4-2-3-1 ?? Favre surprises us for once. I just hope it's not 3-4-3 with Brandt and Dahoud in the middle. That would leave us exposed defensively.
If it is a 4-3-3, then I am so happy. This is the exact team I would have picked with the understanding that Can must he unavailable and Reus needs resting. Now let's see if they play the way they should do. However, this is the formation that should be played. They need to press now and play an attacking game.
Unless there was something that wasn't seen from the replay angles like tripping him up, Reyna went to the ground too easily for something that will never get a pk. But generally, we look quite sharp today. Everything looks faster once we get past their pressing which makes it harder for Schalke. But maybe they are just shit and they are already using late tackles because they don't have much else. We still didn't have really good chances though.
this is depressing... We should be killing this team with our talent level.. shows just how far behind Bayern we are...
At least we are making them run a lot but so far it has been hard to break through. This midfield is making our game faster but that isn't surprising given the player types. This comes with the occasional sloppy and dangerous passes but these are the trade offs if you want players with a faster trigger.
Well the match was exactly how we should be playing. We passed the ball quickly. Dahoud was very good and so was Brant and Raphael. Haaland fantastic. Delaney came in and did a good job deputising for Can. Hopefully Can has a speedy recovery from Covid. The only thing is maybe we could have had a bit more chemistry in the final third, but that will come with time. I also liked that we pressed and won the ball back. Even Sancho was working hard to get the ball back. The way we lined up should be the way we like up in the future except with Can and Reus in. --------Burki(Hitz) Meunier(Morey)-----Akanji(LP)----Hummels(Zagadou)-----Raphael(Passlack/Schulz) ----------Dahoud(Bellingham)-----Can (Delaney) Sancho(Hazard)----Brandt(Reyna)----Reus(Reyna) --------Haaland(Moukoko) The only area of weakness is at CB, where we could do with another player, but have a great squad and depth.. I am really looking forward to the Zenith game. Hopefully Favre keeps this up. It was a nice touch to see Delaney covering Raphael, who was pushing up and allowing Reyna to attack more.
Agreed. Brandt and Dahoud! Favre must play at least one of them at any given point in time (rotating as necessary!) Both would be even better! They brought so much dynamism to the team. The play is much easier on the eye with them. I think they should get to play more often so they develop chemistry with everyone else and gain confidence and fitness. It wasn't the best game we played, but with this type of squad it can get better IMO. Unfortunately, I don't think Favre sees things this way. He still subbed a non-creative Witsel for Dahoud. The team was having too much fun for Favre. And also Witsel had been on the bench for way to long.
To me the players that currently are the engine that makes BVB fun to watch are (in no order): Sancho, Guerreiro, Brandt and Dahoud. These are the creatives. They give the team so much unpredictability. They will often make the key play that will unlock the defense. The likes of Reus, Reyna and Hazard are not as creative, but they are still essential because they can deliver the killer pass that creates the goal, or score themselves. Usually that comes after the unlocking of the defense. My point is that we have to have the "creatives" playing and we shouldn't expect others to play their role.
Hopefully he was just resting Dahoud for the big matches to come. Schalke are not the best, but the more these players play together the better they will be.
That line up looks very good, surely Favre has to now realise this is what his strongest team should be. Brandt and Dahoud need to start as much as possible. If Favre picks this team and sticks with it for big games, then this season might not be a write off.
The timing and circumstances of this match worked out really well for Favre to finally get his way and roll out the back 4. Even with a formation change it was going to be difficult to screw things up in an empty stadium against Schalke, and I imagine everyone was receptive to a fresh look after the awful Lazio performance. Losing Can to quarantine pretty much sealed the deal. Plus it looks like the unexpected tactical switch messed up Baum’s marking scheme and allowed Rapha to have a monster game. This team has the ability to dominate Leipzig, outplay Barça and PSG and go toe to toe with Bayern. They have done all of those in the past - including Favre’s management - and collectively they have to get over some kind of mental hump to do it away from home. Just the extra bit of conviction to go into games with controlled aggression...