Reus and Akanji both in the starting lineup. Bürki Piszczek Akanji Toprak Toljan Weigl Pulisic Kagawa Schürrle Reus Batshuayi I don't really like the midfield, the formation seems strange and unbalanced. Kagawa will be the usual one to track back and help in the buildup but it seems too offensive minded. Either Schürrle or Reus don't fit in my opinion and take away the spot of an 8.
I don't understand why we are playing a substandard Schürrle and Mo sits when we need Kagawa to play further forward. Makes no sense.
We look absolutely toothless and are extremely boring to watch. Hamburger have been the more threatening side in the first half. Gotze needs to come on in the second half, preferably for Schurrle.
0:0 at halftime. Not a great game by us. Some good scenes whenever we opt for fast combinations but apart from these few scenes not much. Akanji had one bad pass that initiated a dangerous counter that he helped to repair but looked promising otherwise. But the problem in this game isn't the defense.
Amazing how much rope Schürrle gets. He scores a winning goal and he's a core player. Dude scored after 11 months. And he's crap. Nobody values him outside of BVB. Nobody.
Nice way to settle it, Gotze makes it 2-0. But now we will have to tolerate Schurrle in the starting XI much longer, seeing as how the assist was made by him...
nice result at the end, but we'll not get far with starters like Toljan and Pisczek. Unfortunately, there's not many alternatives
Good 3 point confidence booster to say the least and with Leverkusen losing we will go into next matchday in the top 3. Schurrle had a terrible game until the last 10 minutes and the assist will (sadly) keep him starting but that may end up a good thing as he is capable of being a very good player so maybe a run of games with his bffs Reus and Gotze may just do that for him but I'm sceptical. Finally a good showing by Mo. Instant impact when he came on. Terrible game by Weigle however. We need him to provide the vertical passing but htat sorely missing today. Bats is a great breath of fresh air. His hold up play is night and day compared to Auba.
Playing Götze in the no. 8 role has been a complete waste of his talent. With his speed returning, his positioning will improve. He's a goal threat and should play behind the striker. Schürrle and Castro are useless. The former is terrible and the latter is a pylon. I hope they're to be sold in the summer. Michy has a much wider skillet than PEA. Here's hoping he can use it to his advantage. Let's not forget that he just scored against the two worst teams in the BL.
Bastuayi puts himself in good positions that you want your striker to be in. It isn't surprising. His goals was just smart play. Put himself at the far post with the run. Remarkable what a little service does for a player who has a knack to score goals. Instead Conte wanted to use him as a target man.... Bats will score a lot. His linkup is okay and his holdup play is marginal, but he can and will improve upon that with playing. I'm thrilled for him and think he was screwed at Chelsea.
Weigl was terrible today. Running around like crazy, giving the ball away, defending the wrong space. Reus and Batshuayi have what BVB needed: tricky ball movement. I think they are okay up front now. But Weigl and Dahoud are not holding down the middle. I feel like Weigl has the quality, but didn't see it today. And Dahoud just didn't show any feel for how to move the ball on attack, even with no pressure and lots of good options.
Reus is the only truly elite player left at the club. There are many problems in the team, but if Marco can stay healthy and get back to his best, BVB have a good chance of securing a top 3 place. With him and an improving Götze supporting Bats, the attacking third looks promising. It is a shame what is happening with the midfield, in the summer I was excited by the prospects the combination of Weigl and Mo appeared to have. This season has been a frustrating waste of their potential.
https://www.nichefutebol.com/home/europa-league-round-of-32-comprehensive-preview/2018/2/11 Any thoughts on the big Europa League game this week? Could be a tough one, no Michy Batshuayi as well I think
Decent game. The midfield does look light. Perhaps giving Dahoud a little time. It would also be good to draw Pulisic into the middle 3 as opposed to out on the wings, especially with Max Phillip and Reus coming back. Another option would be to have Guierrero play the 6 in Weigle's absence. Failing this, there is always Jean Michel Seri of Nice, I think he'd be a good edition. I really hope Tah and Batshuayi end up being purchased this summer, I don't think the club need too many players in. I'm not sold on Toljan either ... hmmm. Decent game tho, Schurrle is on the comeback trail