We can go on about Favre's stupid defensive tactics, but what annoys me almost as much is that there is no fairness in the team selection. Meunier no matter how he plays, will stat the next match (and I think he has been good the last few games including yesterday, where he was up against very tough opposition) Witsel no matter how terrible will start the next match. Reyna no matter how poorly he plays starts the next match. Sancho deserves dropping. Even when there's no tactical reason, Favre still plays his favourites instead of the players on from. Sancho deserves to sit on the bench after the internationals and Hazar can play. Reyna too should be on the bench and Brandt should be starting. How can we have serious competition for places, when certain players are going to play every match.
I can only think Witsel must be a big presence in the dressing room and Favre doesn't want to risk turning senior player against him and/or hasn't got the balls to leave out big personalities. I think when everyone is fit Can and Dahoud should definitely start along with 3 from Brandt, Hazard, Reus and Sancho with Haaland up top. The likes of Delaney Reyna and Bellingham are decent bench/rotation options but shouldn't start big games. There is a growing question mark as to whether Witsel is needed anymore.
He is not needed. Honestly anyone should watch the first half. Look at how Hummels and Akanji don't pass him the ball. To be fair Witsel also usually hides and holds his hands out pretending he wants the ball for the cameras, but they know it's pointless. Then for the Sane goal, I see Witsel slightly ahead of Meunier and Haaland. Haaland and Meunier sprint back as fast as they can to save the goal, but Witsel just jogs back. It's disgusting that he keeps playing. I would also like to say Meunier has been good yesterday and he actually did well for me, yes he could have closed down quicker for the 2nd, but Bayern are kings of the wings and he held his own. However, when he was playing poorly, Morey deserved a chance. With Favre in charge we are wasting this season. The perfect formation for us is similar to the Chelsea one. A lop sided 4-3-3 with Reus playing the Werner role.
I'd agree overall that some of Favre's choices are puzzling, especially in regards to the very young players. But who's really doing well this season or better than last season? If we hadn't conceded 3 yesterday + 2 narrow offside goals, I'd say maybe Hummels and Akanji belong in that group. On the other side, the midfield plays a major part for the defensive structure and that was totally missing yesterday. Besides the already mentioned in the first post, several other players like Reus or Brandt also aren't playing to their full potential. Sancho desperately needs to find his form back when he's otherwise someone who can carry the team offensively. These are just 3 players who'd be crucial for us. So many players just don't feel uncomfortable at the moment and the way Favre sets up the team isn't helping at all.
Favre got it wrong playing Witsel and Delaney but I also think Witsel played much better than he has this season or in past Klassikers (admittedly a very low bar). I was shocked to see him carrying the ball forward and playing useful passes forward on occasion. In any case I think bypassing the midfield and relying on long counterattacks in the first half made sense, but Favre should have tried to retain the ball more in midfield and press more aggressively after Kimmich went off. Ultimately these things did happen in the second half but he could have gone after it more by introducing Dahoud at halftime. Ultimately I'm not exactly gutted about this match since they actually showed up and battled for the full 90. They can be erratic and inconsistent at times, but at least the "weak mentality" narrative can be shelved for the time being. Sancho's form is concerning, the club did him no favors by signing a right back with Meunier's limitations. Either give him some minutes on the other flank or partner him with Morey instead.
It was a very low bar and he did not make many useful passes forward. For the most part he hid, whilst holding his hands out as if he really expected a pass. It wasn't just team tactics, but Akanji and Hummels just didn't give him the ball, partly because he did not show. [quote In any case I think bypassing the midfield and relying on long counterattacks in the first half made sense, but Favre should have tried to retain the ball more in midfield and press more aggressively after Kimmich went off. Ultimately these things did happen in the second half but he could have gone after it more by introducing Dahoud at halftime. Ultimately I'm not exactly gutted about this match since they actually showed up and battled for the full 90. They can be erratic and inconsistent at times, but at least the "weak mentality" narrative can be shelved for the time being. Sancho's form is concerning, the club did him no favors by signing a right back with Meunier's limitations. Either give him some minutes on the other flank or partner him with Morey instead.[/QUOTE] The weak mentality narrative has always been a lot of rubbish. Bayern previously had better players and we continued to have stupid tactics by Favre. Sancho has been poor this season, but I don't blame Meunier. Despite it being popular to criticise Meunier he has actually been pretty good the last few games. He had a very good game against Bayern considering what he was up against too. Sancho just needs to do better. The match against Bayern is a match we had to win. I don't accept that they battled for 90 mins. That's the bare minimum I expect from relegation candidates. At home we should have won that match.
I told someone else that keeping sancho and trying to value him at a higher level may have been counter productive to what we were trying to do. He seems like he is disinterested and not giving 100%. His value will only go down with the poorer the form goes and it will make us look like morons for keeping him and getting less than what we were offered to begin with.
I really don't understand management ... Kovan won Bayern the title, and was sacked. Flick then took them to the 3reble. But Watzke just doesn't seem to do sh!t. Man, this team is a mess ... so much wasted potential, poor starting lineups, players playing when they shouldn't, poor substitutions, poor ingame management. Inept higher management ... I think Sancho will come good. The alternative was for him to head to Man U, and they are a right mess presently, so I don't think he should have too many complaints r regrets considering the failed move. Give him time ... Kai did the same last year, and came good the latter half, and still moved for 90mil, so a 'poor' season will still get u a similair price tag to what Man U were offering, which was a little derisory tbh. And perhaps an even better club for him. It suits his interests to have stayed, rather than struggle at a mid table club. Why did they loan reinier ?? honestly, i really don't understand what is going on at this club ... maybe they just strung along Madrid to get a stop gap while Moukoko catches 16 ? But, u do nothing more than burn bridges ... Man, the way this club is run confuses the daylights out of me ... they have done good things, but ... Watzke should just leave. Just another Nero clinging to power while an empire crumbles. That dude needs to LEAVE !!
No it was an important statement to everyone that we will not be bullied. We are not just a selling club and have some intention to win trophies. Also Sancho's form will probably improve.
I'm starting to think that he might have benefited more then we think last year to have Hakimi on his side...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hans Joachim Watzke: "I want to take a stand for Lucien Favre. He came in 2018 after a great upheaval and has won the vice championship twice. Both times we played very well in the league. To judge the coach only by whether he has won a championship is too narrow-minded. [WAZ] <a href="https://t.co/fWysPojyIP">pic.twitter.com/fWysPojyIP</a></p>— BVB Buzz (@BVBBuzz) <a href="Hans Joachim Watzke: "I want to take a stand for Lucien Favre. He came in 2018 after a great upheaval and has won the vice championship twice. Both times we played very well in the league. To judge the coach only by whether he has won a championship is too narrow-minded. [WAZ] pic.twitter.com/fWysPojyIP— BVB Buzz (@BVBBuzz) November 19, 2020 ">November 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The end result is all that matters. Watzke should GTFO, but it's not happening because the board loves him.
The acceptable end result is being "vizemeister" every year which, as you can see, is coming from the top of the club leadership