3-1 Ramos and it looked like they wanted to miss 
Bundesliga 2015/2016
- Thread starter Piratesoup
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
So, win despite the ref trying his hardest to prevent it. 3 points and top of the table. Off to watch United...
That 3-1 was vital, 3 points in the pocket!
Gladbach losing again atm
Looks like there is some merit to the Yarmolenko rumours after all.
Looks like there is some merit to the Yarmolenko rumours after all.
I'd actually like to see Draxler at Wolfsburg. Max Meyer would get more playing time at Schalke and Draxler could show if he's as good a number ten as he believes he is. I'd hate it if Draxler left the Bundesliga and went to Juve, that would be worst case, especially if Wolfsburg can't find a comparably great talent as a replacement for De Bruyne.
Xhaka off with his second yellow for Bremen's second penalty. Gladbach are really having a nightmare start to the season.
Xhaka looks totally lost without Kramer next to him. The whole team is a mess really, no idea how that happened over the summer. I hope Favre can use the international break to fix a few things.
Well you kinda described it already imho. Losing Kramer (and their CBs for the time being) robbed them of their stability and the loss of Kruse probably did a lot of damage to their offense, especially since Drmic seems to be very limited in comparison. The bad results are probably beginning to do their part too now.
Being able to absorb pressure and lock down their box (and then counter attacking with pace) was a big part of their style in my opinion and now that just doesn't work any more.
They lost with Kruse and Kramer two absolute key players and with the injuries of Domiguez and Stranzl nearly their whole spine is gone. It is similar to 2012/2013 after they lost Reus, Dante and Neustädter. The new players (Stindl/Drmic) need time to fit into the new roles and their thin squad can´t handle many injuries.
This was to be expected to an extend, although I did not think they would struggle this much.
It looks crazy. Now there's also Hernandez to Leverkusen, Kostic to Schalke as a Draxler replacement. Should be a fun and interesting day. At least it'll all be over in about 6 hours.
Kostic to Schalke for silly money would be another terrible decision by Held. I really hope, that Draxler joins Wolfsburg and chicha to Leverkusen would be interesting.
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I wonder if the fans turn on him if Draxler leaves for a less prestigious German team which is a rival for the top four. It's really a tough one, but I guess because he's not going to Bayern, it won't create much controversy in public. Just wonder how the fans at the club will react after all the awful business in the past years. They appointed the wrong manager again and again, the development of their youth players stalled, no success on the pitch and all the expensive signings failed, some of them are still getting paid despite being kicked out of the squad. And now their biggest and brightest talent goes to Wolfsburg to earn a bit more money and maybe win a trophy. If he left to play for Juve or United or City or even Bayern, they could at least see it as a step up. But they surely can't accept that Wolfsburg is now a step up from Schalke?
I like Chica, even though I didn't rate him that highly. But he could be a lethal finisher in Schmidt's system. They do need Kießling's hold-up play, curious how they plan to use him or if they can fit both together in the team. He'd definitely add a new dimension to their attack though, which could be useful. Maybe he'd even play Son's role as a wide inside forward?
Oh and Hunt is rumoured to join Hamburg? The feck is Hamburg doing, are they trying to get relegated?
I don´t think that Held survives the season, if they miss out on the CL and I dont understand their transfer dealings for sometime now. Held needs to feck off. Chicharito is a decent footballer and not just a poacher. He has a big heart, so I´d say he fits well into a team, that plays strong pressing. He doesn´t have the physical strength of Kießling, but he has better technique. Overall I can see him as both as alternative and partner for Kieß. Hamburg is just Hamburg.
I think the fans will turn on Draxler and label im a traitor because he moved to a plastic club and at the same time they will blame their leadership for manouvering the club into a position where a move to Wolfsburg is considered a step up, but the latter can't really be suprising to them, so I guess the more passionate response will be towards the player.
If it wasn't Heldt who is going to reinvest the money I'd say that €35m + bonus clauses is a great deal for a stagnating talent though.
Dortmund are supposedly loaning out Kuba to Fiorentina (don't really get that, but I suppose Tuchel doesn't rate him and Zorc/Watzke don't want to let him rot on the bench before the Euros after all those years of service) and bringing in Januzaj with another loan (don't get that one either if they don't get a buy option, which I kinda doubt United will allow).
The only possible explanation for me is that they have someone else lined up for the winter/next summer (Yarmolenko?).
I think in general Hunt looks like a decent gamble for a lesser team, but Hamburg's players are already very successful when it comes to giving the impression that they don't give a feck about their club.
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I pity all those team teams like Wolfsburg, Schalke, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Augsburg and Hamburg, who lose some of their best players. Only Bayern and Darmstadt sitting pretty with their rosters, rejecting all the offers. 
Dortmund haven't lost anyone of importance, €30m are worth way more to a club like Augsburg than any of their players, Schalke could easily use the €35m to improve their squad imho (but they probably won't), Stuttgart will get a very good compensation for Rüdiger and Kostic (if they do decide to sell him), the same is true for Wolfsburg (they may have waited too long though) and Tah didn't play at Hamburg anyway.
The club which deserves your pity is Gladbach, they lost Kramer for free and Kruse for a rather cheap clause (at least relative to his importance for them) and now they look like a mess.
The club which deserves your pity is Gladbach, they lost Kramer for free and Kruse for a rather cheap clause (at least relative to his importance for them) and now they look like a mess.
How could Schalke easily improve their squad with 35m (compared to having Draxler) this late into the transfer window? Considering their transfer decisions it is almost certain that they will be weaker.
Well it all depends on their scouting and preparation for the transfer, they've been talking about selling Draxler for weeks now, so I assume they already have something lined up. Given how inconsistent Draxler was playing these past two years I think you could buy a better (at least short term) player with a smart €15-20m deal and then spend the rest on squad depth. But I was talking more in general, because knowing Heldt I expect them to waste most of the fee.
Depends how they are going to line up. Sane has shown a lot of promise and could easily take Draxler's place. Choupo-Mouting has been good for them as well, one of the few better players last season actually. This was their line-up against Wolfsburg:
Fährmann
Riether - Matip - Neustädter - Kolasinac
Aogo - Geis
Choupo-Mouting - Draxler - Sane
Huntelaar
Meyer could take Draxler's place in the centre, Choupo-Mouting can play either side and up top on his own, or they play with di Santo and Huntelaar in 4-4-2. With loaning Hojbjerg, Goretzka could be playing on the wing as well, where he has done quite well.Riether - Matip - Neustädter - Kolasinac
Aogo - Geis
Choupo-Mouting - Draxler - Sane
Huntelaar
You can easily buy a player who performs better than Draxler did in the past 2 years. That's certainly true and if you look at it like that, Schalke could improve by selling him. Schalke most definitely can't buy someone with the same potential as he has though. But so far Schalke hasn't really benefited all that much from that potential, well until today if the transfer goes through.
Kramer was just on loan. You can see it different, too. They got very much performance for a small fee for 2 years.
And Kruse left because he and Favre did not get along very well...
Generally speaking I´d agree with do.ob. Selling Draxler for 35 isn´t bad at all and they already have a youngster as replacement. Still the reality looks slightly different. No doubt that Meyer is a fantastic talent, but he never showed it for an extended period (even a few games) like Draxler did. Their transfer record is also fairly shambolic. All rumors point towards Kostic and they would have to overpay in a disgusting manner to get him.
Overall the lineup against Wolfsburg should worry any Schalke fan. Fährmann is decent at best. Riether shouldn´t be more than a back-up. Neustädter was terrible for them and he certainly is no CB. I also struggle to see Kolasinac as top full-back. He should be used in a different position (or not at all; he hasn´t improved for quite some time). Aogo is no midfielder, but a full back. Furthermore he seems to have a terrible character, who is eventually just not good enough for a CL club. Hunterlaar is a mix of past it and injured. He is also a fairly limited player, who depends on his team and he is certainly not a leader. I quite like Choupo because he show passion, but I am still not convinced, that he should be a nailed on starter for a CL club. I am also not sure about his best position. I talked about Meyer earlier: He has everything to prove. The positives are Geis, Sané, Matip and maybe Goretzka, but that is just not enough for a club with their ambitions. Oh there are obviously also Sam, di Santo, Höger, Boateng, Uchida and Santana. Those are either useless, overpriced, injury prone or have bad character.
The bottom line is, that they can´t easily replace one of their brightest talents despite his bad performances. They also should worry, that many of their players seem to be arrogant pricks, who act like they are the next big thing despite not showing anything to back up their attitude. That is probably their biggest problem, but it doesn´t come out of nowhere. Fans and management seem to do everything in their power to full this kind of thinking.
Overall the lineup against Wolfsburg should worry any Schalke fan. Fährmann is decent at best. Riether shouldn´t be more than a back-up. Neustädter was terrible for them and he certainly is no CB. I also struggle to see Kolasinac as top full-back. He should be used in a different position (or not at all; he hasn´t improved for quite some time). Aogo is no midfielder, but a full back. Furthermore he seems to have a terrible character, who is eventually just not good enough for a CL club. Hunterlaar is a mix of past it and injured. He is also a fairly limited player, who depends on his team and he is certainly not a leader. I quite like Choupo because he show passion, but I am still not convinced, that he should be a nailed on starter for a CL club. I am also not sure about his best position. I talked about Meyer earlier: He has everything to prove. The positives are Geis, Sané, Matip and maybe Goretzka, but that is just not enough for a club with their ambitions. Oh there are obviously also Sam, di Santo, Höger, Boateng, Uchida and Santana. Those are either useless, overpriced, injury prone or have bad character.
The bottom line is, that they can´t easily replace one of their brightest talents despite his bad performances. They also should worry, that many of their players seem to be arrogant pricks, who act like they are the next big thing despite not showing anything to back up their attitude. That is probably their biggest problem, but it doesn´t come out of nowhere. Fans and management seem to do everything in their power to full this kind of thinking.
Harsh to throw Uchida in there. I kinda like him. Obviously he's not a world class player, but he's decent and reliable. I agree with the rest though.
His agent said today, that he won't leave Stuttgart. I doubt he'll move to Schalke. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see Boateng getting back into the team
.Schalke won't make the top 4 this season. Can't see them finishing above Leverkusen or Wolfsburg. Both clubs have done a much better job in the transfer window (if the rumoured deals go through) and have better managers. And Bayern and Dortmund are way out of their reach. What's the most disturbing thing about Schalke, they totally fail to develop all their talents. Not one of them has made a significant step forward over the last 2 years and not one has made a step over the summer and looked great in pre-season or in the league so far. Geis really is the only one and with Schalke's injury record it wouldn't be surprising if he's out with a longterm injury soon enough.
I still find it mind-boggling that we loaned Hojbjerg to Schalke, makes no sense to me at all.
If Boateng and Sam are Draxler's replacement then I wouldn't set foot on Schalke's training ground or in their stadium if I were Heldt.
All the big deals have gone awfully quiet. 95 minutes to go. I wouldn't be surprised if the Draxler transfer falls through because Wolfsburg's internet connection breaks down with 5 minutes to go and the papers not sent to the DFL yet.
roughly translates to: "Schalke is done, as things stand right now they won't buy a replacement for Draxler because there are no first choice players in the market.
[Schlarman is the Schalke reporter of (German) Sky.]
Heldt
I think that's just another way of saying they are broke.
If they don't have immidiately success now in the next few games Schalke is going to go into meltdown.
Amateurs, should've taken a lesson from my club, after losing our main man Bickel to Paderborn we just signed substitute striker Benyamina from mighty Wehen Wiesbaden! That's how you do it Schalke
Amateurs, should've taken a lesson from my club, after losing our main man Bickel to Paderborn we just signed substitute striker Benyamina from mighty Wehen Wiesbaden! That's how you do it Schalke
The next fan protest + stand-off with the management is just a matter of weeks now. First time in years, that other clubs might take advantage of the blue-mess. Losing out on the CL twice would be a financial nightmare for them.
I REALLY thought that with a (sort of) likeable, down to earth coach like Breitenreiter who also seems to value a team approach, they might actually have the first qiuet season in years, but now it's probably yet another meltdown.
Hunt was always my favorite non-HSV player
Business as usual with Heldt. He has the fiscal responsibility of a five year old playing Monopoly.
Though I give him credit he always picks the teams with the best youth programs, so he can always sell off from their supply.
My take on the Januzaj loan:
First of, as of right now I assume that there is no buy clause attached to the deal. I will readily admit that this detail first annoyed me a bit because I thought of it as developing a player for an elite club. However, after letting this transfer sink in a bit I can definitively understand the thought process of our officials.
When Tuchel took over he clearly stated his wish to assess the squad and work with it before making decisions. Some player basically wasted their chances by themselves (Immobile/Großkreutz) and were cut. Others were either no real options for him (Kirch) or not developed enough to help the team (Dudziack). Then there was Kuba, who was never close of making the squad until now and had the clear wish to play consistently, and Kampl, who was tested pretty often but not deemed good enough or at least not the right player type for Tuchel´s style of play. Both players got their wishes and were allowed to leave.
Now the problem with cutting so many players was that we went from a oversized squad to one with a pretty thin offense. We needed at least one additional offensive midfielder, preferably a left footer, and also identified a primary traget: Andrij Yarmolenko from Dynamo Kiew. I also believe that we got quite far with him, because there were two confirmed bids for him, which usually does not happen if we have not reached at least some sort of agreement with the player (probably via his agent Raiola). This probably led our officials to concentrate too much on this deal, which led to problems when it went downhill, because of either the veto of the club or Yarmolenko changing his mind. We still needed an offensive player, who fit Tuchel´s prefered profile (otherwise we would have kept Kuba) and time was running out.
As solution for this problem the officials went for a temporary one, which kinda makes sense for us, but not for Januzaj himself or United. The problem with such one year loans is that they only make sense if the loaned player improves the peak strength of the team as starter. This makes sure that the player gets plenty of consistent game time because he is too good to be benched. This is not the case at Dortmund. Januzaj has on his positions three players ahead of him, which are currently superior to him: Mkhitaryan has finally fully arrived at Dortmund, has a fantastic relationship to Tuchel and is bar injuries or a massive drop in form undroppable. Kagawa edges more and more towards his personal peak form, where he is able to do things Januzaj has never shown and Reus does not even need top form to be rated higher than the Belgian.
Januzaj is right now an addition to squad, a deal for the squad depth. Sure, he will usually be one of the first options from the bench (although I would not even put him above Hofmann in the pecking order right now given the circumstances) and start a few games, probably mostly EL group matches, cup matches and some Bundesliga matches without top competition. He would not be played to develop him, though, but to give the key players opportunities to rest. He would be nothing more than a pretty damn cheap and decent cover for the key players and I don´t see how this situation is better than his current one at United, unless they buy two really strong offensive midfielder in the remainder of the transfer window. This would change his situation alltogether, though, because it would significantly increase the changes to sign him permanently.
Right now, it appears that United want him back after one year, though, so Januzaj would be some kind of place holder either for a permanent signing next Winter/Summer (potentially another attempt on Yarmolenko if he is still willing to join) or to buy time for our incredibly talented academy player, who rip the youth Bundeliga appart right now, and will become options for the senior team sooner or later.
Like I said, not the best situation Januzaj got himself in with this loan deal.
First of, as of right now I assume that there is no buy clause attached to the deal. I will readily admit that this detail first annoyed me a bit because I thought of it as developing a player for an elite club. However, after letting this transfer sink in a bit I can definitively understand the thought process of our officials.
When Tuchel took over he clearly stated his wish to assess the squad and work with it before making decisions. Some player basically wasted their chances by themselves (Immobile/Großkreutz) and were cut. Others were either no real options for him (Kirch) or not developed enough to help the team (Dudziack). Then there was Kuba, who was never close of making the squad until now and had the clear wish to play consistently, and Kampl, who was tested pretty often but not deemed good enough or at least not the right player type for Tuchel´s style of play. Both players got their wishes and were allowed to leave.
Now the problem with cutting so many players was that we went from a oversized squad to one with a pretty thin offense. We needed at least one additional offensive midfielder, preferably a left footer, and also identified a primary traget: Andrij Yarmolenko from Dynamo Kiew. I also believe that we got quite far with him, because there were two confirmed bids for him, which usually does not happen if we have not reached at least some sort of agreement with the player (probably via his agent Raiola). This probably led our officials to concentrate too much on this deal, which led to problems when it went downhill, because of either the veto of the club or Yarmolenko changing his mind. We still needed an offensive player, who fit Tuchel´s prefered profile (otherwise we would have kept Kuba) and time was running out.
As solution for this problem the officials went for a temporary one, which kinda makes sense for us, but not for Januzaj himself or United. The problem with such one year loans is that they only make sense if the loaned player improves the peak strength of the team as starter. This makes sure that the player gets plenty of consistent game time because he is too good to be benched. This is not the case at Dortmund. Januzaj has on his positions three players ahead of him, which are currently superior to him: Mkhitaryan has finally fully arrived at Dortmund, has a fantastic relationship to Tuchel and is bar injuries or a massive drop in form undroppable. Kagawa edges more and more towards his personal peak form, where he is able to do things Januzaj has never shown and Reus does not even need top form to be rated higher than the Belgian.
Januzaj is right now an addition to squad, a deal for the squad depth. Sure, he will usually be one of the first options from the bench (although I would not even put him above Hofmann in the pecking order right now given the circumstances) and start a few games, probably mostly EL group matches, cup matches and some Bundesliga matches without top competition. He would not be played to develop him, though, but to give the key players opportunities to rest. He would be nothing more than a pretty damn cheap and decent cover for the key players and I don´t see how this situation is better than his current one at United, unless they buy two really strong offensive midfielder in the remainder of the transfer window. This would change his situation alltogether, though, because it would significantly increase the changes to sign him permanently.
Right now, it appears that United want him back after one year, though, so Januzaj would be some kind of place holder either for a permanent signing next Winter/Summer (potentially another attempt on Yarmolenko if he is still willing to join) or to buy time for our incredibly talented academy player, who rip the youth Bundeliga appart right now, and will become options for the senior team sooner or later.
Like I said, not the best situation Januzaj got himself in with this loan deal.
@Sphaero
And I doubt that all of this offensives will not be injured during this season... - and there is 2 matches a week.
And I doubt that all of this offensives will not be injured during this season... - and there is 2 matches a week.
I realise that, which is why I said Januzaj will get a fair amount of game time and also starts, especially quite a lot in Europe during the weeks. High profilic games are a different matter, though. It would also take more than one injury in the front four to make him a certain starter IMO. As of now, I would put Hofmann over him. Januzaj has undoubtly the higher ceiling and overall more potential, but that does not matter much in an one year loan deal. In terms of current performance level they are quite similar and if I have to decide between a player who is gone after a year and one with a contract until 2018, I personally take the latter.
WAZ apparently reported that Schalke wanted to sign Kuba but the player refused out of respect to Dortmund and their fans.
Oh the irony
Oh the irony
And yet, Bayern seems to find interesting young talents for relatively small sums of money.