Wish Pep would show these kinds of balls in a CL away game for a change
Bundesliga 2015/2016
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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.
Hector is lost one on one. You could see how easily he was exposed for Germany in Löw's lazy defensive system where no one is helping the fullbacks. He's decent, but I'd rather see Höwedes back at leftback for Germany than him.
Bayerns system is like intentionally committing suicide against good counter attacking teams. I hope Guardiola is aware of that.
Judging by our last 2 seasons, he either isn't or he is but doesn't care that much.
How have Bayern set up?
I don't really get why Pep does things like today at the moment. He clearly hasn't found a well working midfield set-up for his style of play and he simply wastes the chance today to test a realistic formation against a well parked bus. He won't ever start like this against a quality side. Kimmich deserved to start a game, it's mental that he was used as a sub for Alonso so often but doesn't get a chance to play 90 minutes.
Yeah, there's no real point to this. Despite all those forwards, we create next to nothing while looking just as counter vulnerable. God, how I dread the winter break...
As for the midfield setup, Pep strikes me as either cowardly or unfruitful in his experimentation.
As for the midfield setup, Pep strikes me as either cowardly or unfruitful in his experimentation.
30mins in and all 5 games are goalless. Doesn't happen often in the Bundesliga!
Aaah, Robben. Well taken.
Now the floodgates are opening.
C'mon Mainz...
dafuq is this
dafuq is this
Is Costa playing in central midfield now?! 
Leverkusen 3:3 Stuttgart.
Chicha with the equalizer.
Chicha with the equalizer.
Leverkusen 3-3 . Leverkusen games are totally crazy this season.
. Leverkusen games are totally crazy this season.I really like Mehmedi. Shame he joined Leverkusen.
1000 Bundesliga wins and 10 in a row 
.
Oh and Leverkusen and Stuttgart
.Oh and Leverkusen
and Stuttgart Free beer in the Allianz Arena...
It is good to have a beer sponsor...
It is good to have a beer sponsor...
Leverkusen produce a lot of chances, but some bad finishing from their strikers. Chicharito has scored 5 goals in 10 games, and that's with a horrible miss or 2 every match. He's been like a mini-Benzema.
The 2nd half was crazy.
The 2nd half was crazy.
I'm still baffled by this game, Bremen were pretty crap but we somehow contrived to concede three goals to them. Add one of our weaker performances this season, shit finishing and an inept ref (denied us a stonewall pen at 0-1) and you get another home defeat.
The finishing - and Leverkusen leaves big holes in defense...
Pep probably watched a bit too much footage of Hungary's golden team in the 50's over the last week:
Still would have prefered to use a 'normal' formation, one that he would use in a difficult away game in the CL. We need to find one that works and gain as much confidence playing with it as possible. Can't really complain though, it was the perfect tactic to break down Cologne's parked bus and it is awesome to watch how much Pep changes and how he can make it work with crazy line-ups like that.
Still would have prefered to use a 'normal' formation, one that he would use in a difficult away game in the CL. We need to find one that works and gain as much confidence playing with it as possible. Can't really complain though, it was the perfect tactic to break down Cologne's parked bus and it is awesome to watch how much Pep changes and how he can make it work with crazy line-ups like that.
Pep probably watched a bit too much footage of Hungary's golden team in the 50's over the last week:
Still would have prefered to use a 'normal' formation, one that he would use in a difficult away game in the CL. We need to find one that works and gain as much confidence playing with it as possible. Can't really complain though, it was the perfect tactic to break down Cologne's parked bus and it is awesome to watch how much Pep changes and how he can make it work with crazy line-ups like that.
It really is. I'm loving it.
And if I'm not mistaken the first 15-20 minutes after half-time, we actually played something like this
Lahm..Boateng..Rafinha
..........Vidal...........
......Costa....Alaba......
Robben..Müller....Coman
........Lewandowski.....
Costa's position
In theory Pep's ever changing lineups are really interesting to observe, but the pedantic German in me wonders if a more consistent tactical approach wouldn't be better for Bayern in the long run. Given their vastly superior position compared to the rest of the league and the quite large point gap that's already beteween them and Dortmund imho his objective should be to prepare the team for the later stages of cup competitions and while I'm quite certain that a more conservative lineup would've beaten Köln convincingly too I very much doubt that we are likely to see a lineup like today's against Real, Barca &co (unless things go terribly wrong).
Yeah, I agree. I said the same before and after the game today. If we had a perfectly working midfield set-up, I wouldn't mind his experiments. But as the game against Arsenal showed, we don't have that. I guess he wanted to give Alonso and Thiago a rest before the cup game in Wolfsburg on Tuesday. But he really should have tried a midfield with Kimmich and Vidal today to find out how it works and if it's an option against top teams as well. It was fun, but at the same time it was a missed opportunity.
Our away form against better sides in 2015 has been a bit shit so far. I'm really nervous about the upcoming game. If we go out, Pep would have already lost the 2nd trophy this season (after the supercup) and the criticism will get louder and louder. He better has a really good plan in mind.
I expect him to start Tuesday with something like this:
Neuer
Lahm - Martinez - Boateng - Alaba
Alonso
Robben - Müller - Thiago - Costa
Lewy
That is the lineup from the second half against Wolfsburg with Robben for Götze and Thiago for Vidal.Lahm - Martinez - Boateng - Alaba
Alonso
Robben - Müller - Thiago - Costa
Lewy
That's an awful, awful line-up against a counterattacking team like Wolfsburg.
Pep's experiments are always weird. Most of the time they work but... why? He had the players to do a more conservative formation.
Still, it's fun to watch. You seldom see the tactics he employs sometimes.
Still, it's fun to watch. You seldom see the tactics he employs sometimes.
Is that your way of hyping yourself up for the game when your team is destroying the domestic competition?
Not sure what you mean. Do you think there's no reason to be nervous?Is that your way of hyping yourself up for the game when your team is destroying the domestic competition?
Away games in 2015 against the better sides:
In the league:
Wolfsburg - Bayern 4:1
Dortmund - Bayern 0:1
Leverkusen - Bayern 2:0
We didn't play Schalke, Gladbach away in 2015. Those are the top 5 teams behind us in my opinion.
Supercup:
Wolfsburg - Bayern 1:1, loss in penalty shoot-out
CL:
Donetsk - Bayern 0:0
Porto - Bayern 3:1
Barca - Bayern 3:0
Arsenal - Bayern 2:0
Those are what I would call the strong teams we faced in away games this year. 1 win, 1 draw, 6 losses. We're truely awful in away games.
/edit: forgot the cup quarterfinal in Leverkusen, which we won in the penalty shootout after it ended 0-0. Doesn't make it that much better though.
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Now take the results from last season away and things don't look quite as dramatic. Your squad was drastically improved in all the right places over the summer. That leaves only the supercup loss to Wolfsburg, which was early in the season and at a time when Wolfsburg still had de Bruyne (although they replaced him with Draxler), and the Arsenal game. There's no reason to be nervous in my opinion.
If I take last season's results away, we're left with the supercup and the away loss in the CL against Arsenal. We're really nowhere near as dominant in away games as we are at home.
But still way too good to be worried. I'd write the supercup loss off as an early-season blunder and Arsenal is an in-form team and better than any Bundesliga team bar Bayern and probably Dortmund, who they are at least on par with. I'm not saying it's gonna be another 5-1, but I also don't think you're gonna be in serious trouble either. Thus, I don't see a reason to be nervous.
Dortmund ripping Augsburg apart at the moment. 3:0 after just 30 minutes. Kagawa with two beautiful assists and Auba with his 11th goal of the league season. Augsburg is another good example of the curse that the EL can be. They simply do not have the squad to support this and suffer because of it.
3-0
Augsburg will most likely get relegated, it's a shame but you could see this coming. Key players like Baier are clearly struggling and it really hurts them.
Too early to say. I don´t think that they will just role over. They´ll play a better second half of the season (once they are out of the euro league). Hoffenheim and Hannover are in greater danger.
Hey, another normally closed game opened up by a blunder by the refs. What's new? THREE Augsburg players offside....
Who else scored for Dortmund?
Reus twice.