should have been a storybook ending for our boy and Auba ********ing blows it. Far post dude, far ********ing post.
Actually Gudiño touched the Kagawa shot, barely. Good save. He's been better than Bürki, but then the Swiss has been quite poor.
Until the last 5 sec of the game when CP dribbled 60 yds and hit a great cross on target to Aubameyang whose header was blocked by post and keeper with the rebound kicked over by Bartra.
That was an incredible cross given that he had just beat 5 guys over 60 yards on a dead sprint. Auba has to put that away.
dortmund looked so much more dangerous with pulisic on the ball, especially after he moved to the right. I don't think the problem is specifically missing dembele, as much as it is the fact that they replaced him with a super-slow player in yarmolenko. combined with goetze, their attack is just too slow, and doesn't have any width. they desperately need more speed in their attack.
Try reading what I said again, and you’ll see why your response is an example of a strawman argument.
I've gotten used to watching "Pulisitch" when the Brits are doing commentary, but today was the first match for "Weegle" and there was even a few minutes cameo by "Pusilitch". Where do they get these guys? I wouldn't have been so irritated if Auba had finished that last ball. BVB is really toast when he's having one of these off days. Isak certainly isn't the answer. They need a #2 striker and a reliable keeper in January if they expect to stay near the top of the table.
I just disagree with the fact that Pulisic didn't play well today. Weigl was good too. This was one of the cleanest games I've seen from Pulisic, and he was a level above his teammates today on the offensive end.
Our boy has to finish that volley. Plain and simple. From 4 yards away he doesn’t even get the side netting. If we want him to be the best player and “too good for BVB” he has to bury that.
I dunno about that it was a really tough angle and he had a defender draped all over him. I don't think many non strikers put that chance away.
It was tough, but if he wants to be world class, he has to finish it. That's what world class players do when their team is facing certain elimination from the Champions League. He's young yet.
Ok, well Auba is in the same boat then. High expecations I get but at 19 he's not world class. If he's missing those at 24 get back to me.
That’s fine. Reasonable minds can disagree. He had a few bright moments, but not enough in my opinion. Here are the things I can recall off the top of my head: - Mishit the volley at the end, and skied a shot over the bar after APOEL scored. - Struggled to get his crosses off - they were blocked multiple times - and the ones he did hit were mostly to no one aside from the cross at the end and one that found Kagawa in the first half. I believe both of those crosses were with his right, so maybe he’s not comfortable crossing with his left? - He didn’t combine well with his teammates. My stream was a little grainy, but I think he had a nice little interplay with Schmelzer on the short corner that led to a goal. Aside from that, the ball stuck to his foot a little too much. I can’t recall a single time that he and Auba connected. His teammates seem to get stagnant when he has the ball, and that’s telling. - He struggled in pressing the advantages he created when dribbling past defenders. He gets credit for dangerous dribbling, but he has to be more creative in finding teammates after beating the first defender. He seems to take 3-4 more touches before making simple square passes after the defense has already rotated and recovered. On the Kicker scale, I’d rate him about a 3.5 or 4. On a day where Dortmund needed more spark, Pulisic missed an opportunity to be the one to provide it.
I agree with your point about his crosses, and I think he's comfortable with low crosses, but once he needs to get it into the air with some spin, that's where his left fails him. It's just my opinion, but it seemed like a lot of the times his teammates didn't play it back to him when he wanted it. With the US he's used to players deferring to his judgement and always feeding him for 1-2s, but Kagawa and Auba both ignored him a lot of times. It feels like they've been drilled to look for balls over the top, but Apoel's line was so deep that that was useless, and the sequences that start with CP dribbling often ended with another player choosing to look for the direct pass over the top rather than let CP try some more magic.
I pretty much agree with this, although I'd rate him a 3 because he redeemed himself at the end. Also, for whatever reason, none of the Dortmund players succeeded with the final passes. Just weird. Too soft; delayed too long; blocked; intercepted. Kicker ratings should range from 6+ (Burki) to 3 (CP).
Ya, he's a world class 19 yr old who we want to be 26 with all the years and experience to go with it. He's going to be scary good.
This is the Pulisic thread, not the Auba fan thread. Personally don't care one didly about Auba, nor using him as a comparator to CP.
I have to say, CP is proving me wrong in one way: he has started providing the killer pass. Now he needs to team up with someone who knows what to do with the killer pass... Dortmund just don't seem to be a Europe team this year.
What is Aubameyang, chopped liver? Dembele was able to get 20+ assists last campaign with largely the same group of teammates. Pulisic needs to show he can produce with this group. In the meantime, he’s in a great environment for his continued development.