Hallo, @paco93alcacer! #BVB pic.twitter.com/0iYrpePl15— Sebastian Weßling (@fluestertweets) August 28, 2018
🚨 OFICIAL: Alcácer, nuevo jugador del BVB pic.twitter.com/i64xjgmwJA— Diario AS (@diarioas) August 28, 2018
I don't know much about him, but he seems quick and knows how to score. I suspect he will have the international break to train with the team. I think the squad is now complete for the season. With an actual striker, we also have Philipp as a consistent option out wide. Now we have a couple of days to get rid of as much dead weight left as we can. It would be a huge bonus if we could sell any of Kagawa, Sahin, Rode and Toljan.
Thanks for posting, but damn, there is never a shortage of unnecessary music to contaminate football videos when the atmosphere in the stadium would have sufficed.
Good news is, starting at 1:00ish, that is service that BVB can generate from the wings. Let's hope we start to see lots of assists from CP and Sancho.
lol the way some talk,, if we do sell people.. we wont have any money regardless... kind of like Auba and Dembele.. since that money is gone.
I would much rather be 'stuck' with Kagawa (6 goals, 7 assists in 1776 minutes) than with Gotze (2 goals, 7 assists in 2202 minutes) ... It makes no sense to retain Gotze and let Kagawa leave ... I think u underestimate him ...
Gotze is from the academy and that in itself is a reason. However, there is still hope Gotze can regain something near his old form. Gotze was once good enough for a top club, Kagawa never was. I never understood the love Kagawa gets. The fact that he has no suitors with the club begging for someone to take him says it all. If he was performing at the necessary standard then he would have offers. Even Durm got a move.
It seems that Favre doesn't see the need for players like Götze or Kagawa. It might depend on the opponent but I always wondered how well they would be able to adapt when Favre prefers a 4-3-3. They had to play further back in the last season as well, though. I don't think anyone here was particularly fond of that. A Kagawa in good form is nice to watch but even at his best post-ManU, it always felt he was somewhat limited.
That says that he isn't performing up to his salary. It has nothing to do with his absolute level. So yeah, we know he is overpaid.
At this point, in a three man midfield with Witsel, Delaney, and Dahoud, the only one who is technically gifted with the ball at his feet to link-up and dictate play and tempo is Dahoud and to a lesser extent Witsel. Unfortunately, this make is easier for the opponent as they would only need to take Dahoud out of the game to neutralize our game flow. Against high-pressing and physical teams like Leipzig this is not the case as it allows the defensive minded Delaney and Witsel to shine but against counter-attacking and defensive bunker tactics a second ball-playing midfielder next to Dahoud will be vital especially knowing Favre's preference for short passing games. This is where I favor Gotze over Kagawa.
His salary is not even huge for Dortmund. It's more than he should get, Even Schurrle found a club willing to pay his substantial wage. I think Favre will see how we get along against teams defending deep. I expect Delaney may well be dropped for Weigl at some point. Dahoud---Weigl--_Witsel is a very good midfield for the tougher games. Favre though, seems to see Gotze as playing further forward and not an 8. So I think will play Gotze behind Alcacer. If we struggle to break down deep ling teams he will switch from the 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1. I see the two lineups Favre will favour looking like this ----------------Weigl------------ ---------Dahoud----------Witsel Sancho---------------------------Reus ---------------Alcacer and against deep lying teams -------------Witsel---Dahoud----------- Sancho-----------Gotze-------------Reus ---------------------Alcacer------------
It's hard to see Weigl making a 3 man midfield, granted last year just about everyone on the team played terribly save Auba ... Barring injuries, I would have prefered to see ... -----Kagawa ----------- Dahoud------ ------ Witsel ------ The club has no playmaker to link the offense and middle, and even though a lot of u seem to favour Gotze, I just don't see it (the stats don't lie). Nor do I see Sancho starting either eaglespark ... at this point the offense should be ... ------------------------Alcacer (depending on how he adapts) --------Reus ------------------------ Phillip-------- Pulisic for all his play over the preseason is not developed enough to start, which makes me question why he won't extend his contract at Dortmund ... where does he intend to go ? And does he expect to get into a top tier club and actually get minutes ... players seem to suffer from overconfidence biases, and eventually end up ruining their careers by moving too early, only to be sidelined for the next flavour of the month mega signing ... I don't rate Weigl or Pulisic as world beaters by any stretch ... I like the business Dortmund have done this summer, and I hope Burki finds some confidence, as I think that is the only thing holding him back from being a fantastic goalkeeper ... Not signing Marius Wolf would have allowed Dortmund to keep Kagawa, seeing as Reus will probably be pushed inside to accommodate all the wingers, Phillip, Sancho, Larsen, Wolf, Pulisic; and all it does is eventually stunt the development of Bruun Larsen who I think would have been a better choice anyway ... i really don't understand what this club is doing sometimes, to be honest, but i do like the Favre appointment.
Even though I became a Dortmund fan because of Pulisic I have found my home among Dortmund... Having said that, I agree. Pulisic sometimes dribbles into trouble. Is not quite good enough to hold up in the EPL day to day and would likely sit the bench unless he went somewhere like a lower tier EPL team. I dont think he wants to do that nor do I think one of them would pony up the cash it would take to buy him. He needs Dortmund but he may be too arrogant to realize it. I think the wings will be fine if Alcacer can get some goals in. That may depend on his linkups with the Mids or wings but I think we have the wings and players to get him the chances at goals. This team does have some good pieces. Im not sure on how we match up with our group in the CL. I am fairly certain of how we match up with the Bundesliga. Anything short of runner up and I am very disappointed. This team is too good to come anywhere but 2nd to Bayern (who may well win the CL). We are on a good path. Probably still a year away at any real noise in the CL or the Bundesliga..
If I were him I wouldn't sign longer with BVB either until the management proves they can field a team. I think they did okay this last window, on paper, and not holding it against them that they waited until the very last. Witsel, Alcacer, Hakimi, Diallo, Delaney, Hitz, Wolf. It isn't a perfect haul by any means, but with if 50% of them are as good as we hope, and the kids progress (the team is very young, so we should see progress) then this team might end the year as a real threat to Bayern for the next year. Now we'll see how the team actually plays.
Sahin reportedly in talks with Bremen, at least the club gave him the time to negotiate with other clubs. He probably should have made plans earlier but I suppose it was the Witsel transfer that finally made it clear for him.
Great news if we can reduce the wage budget a bit. Hopefully Kagawa goes today too. It seems Toljan and Rode have refused to leave. Pulisic is not Reus, Lewandowski or Hummels. He is not even a Dembele. He needs to be very careful. He can't speak of the ambition of Dortmund if he is struggling to make the first team. There is no guarantee he starts over Sancho and Philipp. He is injured today, so if either of those two have a good game he will already be out of the starting line up. He needs to focus on actually improving his performance. Weigl struggled last year, but he was hurt by being the only player capable of passing it out from the back. The back 4 and Sahin are useless when pressed. This season is different, he would have Dahoud and Witsel to help him out. Akanji is very good on the ball and Diallo is not bad. Hopefully at some point our full backs get replaced too. Weigl, unlike Pulisic, has shown he can play at the highest level for an entire season. I think under Favre Weigl and Dahoud can really progress. Witsel already seems like the perfect mentor for these two. Why should Dortmund want to keep Kagawa? I repeat his lack of options is telling.
Pulisic didn't speak to the ambition of BVB. I suggested those might be his thoughts, is all. And both player and team need to match their ambition with actions if they hope others to take them seriously. Understood you don't rate Pulisic. Understood that I think you overrate Weigl. These are opinions. Don't understand how you say Pulisic struggles to make the first team? That isn't a matter of opinion. CP had the most appearances of any BVB player in the last year. I feel sure that doesn't jibe with "struggling to make the first team" by any useful definition.
I get you are not high on Pulisic but some of the stuff you say makes me think you just dont like him in general. He is not in danger of losing his position. I think if Pulisic felt that he would not be in the starting XI then he would have really forced dortmund to make a sell... As for Sancho, he will get his time and he has gone on record as saying he didnt come to Bundesliga to sit the bench. Would it serve Dortmund more to sit Pulisic and sell him at mid term? Im not sure. That is hoping that Sancho will be completely happy being on Dortmund and not wanting an EPL switch to his home country. Some players are happy playing abroad and others want to only star so they can go back there. Dortmund enjoys tapping into the US market. Jersey sales here are pretty high. Fox Sports recently bought the bundesliga and broadcast it on the weekends because of his popularity. Clearly the bundesliga enjoys having a US star (who may be over hyped but a star here nonetheless) in its league and would do well to keep him here. Theres a reason that La Liga is trying to schedule games to tap into this market. EPL is now broadcast here all weekend on NBC... The game is finally growing here and the world soccer leagues are starting to take notice and tap this market. If you dont get Economics 101 then you wont get the fact that Dortmund is going to keep CP in their lineup whenever possible because they benefit as much as possible by doing so with his popularity so high. CP isnt going anywhere when hes healthy.