So, here it is. The biggest match of the season to date, without a shadow of a doubt. We entertain the reigning champions and current second place side, Borussia Dortmund. If we win, we will overtake them. The outlook is positive: we have only lost one of our last seven matches, winning five. And Dortmund have looked shaky in previous away matches this season, as demonstrated by their losses against Hannover, Marseille and even Olympiakos. They also slipped up and lost to Hertha on their home turf. So their aura of strength has certainly slipped a little in recent months, and I firmly believe we have every chance of walking away with a result if we play to our abilities. But there are problems: Tasci and Cacau could yet both miss the match. It would be a devastating blow, and I hope both are fit. If not, we have a problem. Throw in Bauer and Hemlein at the deep end (not a fan of this concept)? Or move Harnik or Okazaki into a strikers position, bringing in Traore on the wing spot? Would Niedermeier make his comeback if Tasci is not fit?? Many uncomfortable questions, and I hope our two national players will be okay. But we have to prepare that some key figures will be out.
My ideal formation: [LINEUP-4-5-1]Cacau,Okazaki,Harnik,Kuz,Hajnal,Kvist,Molinaro,Maza,Tasci,Boula,Ulriech[/LINEUP-4-5-1] But it'll probably be something like: [LINEUP-4-3-3]Traore,Okazaki,Harnik,Kuz,Hajnal,Kvist,Molinaro,Maza,Boula,Celozzi,Ulriech[/LINEUP-4-3-3] Where there are 3 forwards. My guess: they didn't want to tip the possible formation mid-week. Thus I doubt it'll be a replica even if Tasci and Cacau are both out.
Don't know the reason, but ESPN Soccernet has it scheduled as 9:45 ET in their ticker. Looks like you got your wish for your ideal lineup. I'm really glad to see Tasci in there. This is going to be tough...
5 minutes in. We look AWFUL. Cacau with a yellow a minute in. Two shots by BvB, one hit post the other was inches away. Two great crosses by BvB where if someone was there it would have been a goal. Zero midfield control by us. No attacking yet. Again... 5 minutes in lol
Well, since those first 5 minutes, the game has settled. Feeling much better about the flow. Tasci scores off of a set piece in the 22nd. 1-0
Terrible defending gives up the equalizer in the 46th, literally seconds from the end of the half. Lame. 1-1 at the half.
Rats! BVB equalizes in 1 min. of stoppage. I think we caught a break around min.37 -- on the 2nd replay I saw, it sure looked like Molinaro took down Goetze before the ball in the top of the box. Goetze does have some decent ball skills. Dortmund had a total blitzkrieg the first 5 minutes or so. After that, we were much better (until this lapse at the end). Much better control in the midfield, and some near chances -- but we need actual chances. Let's see if Bruno can get them going for the 2nd half. An equalizer like that right before the break just kills momentum...
Well, we can be honest about this, it was an incredibly lucky point, wasn't it?? Dortmund were much better for almost the entirety of the game. Sometimes they were stopped by Ulreich, who made some incredible saves yesterday (which drown out the one big blunder that lucky did not cost us). Sometimes they were stopped by the post. Sometimes they were stopped by the ref, who missed an absolutely blatant foul on Goetze. What it showed was that, while we can be pleased with our table position at the moment and the improvements on last season, we still have a long way to go. Dortmund is a top German team, and you noticed the gap in skill all too clearly yesterday. I thought we would play better. But I can easily live with the draw. The defence struggled a lot at times, although our stats ultimately continue to be the strongest in years in that regard (9 conceded in 11).The wingbacks struggled quite a bit, Boulahrouz in generally was looking a bit out of depth when defending. Tasci also had some questionable moments, although kudos to him for the goals. At 65%, Maza was the only one with a one-on-one win statistic that corresponds to what we should be aiming for. Kuzmanovic and Kvist were not assertive enough, especially the latter struggled notably to build the game up from the midfield. Okazaki also had little impact. Credit to Hajnal and Harnik, who offered our few moments of creativity and chance-creation yesterday. Poor Cacau looks very much out of form at the moment, it was his third dismal league performance in a row. He needs to up it quick, because when other strikers are fit he will not be getting much more first 11 play at this rate. But I am confident he can turn it around.
Player Ratings: Sven Ulreich: Kicker Rating: 1.5 (11 games played, 2.73 avg.) My Rating: 1.5 Khalid Boulahrouz: KR: 3.5 (10 played, 3.45 avg.) MR: 4 Serdar Tasci: KR: 3 (11 played, 3.00 avg.) MR: 2.5 Maza: KR: 3 (11 played, 3.14 avg.) MR: 4 Cristian Molinaro: KR: 3.5 (9 played, 8 as starter, 3.61 avg.) MR: 4 Zdravko Kuzmanovic: KR: 3.5 (9 played, 3.17 avg.) MR: 4 William Kvist: KR: 3 (11 played, 2.73 avg.) MR: 4 Martin Harnik: KR: 3 (11 played, 3.55 avg.) MR: 3 Tamas Hajnal: KR: 2 (10 played, 8 as starter, 3.75 avg.) MR: 3 Shinji Okazaki: KR: 4 (10 played, 8 as starter, 3.72 avg.) MR: 5 Cacau: KR: 4 (11 played, 3.68 avg.) MR: 5 SUBS: Ibrahima Traore: KR: No Rating (6 played, 0 as starter, no avg.) MR: 3 Christoph Hemlein: KR: NR (2 played, 0 as starter, no avg.) MR: NR Christian Gentner: KR: NR (10 played, 6 as starter, 3.58 avg.) MR: NR Unused Subs: - Marc Ziegler - Stefano Celozzi - Patrick Bauer - Timo Gebhart
It was a fun game. You guys were much better on the whole, a combination of good goalkeeping, bad refereeing decisions and a bit of luck allowed us to walk away with the draw. But it shows that we still have to step up our game in some areas if we want to compete for the serious spots.
Thanks for that word. I'll be watching later in the week. My schedule has been nutty since returning to the USA......