Bundesliga 13/14

That 4th goal really was a beauty, brilliant finish as well.

Sphaero said:
Reus was good today. Worked and tried a lot and had some nice combinations going. He also drifted more towards the center like he did at the beginning of the season and interchanged well with Mkhitaryan. The movement as a whole improved a lot.
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I liked that about Reus in the first few months of the season. It was obvious that Reus took over a lot responsibility in the build-up and added more creativity than in the previous season. I've only seen highlights of the game today, but it looked like he finally did that again, which complements Mhiki really well, especially with Auba on the right already adding enough danger with his runs off the ball.

Reus first half of the season was often called poor, but I don't think that's really true, he was brilliant in the beginning, he just looked really tired and mentally drained when all the injuries hit the team so hard. He's still not a wide playmaker like for example Ribery and couldn't carry the team when everything fell apart, but he can add a lot of creativity when the team is playing at least decent.
 
Balu said:
I liked that about Reus in the first few months of the season. It was obvious that Reus took over a lot responsibility in the build-up and added more creativity than in the previous season. I've only seen highlights of the game today, but it looked like he finally did that again, which complements Mhiki really well, especially with Auba on the right already adding enough danger with his runs off the ball.

Reus first half of the season was often called poor, but I don't think that's really true, he was brilliant in the beginning, he just looked really tired and mentally drained when all the injuries hit the team so hard. He's still not a wide playmaker like for example Ribery and couldn't carry the team when everything fell apart, but he can add a lot of creativity when the team is playing at least decent.
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Yeah. You are pretty much spot on with that assesment.

Anyone watching Berlin vs. Hamburg atm? Adrian Ramos is ripping the HSV apart right now. He is heavily linked with joining Dortmund in the summer. I just hope he simply a late bloomer and does not turn out to be a one season wonder.
 
I was just about to post something about the game :lol:. I can't get enough of watching Hamburg feck up. I didn't even know how much I dislike that club and how much I enjoy watching them loose.
 
I'm really hoping he will stay, we will need him for the next season as apparently there's an investor willing to induce some cash into the old lady. Bleib bei uns Junge, wir brauchen dich.
 
Balu said:
I was just about to post something about the game :lol:. I can't get enough of watching Hamburg feck up. I didn't even know how much I dislike that club and how much I enjoy watching them loose.
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Oh I share the joy. Time that they pay for their pathetic management.

Whats your opinion of Ramos??
 
Sphaero said:
Whats your opinion of Ramos??
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Looks like a quality midtable striker, an upgrade on Schieber, who made a really disappointing development, if you want a new back-up striker. He's on a good run at the moment, but even that isn't good enough to start for Dortmund, imo. Volland + Aubameyang + Ramos would be great as options upfront.
 
Pretty heavy stuff after the Hamburg game. A couple of hundred fans blocking the player's exit from the stadium ground, supposedly some Eggs and other stuff were thrown at the players who came out to face them. Zoua shed some tears.
According to some media van der Vaart was about to start a fist fight with some of the fans and only police and Hamburg's stewards could stop him.

It's not that uncommon for fans to block the exit of the team's bus in a similar situation, but usually it's just words.
 
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Apparently the supervisory board wanted to sack him just minutes after the game. However it appears that the executive board wants him to stay, so now Bild is reporting that the supervisory board is trying to get rid of the executive board in order to sack van Marwjik.

typical HSV :lol: though I really feel sorry for the fans.
 
do.ob said:
Apparently the supervisory board wanted to sack him just minutes after the game. However it appears that the executive board wants him to stay, so now Bild is reporting that the supervisory board is trying to get rid of the executive board in order to sack van Marwjik.

typical HSV :lol:
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:lol::lol::lol:

Classic Hamburg. What a joke this rich club has become.

I don´t see how sacking van Marwjik is gonna change anything. The problems are rooted deeper, way deeper.
 
Well I don't think van Marwijk is incompetent or anything but 6 losses in a row, even with a whole winter preseason inbetween speak volumes. And it hasn't even been close in the three games after the break.
Hamburg's biggest problem is most likely in the mentality department and as it seems van Marwijk can't reach them there, so I find it understandable that they want to look for someone who can.
 
I would say only Adler, Van Der Vaart and Calhanoglu are 1.Bundesliga class from their Starting XI today

But one reason why HSV are so stupid.......they've only one good striker with Lassoga and now he is/was injured......and they loan out Rudnevs to Hannover (2 goals in 2 games)
 
Westermann, Jansen, Badelj are decent players too and especially Jansen would probably look quite good/decent in a functioning team. Anyway.. I think it's safe to say that in terms of individual ability that squad should be upper half of the table at least and probably challenging for a Europa League spot.
 
I completely forgot that we play Hamburg in the cup quarter final on Wednesday :lol:. That should be fun.
 
Dortmund's bad luck with injuries continues. Bender is out for at least one week, Reus probably for two. Hopefully both and Hummels are back for the CL games at the end of February.

On a side note, St. Pauli is winning at the moment and is fighting for promotion. If we look at the form of both teams from Hamburg, it might actually happen that St. Pauli gets promoted while Hamburg relegated. Yesterday's fan turmoil might only be the start if nothing changes in the next week and playing Bayern on Wednesday probably isn't a good preparation for the club's most important game in decades next Saturday in Braunschweig. If Hamburg doesn't win that game, they really are fecked.

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Probably jinxed it for St. Pauli :lol:. They conceded twice and the game finished in a draw. Still, Cologne lost at home, so there's still a good chance for it to happen.
 
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Aboutreika18 said:


Magnificent. :drool:
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I really miss the days when we used to score goals like that. If that were us, instead of a shot, that final ball would've been an Evra cross into the box, and we all know how that would've turned out...
 
jem said:
I really miss the days when we used to score goals like that. If that were us, instead of a shot, that final ball would've been an Evra cross into the box, and we all know how that would've turned out...
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We wouldn't even have reached the position from where Mikitaryan shot the ball.
 
Schalke is playing brilliant football. 2-0 up against Hanover at half time, Farfan and Meyer with the goals.
 
Invisible like every Hanover player really. It's all Schalke.
 
Just saw the highlights of the Schalke game. Was watching the United game at that time (god knows why...).

They look really good right now and are back on track for the CL. I actually think that they will become Dortmund´s main competition for the 2nd place. Maybe I underestimated Keller....
 
Jaap said:
Also, not too sure if we'll see Boateng as a defensive midfielder, but who knows.
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Sorry to bring that back up, but it's imo one of the main reasons why Schalke look much better and more consistent throughout games at the moment. The team still needs a lot of work of course and I'm not sure if he's happy to play that position longterm, but with Huntelaar back upfront and Meyer clearly way too good to be benched, I'd expect him to be the longterm solution in CM/DM for Schalke, can't see a different way to include him in the starting line-up.

Also, I was really impressed with Kaan Ayhan yesterday. He came in for Neustädter after 30minutes and looked class. It's crazy how many quality u21 players Schalke have in their squad. Kolasinac, Meyer and Draxler are already regular starters, Clemens and Goretzka so far haven't impressed, but at least with Goretzka I'm sure he'll make the next step soon enough. Matip and Papadopoulos are still really young and the upcoming youth generation has a few more brilliant talents. Sam already signed a contract for next season, Höwedes hasn't peaked yet. The big questionmark still is the manager, but yesterday the team played great pressing and brilliant counterattacks, pretty sure Draxler would have excelled in that style of football. So maybe Keller can really turn it around? At least he has proven that he's great at bringing youth players into the team and that's at the moment probably the most important part of his job.
 
Sphaero said:
Just saw the highlights of the Schalke game. Was watching the United game at that time (god knows why...).

They look really good right now and are back on track for the CL. I actually think that they will become Dortmund´s main competition for the 2nd place. Maybe I underestimated Keller....
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Longterm or this season? I expected Leverkusen to drop off as well, but I'm not so sure anymore. The Leverkusen - Schalke game next Saturday will be very interesting, followed by the game at home against Mainz, which should tell us more about Keller's tactical development against mastermind Tuchel, then Real at home in the CL and away to Bayern in the league. If they get through those weeks with 4 points in the league and without embarrassing themselves against Real and Bayern, then I start to believe they might be a threat for the 2nd place.
 
Balu said:
Longterm or this season? I expected Leverkusen to drop off as well, but I'm not so sure anymore. The Leverkusen - Schalke game next Saturday will be very interesting, followed by the game at home against Mainz, which should tell us more about Keller's tactical development against mastermind Tuchel, then Real at home in the CL and away to Bayern in the league. If they get through those weeks with 4 points in the league and without embarrassing themselves against Real and Bayern, then I start to believe they might be a threat for the 2nd place.
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This season. Long term the biggest competition will unfortunately be Wolfsburg. They have now found a pretty good setup with Allofs and Hecking and begin to use the big financial backing by Volkswagen with effeciency.

In terms of this Season, I see Leverkusen not as strong anymore. Since the win vs. Dortmund they lost quite some steam, although a win in Gladbach is still an impressive feat no matter what. I also don´t see them continuing to be as lucky in terms of injuries. Among the top 6 they were clearly the most fortunate in that regard and that was a major factor in their table position. It was quite telling what the loss of one quality player (Sam) could do to them. If they would suffer as much as the longer loss of two quality player like Bender or Kießling, they would in my eyes struggle immensively. It is quite clear, that they could have never handled the injury problems that Bayern or Schalke suffered in the first half, let alone a clusterfeck like what happened to us. Their squad is still very very thin.

Schalke on the other hand have catched a break in that aspect and their form is clearly pointing upwards. They also finally got some calm atmosphere in the club, which is really helping them.

Both will most likely exit the CL at the current stage, so they will be able to concentrate on the league.

Right now, depite the six point difference I think Schalke has the better odds of making top 3.
 
Kostur said:
0-1 Aubameyang.

Dirty match at times I felt. Zambrano is a right cnut.
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Can´t believe he finished the game without a yellow. Outside of that it was a game with a lot of grit, but was overall led well by referee Kircher. I like the way he handles it on the pitch.

It was the expected hard game vs. Frankfurt. They are usually a very strong home team and rediscovered that strength recently. Given that we basically played with only half of our best starting XI and stood very solid in the back, it was a well deserved and satisfying win. Sahin and Mkhitaryan with strong performances and while some may doubt Aubameyang´s technical skill, he is worth every cent of the 13 Mil. € we payed for him in the summer. He simply has this instinct when it comes to scoring goals. 14 goals in around 1800 minutes this season. Thats one hell of a quota for a inward forward.
 
Sphaero said:
Can´t believe he finished the game without a yellow. Outside of that it was a game with a lot of grit, but was overall led well by referee Kircher. I like the way he handles it on the pitch.

It was the expected hard game vs. Frankfurt. They are usually a very strong home team and rediscovered that strength recently. Given that we basically played with only half of our best starting XI and stood very solid in the back, it was a well deserved and satisfying win. Sahin and Mkhitaryan with strong performances and while some may doubt Aubameyang´s technical skill, he is worth every cent of the 13 Mil. € we payed for him in the summer. He simply has this instinct when it comes to scoring goals. 14 goals in around 1800 minutes this season. Thats one hell of a quota for a inward forward.
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Aye, 11 goals in the league that is? Just two behind Robert and he's not taking penos, lack of assists is worrying though. Huge credit to Kloppo that he taught him how to defend properly, today he did some amazing sprint in dunno, 80th minute, made a sliding tackle and kept the ball in. Amazing how good Friedrich is for youse as well, from a guy that was 'unemployed' for some time to a very decent back up. Will Hummels be back for the next BL match ? What's up with Reus ? Injured?
 
Kostur said:
Aye, 11 goals in the league that is? Just two behind Robert and he's not taking penos, lack of assists is worrying though. Huge credit to Kloppo that he taught him how to defend properly, today he did some amazing sprint in dunno, 80th minute, made a sliding tackle and kept the ball in. Amazing how good Friedrich is for youse as well, from a guy that was 'unemployed' for some time to a very decent back up. Will Hummels be back for the next BL match ? What's up with Reus ? Injured?
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Hummels is expected to return vs. Hamburg in the league game after the next, so no. Reus has a thigh injury from the Bremen game and is probably out for two weeks.

Auba is quite clearly a natural striker and finisher so assists are not his main concern. It will be interesting to see what plans Klopp has for him in the next season when Lewandowski is gone. There is of course the possibility of moving him forward on the pitch.

One thing becomes more and more clear. Dortmund won´t choose a marquee signing like Dzeko, Martinez or Costa to replace the Pole. They will very likely split the burden up on mulitiple shoulders. We are heavily linked with Adrian Ramos, who has a remarkable record this season but whose biggest strength is actually the interplay with the midfield. Additional reports point towards the huge German talent Kevin Volland, who is an offensive allrounder. With Ji a player of this mould is already certain to join in the summer.

So maybe we won´t see that much of a "classic" CF in the next seasons play of Dortmund, but rather a group of versatile offensive players, who interchange with each other and all offer goal threat like the current offensive midfielders Reus, Kuba and Mkhitaryan.
 
I hope Dortmund can get their hands on Volland in the summer he really seems like the perfect fit for their team. Of course though he might be fairly expensive because I don't think Hoffenheim would sell him for less then 15m €.
 
I'm amazed by Aubameyang.. he often looks like he's a slightly better version of Odonkor, but then suddenly he's in the perfect position and scores an important goal.
 
strongwalker said:
I thought Lewa had a part in the dirty scenes, too. Tried to get Zambrano sent off, trying to dive for a pen... and god knows what else happened when there was no camera on them. About even between them, i'd say.
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I'm not sure if it was Lewa trying to get Zambrano sent off or the latter diving whole game with any contact and then elbowing Lewandowski off the ball that was the cnut to be fair.

You could see that everybody was pissed off at him, Kehl, Schmelzer, Großkreutz all gave him shit at some point. ( I like Lewandowski so I'm surely a bit biased, mind )
 
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