Must-win game vs a Wolfsburg side that have achieved some stability after a chaotic couple of seasons which were no doubt influenced by the Volkswagen emissions scandal. I just hope our players aren't too tired from playing an extra 30 minutes against Union Berlin mid-week.
Hope to see Wolf as an RB today, Hakimi needs to rest. I'd love to see Gomez too, maybe even Isak. Hope they are at least on the bench
1:0 Reus. Tough game, Wolfsburg can play football. I think their LB isn't top standard though, at least today, and should be exploited.
This is the sort of game where Delaney is proving his worth. For all the qualities Dahoud brings, some times you need experience and fight. With Reus there is always hope in the attack.
Wolfsburg played a day earlier and only 90' in the cup. This squad with Puli swapped in for Larsen or Sancho is probably the Bayern lineup.
This is the sort of match we need to win if we are going to win the Bundesliga. A match where you are tired, you are not at your best and you have to fight and concentrate. A tough win, but a great win especially with Bayern dropping points. Now we have two incredibly hard games to go if we can at least draw against Atletico and then beat Bayern, it will be a perfect way to head of to the internationals.
We win 1:0. Could have been a repeat of the Berlin game where we didn't convert several good chances as well. That made it harder for us again. A penalty or one of the many dead ball situations was all that was needed for it to go wrong again. Bayern with a draw against Freiburg. Our next games are against Atletico and Bayern. It would be nice to keep that point advantage but Bayern tends to turn it up some gears against us.
Three points and a clean sheet. Flawless victory. I think we should take it easy on Tuesday, as next Saturday's game vs Bayern is top priority. Besides, dropping points in the group stage is necessary if we want to win the Champions League, as well as conceding at least two goals.
Like I said, dropping points in the group stage is necessary if we want to win the Champions League. Tuesday's ideal result would be a 2-2 draw.
Come on, no one else here is that superstitious. Past results have zero effect on this campaign. Just because it never happened in the past doesn't mean there is some rule that magically forbids teams to win the CL.
Even the player wags are turning on Kovac. We need to put distance in the table before they sack him and get a competent replacement. Alcacer looked like he was rushed back from recovery today.
The problem is not Kovac for me. Bayern have won too much and lot of the players have lost the hunger. At the same time lots of their players are now declining and they have not brought in sufficient quality. Muller, Robben and Ribery are no longer world class players. Lewandowski is still very good, but has declined. They need a lot of investment in the attack. As for winning the league I still think we need to buy another top quality attacking player out wide. We are far too dependant on Reus and he is likely to be injured at some point. I would try and sell Kagawa in January and bring in a dependable attacking player. Do that and we could be looking at a league title and possibly a CL semi final. It would be a tremendous season.
He looks frustrated by the lack of time but the club won't sell a fan favorite in winter. BVB n any big club who wants to lift shit in May will not sell proven depth and panic sign players who gotta figure shit out in a new team in the middle of a season. Agree that another striker is needed. Sell Rode.
Kagawa won't bring in a meaningful transfer fee anyway IMO. He'll likely be needed to play some minutes and Favre seems to mention him often enough among his options at the "9.5" position alongside Reus and Götze. That said the striker depth is a real issue as it appears Paco's minutes need to be managed and not every game lends itself to his style, as was the case yesterday. Having to play false 9 in a CL knockout round match would not be ideal.
I am sure we are trying to sell Rode, Toljan and Kagawa. Kagawa plays in the 10 position and we have enough depth there: Reus, Gotze and others can fill in. Kagawa is not even making the bench when Gotze is injured. As for being a fan favourite, I don't think anybody will care much. The fans can have new favourites. What is much, much more important is team spirit and squad harmony. At the moment we have lots of good hard working characters. Losing LP for instance would be a much bigger blow. It's not a panic signing if the player is identified as someone we need. Kagawa won't bring much money in terms of a transfer fee, but it is about freeing up wages. Rather than strengthen our squad, I would rather strengthen the first directly. It's true we could do with a striker, but Gotze and Philipp especially Gotze have filled in there at an acceptable standard. Get another quality wide player and they can add goals and creativity. This allows us to rest Reus more often. We should make it out of the CL group and we will need to rest him for the big knock out games midweek. GK: Burki, Hitz RB: LP, Hakimi LCB: Zagadou, Diallo RCB: Akanji, Toprak LB: Schmelzer, Raphael CM: Weigl, Dahoud, Witsel, Delaney AM: Reus, Gotze ST: Philipp, Alcacer RW: Sancho, Philipp LW: Larsen, ????????? A squad of 22, strong enough to challenge on all 3 fronts and cover for each position. Of course I am not advocating buying for the sake of buying. The right players has to be availbale. I don't think bringing someone in midseason is a huge problem, because they have the winter training camp to get used to the team.
Yes I did. That for me is the perfect squad and we should try and keep them together for as long as possible. Obviously against buying just for the sake of buying, but if the right player is available then we should get him. We should even be prepared to pay a bit extra for him.
I would love for the club to sell Toprak and bring in another young defender. Yesterday Akanji was solid for somebody who just returned from an injury layoff. We also need to find the next Witsel if it isn't Weigl. Lastly, I'd like Max to return to LW if Reus is going to be a no. 10. He's clearly not enjoying his role up front. Where's the next Lewandowski? Rode, Kagawa and Toprak need to go. They can take Schmelzer with him.
I disagree with a lot of this. Youth is not everything and you need experience and know how. I don't see any real point in replacing Toprak, when he is the 4th choice centre back and unlikely to play. If he did go I would like another mature and even more experienced centre back,. Weigl is young, very young for a midfielder. He has been good in most games when he has played this season. He can learn from Witsel. We should be doing the opposite and trying everything possible to keep Dahoud and Weigl. We need a LB and due to injuries, Raphael is getting his chance to see if he can deliver. I don't think Schmelzer was a good influence in the team when he and Sahin had so much power. Whether he stays or goes depends on how he reacts to being dropped. Youth can be overrated, especially when our time could be now. We have more than enough very young players in the squad. We need a player that can step in and help us win games now. The other option as you said is bringing in another striker and moving Philipp onto the wing. We would need to be confident Philipp could really step up on the wing. We need to get Weigl and Pulisic tied down. Brandt has a lot of faults, he is lazy, poor defensively, not fit enough, too weak, doesn't have drive to play well every week, BUT I think a lot of that can change if he comes to Dortmund. I hold my hands up and admit I was very, very wrong about Delaney. I still think he is not good enough long term and the criticisms are justified, but he has an excellent mentality, which Weigl and Sancho can learn from. The same with Witsel, which is surprising for someone who has always chosen money. Delaney, Witsel and of course Reus are such winners. They love to win and are prepared to fight to win. I love seeing Reus working hard, because it leaves Larsen, Pulisic and Sancho with no excuse. If Reus is working that hard, then you better as well. He is a big gamble and I think he would have failed when Auba, Mor, Dembele and Miki were here, but with this current team I think Brandt could be a success.
Toprak is an expensive benchwarmer who can barely find his ass in the penalty box. He's slow and doesn't react well under pressure. If we are to get an experienced CB then bring back Hummels. At least he'd be worth the salary. Delaney may beat a a few MFs against Wolfsburg but he's no match against what Barca, City and Juventus. Weigl and Dahoud certainly have the potential and have proven to do so. Reus and Witsel are excellent players but they aren't winners. What have they won between themselves? A few domestic titles in Portugal and Russia plus a Pokal. Götze has won more with BVB and he was actively involved. I want youth because it's cheaper to acquire them and then spend the money to hold onto them once we realize they aren't Mor or Dembele. Max is a natural winger. And unlike Wolf he's talented and can chip in with goals. Playing him in the middle because Reus and Gotze cannot or Paco is injured is ridiculous. He's not comfortable. He isn't helping the team. What are they doing with Isak?
Again wages may be a reason to get rid of him, but he is exactly that a bench warmer. Hummels is not coming back to sit on the bench and his wages would be much more. This is true, but he could help this team win the league and Weigl/Dahoud can learn from him. So what? If Reus had been disloyal like Gotze and gone to another top club, his trophy cabinet would be bulging. He has shown incredible loyalty rarely seen in the game and stayed with us. Reus easily could have multiple titles at City, Chelsea, Madrid, PSG, Juventus or United, but always rejected them. Instead he has constantly performed and dragged this club up. Sometimes you need to take the gamble and buy players that are going to deliver now. Now is the time to invest in proven quality. There is a real shot at the Bundesliga and maybe even the last of the CL, which will do wonders for the clubs finance and standing. It's bad for Philipp playing in the centre, but it does help the team. He is not the best striker, but he does a job and allows others to play off him. Isak has done virtually nothing at the club and by all reports has a poor attitude.
Bild says that Rode, Toljan, Burnic and Isak are on the shopping block this winter. But IIRC that's the same as what they said in the summer and I see no reason they'd have a bigger market now. Maybe Burnic to a 2.Buli, hopefully Isak and/or Toljan can be loaned out somewhere for their sake if nothing else. I think Zorc learned a valuable lesson from the past few seasons, which is to say a club like Dortmund needs players to be genuinely thrilled to play for the club, the coach, and with each other. That doesn't mean they need to stay for 10 years, but once mutual interests become misaligned you just need to move on quickly. Now what do you do about the striker situation? Bats worked out really well last year, and I would be fine with another loanee provided he has the required quality, but regardless of whether you buy or loan a striker he needs to be able to contribute in the Champions League.