Fabian Johnson starts, Danny Williams on the bench, Joe Gyau not in the 18. Hoffenheim are down 1-0 at the half.
Great play down the right flank for Hoffenheim. A cross is deflected to the far post, for a second I think it's Johnson running in but instead it's Firmino and he heads into the net from a tight angle. 1-1.
Gladbach win 2-1. Johnson goes 90, Williams DNP. Gladbach need to play like this in midweek to salvage their Champions League dream.
Yes, Williams lost his starting spot at the tail end of last season. He has the physical talent, but not the confidence or composure.
Very good for this is also Transfermarkt if you want all the data on one page: http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/daniel-williams/leistungsdaten/spieler_38383_2011.html#L1 According to them Williams last season started 18 games and was subbed in 7 times in the Bundesliga.
Yeah, he has the physique, but I'm not sure of the technique. From what I've seen from Hoffenheim, he is not a horrible player, but also doesn't stand out in positive way much (unlike Johnson). Decent squad player for a medium- sized Bundesliga club, not sure if there is the potential for more.
It was a pretty bad game, both teams were obviously nervous, and didn't take any risks. Hoffenheim's Babbel was even happy with an honorable defeat after the 0-4 against a Regionalliga team in the cup; Gladbach's Favre said he was just happy to get a Bundesliga win between the CL games, and it would still take months to find a new structure and balance for his team. No player except of Arango played well; the rest was mediocre to bad.
I very much like his intensity and versatility, but as Longduckdong said, he lacks composure. I do believe he has potential for more, but he turned 23 this year and I think he needs to express his value this season. His best position seems to be as a DM whose primary responsibility is shielding the CBs.
Johnson received a 3.5 kicker grade. All things considered, that's pretty damn good. This match wasn't the prettiest. Williams certainly has the opportunity to earn some minutes this year. His technical ability is good enough for a Bundesliga deep-holding-mid, he just needs a little bit of composure. I feel like he panics too often. I expect Gyau to get an opportunity this year. Hoffenheim's attack was stagnant against a retooled BMG defense. Firmino was especially underwhelming.
Gladbach's defense was Daems, Brouwers, Stranzl, Jantschke shielded by Nordtveit; no spectacular new players, just proven quality, and they know each other for years. The same defense as last year (minus Dante, but Brouwers played >25 games last year anyway, and might be the best backup CB of the league). I think Hoffenheim were just scared. Thrashed by a 4th tier team in their first game, and happy with everything else than another whipping, so they didn't really try to attack, and just played for a draw and even a narrow defeat. Babbel tried to sell it as a "great improvement" after the game. I don't think he will last very long there. Expect to see the next Hoffenheim coach rather sooner than later. It would be the 5th coach in 3 years.
Gladbach's defense was Daems, Brouwers, Stranzl, Jantschke shielded by Nordtveit; no spectacular new players, just proven quality, and they know each other for years. The same defense as last year (minus Dante, but Brouwers played >25 games last year anyway, and might be the best backup CB of the league). I think Hoffenheim were just scared. Thrashed by a 4th tier team in their first game, and happy with everything else than another whipping, so they didn't really try to attack, and just played for a draw and even a narrow defeat. Babbel tried to sell it as a "great improvement" after the game. I don't think he will last very long there. Expect to see the next Hoffenheim coach rather sooner than later. It would be the 5th coach in 3 years.
I'm hoping this is the only time this year I'll be forced to admit I only saw about 40 minutes of the match. The feed was poor and, well, Geoff was playing Arsenal in HD so, you know. I didn't see Fabian get forward much. Did that change in the second half? It didn't look like Hoffenheim was as aggressive as last season. I don't know where they think the goals will come from without Ryan Babel on the pitch.
they think nothing good will come from Ryan Babel on the pitch. Markus Babbel: "I'm the third coach in a row with this opinion. You should ask him, not me.
I have to admit that I don't care at all. They're switching their "philosophy", their coaches and their general managers every few months.
I'm sorry, Dante was your best defender. He's gone. I call that retooled. LOL, best backup CB in the league last year?
It's all subjective of course, but let me quote some numbers and stats: Kicker ranking summer 2012: 1. Hummels 2. Badstuber 3. Sokratis 4. Niedermeier 5. Subotic 6. Boateng 7. Langkamp 8. Brouwers 9. Tasci 10. Stranzl 11. Dante Stranzl and Dante were both top ten defenders... if their backup hadn't been better in the eyes of Kicker. Average ratings, Bundesliga defenders: 1. Mats Hummels, 2.65 2. Roel Brouwers, 2.82 ... Bundesliga field players: 1. Marco Reus, 2.58 2. Mats Hummels, 2.65 2. Franck Ribery, 2.65 4. Sebastian Kehl, 2.75 5. Jakub Blaszczykowski, 2.81 6. Roel Brouwers, 2.82 Kicker rated Brouwers as the 6th best field player, and the 2nd best defender. Brouwers had the best individual "goals against" stats among Brouwers, Dante, Stranzl. I think the statement "best backup CB in the league" is far from "LOL". However, I'd rather call it "detooled" than "retooled".
I just laughed because, in general, I think the individual talent of BMG defenders last year was overrated. I think that it was tactics that allowed such a low goals against tally. Reus was practically a one man show up top and you really didn't need to commit many players to the attack. For the most part, Neustadter/Nordveit both played extremely defensively. This, IMO, inflated the "value" or grades of the Gladbach defenders. It was a great team for sure, but the loss of Reus may have more defensive impacts than you may realize, especially as the team chases goals and leaves the back four exposed. I suppose we'll see. I'll happily eat my words if I'm wrong.
Well, I don't think you really know what you're talking about, and even the spelling of your player Neustädter changes from posting to posting. You still can't spell the name of the player who went from Gladbach to Schalke, but you're an expert regarding other Gladbach players? However.
I'm dyslexic, thanks for being a dick Edit: Sorry, I don't want to be rude, but at the same time...it's a sensitive issue.
I moved the USA NT related discussion to USA Men. It does not belong here. Repeat: It does not belong here.