Bundesliga 2015/2016

[Balu]

We also should not forget that Leverkusen could not convince a way more important player than Son to stay, who would rather play EL for another team in Germany than Cl with them and that guy was homegrown. Leverkusen has simply not the name to compete with a lot of English clubs.

He wouldn't be a starter at Leverkusen this season, so who cares. Never understood why you guys were even interested. Nice option for the bench, but nothing more.

Also, Leverkusen 2-0 . Lazio is awful, but somehow I think they'll score once. Leverkusen needs a 3rd to kill the game.

 

[ctp]

Is this how WW3 starts? Bundesliga and Premier league fans arguing over who is richer and besterer?

Not much of an argument. Premier League is richer and Bundesliga is besterer.

And Rooney goal

 

[Balu]

Is this how WW3 starts? Bundesliga and Premier league fans arguing over who is richer and besterer?

Don't think though. The Premier League is richer, but we're besterer. Fair deal in my opinion, everyone is happy now.

 

[The Mitcher]

Not much of an argument. Premier League is richer and Bundesliga is besterer.

And Rooney goal

Rooney indeed

Knowing football, it works in cycles, it could be the reverse in the future.

 

[The Mitcher]

Don't think though. The Premier League is richer, but we're besterer. Fair deal in my opinion, everyone is happy now.

That's how the treaty of Versailles should have been!

 

[Balu]

If Leverkusen play like that on Saturday, we'll lose with our centerback-less team. I hope they shit their pants and collapse as usual when they travel to Munich though.

 

[do.ob]

If Leverkusen play like that on Saturday, we'll lose with our centerback-less team. I hope they shit their pants and collapse as usual when they travel to Munich though.

Imagine the media bullshit fest though if you guys lose and Dortmund get their predictable win against Hertha?

 

[Sphaero]

He wouldn't be a starter at Leverkusen this season, so who cares. Never understood why you guys were even interested. Nice option for the bench, but nothing more.

Also, Leverkusen 2-0 . Lazio is awful, but somehow I think they'll score once. Leverkusen needs a 3rd to kill the game.

Well Leverkusen did, a lot. Enough to increase their initial contract offer twice to get rid of the clause. I also doubt that he would not be a starter for them now given that he was their most consistent performer for the last two seasons and can play four positions for them. Castro being underrated is nothing new, though. Him not starting for us has more to do with the form of his competition and him not being suited for the anchor role in Tuchel´s system.

 

[Balu]

Well Leverkusen did, a lot. Enough to increase their initial contract offer twice to get rid of the clause. I also doubt that he would not be a starter for them now given that he was their most consistent player for the last two seasons and can play four positions for them. Castro being underrated is nothing new, though. Him not starting for us has more to do with the form of his competition and him not being suited for the anchor role in Tuchel´s system.

Never understood the hype and you won't convince me otherwise. Kramer is already on a higher level than Castro ever was and if not for Aranguiz' injury, no one would miss him. Even with that horrible bad luck, I'm not sure anyone misses him.

 

[do.ob]

I don't know what to make of Castro. As long as Kagawa and Gündogan stay fit I don't see him starting many games, but if he can show his form of last year again he will be Tuchel's 12th man.

Never understood the hype and you won't convince me otherwise. Kramer is already on a higher level than Castro ever was and if not for Aranguiz' injury, no one would miss him. Even with that horrible bad luck, I'm not sure anyone misses him.

Aranguiz was his direct replacement though, It doesn't look like they would've bought him if it wasn't for Castro leaving.

 

[Sphaero]

Never understood the hype and you won't convince me otherwise. Kramer is already on a higher level than Castro ever was and if not for Aranguiz' injury, no one would miss him. Even with that horrible bad luck, I'm not sure anyone misses him.

So, they try to get Hojberg on a loan deal because they enjoy acting as your academy or what?

Declaring Aranguiz who has not kicked at a ball for a single game minute for Leverkusen as the better suited player compared to their best player last season (not my words, but the rating of any Leverkusen supporter I know) is also way too soon. I have also seen him for Chile at the WC and Copa and he was impressive, but we also both know that not every performance for the nation or different club automatically translates into success at a new club. Otherwise there would be way less flops running around.

 

[Balu]

So, they try to get Hojberg on a loan deal because they enjoy playing your academy or what?

Well, obviously they need a back-up now that one of their midfielders is out for 6 months. Leverkusen fans always had very strange opinions on Castro, that doesn't mean a lot. Oh and I didn't really say anything about Aranguiz. I've no idea how he'll do in the Bundesliga, even though I really rate him. But Bender - Kramer - Calhanoglu is better than any midfield you could build with Castro in it. I don't even know yet, how Aranguiz will fit in once he's back.

Papa with a fecking brilliant tackle and Brandt with a fantastic decision to pass the ball. 3-0 game over. Well done, Leverkusen.

 

[gofelx]

Even though I can't stand Leverkusen at all they deserve that today. Nice to have all 4 German teams in the CL. Brandt is a gem.

 

[Blackwidow]

According to BILD Thiago has signed a contract extension to 2019!

 

[Balu]

According to BILD Thiago has signed a contract extension to 2019!

That would be fecking awesome. And totally out of the blue.

 

[Sphaero]

Well, obviously they need a back-up now that one of their midfielders is out for 6 months. Leverkusen fans always had very strange opinions on Castro, that doesn't mean a lot. Oh and I didn't really say anything about Aranguiz. I've no idea how he'll do in the Bundesliga, even though I really rate him. But Bender - Kramer - Calhanoglu is better than any midfield you could build with Castro in it. I don't even know yet, how Aranguiz will fit in once he's back.

Papa with a fecking brilliant tackle and Brandt with a fantastic decision to pass the ball. 3-0 game over. Well done, Leverkusen.

Ok, no use in prolonging that further ^^

Can´t always agree on everything

That would be fecking awesome. And totally out of the blue.

Certainly surprising. I thought he would tie his future closer to Guardiola, unless he does exactly that and Guardiola extends aswell in the near future.

But by all means, sign and keep all the midfielders you can find

so that you keep your hands off Gündogan ^^

 

[Blackwidow]

Certainly surprising. I thought he would tie his future closer to Guardiola, unless he does exactly that and Guardiola extends aswell in the near future.

But by all means, sign and keep all the midfielders you can findo that yu keep your hands off Gündogan ^^

I do not really think it is surprising. He seems to really feel well in Munich. The last video of his "371" documentary in which he tells about the 371 days of his injury shows that, too.

 

[maze]

i had a look at leverkusen's senior squad and found quite a bunch of youngsters i had mostly never heard of before - can anyone rate the following players in any way?

robin becker (18, RB), german u18 international
lukas boeder (18, CB), german u18 international
marlon frey (19, DM), german
vladlen yurchenko (19, AM), ukrainian u21 international
ruy seung-woo (21, AM/CF), south-korean u20 international

add to that the likes of tin jedvaj (19, CB), jonathan tah (19, CB), wendell (22, LB), hakan calhanoglu (21, CM/AM) and julian brandt (21, LW), each of whom have already been proving themselves in the bundesliga, more or less. that's just fantastic imho.

 

[Earthquake]

i had a look at leverkusen's senior squad and found quite a bunch of youngsters i had mostly never heard of before - can anyone rate the following players in any way?

robin becker (18, RB), german u18 international
lukas boeder (18, CB), german u18 international
marlon frey (19, DM), german
vladlen yurchenko (19, AM), ukrainian u21 international
ruy seung-woo (21, AM/CF), south-korean u20 international

add to that the likes of tin jedvaj (19, CB), jonathan tah (19, CB), wendell (22, LB), hakan calhanoglu (21, CM/AM) and julian brandt (21, LW), each of whom have already been proving themselves in the bundesliga, more or less. that's just fantastic imho.

It's like a Football Manager squad. Mad.

 

[maze]

but then look at that interesting table, which reveals that leverkusen do barely make use of their own academy players (or were unable/unwilling to), with christoph kramer being their only self-made academy offspring who has in fact any bundesliga experience, or any name to him, for that matter - though he was in fact developed to his prime during his two-season loan spell at gladbach, under lucien favre:

number of home-grown players in the squad

SCHALKE: 12 (697) <- collective bundesliga appearances for the home club
BREMEN: 11 (175)
FRANKFURT: 8 (331)
DORTMUND: 7 (634)
HANNOVER: 7 (8)
STUTTGART: 7 (312)
HOFFENHEIM: 7 (69)
BAYERN: 6 (707)
GLADBACH: 6 (365)
WOLFSBURG: 6 (138)
HERTHA: 6 (98)
AUGSBURG: 6 (0)
COLOGNE: 5 (59)
LEVERKUSEN: 5 (2)
MAINZ: 5 (70)
DARMSTADT: 4 (0)
HAMBURG: 3 (10)
INGOLSTADT: 1 (0)

- - -

leverkusen's current generation of young, exciting starlets have been brought in from other clubs, at some point, when most of them had already made it into a senior squad and had at least minor experience in competitive top-level matches - except for julian brandt, who had only gone through wolfsburg's academy, though widely deemed to be one of germany's brightest u-18 talents, before he went on to sign his first professional contract at leverkusen.

schalke, on the other hand, have continuously managed to develop (and make proper use of) a seemingly neverending crop of self-made, gifted youngsters.
those 12 home-grown players in their squad are the following: höwedes, matip, draxler, fährmann, meyer, kolasinac, sané, ayhan, marvin friedrich, platte, kehrer, multhaup - that's SEVEN players with ambitions for a starting spot!

as it might be of interest:

dortmund's seven home-grown players are sahin, reus, schmelzer, großkreutz, dudziak, duksch and stenzel.
their approach seems to have switched to bringing in more external talent at a rather early stage, scouting all age groups from u15 to u19, or so it appears, on an international level as well. here's more on that: http://constantineckner.com/2015/04/the-future-of-borussia-dortmund-is-secured/

bayern's six home-grown players are lahm, müller, alaba, badstuber, gaudino and greene.

- - -

ps. the above table is of course jaded due to some clubs being feeders to other clubs, what with geis from mainz to schalke, or sinan kurt from gladbach to bayern, or sarr from leverkusen to dortmund, or selke from bremen to leipzig, and so on. plus richer, bigger clubs have a broader network and outreach, as well as simply much more money when it comes to talent scouting and luring away other clubs' most promising players, be it regionally (see stuttgart, schalke, hamburg, leipzig for example) or internationally (see leverkusen, dortmund etc)

 

[Blackwidow]

Do not tell me that Reus is homegrown when he has spend the time from 15 to 23 somewhere else...

Kampl and Kramer are more homegrown for Leverkusen than Reus is for Dortmund...

 

[Balu]

The transfers of Son to Tottenham and Kampl to Leverkusen are official. If Brandt can step it up and keep Kampl out of the team, it's a brilliant piece of business for Leverkusen. I hope Schmidt doesn't favour Kampl too much and gives Brandt a fair chance to play. I still don't rate Kampl, but maybe he can have some sort of impact in a system he's familiar with and well suited for.

Seems like Leverkusen take Hojbjerg on loan for a year. I'm not a big fan of loan deals between the better teams in the league, but I guess it makes sense after Aranguiz injury. They get a cheap temporarily back-up. I'm not sure how much playing time Hojbjerg will get though, can't see him being a regular starter at Leverkusen at the moment. I'd rather see him go back to Augsburg for another year and play regularly in the league and in the EL.

I've no clue what Wolfsburg is doing now. Selling both Perisic and De Bruyne so late in the window is totally insane unless they have a quality replacement lined up. And why does Draxler want out now? That's also very odd after his disastrous last few seasons. He should stay at least one more year before moving on for the sake of his career.

Strange days ahead of us.

 

[Piratesoup]

I've no clue what Wolfsburg is doing now. Selling both Perisic and De Bruyne so late in the window is totally insane unless they have a quality replacement lined up.

Just when I thought they had begun to establish themselves as a top team, they seem to set themselves back another year or two. Which player(s) can they have possibly lined up this late in the window to compensate the loss of de Bruyne? Would have been hard enough at the beginning of the transfer period, but now?

 

[Scarecrow]

I do not really think it is surprising. He seems to really feel well in Munich. The last video of his "371" documentary in which he tells about the 371 days of his injury shows that, too.

Thanks for that, great watch. He seems like a great guy.

 

[RedSky]

i had a look at leverkusen's senior squad and found quite a bunch of youngsters i had mostly never heard of before - can anyone rate the following players in any way?

robin becker (18, RB), german u18 international
lukas boeder (18, CB), german u18 international
marlon frey (19, DM), german
vladlen yurchenko (19, AM), ukrainian u21 international
ruy seung-woo (21, AM/CF), south-korean u20 international

add to that the likes of tin jedvaj (19, CB), jonathan tah (19, CB), wendell (22, LB), hakan calhanoglu (21, CM/AM) and julian brandt (21, LW), each of whom have already been proving themselves in the bundesliga, more or less. that's just fantastic imho.

Brandt is 19. Dont know much about the top 3, but Yurchenko and Ryu played a bit pre season. Not convinced Ryu will make it given his age but Yurchenko looks promising. Neither are close to the quality of Brandt though!

 

[Sphaero]

Strange days ahead of us.

And busy ones at that. We also sold our youngster Jeremy Dudziak to St. Pauli today (with a rebuy clause, though), so that he can develop properly. On the other side the deal with the Korean LB Joo-Ho Park of Mainz (former Tuchel player) is appearantly as good as done, who will be Schmelzer´s back up.

According to the "Ruhrnachrichten", who are usually close to Dortmund, both Großkreutz and Kuba () are on the way out. If the Pole takes this understandable step, we will certainly buy another offensive player in the window. Can´t shake the feeling that Zorc and Tuchel have prepared something very surprising. I don´t think it will be more than one buy, though. I also picked up some chatter around Dortmund that Felix Passlack might play a small role in the first team in this season already. Not that unthinkable given how well he performs in the U19 Bundesliga and how far he is developed physically at his age (17).

 

[Xivon]

Hojbjerg on a 1 year loan to Schalke.

 

[Balu]

Why Schalke? That's just weird. They have more than enough young talents themselves and they should give playing time to them. They also have the worst injury record in the world, I'm really worried about his health now .

Stupid idea, makes no sense.

 

[Scarecrow]

Surely Draxler's leaving then? Don't know, weird move that, indeed. They've played 4:4:2 lately and have Geis and Goretzka already. The former is surely going to be a starter. Hojbjerg could displace Goretzka eventually, but why would Schalke want that? They should be doing everything they can to make a good partnership out of those two.

 

[OutlawGER]

And busy ones at that. We also sold our youngster Jeremy Dudziak to St. Pauli today (with a rebuy clause, though), so that he can develop properly. On the other side the deal with the Korean LB Joo-Ho Park of Mainz (former Tuchel player) is appearantly as good as done, who will be Schmelzer´s back up.

According to the "Ruhrnachrichten", who are usually close to Dortmund, both Großkreutz and Kuba () are on the way out. If the Pole takes this understandable step, we will certainly buy another offensive player in the window. Can´t shake the feeling that Zorc and Tuchel have prepared something very surprising. I don´t think it will be more than one buy, though. I also picked up some chatter around Dortmund that Felix Passlack might play a small role in the first team in this season already. Not that unthinkable given how well he performs in the U19 Bundesliga and how far he is developed physically at his age (17).

Hm. Makes kinda no sense to me. Why sell Kampl if you are going to sell Kuba aswell?

There should be a good signing incoming. Otherwise Dortmund will be fecked once again if just a few keyplayers get injured.

 

[PedroMendez]

Quite honestly, I don´t think that Hojbjerg has a future in Munich. At least not in the next 2-3 years.

 

[Balu]

Surely Draxler's leaving then? Don't know, weird move that, indeed. They've played 4:4:2 lately and have Geis and Goretzka already. The former is surely going to be a starter. Hojbjerg could displace Goretzka eventually, but why would Schalke want that? They should be doing everything they can to make a good partnership out of those two.

Don't think Hojbjerg has anything to do with Draxler, totally different players.

 

[Scarecrow]

Don't think Hojbjerg has anything to do with Draxler, totally different players.

It has to do with someone being dropped from the starting XI to accommodate him.

 

[Balu]

It has to do with someone being dropped from the starting XI to accommodate him.

I don't think Hojbjerg will start if everyone is fit, certainly not instead of Draxler. If Breitenreiter wants to play with a 3 man midfield instead, Di Santo should be benched.

 

[OutlawGER]

Dortmund in europa against Krasnodar and Qäbälä.

They really fecked up last season, didn't they?!

 

[buckooo1978]

Dortmund in europa against Krasnodar and Qäbälä.

They really fecked up last season, didn't they?

probably favourites to win it though and some of their football looks fantastic so far....

end of the cycle for one great manager and the start of something new and exciting this year

 

[Sphaero]

Hm. Makes kinda no sense to me. Why sell Kampl if you are going to sell Kuba aswell?

There should be a good signing incoming. Otherwise Dortmund will be fecked once again if just a few keyplayers get injured.

If we don´t bring in someone who might add more than Kuba, then we won´t let him go. Kampl was surplus and not really fitting in Tuchel´s plans but selling another player in that area without proper cover would thin us out too much there, yes.

 

[Sphaero]

I´m normally not someone who posts random youtube clips, but I just ran across a very insightful interview of Schalke´s offensive talent Donis Avdijaj (currently loaned to Graz) and I thought I share that with the German speaking members on here:



Truly one of the finest straight out of the "Knappenschmiede"

 

[Nighteyes]

As someone who barley watched Gladbach, can someone tell me if Max Kruse is any good?

 

[maze]

Do not tell me that Reus is homegrown when he has spend the time from 15 to 23 somewhere else...

Kampl and Kramer are more homegrown for Leverkusen than Reus is for Dortmund...

i took it from here: http://www.transfermarkt.de/jumplist/jugendarbeit/verein/16/wettbewerb_id/L1/option/4 - though i feel you have a point there