Booooah! What a clutch save from that Hamburg goalie! Hell of a match. Hamburg came to save themselves today. Schalke shouldn't hang their heads. Our boy was shaky at first, but he came into his own quickly. That switch to LB (good catch @DeClovery) took him out of the match a bit, but what can you do?
One of the most underrated Brazilians in the world. I have said it for years and years. Why he has continually been overlooked by Brazil is beyond me. Shame Naldo has just a handful of caps. He’s a helluva defender and no matter his age, he plays the exact same way. I think he’s the highest scoring defender in Bundesliga history. Naldo is the only defender with a hattrick to his name. I read/heard a while back he’s racked up close to 70 goals (across all competitions) in Germany. impressive. He was unlucky to not snag that equalizer late today.
If these German Schalke fans are to be trusted, then it looks like it's likely Wes could start against Dortmund next Sunday.
It's the first true installment of the BigSoccer Yanks Abroadapalooza™ Derby we've all been waiting for!
He's old, and looks older, but is young inside. He may have had insight into not letting a German team score 7 against them. Never happened during his career in the country. And yeah, he actually provides height on corners to score himself. Wish the U.S. were in position to mistakenly neglect players of his ability.
Apparently Max Meyer has been woeful, leaving the door WIDE open for Wes. I had assumed he was subbed out at halftime this past weekend because of injury but apparently that's not the case- he was just having another really bad game. With Goretzka leaving and Meyer falling out of favor, the door is wide open for McKennie to become a regular starter for the rest of the season and perhaps cement his place as a sure-fire starter in champions league next season.
How does a defender score a hat-trick? were they all penalties? Good point though. it seems like Brazil and a few others look down on clubs that are not in the CL or actively fighting for the title. Countinho and Firmino at Liverpool weren't regulars until like a year or 2 ago.
Both Max and Leon are gone. Max is an odd case given that he was considered at one point a sure fire future German NT #10. Tedesco has tried to convert him to a #6 in the Pirlo mode, to be a deep lying playmaker. Myer is very technical but lacks pace, quickness and the work-rate required to play as an attacker in Tedesco's schemes. Tedesco's continued use of Weston at FB is ominous but fairly common in the BuLi. Danny Williams, Alfredo Morales, and Fabian Johnson all flipped between FB and CM early in their careers.
The plan described months ago, shortly after McKennie began to get regular minutes, was that he was being groomed to replace Goretzka. More recently, the coach (club?) indicated he might be switched to a center back track, but that seems not to have gone anywhere.
Um are you sure about that. He played CB in one training game and when asked about it, Tedesco basically said he did for giggles just to see if McKennie was capable. There has never been an indication that he might be converted to CB.
Be interesting to see how Schalke approach their lineup. Huge Dortmund derby game, obviously, but they do have their German cup semi coming up mid week as well. Odds are hopefully good that Weston gets a start in one of those games
Time to put the smack down on the sickly yellow team!! https://www.instagram.com/p/BhiGnjXnNVL/?taken-by=jermainejunior