What stability did we have? Reus was playing out of his skin carrying this team for the first Witsel year. Our midfield has always been a weak point Can should stay and he can do a job, but even he is not good enough. Putting up with players that aren't good enough will only lead to us having a bad season.. We have a small window next year where Reus/Hummels might still be world class and we still have Haaland. We need to capitalise on this. You don't play cautious against midrange opposition you go and blow them away. Dahoud and Brandt should definitely play, but that does not take away that Can and especially Witsel are not good enough. I had no criticism for Can when he gives the ball away like he did against City. He is doing the right thing, but just isn't good enough. We don't need another good CB. Can is a better CB than he is a midfielder. We have Hummels, Akanji and the new Koulibali. RB is fairly urgent, but not a winger. Reyna, Moukoko, Hazard and Knauff are all capable of doing a job. Apart from Hazard they are all young and improving. However, matches are won in the midfield and DM is where we have such a huge glaring hole. I guess we disagree, because for me this is the number one priority. I don't see any point in buying a CB, when we have 4 players that can play well there. Meunier who can play there at a push and then still Witsel Where's at RB and DM we don't even have one player good enough. Can at least makes mistakes, but he does his job so he sadly gets more criticism than he deserves, because his mistakes are obvious. Witsel is just invisible and does nothing. He hides when he should show for the ball. When he gets the ball he just passes it slowly backwards or sidewards. He is not mobile enough to track back, so doesn't give away fouls or even get beaten on the counter. He has 0 mistakes but it's just like playing with 10 men. Edit Not to mention Witsel is going to the Euros and won't be rested for the new season. He has just suffered a serious injury and it's very likely he will need to be slowly nursed back to his best form, which is pointless because he definitely is not getting a contract extension.
I really don't see what management sees in Kobel. His stats are bang on average, it would have been interesting to listen in on the whispers behind closed doors, between Mislintat and Watzke here, I wonder what we are missing. Not really looking forward to Rose as headcoach, i really don't get these appointments tbh. And I think maybe given circumstance, it might be prudent to hold off on a winger purchase, Hazaard, Knauff, Moukoko, and Reyna ought to be sufficient, a little unexperienced, but you run the risk of stunting the later threes developments, and there are better areas of the team you could repurpose those funds to. I can picture them lining; Kobel?(Hitz) RB?(Meunier) - Akanji(Coulibaly) - Hummels(Zagadou) - Guierrero(Schultz) Brandt(Raschl) - Bellingham(Can) - Dahoud(Delaney) Hazard(Knauff) - Halaand(Moukoko) - Reus(Reyna) With a Nmandi Collins and Tigges pushing for starts. Reus might not have the speed he once did, but if played as an inside forward, it negates the need ... and will allow Geiurrero to bomb forwrd. Personally, i don't think Bellingham is mature or experienced enough to run as a sole 6, and I think the club gave up on Weigl a little too early, and that was sad to see. Maybe if they pick up an wing back, they could run a double pivot with Dahoud next to Bellingham. The club needs to give Raschl and Brandt playing time, mistakes repeated. Threadbare, but beggars can't b choosers. Personally, I would plaY Delaney ahead of Bellingham, but I think we all know that's not going to happen.
I have not seen enough of Kobel to judge, but everyone who has seen a lot of him on this board does not seem to rate him. I agree with you on the wingers. I would be content playing Reus as an inside forward and taking a gamble on a young cheap, talented winger like Dembele, Sancho or Mor. Also agree with you on Bellingham. He needs a lot more discipline to hold the midfield and is no where ready for it yet. Sadly fully agree with you on Weigl. It's what happens when you allow a mistake defensive manager to decide on which talent to keep. If we can't get him then get someone like him. Or the other alternative is to get an amazing athletic DM like Ndidi, who is great defensively and mobile. I really hope they are looking at going into the season like this. ------------Kobel (Hitz) New RB(Meunier)-----Akanji(Can/Koulibali)---Hummels(Zagadou)---Raphael (Schulz) ‐‐-------------New Dm(Raschl) ----------Dahoud(Bellingham)-----Brandt----- Reus(Hazard)------------------------Reyna(Knauff/new winger) --------------Haaland(Moukoko) It's a good squad and with it we can compete on all fronts. It does depend a lot on Reyna stepping up, a decent RB and then really quality in the DM.
Fernandinho Old Carrick past his prime. Xabi Alonso Now watch what we have with Witsel. I even found one of his supposed best matches. I think you will see clearly why Witsel is no where near good enough. Don't even compare him to Xabi Alonso, they are playing different sports.
So Kobel confirmed, for a reported €15m, which makes him the second most expensive GK in Bundesliga history, only Neuer cost more (€30m), That makes it 3 Swiss GK’s currently at the club, must be a first. Burki will be sold asap.
I still don't understand how you can recover from an Achilles tear in under 5 months, but if Witsel ultimately makes Belgium's Euro squad and plays in the tournament, it opens up the slight possibility that he can be offloaded. However it's not clear where he would go, since he's probably not ready to return to Liége and Premier League teams would be scared about picking him up so soon after the injury. He's also clearly done with dealing with outside-the-pitch problems like he did in Tianjin, so I think it's still likely that he sticks around and picks up some spot minutes. I don't know if BVB is looking to buy a DM, but if they are looking for someone affordable (in other words, within Germany) they could go back to Stuttgart for Wataru Endo. He is 28 so there is no value appreciation to be expected, but he was the #1 duel-winner in the Bundesliga and is quick and efficient with his distribution, offering a complement to the more adventurous Dahoud, Bellingham, or Brandt. Right back is certainly a problem too and we might end up just having to pray that Meunier plays better this year. If we could snatch someone like Baku it would be fun, otherwise the available options around the Bundesliga just don't really inspire excitement. Honestly putting Can there might be the most pragmatic solution for the time being - he's a tough 1v1 defender, can create problems by making runs into the final third, and his errors will be less costly when playing on the right side with a speedy RCB (Akanji) next to him. The big elephant in the room though is Sancho's future. If he is sold, the proceeds have to be reinvested smartly, at least partly on a quality winger.
What happend eith Luca Unbehaun, isnt he like a great talent? I mean he is 20.. When will they start him, when he is 25-26? Its incredible how Dortmund cant/wont create young GK prospects
Yes the timeframe is ridiculous. Even if Witsel was putting world class performances for us beforehand (which he sure as well wasn't), I would not expect decent form from him until after the winter break. 5 months is way too short. I don't think we can reliably plan on him contributing much at all, which only hastens the need for a replacement. We need someone better than that. I would say the CDM is a position where we need the most quality. I would even go as far as spending 30 million Euros. You have actually convinced me. CDM is the most important and then I would rather get a talented RW. I would even spend extra to ensure we get quality at CDM. Can CAN be our utility man and cover RB. I would still try and sell Meunier, but that is unlikely so he can be backup alongside Passlack. I think at best, all going well we can't really expect Morey to contribute. Yes I think we can accept it as a given Sancho is gone. We have already spent some of the Sancho money on Kobel. I would say 95% Sancho goes. Realistically I now think we can do this. Out Sancho 90 million Euros Burki 5 million Euros Delaney 10 million Euros So we make around 105 million Euros. In Kobel 15 million Euros CDM - 25-30 million Euros RW - 15- 20 million Euros So we spend around 60 million Euros and pocked the other 40 odd to cover covid losses. In a perfect world Meunier has a great Euros and we sell him for 5 million Euros. We then push the boat out and buy a RB for 15 million Euros. That would be a fantastic summer, providing we buy well in CDM.
We need to take into account taxes on these player sales figures that are being thrown around here. If we manage to sell Sancho, Burki, and Delaney for 105M then (realistically) we will pocket around 60-75M after taxes which leaves no room for any extra left-over money for Covid losses. Kobel is getting a lot of flack on here and being compared to Burki skill-wise despite him being 7 years younger and still improving? His athleticism and shot-stopping ability is already on par with Burki despite seeing triple the amount of shots on goal. In terms of ball handling and ball playing ability with his feet he's already much better than Burki but needs to improve with long passing. This is the most critical skillset for a ball-posession oriented team like Dortmund. Another area is commanfing the box during set-pieces which we need to see improvement from what Burki and Hitz have shown. We could definitely use an impact upgrade at DM to Witsel, Can, and Delaney with an athletic yet skilled on the ball player that excels at ball progression and is also a ball-winner. Weigl is definitely the former but is too slow and lacks agility to be a consistent defensive cover. I would definitely devote most of our remaining budget to this position even if it means not being able to sign an impact RB. If we do end up signing St. Juste from Mainz then he can also play RB as well since most of his time at Feyenord was spent at RB before moving onto CB at Heerenven/Mainz most recently. Him and Meunier can compete for time there until Morey returns or we end up signing someone else. Lastly, Witsel is being shit on a lot here and a lot of it seems just personal bias. Sure, he is definitely not your typical modern DM of today but you cannot tell me that Belgium has absolutely no one else to play DM for them so they are left with going to a major competition with the guy who tore his achilles tendon not six months ago and hasn't played a game since? If he was as bad or provides no meaningful contributions to the gameplay other than latral and/or backwards passing as many of you are claiming here then I'm sure Martinez would have looked at other options instead of him being the undisputed starter for Belgium over then past 4+ years...right? Or am I missing something here? Dendoncker is in thesame realm as Witsel, is younger, more athletic, and plays in the PL so why wouldn't he be the natural replacement for Witsel?
What kind of taxes are talking about here? I'm certainly not well versed in football club accounting or European corporate/value added tax, but I would have thought that corporate tax would be levied on the net income of the corporation running BVB's professional division - in other words only on the annual profit of the team, not directly on the transfer fees. Also I imagine that the Westfalenstadion will finally have fans by this fall. This actually sounds like Bellingham but I agree we need these qualities in a deeper position, especially if Rose plays 4-3-3. Neuhaus would be the logical investment had Dortmund not effectively ruled out signing Gladbach players this summer, but I don't think there are any other obvious domestic options. We might be resigned to keeping the same DM rotation or adding a cheaper player from the Bundesliga.[/QUOTE] This whole thing is strange to me, but without knowing the Belgium pool inside out I think that 1) Martinez really wants to keep the core veteran group together and 2) the Belgian player pool is high in quality but short on depth. Also called up was Vermaelen, who is 35 and barely healthy enough to play half of the matches for Vissel Kobe at a decent, but not exactly dominant level. About Witsel more specifically, I gotta say I have a sort of love-hate relationship with the player haha. I actually own a BVB jersey with his name printed on it, but have been super frustrated with his performances in the last 1.5 years or so.
This whole thing is strange to me, but without knowing the Belgium pool inside out I think that 1) Martinez really wants to keep the core veteran group together and 2) the Belgian player pool is high in quality but short on depth. Also called up was Vermaelen, who is 35 and barely healthy enough to play half of the matches for Vissel Kobe at a decent, but not exactly dominant level. About Witsel more specifically, I gotta say I have a sort of love-hate relationship with the player haha. I actually own a BVB jersey with his name printed on it, but have been super frustrated with his performances in the last 1.5 years or so.[/QUOTE] I have read an interview with Watzke in which he talked about the Dembele sale to Barcelona and he cautioned about the sale price not accounting for taxes that would decrease the amount by “a sizable factor”. I’m just speculating on the 60-75M to be conservative. I definitely see the need for replacing Witsel with an impact player but just find it a bit ridiculous how he is perceived as this crap player who is out of place at Dortmund and doesn’t fit next to the Dahoud’s, Brandt’s, and Remus’ because all he does is play the ball laterally and backwards. But then he is a mainstay with his NT playing next to KDB, Hazard, Tielemans, etc. So, is Belgium really that devoid of DMs that a six-month inactive Witsel coming off of a torn Achilles is truly their best option over a Dendoncker or is he a better and more useful player than many on here seem to think?
This is just not true. I am not sure where you got this from. There are agents fees to be paid, but Watzke himself has said we can reinvest 80% of the transfer we take in. The issue was when we were making profit as a club and the corporate tax we would need to pay on our profit. In the last couple of years we don't have to worry about making a profit. I don't think he has got a lot of flack. I personally have not seen him and have no comments. Others felt other young goalkeepers are better. However, I have always said it tales prolonged matches to scout a keeper. Speed is preferred, but overrated for this position. What is more important is discipline, positioning sense and the ability to sense danger. Busquet, Carrick, Alonso, Martinez etc don't have great pace and I would actually say we're slow. [quote Lastly, Witsel is being shit on a lot here and a lot of it seems just personal bias. Sure, he is definitely not your typical modern DM of today but you cannot tell me that Belgium has absolutely no one else to play DM for them so they are left with going to a major competition with the guy who tore his achilles tendon not six months ago and hasn't played a game since? If he was as bad or provides no meaningful contributions to the gameplay other than latral and/or backwards passing as many of you are claiming here then I'm sure Martinez would have looked at other options instead of him being the undisputed starter for Belgium over then past 4+ years...right? Or am I missing something here? Dendoncker is in thesame realm as Witsel, is younger, more athletic, and plays in the PL so why wouldn't he be the natural replacement for Witsel?[/QUOTE] Witsel is getting rightfully being criticised for being a trash player. Your entire argument was well why do Belgium pick him if he is so bad? Why did Loew pick Podolski when it was clear he was finished as a player instead of world class players like Reus? Witsel is a fraud of a player, who spent his entire career chasing money. Nothing personal I just watch him playing trash. Give me one thing he thing he contributes? Hides from receiving the ball, passes slowly and backwards often giving his team mates hospital passes. Is not great at covering the defence. He is a shocking player and needs to be far away from the team. Can is the best by far out of CDM, but he gets the most criticism because he understands how important it is to show for the ball and link play. Witsel and yes even Delaney would rather hide and have us Los.
Read somewhere that Pulisic could leave Chelsea due to not being in Tuchel's plans. If that is true, then we should immediately look to offload Hazard and try to bring Pulisic back. As for DM - Can, Witsel, Dahoud and Rashl should be more than sufficient. Can-Dahoud in midfield with Brandt playing in front of them looks good. Rashl to be integrated into the first team more and receive chanced, while Witsel could cover for rotation. RB is definitely a more urgent area and should be our #1 focus. As for Kobel - well, since it if official, good luck to the lad. Hope he proves most people wrong and actually performs better that Burki/Hitz
Pulisic probably is considering his options because despite a few purple patches he has not been good enough. If Chelsea sign a striker he will get even fewer minutes next season. He needs to stop whining and work on his game. I would not take him back, especially because Chelsea always demand a high price. I like Can, he understands the role and does his best. He does what he has too, he is aggressive and a leader. However, we have seen that at the highest level he will make mistakes. I don't fault him for this, because he is doing what needs to be done, but it is a position we need to upgrade. Also Can might have to cover RB or CB. So there is no guarantee he will be available to play CDM. You know my thoughts on Witsel. With the injury he probably will add nothing. Raschl has looked good in friendlies, but a big gamble completely trusting him. We do need a RB, but as said Can can. He covers this position adequately. If we can sell Meunier then invest in a RB. However, the midfield is the engine room of a team. We have Dahoud and Brand. Add a worthy partner and we will have a midfield as good as any in the world. In Sancho, Reus and Haaland we already had an attack pretty much better than any in the world except PSG and Bayern. However, the weak midfield was going going kill out season. Only when Dahoud came into the team could Sancho and Reus completely shine.
Rumours are flying that Chelsea might sign Weigl. If they do and he goes on to be a star I will be so annoyed. Favre wasted so much talent for average players.
Watzke is the one who deserves a punch in the face for hiring him in the first place. I will never understand why he was so obsessed with him, as he was amongst the top candidates ever since Klopp announced his departure.
I have a question for @thisisthelife , @podrinje and @naopon . You guys think that Witsel and Can are good enough. We are about to lose one of our very best and most important players in Sancho. What exactly are you guys trying to build a squad to do? Is it to get top 4 and make the CL last 16? Or is it to try and challenge Bayern and possibly win the CL?
If it's really true that Tuchel wants Weigl and if he makes him an impact player at Chelsea, then he's really rubbing it in that he's a better coach. I also agree about Pulisic, I wouldn't want him for the money he'd cost. He can be a game changer but he still seems to have the same problems he had with us. He isn't nearly constant enough and he shouldn't have switched when he did. He wasn't even an undisputed starter for us when he signed for Chelsea.
I'm not advocating that the team rely on Can and Witsel, I agree that they need to add a big-time player in DM but don't know the international market well enough to propose any targets. Watching Can it feels like he has the physical and technical tools, but it would take a hell of a coaching job to get him to keep things simple and minimize his errors to the point where he should be the starting 6 for BVB. He just tries to do too much all the time and I think it comes from a place of wanting to make plays as an accountable veteran, but the risk-benefit profile of his decisions is really out of balance. Honestly I haven't seen any of Weigl recently but it would be a nice story to get him back in the club. His lack of athleticism would be mitigated by the range of Dahoud and Bellingham.
It's not our job, unless you are a Dortmund scout then it really is your job, to know who the perfect CDM is. I watch a lot of football, but this season has been so fixture intense I really haven't had the chance to watch other leagues. So I am not aware of many players outside the Premier League and the Bundesliga either. I do disagree with you about Can. He is simply doing what a CDM should be doing. He just lacks the technique and it gets found out, but those are the passes that have to be made. If you don't make the passes that Can does then you get swamped, the back four hoof it away and it goes straight back to the opposition. They then have continuous pressure and eventually score. Against City Can they targeted Can, but the way he played enabled us to to keep the ball for periods and to launch counter attacks. If he had not done so, he may not have made the mistakes, but we would lose 3-0 both legs.
I am certainly in agreement that we need an upgrade at DM on our current players. My only issue is that I don't agree with your premise that Witsel is such a trash player and even a "fraud" as you state. At this stage in his career he is a solid if not below average veteran. Ball progression is definitely not one of his strengths but ball retention is which, for a ball possession oriented style, can work just fine as long as he is playing next to Dahoud-type players who can make up for his passing deficiencies. At 32 he will definitely need to be demoted to a supporting role as we will not be able to sell him due to his injury. He was never an uber-athlete in his career and has always played this type of game yet has been a mainstay in the Belgium NT for a number of coaches which tells me he offers much more to the team success than you state. Can is one to definitely keep as he is a utility player that can be deployed at multiple positions and those type of players are essantial for squad rotation purposed for a team competing at multiple fronts. At this point in his career, Can is what he is and will not get better but has cetrainly been one of the rigth "type" of vetran players that we have signed over the past years as opposed to Schultz, Delaney, Hazrd, etc. Like most fans, we all want to have a team built to compete for titles but when the team executives openly show that they view success by the team being just an annual "CL participant" then I have to rein myself in and except the fact that we will never be that perennial title contender until we see changes up top.