Piza is class, love that guy! Good to see the team playing more direct football in the second half, hopefully we see more of the same on Tuesday.
Bundesliga 13/14
- Thread starter Balu
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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.
well. the team fixed the scoreline and seem to enjoy the game now. That could really boost the confidence of Ribery.
That's the single most important factor for the game on Tuesday.
1. I don't think that Bayern are too worried about the Cup final at the moment. Even if your theory about confidence had some validity, Bayern rightly did not give any importance to the game versus Dortmund.
2. I have not watched the Bayern games versus United, but from what I have heard, United had 11 men inside the box for the entire tie basically. With so many of their players being physically strong, no wonder Bayern had trouble dispatching them. I did watch the Bayern game versus Madrid the other day, and I thought Bayern were tremendous, quite astonishing in the early stages of the game to be honest. The difference was that they were not facing Werder Bremen, or even United or Chelsea. They were facing a team that could hit them on the break like lightning, and despite all their great play, they could have conceded even more in that first half. Bayern Munich are not the only great club in Europe and some people should include that in their calculations. Also lots of talk over Pep's tactics in that game, but so little mentioning of Ribery being utter shite. For my part, I always look at the players first and their performances, managers/tactics come much later and are far less significant.
Well, your C-side was in better shape last season that it is this one then. It has nothing to do with the first XI.
Ribery has been a relative disappointment for you this season, and I thought that against Real was completely ineffective.
would love to be in the stadium today 
sunny day, good offensive football and bremen fans are a nice bunch.
sunny day, good offensive football and bremen fans are a nice bunch.
You also have to take into account that it's a World Cup year and players are being more careful not to get an injury. And like Balu mentioned, last year the team was simply on a mission from start to finish.
Robben comes on and immediately scores! Loving the second half so far, hopefully this will be a massive confidence boost to the team.
Pep's reaction to Bayern's goal
Pep is such a hipster!
And Schweinsteiger has more white hair on his head than Guardiola has hair.
Poor Pep. He's gutted about Vilanova
I wonder how the death of one of his closest friends in football is affecting him.
Poor Pep
Good match by Leverkusen and Dortmund, 2:2 right now with 25 minutes to go. Reus assisted and scored the second from a penalty and he has now been involved in 45 goals in 41 games for Dortmund.
Apparently he's having a not so good season though
.Dreadful season indeed. Are they judging him by the Messi/Ronaldo criteria?Apparently he's having a not so good season though
I've no idea, I just think it's weird when people talk about Dortmund having a poor season and Reus not being very good overall, which happened quite a lot. They could finish on more than 70 points, are in the cup final with a great chance of winning it and were unlucky to go out in the CL quarterfinals against Real Madrid.
Reus has probably been our best performer this season, but people believe what they want to believe no matter what. The same can be said about Hummels, though, who according to some people is still in a form crisis despite being absolute class before and after his injury this season.
He's had a good season overall, has been bad in some games but it's not fair to say he has been poor. A lot of their attacking edge has depended on him. Considering how injury plagued Dortmund has been, I think their season is a tremendous success and they may still end it with a trophy.
Leverkusen now a point ahead of Wolfsburg in 4th. If only they hadn't fecked up their match. We are in for another season of them in the CL, aren't we?
Leverkusen now a point ahead of Wolfsburg in 4th. If only they hadn't fecked up their match. We are in for another season of them in the CL, aren't we?
Well, if that's a bad season for Dortmund, then I'm really worried about your next good season, let alone a great one
I don't mind that. Leverkusen will invest this summer, I actually like their new manager and even though they probably feck up again against a big club, they consistently beat the smaller teams and will make it through the group stages. Can't complain about that. Wolfsburg will spend anyway, doubt it makes a huge difference and they could have the squad depth to actually go far in the Europa league. I'm pretty sure it's the first time ever that we have the same 4 clubs in the top 4 and hopefully all 4 again in the CL this year. The league needs a bit stability at the top to develop further, imo.Leverkusen now 4pts ahead of Wolfsburg in 4th. We are in for another season of them in the CL, aren't we?
That vid of Pep is really sad.
Well, they will need to given that they lose Sidney Sam for peanuts and lets face it, their squad is paper thin right now. A lot of their good first season half was on the back on some big luck in terms of injuries. To really be able to compete in the CL they will need at least three (depending on Brandt´s development maybe even four) good signings to have the necessary squad depth. In the long run Wolfsburg´s chances are way better.
Leverkusen like Schalke are still candidates to make it out of the group stages, but in the end they are not sides to put your money on in the latter stages. In the end it will fall again on the shoulders of Bayern and Dortmund to hold the German flag high on the International stage.
Bayern is a natural and if this season has proven anything, then that Dortmund´s squad has turned out to be deeper than many have given it credit for. Granted, that this is also partly because of the transfer of Milos Jojic, who could turn out to be a fantastic scouting by Zorc, and the phenomenal development of Oliver Kirch, who is now actually a viable option for us. We will really invest for the first time in over a decade in the summer and will very likely come out stronger like every summer under Klopp, which is an amazing accomplishment given the players we lost to bigger clubs.
Yeah, longterm it should be Bayern, Dortmund, Schalke and Wolfsburg. For now, I'm fine with Leverkusen as 4th. Wolfsburg should play at least two good seasons in a row and earn their CL appearance, not fluke it with one good year.
That vid of Pep is really sad.
Heartbreaking almost.
Never nice to lose anyone you know let alone one of your closest friends.
Hasnt Völler announced, that there will be a major overhaul of the squad after this season? They have a lot of deadwood in their squad. Leno, Bender and Kießling are surely their most important players. Castro, Son, Hegeler, Toprak, Spahic are good-to-have, but if you want to compete in the CL these players shouldnt necessarily be starter; at least not all of them.
Brandt, Ötztunali and Can are all talented enough to get time on the pitch, but nobody can expect that they play a whole season on CL-level.
The rest of the squad is incredible average (Robbie Kruse, Derdiyok, Rolfes, Reinartz, Donati, Hilbert, Guardado, Boenisch, Wollscheid). Dont get me wrong, its okay to have a couple of those players in your squad, but there are too many.
The first time I look at their transfer history and its actually not looking so good. Many of their signings never showed up and the few player that performed on a high level had to be sold (Schürle, Vidal, Renato Augusto, Carvajal).
They already singed the brasilien "Wendell" for 5,5m for the next season. He is talented but their left-back transfers are all a bid odd. Anyway. I saw him once but I am not sure how this is going to turn out.
Brandt, Ötztunali and Can are all talented enough to get time on the pitch, but nobody can expect that they play a whole season on CL-level.
The rest of the squad is incredible average (Robbie Kruse, Derdiyok, Rolfes, Reinartz, Donati, Hilbert, Guardado, Boenisch, Wollscheid). Dont get me wrong, its okay to have a couple of those players in your squad, but there are too many.
The first time I look at their transfer history and its actually not looking so good. Many of their signings never showed up and the few player that performed on a high level had to be sold (Schürle, Vidal, Renato Augusto, Carvajal).
They already singed the brasilien "Wendell" for 5,5m for the next season. He is talented but their left-back transfers are all a bid odd. Anyway. I saw him once but I am not sure how this is going to turn out.
Leverkusen does not compete for being the winner in the CL. The most of the teams are not really, or? For them it is a success to get out of the group stage and reach the final of 16th.
I think the most average on European ground is Kießling. Look at his international stats. He just does not cut it there. That is why I never understand that so much wanted him in the national team - he is good in his system and works fine on national ground, but we do not play this system in the German national team and why should somebody that does not have a good international record be there.
It for sure did. They were very close already in La Masia and even if they had different career path came together again in as coaches of Barcelona B. And they worked very close with each other that 5 years for Barcelona B and Barcelona. It is not an 8 to 5 job...
I think the most average on European ground is Kießling. Look at his international stats. He just does not cut it there. That is why I never understand that so much wanted him in the national team - he is good in his system and works fine on national ground, but we do not play this system in the German national team and why should somebody that does not have a good international record be there.
It for sure did. They were very close already in La Masia and even if they had different career path came together again in as coaches of Barcelona B. And they worked very close with each other that 5 years for Barcelona B and Barcelona. It is not an 8 to 5 job...
I'm actually interested to see how they will do under Schmidt, been impressed with his work at Salzburg. Bild posted that, should they qualify for the CL they might try and go for Drmic and Calhanoglu. Two very good transfers if they pull it off, and in Brandt they've got one great talent. I agree that Wolfsburg need 1-2 season in Europa first instead of going straight into the CL, I just wrote that comment as I just dislike Leverkusen's lack of any ambition. We'll see how it goes, hopefully there will be some differences under Schmidt.Well, if that's a bad season for Dortmund, then I'm really worried about your next good season, let alone a great one
I don't mind that. Leverkusen will invest this summer, I actually like their new manager and even though they probably feck up again against a big club, they consistently beat the smaller teams and will make it through the group stages. Can't complain about that. Wolfsburg will spend anyway, doubt it makes a huge difference and they could have the squad depth to actually go far in the Europa league. I'm pretty sure it's the first time ever that we have the same 4 clubs in the top 4 and hopefully all 4 again in the CL this year. The league needs a bit stability at the top to develop further, imo.
That said, Wolfsburg and Gladbach in Europa next year should be very exciting.
With Hamburg's loss today they are effectively relegated if Stuttgart get one point from their last two games. Even if Stuttgart lost their last two they would need to beat Bayern and Mainz (7th) to stand a chance of surviving. Incredible mismanagement at that club.
The 16th placed team plays a 2 legged relegation play off tie against the 3rd place team from the 2nd Bundesliga. The point about the mismanagement is of course still true, but they still have a chance to stay in the league. Though the two remaining games are at home against Bayern and away at Mainz and I expect them to loose both games. If one of Nürnberg or Braunschweig win one of their remaining two games, Hamburg is definitely going down.
How is Lars Bender doing this season? Saw him a bit earlier on and he looked good but hearing he has been poor recently. Any idea why?
Firmino's superb season continues as he scores against Dortmund. I wonder if Scolari will invite him to the Brazil squad.
Don´t think so. From what i rememeber from Scolari portuguese call ups, he is very conservative and usually has a set group of players who he trusts. If he was never called i doubt he will be now.
If he won't call Filipe Luís, he will not call anyone else who are not 'regulars'.
exactly
Yeah, he reminds me of VdB in that sense. However, he was recently in Hoffenheim to watch him play so he might keep him in mind. Probably won't happen still.
Kaan Ayhan, a 19 year old CB playing for Schalke scored his first Bundesliga goal today!
Well at least that´s something. Scolari was very "lazy" in what regards player scouting. But our pool of potencial players for call ups was very limited compared to Brazil´s though.
Neuer is still drunk, but at least Götze shows a bit of his brilliance.
Superb from Gotze. Brilliant goal that.
Dortmund have gone 2:1 up now.
Dortmund have gone 2:1 up now.
Dortmund turns the game in a matter of 5 minutes. Beautiful goals by Großkreutz, Mkhitaryan and Piszczek. Reus with another assist for the second one. 30 scorer (16 goals/14 assists) in 29 Bundesliga games now. 46 scorer in all competitions for Dortmund. Best German and Bundesliga player right now.