those two are actually in the minority. The majority of players that talented actually do fulfil their potential. Aguero, De Bruyne, RVP, Pique, Neymar etc What the hell are you talking about? Absolute rubbish. Sanchez is on the decline and actually works hard. His poor performances have little to do with work ethic. He still works hard. Dembele had a terrible attitude at the club. Bats wasn't good enough for a top club and Alcacer is only here, because he had no other choice. To compete at the top level you need top players. Top players tend to be hard working and put in great performances.
No he wasn't. He had one exceptional dribble where he then played a very good pass and led to the goal. His speed and dribbling were a threat, but he constantly lost the ball. The only outfield player to have an overall weaker game was Philipp. l This is precisely what I mean by overrating performances. Dribbling past two players and then losing the ball is not a positive. Pulisic had a good solid game. Only Reus and Akanji were 'beast' on Wednesday. Zagadou made a few too many mistakes, but was exceptional in possession. Delaney and Hakimi were very good too. The rest of the team put in a good solid performance.
Sometimes I wonder if you even watch the matches........ or if perhaps you're watching a completely different match. Pulisic has had his struggles, but the kid was brilliant against FCN.
What stats? Correct me if I am wrong he is 2 goals and 1 assist. How exactly is that brilliant? Sancho has better stats and I put him in the same boat as Pulisic. If 2 goals 1 stat is brilliant then what would you call Reus's stats? Again if he was brilliant what would you call Reus's performance? Let alone say the performance Lewandowski put in against Madrid. It was a good performance and nothing more.