If we had a tactical coach, maybe he'd switch to 4-2-3-1, with Brandt coming in at the #10 for Delaney.. and Reus and Sancho spreading the field. Stretch that Lazio team. Have a play maker centrally, and 2 defensive midfielders dedicated to protecting the back 4.
Takes of Bellingham making it blatantly obvious it was a mistake to start him and brings on Dahoud. I think it's abundantly clear he has lost key players in the dressing room. Bellingham and Reyna over Brandt and Dahoud. This has to be his last match.
It's Reyna for Bellingham. Not sure how that works formation wise as Reyna was rather used in a position closer to the goal. Dahoud or Brandt would have made more sense but a change was needed.
Yes playing kids instead of establish players is a sign something is amiss. Not to mention Reus often gets frustrated and starts pressing against team instructions.
weird change! Reyna for Bellingham? Witsel now is by himself as CDM.. Favre made the midfield even thinner and brought in the wrong personnel to create.. I don't know how that will work.. I think a couple of goals for Lazio on the break!
Reyna coming on has helped slightly because he does not hide like Witsel. He actually has good technique and cab help link play. Hr wasn't the right sub but he will still greatly improve things.
Brandt on as well so now we have a few more technical players but the damage is done. Witsel is such a fraud. He can play poorly week after week and still plays. Favre is too cautious and has no clue how to manage a top team. This match has been shameful. Nobody can say Lazio have a team close to ours. They will struggle to make top 4 in Serie A, but they have given us a lesson.
We are playing a 4-3-3 now. There's a good chance we come back and win with this formation, but this should not distract from Favre's incompetence. Or the players that should he dropped. I actually think it's more like we win than anything now.
Hummels gets beaten on a sprint.. that's why we don't play 4 at the back Also, Reyna is much better as a winger than as the central focus of buildup. Good to see Brandt in.
Mediocre coach, complacent management devoid of ambition beyond turning a profit. How can local fans tolerate this shit?
We conceded 2 goals and were thoroughly outplayed with a back 3. We should play a back 4 with an actual defensive midfielder rather than the waste of space that is Witsel. This match just confirms what we all know. We will have a mediocre season with Favre and at best get to the last 16 of the CL, 2nd in the Bundesliga and lose poorly in the cup.
Witsel's problem is not his defense. I'm pretty happy with him in that department over his tenure at BVB. His problem is creating on offense and circulating, like you often say. It seems that Hummels doesn't do great in a 4-man backline, because it requires being fast. If we have in-form Zagadou and Akanji we can try it. Maaaaybe we can also try Can there. But I agree this was a Favre spineless performance. That or everyone was dead tired for some reason. No motivation at all!
So bad. It's not only that we didn't have one single outstanding game this season. It's rather that the basics of our game aren't looking promising, it's not making you look forward for the next game. Getting a bad result every now and then wouldn't be so bad if you'd watch the team play great football because then you'd have confidence that the results will follow. But it seems as if neither the coach nor the players really have an idea right now how to play. I'm certain the management isn't happy. It also doesn't help that Favre is making a mess out of the formations. It's like we are still in preseason testing out things. This is not only about switching back and forth but several times this season he had to repair things mid-game. That is fine but when he does it, he doesn't build a good foundation for the team. Putting Guerreiro in midfield after the half helped but it still looked weird and unbalanced.
Witsel's problem is both. If he had great mobility and shielded the back four well then perhaps you could excuse his poor possession play, but he does neither. He does not have the legs or the speed to be good defensively and he actually loses most balls. It does not require speed to be great in a 4 man back 4. There are many slow CBs out there and Hummelz is one of the best. If you have a slow CB and no pressure on the ball then anyone will struggle. I am just so disgusted. Playing Bellingham in a match like this. Not bringing on Dahiud.
Todays soccer is so much pace. If you dont have it at the back then you will get ran by. We are truly lacking in that department when, Witsel, Delaney are paired with our back line. I have said it before this match and ill continue but I am worried about this year. We are probably lucky in that BL as a whole might be down and we will be top 4 by default.
We have seen that before, away at PSG, Inter, Barcelona, Atletico, Tottenham and even teams like Brugge and Slavia Prague, and there’s no indication it’ll get better under Favre. If he won’t get fired now I think we might even have problems to get to the last 16. Our group is pretty even, anybody can beat anybody, and with the form we are in now anything can happen
we are one extremely difficult team to follow. This club just wants to earn money and thats it. I get that the goal of every one is to earn money but the board is way too consumed with it and not concerned at all with winning anything. It seems they truly feel that winning is just a by product of making money. It is amazing to me that after these lackluster years we have settled for such a boring and dull coach who refuses to do anything exciting for this fan base. I have never hated any coach more than I hate him. And I have only been following Dortmund for about 5 years now.
I think Witsel's main (only?) strength is that he doesn't lose balls. I think you're exaggerating there. He will rarely give a bad pass, but his passes are all safe passes. And in general, I feel he will protect the central areas from counters. That means that I think it's OK having him there, if he's paired with Dahoud or Brandt. But also I think Can can do all that and more. But we're forced to play him in the back because the board didn't get a CB. I really don't know about Hummels in a back 4. I feel that we tested it often enough 2 seasons ago, and it didn't work, although he wasn't always to blame. I really like the dude and what he has brought to our defense, but I feel the back 3 is the way to have him on the field, while also not leaving him exposed to 1-on-1's from fast wingers. MAYBE, we can try something fancy with a back 4 where Meunier stays back, while Guerreiro can push up..
There's no exaggeration at all. Players that are good defensively can cover ground, win challenges and have good positioning. Witsel is not particularly good at any of these things. He is a complete fraud. Delaney for instance actually is decent defensively and covers ground and wins tackles. No we are not forced to play Brandt at the back and the board have done enough in terms of transfers. Yes in ideal world we buy a CB and a sub striker, but we do have Moukoto coming through. I agree they should have got a CB instead of Bellingham or at the least kept Ballerdi. However, we still have Zagadou, Hummels and Akanji. Meunier also looks better suited to playing as a CB than he does a right back. Playing Witsel is like playing with 10 men. There's no reason to play him. 1. He does not make forward passes. 2. He does not make himself available for passes so even though he does not give the ball away he does not help keep meaningful possession, because he does not move to make space for others. 3. He actually loses most of his duels. 4. He has poor speed and mobility and does not cover ground. We tested it with a far weaker team and with a lack of pressing. Not to mention the backline wasn't really the problem. We kept conceding late goals and most of those were Akanji's faults. It's not as if the back three is working either. I got back from work today and I expected it, but was extremely disappointed to see Favre still in the job.