I agree with most of this, but Reyna didn't play very well. He was actually very poor. On the ball he did OK, but the did not show enough for the ball and didn't give the team options. I would even go as far a saying he buckled under the pressure and was hiding. It was an poor game from him and don't be surprised if he is dropped come Saturday. I too am happy for Passlack, I like him and he is a good bench option, but should not be starting against such calibre of opposition. As for Malen, every time I have seen him, I have not been impressed. I hope I am wrong, but he looks like all the usual Dortmund bad signings. It always happens when we settle for second tier players like Immobile, Castro, Yarmolenko, Toprak etc.
Unless we get a prime Dani Alves, Lahm, Cafu etc it won't be enough. If we have money to get a RB, then by all means get another right back too, but the winger must be priority. I am tired of commentators telling us 'Malen is not a Sancho replacement, they are different players,' great. Now actually go and GET the Sancho replacement. When things get tough and Reus' form drops, he gets injured or he gets tired, then this team severely lacks creativity. Reyna can provide it in spurts, but there's nobody that could do it consistently. It's paramount we get a top winger, but if we can't then put try Reinier. He is the only other player in the squad with the potential to regularly create things, beat men and make things happen.
On Malen obviously he needs more time to settle, but I do still think it would have been smarter to have signed Adeyemi from Salzburg instead. He wouldn’t have cost more, is reportedly a Dortmund fan. has a higher ceiling imo and is set to get his first senior German NT call up next month by all accounts. On paper his would have been a more logical signing. On RB’s there is a mention that the club is one of the interested parties in Josha Vagnoman of Hamburg. Would be an interesting signing although is currently injured. Whether he’s ready for the sort of step up is questionable, but he does have potential and the sort of attributes that would benefit the team in the medium term.
I don't know about Adeyemi, but buying a striker was poor business when we have limited funds. The Malen deal also stinks of us pleasing an agent. I am not sure Malen has the awareness or the finishing ability to be a great player, but I hope I am wrong. This is promising. A friend I was watching the match with recommended Dest at Barcelona, the young American. Last year, when we played City we had 4 clear areas of weakness. GK RB CDM Winger I credit the board for bringing in Kobel to fix the GK problem. I credit Rose for using Dahoud to fix the CDM problem. I repeat we were great at the end of the season when 1. LP fixed the RB problem. 2. Sancho came back to fix the wing problem. We then lost Lukasz Piszczek and Jadon Sancho. We have not replaced these two huge holes in the team and we won't succeed until we do. Preferably with signings. If not then we are just going to have to hope Meunier or Can fixes the B problem, because Passlack clearly cannot. Reinier fixes the Wing problem, because Thorgan and Malen cannot.
From what I understand we already approached Dest's camp and he turned it down wanting to stay at Barcelona. He is very much like Hakimi in my mind at that stage of his career. Whether or not he would stay on path is a crap shoot of course.
Well then we cannot blame management for this. We tried and were rebuffed. Chelsea too had a couple of good right backs we should be looking at. There's less than a week and half to get our deals one. I am not optimistic, but bragging about not replacing Sancho is like bragging about being highly incompetent.
Midfield pairing was coompletely wrong, should have been Bellingham - Delaney - Dahoud, especially given the nature of the makeshift defence with Shulz and Witsel having to play there. Also, should have substituted Reus in the Frankfurt game around the 70th minute, to keep him rested for this game ... that and his injury issues. I like the 2 up top especially witH MOUkoko, will be a good pairing this season ... Malen needs time. Everyone underestimates Hazard, there is no need for a RW in my opinion. Remember the club still havE Brandt if they need a playmaker creator, and it will giVE Knauff an opportunity to progress, I think he is a real talent. Would like to see more of Raschl too ... club needs a dam.n RB. Passlack is great as a substitute, maybe not the best player, but no one can deny that dude plays with his fking heart. Akanji has always been error prone, needs someone a little more experienced next to him. Schulz needs to take a paycut, he is a decent 2nd choice ... if he had any coglionis, he would just walk away and find a team that is willing to play him on the weekly. I mean, think about it, you only have a set allotment of time as a player, why waste it sitting on a bench of a club you have no association with ... for what ? a paycheck ?? What is the difference between making say 60 mil over the course of your career, and say making 40 mil ... ??? 1 less Ferrari and a haircut, cause u can't fly ur ********ing barber to your city !! God, these idiots never cease to amaze me.
I disagree with a few things. 1. Delaney is leaving and this match was a good test to see where we are at. Winning is important, but it's also important to see if he we can hang with the top teams. We already know Delaney is not good enough 2. Reyna and Bellingham didn't do their jobs. I think sometimes people only criticise footballers for the mistakes they make and don't criticise people enough when they don't do what they should do ie A lazy striker not making runs, a full back not overlapping will get less criticism than someone who miss places passes or is constantly beat one on one. Both are detrimental to the team, but one is more obvious. Bellingham and Reyna were there to help us control the centre of the pitch and get the ball quickly to Reus. However, both of them didn't have the confidence or skill to come deep to take the ball under the press. They hung Reus and Dahoud out to dry. I honestly expect Brandt to come back into he team, because that was poor. So yes in retrospect with Bellingham and Reyna neglecting their build up play responsibilities. It was better to play Delaney if he was not leaving. 3. Thorgan Hazard is the wrong sort of winger this teams needs. He basically is a poor man's version of Reus. He offers more speed than old Reus, but he offers nothing Reus doesn't. Obviously Reus also offers a hell of a lot more. What we need is a dribbler and Hazard can't do that and he is not creative plus he is often injured. 4. I don't blame Schulz. We gave him the contract and he actually gets a lot of games. Raphael Guerriero has a bad injury record and Schulz if he stays will win trophies and play at the highest level he can. I don't see why he would leave.
I didn't see Bellingham and Reyna as that bad. I definitely noticed that Bellingham looked overwhelmed at times though and the lack of confidence throughout the whole match was also visible. I'm not a tactics/formation expert, maybe Bellingham/Reyna have roles that demand quite a lot for their age both in terms of tactical understanding and skills? Not only in regards to the buildup play, what about the defensive responsibilities for these 2 positions in the diamond? Nothing takes away from how bad Passlack looked but besides the individual mistakes, I'm trying to figure out whether something else in the team's approach failed when one player looks that exposed. I know that in our previous systems, the FBs always had support in defense either by the wingers and/or midfielders moving towards the wings. But I haven't seen a good highlight video yet to rewatch it to make any judgements, it could also be just all on Passlack.
For me Passlack is obviously not good enough to play at this very high level. Playing a diamond formation further exposes the full backs anyway. Then it is exasperated when you are facing the King's of the Wings Bayern. Bayern match up perfectly against out weaknesses and the weakness of the formation. However, this is the highest level opponent we will face and much higher than any other team in the league Reyna and Bellingham had a physically extremely demanding job. They had to sprint to get out to the Bayern wide men continuously to help put the full backs. It's very, very demanding physically. However, Bellingham had the physicality to do this. The issue is when we had the ball they then had to come inside and offer for the ball. They didn't do this enough and this is why we struggled to get the ball. Dahoud then had to take the ball several times where Bayern had him trapped, but he did incredible to still find an option. I think what happens on Saturday will confirm if Rose shares my thoughts.
Delaney might very b not good enough, but he would have done a much better job than Reyna in this circumstance undoubtedly. Playing an AM instead of a more defensive midfielder was a poor choice by rose especially against a team like bayern with 3 of your 1st choice defense out ! Makes no sense ... wayyyy too aggressive ... I think Rose is a little too gunghoe in an attempt to differentiate himself from his predecessor, and that will hurt the team. Yes, Passlack is not good enough, but is adequate as a second choice if you are trying to keep the wage bill down ... the issue is using Meunier as a first choice, assuming thAT Euro form doesn't translate to the coming season. Hazard has been injured this past season, and I don't think u can judge him in a season past when he has hardly featured. Schulz has hadly played wheN Gueirrero is fit, which was for pretty much all of last season ... the reason for leaving would b to play football ... at the end of the day, one has to ask themselves why they are footballers, if it is for the money then sure, sit on a bench and play the odd game the person ahead of u in the peckingorder is injured ... outside of which, one could choose to take a step down and enjoy the brief moments of joy that such a career would allow one, even if it were for a lower paycheck. And I wonder if Dortmund signing Malen was part of the deal to increase Halaands release clause by 15 mIL Euros. Very very shady if it was. Even if it helps the club in the short term, I can't help but feel repulsion for the way an agent would be allowed to marionette and string along the club to his whims. Watzke should just retire.
I disagree with this. I think it worked out fine. The bigger issue was the formation, rather than just the personnel. Bayern didn't really cut through us in the centre since Dahoud did an excellent job. Bayern's chances came from our sloppy passing, which having more technical players will help alleviate and from our right hand side. I seem to recall that Schulz and Reyna actually contained Bayern's right hand side. The problem was on the right with Bellingham and especially Passlack being dstroyed. Again of course the Bayern left is MUCH MUCH stronger than the right. Part of the biggest reason we were destroyed was Passlack. Reyna lost his man for the goal, but was generally fine defensively. It was making himself available for the passes where he did poorly. I don't even think Meunier's form in the Euros were particularly good. Passlack can suffice, he is a local boy and loves the club. I agree. It's no just last season. I have watched a lot of Hazard and at best he is a bench player for a team like Dortmund. He does not bring enough to the table. He is not creative enough, not good enough at dribbling and his passing is not good enough. New manager, new opportunities. Guerriero had one of his best seasons, but he is generally quite injury prone. Even now he looks set to miss the first few games of the season. Schulz from his POV knows he will play a lot of games and for a CL tem. No idea, but there seems to be more going on with that deal. It will be interesting to see if he starts on the weekend.
Perhaps, i think it is still early days, so lets see how things play out and how Rose adopts to the players at his disposal. Will be an interesting watch for sure.