Yeah, that made me feel a lot better going into that match with how sloppy we've been so far. Still would be cool if one of these years we could start the season well and actually win a game or two in the cup...but it is what it is.
Düwel again plays with a three men backline. And again the defense lies in shambles we are lucky that it's just 0-1 against a well performing FC Kaiserslautern. It's cruel to watch
Lautern had another good chance right after the break but then decided to stop playing. Union's defence is still very vulnerable despite the lack of attack by Lautern.. out of nowhere Union scored twice, very clinical finishing. The U.S. international Bobby Wood with his first goal for Union! Now the heat will slow down the speed therefor I hope Union can defend the lead.. a win would be crucial. Thrilling last 15 minutes from now. Edit: penalty for FCK :X every damn attack breaks our defense it's hilarious HAAAAS SAVED IT GODDAMN!
Aaand the equaliser by FCK after a freekick. It's hard to watch how easy the player could head it in despite 9 Unioner in the penalty area. Now it's our game to lose. . 5 minutes left. The audition is great, though. These fans are champions league worthy 2:2 FT Well despite the good result against a team that could go to first league after the season I see only few things that give me hope for the next matches. Our defense is all but professional football. Düwel has a lot of work to do. Unfortunately I doubt he is capable of it.
For as pessimistic as our defense makes me. The way we can play with the ball really encourages me. We can play in possession better than some first league teams, when we're not wasting everything. Shame we can't defend and take our chances clinically, or we'd be talking about real dreams of the first league next season.
I know that 1-1 is a fine result for us given the money-gap, and holding onto a 1-0 lead is unrealistic with our D. But giving RedBull the equalizer off of an own goal after the 80th minute still hurts.
I never thought we could hold the 1-0, actually I hoped we at least get the draw. Good to see these saxian bastards didn't win in our living room, though.
Norbert Düwel was dismissed today. That's the right decision at this point although very surprising. He got the players he wanted nut the team never evolved. He's stubborn with his 3 man defense and as a person never suited the club. A lot of fans will breathe again now. It's untypical though for Union to demiss the coach that early in the season but you have to look at the bigger picture and the developement of the team since Düwel took over.
I'll appreciate what he did for our possession play, but Lewandowski should be a huge upgrade. Maybe someday promotion won't be a crazy dream that we are too hipster to achieve.
Only caught the first half hour of our match but the team played with much more energy and passion, even if our possession game was significantly less under-control and much more direct/chaotic. So far so good for the Lewandowski era at Berlin's cooler club.
The match is still young but what a pleasure to watch Union again. The team looks dedicated and confident. Union leads already 1-0 and it could be 3-0 or more at this point.
I jinxed them.. indeed. Fürth rose their game a lot in the 2nd half and in the end they deserved the draw but to lose was very unlucky. If they would've just scored their chances in the first half.. In the end the result is not that important to me. Union looks like a different team under Lewandowski and that is all I need to know.
Dude, tell me when you're in Berlin and we go to Alte Försterei. And if they don't play at all we meet for some beers nontheless! That is for every follower of Union.
Hopefully it's not too far in the future...but that is more optimism than realism with the way the next 3 months, at least, are going to go for me lol
Great fought draw today against St. Pauli. We still concede too many goals but I guess Lewandowski will fix that until start of the Rückrunde.
Anyone still around in this thread? I've only been watching Die Eisernen since the end of last season, but it's been fun. I'll be in Berlin during the last weekend in February, and I'm hoping to be at Alten Försterei for the match against Karlsruher. Nice win over Dusseldorf at the weekend. Bobby Wood with two classy finishes for the first two goals. Haas was an absolute boss with the game at 1 - 0. Leistner was pretty lucky to not give away a second penalty -- some pretty sloppy tackling in the box. A good 3 pts for Union nonetheless.
Bobby Wood's first goal was chosen as the best goal from the 2. Buli for Matchday 18. Funny enough, I preferred his second.
That was a great result for us; another such performance on friday and things will be much more optimistic going into the break. - Shame though that Wood and Skrzybski have no chemistry and no instinct to look for one another on the break; as each had multiple chances to play the other one in with a clever pass that neither even thought to look for. - Wood also left goals on the pitch that could be more vital in matches where the opposition has the class to take advantage of the opportunities our defending leaves them. I'm happy with his play thus far, but he has too many sloppy touches that make things harder on him for me to let my hopes for him to really run wild. - We still shouldn't have forced Tusche out, but Kreilach and Zejnullah are a very skilled partnership to build our midfield around and attacking movements through; especially when Zej starts to approach his prime as well. And finally, I'm glad we have another fan of the Eiserne on here! And welcome to our thread! This is a great club to give your heart to.
Had work, so missed the match...though I wore my scarf to the Avalanche-Blackhawks game on Tuesday, since I saw this coming and felt I should watch some match with it on this week... Can't quite express just how relieving it is to see the guys putting back to back cleansheets up before the break, and to do so without our Talismanic croat...just awesome! Would be wonderful if our D stopped being such a crippling liability...especially if the team could find a balance between the smooth and meticulous possession game Duwel wanted them to play and the frightfully vertical way we've attacked under Lewandowski, atleast the way we've attacked under him to this point.
Fun match to watch. Union had a really bright start, full of energy. Really felt in control of the match from the start. It was nice to see some patient passing in the final third. I definitely agree that at times the team is too vertical, too many long pass attempts from the back. The approach was more balanced against Sandhausen. Defense was mostly solid except for one lapse, which Trimmel cleared away. Skrzybski had a nice shot saved onto the post, and there were a few other good chances in the first half. An exciting first 45’ for one with no goals -- you could feel that goals were coming. Second was similar to the first. Some nice passing in the final third but couldn’t seem to find that killer final pass. I was impressed with some of Daube’s passing and set piece deliveries. Wood also had some nice movement up front with some good crossing/hold up play when it was necessary. Great goal from Daube, hard and low from distance into the corner. Kinda felt like that was only way Union were going to score with how the match was going, but it was nothing more than was deserved. There were some sketchy moments in the final 15’. Sandhausen probably could have scored at the death but Die Eisernen held on for a big 3 pts. Heading into the winter break on a high. Union are up to 13th in the table and looking much better. Already excited for the Rückrunde.
I guess it will get only better with more time. It's always hard to overtake a team during the season but he already changed the mindset and the body language of the team. I'm exited of what this team is capable of after the winter break. Lewandowksi did a great job to this point in my book. btw nice to have you here ibbyruns, Union is the real Berlin club and one with real tradition, class and unique supporters. The whole club breaths football! It's only 2nd Bundesliga but the overall quality isn't that bad so you will have a lot of fun following Union.