Bürki Wolf Weigl Akanji Diallo Witsel Delaney Sancho Reus Guerreiro Götze Freiburg have almost secured staying in the league. I think this would have been a good match for Dahoud but his current form is hard to judge with the limited time he gets. But in theory, it's a game that needs speed and fast decision making more than bodies in midfield.
Sancho scores the 1:0. Freiburg were better the first 10 minutes but we take the lead because of a really nice combination.
The problem is still the midfield. When the ball gets to Reus, Raphael, Sancho and Gotze they are linking up well. There is still a lack of a striker though. I think we will need another goal.
It certainly looks different when Guerreiro is back. Sancho looks quite mature this game, physically as well. But we got passive in the last 15 minutes just like in the second half against Mainz. I think we only had 10 good minutes in this game.
2-0. Reus with the goal. Good assist from Rapahel. It's such a shame. Had Reus not gotten injured I have no doubt we would be champions. Raphael has been very important. Weigl had a great game too.
How the hell did Bayern get away with sooo many fouls yesterday? Bremen deserved at at least a point. They produced nothing offensively but their defence was solid and their midfield worked extremely hard. Delaney adds so little to the offence. I find Mos absence mindboggling. Raphael, as usual, one of our best players. This offence gets me wondering what's the point of getting Hazard. Like Pulisic, he's going to spend a lot of time on the bench. It's more important that we get a striker. I'd hate to lose Weigl.
Dahoud needs to play and we must keep Weigl. Maybe, Favre is going with experience, but the future is these two. Raphael was very good, but we need options. In an ideal world we would buy someone like Brandt ( I know impossible now) or perhaps Ziyech to compete and replace Raphael, who is injured even more than Reus. Then we would need a dribbler to compete with Sancho. Add in a fast striker and a left back and we would have an incredibly strong team. It's hard to identify those players and bring them in. Thorgan Hazard is just a pointless signing, unless we are trying to convert him into a striker.
We didn't need experience against Freiburg. Maybe against Schalke or Bremen. Those two games could kill our title chances. Perhaps Bremen has killed them already in the Hinrunde. Ziyech is out of our price range now thanks to their CL performance. Hazard has limited poaching skills. He's never going to be a striker.
I still think, if we win every game, we win the league. Not strengthening in January was the big mistake the board made. It was worth overpaying for quality. Whilst we have lots of hard matches, Leipzig away is a very tough place to go, especially since they might need a win and Leipzig have no pressure. We just need to focus on winning.
Good game. Shows how much RG and Weigl contribute to the team and why we must keep the latter at all costs. Delaney brings nothing to the offense, Dahoud should be playing in his stead. Hazard really makes no sense to me, would much rather if we bought Lozano for the same amount. Another good option would be to buy a striker like Jovic.
I believe we can win every game, but it would help a lot if Favre had the courage to play Dahoud. If we could win the title, maybe it would free him up and the experience it would give the kids would be incredible. We must show faith in Weigl and Dahoud. We have 0 chance of getting more talented players. I have seen bits of Lozano, but it seems United want him, but he is exactly the sort of player we need. We still need 4 signings for me: LB Raphael type player to play on the left and do Raphael's job. Brandt is perfect. Dribbler to come on and allow us to rest Sancho. Lozano/Zaha type. Fast striker Rashford/Werner type. The Schalke game will be huge for confidence.
I think Favre favors the Delaney-Witsel partnership due to the supposed defensive contribution both bring. But in doing so our offense suffers a lot. Weigl-Dahoud is much more balanced in every way possible. And I agree completely - we must show faith in those two. They are indeed talented, just need Favre to believe in them. Don't think Lozano is out of our reach. With Ajax going to the semifinals of the CL, United will surely be looking at Neres and Ziyech. Additionally, I fully expect them to be interested in Zaha, Malcom and Douglas Costa. So I would say Lozano is possible, but whether we are even in for him is another question. In addition to those 4 signings, I would personally add a GK - Burki isn't setting the world alight and from what I hear might be leaving come season's end.
Given how bad our defence has been Burki has been excellent. He's not a flashy GK like DDG or MATS. If we can sell him on for 30M because he wants to make more money elsewhere then mgmt will sell him. Getting a replacement for cheaper won't be that difficult. But Akanji is not VVD so we need a system where decent CBs aren't made to look stunted. Our club won't go for any Ajax players. They're all above our price bracket and to be fair we can get equivalent players for cheaper. So I think we might get Lozano. I'm still hoping for something like a Dembele repeat.
We must watch games with a very different lens. Weigl-Dahoud is a way to get destroyed defensively. Anyone who thinks Witsel isn't important to our team has a pretty high burden of proof. And though he doesn't make the critical passes himself, he provides defensive cover and a safe outlet for any attack that is pulled back (which is most attacks), which facilitates the attack's ability to be sustained. Weigl is a lunger on defense in the midfield. He tries to intercept passes, which is high risk, high reward. We can't afford high risk, given the state of our defense. I'd be okay with trying Dahoud instead of Delaney in the starting lineup, which is about the most non "like for like" change in midfield that one could imagine. And then if you find you can't hold defensively you have to backtrack and put in Delaney. But if you start Delaney, put in Dahoud and can't defend, there isn't a good recovery from that. I'd like to see Dahoud get some time on the field to see if he can continue to develop. But he needs to develop, it wouldn't be under the expectation that the team would actually be better in the present, only for the future.
How some people on this forum debase Witsel is puzzling. He's the kind of player we've never had. Maintains possession, recycles and adds defensive steel. Once people see how Mo and Delaney combine they'll see the benefits of Witsel.