Don't think he was neccesarily ready to run an attack last year at a CL/BL level. Based on his play in preseason and watching that run on his goal...give him the keys and watch this attack explode.
They played a 4-2-3-1 with the line of three keeping tight, so Puli played a SAM position more than winger. It suited him well.
dude, all goals are scored near the middle. It is almost impossible to score from the outside. Congrats Nostradamus.
One thing that is obvious, even dating back to last year, is that Pulisic and Kags both consistently offer more through the middle then Gotze. It's remarkable that Gotze continues to be an auto-start in the middle of their attack. He plays some great killer balls on occasion but the vast majority of the time he is too slow in both foot and mind.
His goals start with his runs from the middle, not out wide. He rarely tucks in from the right or left and finds the far post (like Robben or any other typical winger). He does his best work in the middle. That's the point. It's not about where he shoots from but where he starts from. Regardless, I don't want this thread to become swallowed up by this back-and-forth so this is the last I'm going to say about it.
Gotze works so hard but it just doesn't come off for him. It's not like he's lazy, it's just hard to see that player in him that used to be. Also, while we're on his teammates, Sancho didn't seem to impress many people today. Stark contrast to his production off of the bench. I agree that Kagawa and Puli look good together.
Another angle on the goal: Hey @cpulisic_10, what would you like for your birthday?Pulisic: https://t.co/Deq7DTpa4g— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 18, 2018
Time for him to stay healthy and build off of his last seasons. Without Aubameyang/Batshuayi they will need everyone to increase their production
A professional power lifter will suddenly find out he can't lift the same weight, after resting for 3 weeks.
Crap. I had to do actual work for the first time this year! (Ok, I fell asleep at my desk, but still, I missed it.)
Disappointed by this, but hopefully Sancho can use the experience and be ready for his next start. I'm not worried about Sancho taking minutes from Pulisic, instead I think he'll help him. Once Sancho becomes starter quality instead of a super sub, they don't have to rely on Pulisic for the wing and can try him more in the middle.
Every once in a while I get this weird urge to go back to all the posts from 1998 through 2006 and auto-replace Reyna with Bradley. Just showing my age...
did anyone actually think gotze wouldnt be playing as long as he wanted to after scoring the WC winning goal for Germany??? (i'm not saying this is a good or bad thing, mind you) it floors me sometimes how people seem to think playing time/success/what club you are one/etc is this supremely objective and totally fair process that is only about merit.....or that one club's evaluation of a player would be the same at a different club.... WAKE UP, PEOPLE!! there's politics, favortism, $, hope for transfer $, differences of opinion, personal preference, marketing considerations, favorite son status, etc etc all at play in terms of who plays and who doesnt in pro sports. when a player doesnt make it it's not always b/c he wasnt good enough and when a player does its not always b/c he was better than those who didnt... ...im not even convinced that coaches always pick the players even they subjectively think are the better player for a myriad of reasons (many behind the scenes).