The blame lies with Favre, though Reus did a stupid tackle ( I think he might have gotten away with a yellow). It was stupid and whilst he wanted to motivate the team he deserves a lot of blame. The problem is Favre has been far too negative. Playing Delaney and Witsel together has cost us big time. We need to control the midfield and get the ball quickly to our attacking players, but the passing is too slow when it gets to the midfield and Witsel/Delaney are just too static. We still have hope, but we need to win our remaining three games obviously. Leipzig will go out to stop Bayern, but it's going to be tough for us to win the next matches.
In some games sure but I don't think Witsel/Delaney was the problem yesterday or in the coming games in Bremen and Gladbach. But the remaining games will be without Reus and Wolf which makes it even harder. Maybe Reus will only get a two match ban if we are lucky. I have no idea about LP's status. With Zagadou still missing, I wouldn't want to change too much for the CB positions. Akanji is the only other CB who can play FB but we cannot rely on a Toprak/Weigl duo. Favre might have no choice but to use Schmelzer. Guerreiro would be an LB option but we also need him on the wings even more now without Reus. What I fear is that Götze will still be used as the striker and Dahoud as the 10 or in a 4-3-3 that hasn't worked so far.
Have we used a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 with Akanji Weigl Diallo before? The two central mids will need to work their socks off to help whoever is playing as WBs. If Schmelzer plays he needs to stop giving away cheap corners that lead to goals. Diallo did it yesterday and they scored.
I'm not sure but I think we played something like a 3 man backline under Favre once. But for me, such a system (at least the 3-5-2 variant) needs good, dynamic WBs/FBs even more. In theory I like it because we always have these holes in our 4 man defense but you need the players for that. Coming back to last game's penalty because I'm still pissed about it: Schalke's Stevens: "It's regrettable that such a penalty is given." Former Bayern player Hamann: "It's inexcusable what was done to Dortmund." It shouldn't be forgotten that it was the video ref who saw the need to intervene half a minute later. The problem for me is that the games are judged by people who not only have no idea about playing football but also about natural body movement. It's impossible for Weigl to make that fast movement forward without changing the position of his arms accordingly. Intent didn't even play a role because of the short distance and the ref still came to the conclusion that the penalty has to be given because Weigl increased his body area. The ref later called it a clear penalty while hiding behind his interpretation of the rules. It's ridiculous that games and possibly titles are decided like this. The human factor remains to be the flaw in the system.
I find it bizarre that this shit happens only to us. If we weren't in the title race it's not a big deal but we've been screwed over on a regular basis. In that Pokal final a few years ago. Hummels goal was not given. I'll never forget that.
The safe choice is for LF to stick to Akanji Weigl Toprak Diallo and play without real fullbacks. If Schmelzer doesnt play he is probably done. Our form has been shit from the start of 2019 because we have been playing without fullbacks. Much less good fullbacks who provide real width, accurate crossing and give Sancho Guerreiro more freedom. Nothing to do with lacking some top attacking player or not buying Julian Brandt. It is why we keep conceding from crosses. Wolf Hakimi Diallo are either stand ins or in very bad form, sometimes both. Schmelzer got dropped after giving away a cheap corner versus Tottenham. When was the last time our fullback got an assist? If anything we needed to bring fullbacks in earlier.
A lot of the defensive choices made by LF have been disastrous. We've conceded a startling number of goals this season. Both of Thomas Tuchels squads in his years here conceded less and we still have a couple of games to go. The only year Jurgen Klopp conceded more was when we were fighting relegation. The Peters from last year were better combined than LF. Akanji has not improved. DAZ has regressed. Diallo plays more often as LB. Meanwhile Weigl, Hakimi and Raphael were played regularly out of position. Apart from Sancho and Hakimi, nobody has actually improved under LF. Götze, Witsel and Reus have only just stayed healthy and played to their potential. The rest have either regressed or stagnated.
You made a fuss about the club not getting Sarri over LF. Sarri is doing worse at Chelsea with expensive transfers and a better squad. Bet you think Chelsea should sack Sarri too then.