Any opinions on Johannes Geis? I'm not sure if we still have a center midfield problem that needs to be addressed in the summer.
Who cares who warms the bench as GK? Bayern have Starke & Raeder. Schalke have so many Mediocre Bench Warmer type GK. Giefer is not a potential WC GK. Trapp is or atleast could be. I'd pay 10-12M and get a Great GK for 10 years than for a free mediocre GK who will never be good enough to start.
I don't see why we should go out and get a starting keeper. Fährmann has been such a rock back there. I'd think Fährmann would start over Trapp right now, so we'd be paying 10-12M for a bench GK.
He's a well rounded overall midfielder. Solid defensively with good marking and tackling. Efficient at set pieces and accurate with long shooting and passes. Has good field vision, and can operate the midfield like a quarterback delivering long balls on fast breaks.
Don't see any need for more central midfielders. In general the squad looks pretty much set for next year. We only need a second (and maybe third) goalkeeper, which should be Giefer, and a replacement for Hoogland as a second rightback. Both players are only minor additions to the team. Things might change if Draxler leaves. Heldt should then go out and find a really good replacement for our left wing. I hope Heldt will be able to sell Fuchs and Barnetta. Both look superfluous and not good enough at the moment. I would also be happy if we could sell Papa for 15+m. Not because I don't like him or find him too weak for our squad but because we have a kind of logjam at centerback and could need the money for other things (f.e. the rebuilding of the club'S premises).
I'd still like to see a versatile attacker brought in who could slip into Boateng's place at the 8 should he be injured and young Leon not ready for the responsibility. Between Neu, Hoger, Kola and Ayhan you're set at the 6, but right now I trust neither Goretzka nor Boateng's knee. ...Natkho will be available on a free once again...
That would be Höger's role next season. Höger can't play as a 6, he is neither strong nor not dynamic enough, 8 is his best position. Neustädter and Höger as a pair in defensive midfield managed to get fantastic results. I don't have the exact numbers but they were something like 10 wins, 1 draw and a loss. Here, it is from an article of Spielverlagerung written in September "Nach den vergangenen Spielen konnten sie diese ausbauen zu 11 Siegen in 13 Spielen, 8 Mal zu Null. 30:10 Tore." So in 13 games, 11 wins, 8 times without conceding a goal and goal difference of 30:11. I doubt that is sustainable but Höger would be a decent replacement for Boateng if Keller really would use him that way and not putting in Jones 2.0. I have trouble at the moment seeing why we would get Nathko in the summer when we just passed him while beeing very thin on his position.
I've been thinking about this, and I just can't quite decide what pieces we really need. If I were to make a depth chart for next year, it would look like this: Striker: Huntelaar, Szalai, Boateng Wing: Farfan, Draxler, Sam, Goretzka, Meyer #10: Meyer, Draxler, Boateng, Ayhan #8: Boateng, Hoeger, Ayhan #6: Neustaedter, Kirchoff, Ayhan, Aogo Huntelaar is getting up there in age, so maybe we should get someone that can play on the wing or up top? I don't really think we need to add any pieces unless Meyer or Draxler leave.
Yes, that is more or less my view, too. A third striker might look nice but Avdijaj should be ready for that role come summer. He is also an option as an left winger though his best position is as a support striker. Don't forget Clemens and, waiting for a transfer, Fuchs and Barnetta. I don't think that a replacement for Huntelaar is a pressing need yet. If you can find a very young striker with potential, then maybe but sitting on the bench won't be good for his development. Volland could be a nice addition with his versatility but he is expensive and heavily sought after by Dortmund. He would only be possible if Draxler leaves this summer.
I just don't think Hoger has the ball playing abilities. You're so much smoother with Boateng in that place. Without him your build up is always messy and sloppy and you're not nearly as good at maintaining against intense pressure. But I don't rate him as much as you guys do.
Hoger was easily best center midfielder early in the season. He was better than Neustadter, better than Jones, better than Boateng. When everyone else was playing like crap Hoger was playing really well. I don't know how that would translate to now, but I rate Hoger very highly. I honestly think Hoger would compete with Boateng for minutes if he weren't injured.
I doubt anybody rates Höger anywhere close to Boateng in talent. Schalke can't afford a second Boateng, or somebody close, as a replacement. But the question isn't really if Höger can fully replace Boateng, it is if Nathko is an (clear) improvement over our replacements at that position, including Höger and Goretzka. The follow up question would be if Nathko can be persuaded to sign with Schalke. He would have a hard time replacing Boateng, too, so would he be willing to sign on as a bench player at an affordable price? Of course a bunch of new questions would arise if we signed Nathko. What would happen to Goretzka? He needs playing time to develop. What about Höger? Ayhan? How much money would remain for improvments on other positions? Quite frankly, I just don't see the need for Nathko if Boateng keeps playing as an 8. He might be an improvement over Höger and Goretzka but it would be pretty marginal. The cost associated with acquiring him look to me too high.
Was just thinking about Geis, and I still don't rate Hoger nearly as highly as you guys do. Although with them being forced into action by injury I trust the kids a lot more, I still think the idea that the only thing keeping Neu and Hoger from being your double pivot again being KPB's knee and Keller/the-new-coach's trust in the youth, is a terrifying proposition. Geis would be an upgrade on Hoger and could beat out Neu for his job once he'd settled.
But there are absolutely no signs that we are interested in Geis or in Mainz being interested in letting him go. There are also no signs that we're getting a new coach after the season. There is also no space in the squad for another central midfielder. At the moment Schalke is more or less done with transfers for the new season, unless somebody will leave, f.e. Draxler. We only need a second goalkeeper, which will probably be Giefer.
I wouldn't mind picking up Drmic. His buy out is reported 3.5 mil if Nurnberg get relegated. That would solve our Hunter backup problem, as well as adding depth on the wing.
Who knows what will really happen. I can see Heldt buying another player if he comes cheap but there are no glaring holes to fill as long as nobody leaves. I didn't watch Mainz hardly at all so I don't know how good Geis is. But defensive midfield isn't an area where we could just add another flyer. Neustädter, Höger, Kirchhoff, Boateng, Ayhan, Goretzka, Aogo even Matip or Kolasinac could all be used there. Itter played there in the U19. Geis contracts also runs until 2017. I just don't see it. RB or centerforward are position where we are relatively thin. I could see us adding there, if a good opportunity comes up. Maybe even for the three positions behind the forward but not for defensive midfield and centerback, not without somebody leaving first and there aren't many rumours about that. So yes, Drmic might be interesting if Nürnberg gets relegated eventhough I wouldn't hold my breath that we're really interested. We spent a pretty penny last year, we already signed two players in Sam and Aogo, I doubt we have much room for more aquisitions. They also have to find money to rebuild the training pitches and to build the new youth stadium.
Keep in mind that we're probably going to unload a handful of players this year, including Barnetta for a small transfer fee.
Which ones? Barnetta, Annan, Unnerstall, Fuchs, Clemens? The only one's who played or play a role are Hoogland and Hildebrand. Hoogland might still sign a new contract and a replacement for Hildebrand shouldn't be too hard to find. Barnetta didn't play here this season. Clemens might go back to Cologne, but he was a non-factor this season, too. Unnerstall was our third goalkepper. Fuchs might leave but there aren't really concrete signs so far. Anyway, we already have two better LBs than him and he is even less valuable as a LW. For me that is mostly dead weight we should be glad to lose.
Barnetta won't bring in much money. It is pretty irrelevant in the big picture. Same is true for Clemens and Unnerstall. Fuchs might bring in a couple of millions but not more than 3, and we would be lucky to get that. Everybody else is free anyway.
I do forget about Kirchoff because I don't rate him much at all either. but Geis was more jsut a gifted young player I'm fond of who would fit you guys exceptionally well as someone who can actually battle Neu for that holding position. I'd agree with RB being more of a need, although with uchida, Howedes and Kola you've got decent cover there to. Which really is the case all around, there aren't really any glaring holes, but there are positions where an upgrade would do wonders, kind of like KPB at the 8, Hoger was decent at that spot, but was massively upgradeable, and getting that upgrade has significantly boosted your build up play. I see a RB to battle Uchida and a holder to battle Neu as similar spots. Now I dunno if the club will or even can afford to make moves at those spots as well, but just in general they are moves that I think make a lot of sense and could be made without breaking the bank. And given how the borrussias are snapping up guys who I similarly thought would be great fits, maybe schalke will join the party to.
Yeah, getting upgrades like Boateng last summer would be fantastic and a huge boost to the team but that is hard to do. The only reason we got Boateng, and got him relatively cheap, were his injury problems. Even then Boateng's price tag was pushing our financial capabilities. Quite frankly no player Gladbach or Dortmund signed so far are anywhere close to Boateng's class. Maybe Ginter will get to that level, but he is the only one who even has a chance. Unfortunately for us, Ginter plays exactly the positions where we are deepest. No sense spending nearly 10m to get another talent there. Johnson is the only other player who I'd been interested in. He would have been a nice addition, although I'm not sure how much of an upgrade over Uchida he would be. At least he would be tremendously better than anybody else we have for playing RB.
I'll disagree with you there. I think both Schar and Ginter are already on KPB's level, Yann Sommer, though a Keeper is there to and both Volland and Drmic, if they end up Dortmund and Gladbach, are there to, but their other moves where also very good and useful even if they weren't on KPB's level, kinda like Geis and a RB would be, plus those are cheaper positions than an 8/10 like Boateng.
Volland will stay in Hoffenheim next season, he said so today. Nobody can say if Drmic will leave Nürnberg and where he will end. Anway, no way he is yet on Boateng's level. We don't need Sommer only a second goalkeeper, Fährmann is more than good enough. So we're so far talking about Ramos and Ji for Dortmund and Johnson and Hahn for Gladbach. Sorry, none of them is on Boatengs level. The only one I'd be interested in would be Johnson. Ramos might be interesting as an upgrade for Szalai but not for 11m. Schär is, regarding Schalke, in a similar position to Ginter. He plays a position in which we're already stacked. There is simply no need for him.
I think you're counting your eggs before they hatch. Volland just came out and said he's staying at Hoffenheim. I also think there's a decent change Drmic goes to the EPL. Something that hasn't been mentioned is that our youth academy is better than either Dortmunds or Gladbachs. We have some U19s that deserve a chance with the senior team.