Jentzsch, Madlung, Mohrle, Quiroga, Van Der Heyden, Krzynowek, Marcelinho, Van der Leegte, Hanke, Klimowicz, Menseguez Subs: Lenz, Stegmayer, Makiadi, Santana, Sarpei, Hill, Boakye Live on Gol TV.
Now in 55th, 0-2 for Schalke. Home game, down a couple of goals...this is exactly the type of game we should see some of Hill in- if the scoreline doesn't get better quickly.
Boakye is on now (instead of Hill). It seems like Hill may have settled a little deeper on the bench now, since he has not been the first forward called up the last couple games. Klimowicz- who was either injured or not scoring- has scored in 4 consecutive games now, and Hanke seems to have picked it up as well. Hopefully if he does get some time today, he can be impactful. The vets are stepping it up now, and Hill needs to as well.
Hill looks like a decent player on the right. A little tentative, but he's made the right decisions with the ball so far in a very pressure-packed game.
So he was fouled for the free kick that led to the game winner. That's a contribution! Augenthaler seems to like him as an right-sided mid as much as forward now. He's getting just as much time there.
He was. It was a bit of a breakaway play with Hill being an outlet on the right side. He pushed the ball forward, and when the forwards failed to make any good supporting runs to give him forward options, he smartly cut back and was fouled. In front of that crowd and atmosphere against the league's best team, it was like I said, a decent performance.
Getting ahead of Klimowicz or Hanke is a pretty tall hill to climb for a 21 y.o. rookie. Midfield sub seems like a better bet.
So, he gets 10 minutes at the end of a game vs. Schalke who are pretty much running away with the trophy, sold out at home. This is his 3rd appearance since he joined the team. 3rd sub on and draws the foul that ties the game against the league leaders, with two minutes left. I think we can use a little stronger term than "decent", but I'm not a Big Soccer 'expert' either.
Hanke certainly. Until recently though, it looked like Klimowicz's career was falling apart. He was poor last season, and had done nothing this season + lots of injuries. He's not young either (I think 33 y.o.). However, 5 goals in 4 games has a little way of changing things Reading between the lines, it looked like Wolfsburg's forwards just need a boost (from somewhere) after a dismal 1st half BL all the way around. Even Hanke looked bad. Adding Hill as 'competition' may have contributed to the 'spark' we are seeing now. Wolfsburg is finding it easier to score goals and both Hanke and Klimowicz seem back on track. However, had they not stepped it up- I bet Hill would have started by now. At this stage of his career, Hill would be best served to embrace any challenge that gets him on the field. Its a bit of a miracle he's even there in the first place. Those BL minutes are so, so valuable for him at this stage- regardless of where.
Oh man...I was watching the game and went to make breakfast and missed the last 15minutes. It really was stealing points on Wolfsburgs part. Ray Hudson got to the point when Schalke was so totally dominating in the 60-70minute mark where he started waxing poetically about the Brazilians playing for Schalke. I have to guess that Schalke is probably Andy Gardiner's favorite German team.
Considering that he didn't exactly light up the scoreboard at UCLA (9 goals in 40 games), right midfield might be a better fit. It definitely won't hurt his national team chances.
While the goals at UCLA may not of been plentiful, I think he had around 15 assists which isn't bad. But you are right, from what I've seen of Kamani, he might be better served as a right winger. He can use his speed cutting in from angles. I just love the fact he's getting minutes this early at Wolfsburg.
He split time between forward and right wing at UCLA and is starting off as a right wing at VW. This is his chance to get used to the Bundesliga and develop from there.
FWIW, I saw him play both right mid and forward for UCLA and thought he was much better as a right mid ... in general, he impressed the heck out of me, but the things that really stood out were his exceptional dribbling and crossing ability relative to other college players.
Having actually watched the game I can say that his performance was anything but decent. I would go as far as saying that he looked pretty bad. Yes, he earned the foul, but its not like he drew the foul by being dangerous. His touches were of, passes lacked precision, and defensive angle non existent. Then again, this is only his 3rd game, he did play against the best team in the league, and he only got 10 minutes. So being a VfL fan, I'm not ready to quit on him just yet.