With the season about to start, I have changed on my opinion of what would be the best first 11. Now I would like to see the team play a 4-2-3-1. ------Burki---- Hakimi---Akanji--Diallo--Raphael ----------Witsel---Weigl(Dahoud_ Reus------------Gotze-------------Sancho --------------Philipp (New Striker)
Gotze has done absolutely nothing to thus far to warrant inclusion into the starting line-up. He was flat out terrible against Furth. I would rather play Reus behind the striker and play Pulisic and Sancho on the wings at this point.
Gotze was good in the US, just like Pulisic, but has been poor since then. I don't think either of them have been great, but I think Gotze deserves a shot with Reus and Sancho either side. If he continues to play badly then I would swap him with Philipp and look to bring in Havertz in the summer. This is do or die for Gotze.
suppposing we could have him.. im not sure that Leverkusen doesnt pass us by this year. We muse about all these possibilities and frankly who we want doesnt mean crap if BVB arent willing to pony up the cash to get them. I just dont see us getting Brandt or Havertz before a EPL team, Madrid or Barca get them. Bayern Leverkusen have really come along nicely over the years and are a team on the rise I think.
This is because you still hope to transfer Pulisic and use the money for [new striker]? Or because you really think Pulisic doesn't crack the starting 11?
I You really think that Pulisic shouldnt be in the starting XI.. that just doesnt make sense to me. The announcer the other day who played for both Schalke and Dortmund was raving about Pulisic.. I didnt hear his name. I thought maybe it was Steffen Freunde but I think thats wrong. Regardless he raved about Pulisic and was just beside himself that he was taken out while having so many good runs. Maybe you and I see different players.
The strongest team with the personnel will be a 4-2-3-1 I think. --------------Burki------------ LP-----Akanji---Diallo-----RG ---------Witsel---Weigl---------- Pulisic------Götze--------Reus --------------Philipp-------------- Could easily put the likes of Dahoud, Delaney and Sancho in instead, if the likes of Götze, Witsel or Weigl fail to perform, so midfield/wings have some OK depth. The back-up options in defence are mainly unproven or terrible though, which is a concern. The back up striking options are non-existent. Which is an even bigger concern. I don't like to be negative, however I'm struggling to see how on paper this team can realistically compete for any major trophies. I'm hoping they surprise me though.
Yes it's more wishful thinking, I guess on my part. I am becoming resigned to the board accepting mediocrity There's no chance of Pulisic being sold now, because the Premier League transfer window is shut, though it would be wise. The only smart thing is to sell him in January. However, I really don't think he should start. Sancho for me is more talented and offers more. Pulisic tends to dribble down blind allies too often and is not productive enough. Perhaps we are seeing different things, but Pulisic needs to get his head up and be less selfish for me. I expect he will start against Leipzig, but would not be surprised if he loses his place after that. .
I disagree with this. Toprak and Zagadou are decent enough back options at CB. They aren't great, but they are capable of playing Bundesliga matches. I have a lot of faith in Hakimi, but he is raw and not ready. Raphael has not played well for a long time. The full backs, the no 10, the right wing and the striker is where the team is weak, which is 5//11 players. I agree there is little chance this team challenges for major honours unless a few miracles happen: Gotze rediscovers his top form Pulisic/Sancho have an amazing break out season Rapahel rediscovers his Euro 2016 form Hakimi has an amazing break through season. All of the above is extremely unlikely. I
Spain's window is still open, though I agree that isn't where the rumors are. Otherwise we'll just have to agree to disagree that it makes sense to bench Pulisic. You must have seen the same games very differently than I did this pre-season. I saw Sancho as a dead end dribbler without good ideas and Pulisic creating chance after chance. However, I also think Sancho has great talent and should see a lot of field time. So it behooves Favre to find a way to have Pulisic and Sancho on the field at the same time. It isn't impossible. It isn't like they are so limited that they can only play wide.
Only three teams in Spain could afford him and they don't want him and he wouldn't be close to getting into the team. He also wants to play in the Premier League. I saw both of them dribbling into dead ends and wasting chances. Both are amazing talents, but I wouldn't want to rely on either one of them going into a season. Sancho, though in the cup match created more and is less selfish and links up better with other players. Also for me I wouldn't trust either one of them in the centre. They just aren't ready and wouldn't want to start any game with both of them on the pitch at the same time. I think it's vital we replace the full backs and consequently we need a bit more experience on the wings. I would only ever start one of them and give the other spot to Reus( if Gotze is in the centre) or Philipp if Reus is moved to the centre.
Watching Liverpool play Leicester. Leicester played a similar style, but with better players than Hannover. Liverpool even used similar tactics to Favre. The key differences for me was out wide. Our full backs once again are clearly not good enough. Liverpool don't even have great ones, just decent. These full backs were able to cope with the Leicester attack without constantly being babied and got involved in attacks. The full back position must be respected. We spent 60 million Euros, which is a lot for this club improving the CBs since January, but nothing on full backs. Liverpool had dangerous strikers and wide men. We only have Reus to scare people. We can't get away with playing Wolf and Philipp. Let's see what Alcacer can do, but we have to play either Sancho/Pulisic. Give these two kids a chance and see if they can step up. If they can't then go out and sign Brandt. Lastly, Liverpool didn't have enough technical players in midfield. I think we can get around this by playing Weigl or Gotze or even Kagawa. He has stayed and we are paying his wages so if Weigl and Gotze don't deliver give Shinji a chance.
I keep hearing you mention Brandt.. has Leverkusen indicated they even want to sell him? I agree he would be a nice addition and someone we should have already targeted.. I thnk Bayer could seriously challenge us for 2nd
Leverkusen will have no choice if a big offer came in. Bailey would be fantastic but it's impossible. He is Jamaican and dreams of playing in England. He will go to the Premier League in the summer. We just can't compete. It's impossible. We have to be realistic about our signings. We have to aim for promising youngsters from other countries. If we want a fairly established player then our best chance is someone German, Swiss, Austrian or Dutch. Players we can hopefully sway with the language and being closer to their home. I am a big fan of Sancho but he will be leaving the season he is good enough to be a key player for us. The same goes for Pulisic. We need to already be preparing for this. It's very poor management to have only replaced Auba in the last couple of days with a loan and not replaced Dembele at all.
I agree with you on this. Afew clubs I enjoy watching are Ajax, Bayer , and a few others like young boys. They always seem to target the young players that later become stars. I think we have to embrace the model that so many big teams have. Buy all the young players you can. Loan them out and see what they become and either profit or keep them. We seem to always be sellers that already frustrates me as a young fan of the team. I would like to see a way to keep our young stars. It seems we make the wrong decisions on them. We either wait too long to sell or we keep the ones who dont really pan out. Watching Bayer , they struggle to possess the ball because they have so many young impetuous players.
todays game was an obvious exhibition to keep those not on a national team call up from being stale upon return to play in 8 days but they put some balls in the net today.
It was good to see Weigl back on the pitch (for the first team, at least). Alcacer played as well. From the little I've seen, Kagawa showed positive signs. He had 2 assists and contributed in a very nice combination for the fifth goal. I wouldn't mind him getting some minutes in the next games so that one can better judge where he's at. I know this was only a third league team but we look completely different with the more technical/creative players on the field. Witsel+Delaney might have its use but not necessarily against teams that only play for a draw.