I know they bailed us out a few years back with some money and all but I have grown to absolutely detest Bayern and the calls they get during matches.. Schalke (while I hate them too) had every right to protest the penalty given and the penalty not given... refs just seem to arbitrarily give them out and when Bayerns concerned you will be on the wrong end of them all the time..
At first, I was glad about Werner extending but it could be that this only delays the transfer to Bayern for 1-2 years. At least Bayern won't get him for free. The duration of the new contract sounds long but his release clause is reportedly very low ln the 30 million € range. That sounds ridiculous but it seems it is only an extension comparable to Gündogan that gives the player some level of security and the club a (minimal) fee because the player basically had the option to just leave for free. The fact remains that Bayern needs a replacement for Lewandowski. They just don't need one this season and probably not even for the following season.
If Lewandowski is extending then Werner would be stupid to move there in the next few years. I think he's giving himself a way out should RB not invest in the squad. Although I am sure they will since they have the money and JN wouldn't have joined them otherwise. On another note Bild just published that Götze is refusing to budge from him 10M€ salary demands. Who is going to pay him that much? We need to offload him and extend with Raphael.
There is a lot of offense in the BL this year, and it hasn't really been reflected on the score sheets. Hertha lost 3-0 while creating great chances, Paderborn's offense is crazy fun, like Dussedorf's last year. There were several other games where the finishing wasn't quite there, but there was pace and midfield play all over. We'll need to really mind our D versus the minnows.
I am interested to see how the Bundesliga teams do in the CL. Leverkusen are too gungho, but Leipzig with Nagelsmann might be able to make the last 16. I think Bayern will do very well. I actually want an easy group, but with Liverpool. It would be a good test to face the pressing and intensity of the European Champions.
Read a headline about Bayern being interested in Havertz. I like his potential more than Werner's and hope we have a chance of signing him next summer or something.
No one will pay Gotze that much! I'm not even sure if anyone will pay a significant transfer fee for him. Maybe he would be a useful backup to Reus this season, if we decide not to play Brandt as a #10. Then he can leave for free next summer. I wish we can keep Raphael. I just think he's been playing like he's ready to leave for the last 2 seasons.
Supposedly it's not necessarily all about the money for Götze. He wants to be paid well, for sure, but he wants to be in a good team where he has a reasonably well-defined position and role, after losing his on-field identity over the past few seasons. The problem is that it's not clear there is a market for Götze at this point. At his wage level only top CL-level clubs would have the budget, and he probably doesn't really move the needle at that level. The lack of athleticism limits his usefulness at clubs which don't dominate possession, and no one really knows if he is a 10, a false 9, a playmaking 8, or anything else. Obviously there are a lot of things that make you say, "wow Mario really knows how to play football", but for most teams it's not clear how he helps you accumulate points in the standings. Meaning it may not be such a big opportunity cost for BVB to let him run down his contract anyway. The same kind of problem exists for Raphaël as well. You can't really play him at left back regularly because he gets abused defensively, and clearly BVB gave up on that idea by signing Schulz. In midfield he only really works in the 4-3-3 as an advanced 8 making plays from the half space, and he can do a great job as a wide midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 fulfilling the same kind of role, however the club signed Hazard and Brandt making Rapha somewhat superfluous again. Again it's a case where he wants a real role in the team instead of being a utility knife off the bench.
But the major obstacle in Götze's case seems to be the money. Being more concerned about his role in the team would actually make more sense and I'd understand that but in that case the two sides wouldn't argue about these 2 million more or less. That aspect wouldn't have made it into the public discussion if Götze's side had accepted the terms but was unsure about his perspective. If it's mainly about the money, then he's badly advised by his management (again). I see Götze in a comparable situation to Özil. Both have great talent and can still be useful in the right system but maybe the game as a whole has developed in a different direction. Last year, there was an obvious role for him in the team and I don't mean as a striker. I would have tried getting the combined max out of the strenghts of the players even if it meant not playing Reus behind the striker. There is no question that Reus is great in that position but we lacked a winger that was close to Sancho's threat level and output. Concerning Havertz, if it's a move in the league, the signs point to Bayern and I think Leverkusen have accepted that it will be very hard to keep him one more year after this season, especially if he shows anything close to the last season. It would take a considerable loss of form and lack of consistency for Bayern to lose interest in him.
Leipzig with three wins out of three. Werner was very good, very fast and very clinical. He got a hat trick. I think this is the season he explodes on the world seen. This is going to be an exciting year in the Bundesliga. The quality is finally back. I was a bit disappointed with Neuhass.
That was such a clinical performance by RB. For all the whistling and abuse, RB have put together an excellent squad with a budget much smaller than most clubs. If they win the league there will be fury like no other but it won't be undeserved.
Yet they are good for the league. It's good for the former Eastern Germany to have a top flight club. It is good for Bayern and Dortmund to have competition. If three Bundesliga teams can make the last 16 and perhaps even the quarters then it is great for the Bundesliga. Not to mention it is great for the German national team to have German players, playing in top flight football. It's like in England, many United and Arsenal fans hate City for being bought by rich Arabian owners, but at the same time beg for a Saudi Arabian billionaire to buy their own club.
Germany were bad, Reus was bad and Schulz was bad. Not good for us with Barca to come. Friendly today, I did not watch, but I hear Gotze and Reus were good.
Schulz was atrocious, it seemed every time he touched the ball it led to a giveaway...Reus tried but him and Werner kept getting into each other's way all night
Reus was terrible. Schulz was the worst player on the pitch. With the way there guys are playing and having LF as the coach, I'll be happy coming in the top 4 and making it into the quarterfinals.
The whole backline looked incompetent for me with maybe the exception of Süle. But I was surprised how fast Klostermann is. I didn't see Schulz as that bad. Tah and Ginter looked worse for me and I don't get how they get called up to the NT. I see their talent, potential ceiling and know that they can be good, they just don't perform at that level reliably. But seeing all of them trying to play out of the back was just bad and that included Schulz. And Reus' unimpressive start into this season was visible in that game as well. Werner looked bad as well but still, the attack and midfield would have been good enough for a result. It's the defense that was comical.
Its mostly because of Löw. He's not a good coach. He won a cup thanks to a squad that was in its prime. Spain was in decline. France still recovering from that mess. Brasil cannot get their act together. Frankly, if it wasn't for Higuain, and the AFA not making sound decisions Löw wouldn't be coaching die Mannschaft today.
I have to disagree with you about Schulz. When you constantly give the ball away and put your team in extreme danger, then you had a poor performance. Yes Reus has had an averag start to the season and this hurts us, because last season Reus was easily one of the top 5 players in the world. Apart from the ridiculous two, I would say he was better than anyone else. He really helped carry the flaws of the attack, but this year we don't have to depend on him. I have a feeling this is going to be a big year for Dahoud. I will probably be wrong, but I feel Dahoud and Werner are going to have statement seasons. Apart from that I don't think we had enough matches in the preseason or against tough enough opposition. I know Brandt got injured, but Reus, Brandt, Sancho, Witsel, Schulz, Hummels and LP still don't look 100 % match sharp.