All about survival at this point really. Dusseldorf and Bremen closing the gap with Mainz. 5 matchdays left. Something to remember, there is no relegation playoff this year (I believe) so 3rd-to-last team stays up.
Apparently not very! Looks like there is indeed still a playoff: https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/dazn-bundesliga-tv-rights-2020-season-eurosport
Unless we're all suffering from the Mandela Effect, it must have been mentioned in the initial reporting of the Bundesliga restart and then (very) quietly walked back.
If Werder Bremen plays like this the rest of the season it’s worth rooting for them to stay up. Sargent just needs to get the ball in some better spots. The issue is most of his teammates are trigger happy, especially Rashica. At the same time Sargent could probably get himself open more often in the final 3rd.
WM came very, very close to getting a red. JS was reasonably active. I wouldn't say he was amazing, but he didn't look out of place. He is starting to assert himself physically more. 7 points from 3 starts.
3 starts. 7 points. Again, just what Werder needs. Team gets credit, but something is working better with Josh out there.
FYP And, even with Dusseldorf's near-inevitable loss to Bayern to come, Mainz are only a point ahead of Dusseldorg and three points ahead of Bremen with a negligible GD advantage. With only 3 points between them and Mainz, Augsburg and Union Berlin aren't completely clear either, but they both have signifivant GD advantages over Mainz (10 goals) and Bremen (13 goals) so they should be safe.
Going into this Bayern - Dusseldorf match, 538 has relegation chances as: Union - 2% Augsburg - 4% Mainz - 32% Dusseldorf - 43% Bremen - 49% (down from 68% yesterday) Paderborn - 98% So yeah, Union and Augsburg are probably safe, but Mainz is definitely in the thick of the relegation battle all of a sudden.
My feeling about Sarge at the moment is that he looks much better than he did earlier in the season. To put it bluntly, I thought he was really poor just before winter break. He seems to be more assertive now, looks to have his head in the game a bit more, but mostly just looks like he is in better shape, like he can run a little now. His holdup play is usually pretty good and it would be nice if Bremen could find some players that could take advantage of that. Hopefully he continues to get significant minutes and continues to improve. He obviously needs to get on the scoresheet more but could have had a goal today if Bittencourt had better vision. Sarge was open at the penalty spot and Bittencort decided to shoot while approaching the touch line and with a poor angle. This was right after Bittencourt's goal.
And just from the eye test, Mainz has looked horrible the handful of times I've seen them this season. I wouldn't be too surprised if Bremen catch them, especially with a game in hand and a game against Mainz later on.
Funny what happens when a young player gets consistent playing time. Also, with today's result, Bremen are now averaging 1.5 points per game in Sargent's starts, and 0.4 points per game when Sargent doesn't start.
they pressed hard, won the ball and went on a break and the guy hit a golazo. How can that be critiqued. I get the “Bremen suck so that excuses Josh..” but cmon now.
Because taking a high percentage opportunity, ********ing it up and making it a low percentage opportunity, and then lucking out with a great strike isn't good, sustainable play. Critique the process, not the outcome.
this ^^ He just hasn’t been good enough to warrant a guaranteed spot in the XI. Strikers like him are a dime a dozen these days and he hasn’t done anything to stand out. I love the kid and rooting for him but blaming the team or coach or teammates or offense scheme or whatever isn’t accurate.
Empirically untrue. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/t...-werder-bremen.2036035/page-156#post-38692176 If he was a "dime a dozen" striker, he'd be on the bench at Sporting Kansas City, not being scouted by Juventus.
Not sure if you are using "empirically" correct here. The rumors of being "scouted" by Juventus are unconfirmed.
And yet they didn't look as if they were even playing on the same team. It's telling that a journeyman like Bittencourt is the one guy on this team that seems to genuinely link up with his teammates. They look as if they have never played together in stretches. Some of these guys are in the same family and they play like strangers. This was not a good match to watch. Sargent had maybe 10? touches in 70minutes. His job was to run the channels and provide an outlet. He was sent flying on several occasions with strong tackles, but looked pretty easy to move off the ball. He had one nice sequence where he forced a corner which he then flicked on in the next sequence. OTherwise, what a stinker.
Please point me in the direction of strikers that play in the U-17/U-20 World Cup and make a full national team debut within a period of like 6 months.
Rashica thrives in a 433 while Sargent plays better in a 442 skinny diamond like we saw today v. Schalke. (imo)
I thought they should have played that way last year but with Osako at CAM. As it turned out, Bittencourt was pretty good as the CAM today, with Osako coming on in the 2nd half. Selke + Sargent would leave Rashica out and he is their most threatening player.
He had 31 touches. More than his opposing 9 had all game. 5 fouls drawn up high. That's outstanding. 60% passing accuracy doesn't seem impressive, but the opposing 9's was 50%, as was his own backup's. Good performance for a target fw. Could have added a goal contribution if he weren't missed multiple times open in/around the box. No way Sargent should be benched after his play today and w/ Bremen literally averaging 3 times as many points w/ him as a starter.
It doesn't have to leave Rashica out. A CAM in a 442 diamond has a free role if the wider mids stay more central and deeper, as Werder's seem to w/ Klaasen especially. Think they should use Bittencourt as a super sub in spite of the goal. That seems to be his contribution is pulling a rabbit out of a hat w/ his shooting. His pass accuracy on the game was 54%. Very bad for the position. Rashica's was 92. He's more of a dribbling dynamo who misses the initial pass, but Bittencourt doesn't achieve either.