And that's Dortmund out of the top 4. Given how they've played this season, I struggle to see them getting back into the top 4.
German Football 20/21
- Thread starter do.ob
- Start date
Not saying I like Terzic, but honestly what can you do when you have an average goalkeeper? He's cost them three matches in a row now with poor goalkeeping, a real test is whether Terzic will drop him.Isn't it about time Dortmund appointed a proper manager..........?
Is the backup any better?
Hard to make predictions. If there's anything you can bank on, it's Leverkusen having a losing spell or two again. Gladbach will continue to drop points too. BVB have by far the best squad of their top 4 rivals, of course they also have by far the worst coach.
Horrible set piece defending is what's cost them tonight, and that's on the coach.
He's a really good 2nd goalkeeper to have, and certainly can do better than what Burki has been showing in the Bundesliga this season (it's ironic that Burki has been amazing in the UCL otherwise). Though he himself has had some shaky moments in the past.
You need a good spine of a team to be successful.
Set pieces had nothing to do with Burki spilling a simple free kick or failing to save a decent shot, those two goals took it from 2-1 Dortmund to 3-2 Gladbach.
Honestly him watching the third goal go in as if it was an amazing shot that he couldn't do anything with was a serious cope out.
I've said it for ages now that Burki is not a good enough goalkeeper to win a title. It's astonishing that they've kept him for this long and not looked for a better option.
Don't get me wrong, Bürki is a massive problem for BVB when it comes to taking the step to winning titles. But I don't think he should be regarded as a problem when it comes to reaching top 4. Hradecky isn't any better for example.
You're right, Mönchengladbach are equally capable of missing out on the top 4. I'm basing my prediction on the lack of mental fortitude from Dortmund, though. They have good spells, but whenever things go against them, they start to lose their confidence, and they get sloppier as a result. Mönchengladbach at least have more mental fortitude, and their defenders are more reliable even if they don't have as solid a defensive shape. They're also helped by having midfielders with a good passing range as well as solid work rate, allowing them to play on the counter as we just saw.
EDIT: On Leverkusen, they've looked more solid and pragmatic than I've ever seen them. They have a more balanced setup with Dragovic at right full back/right centre back, and their midfield is more balanced than Dortmund's, too. They might not have as clinical a goalscorer as Dortmund does, but they have enough goal threats and chance creators to make up for it.
No fan of Burki either, been saying it for years I'm amazed Dortmund have never signed a decent young keeper prospect or just loaned one in from somewhere. Think Hitz was a first choice for another Bundesliga club a few years back but looks like he's strictly number 2.
Dortmund is just like Liverpool were around 2016/17, just give away so many stupid goals every other game to win stuff.
Yann Sommer feels a fair obvious one they should've gone big on last few years. He's the main reason Burki has so few Swiss caps after all. Didn't realise Hitz was swiss aswell so Dortmund signed the wrong two.
Those are all very good points.
Can't argue against them, and just to state my gut feeling, it's that if there was a team to drop out of the current top 4 for BVB, I'd predict it's probably Leverkusen. I do disagree with the bolded part, I would consider Leverkusen's attacking personell in parts rather mediocre, and in the more talented parts very unreliable. And Bosz overseeing a balanced and stable team over a long period, I'll believe it when I see it.
Regarding BVB and mental fortitude, it just strikes me as a very bad, even reckless, idea to go with a completely inexperienced interim coach for the longest part of a whole season.
Favre is a happy man today 
We shall see, then. I wasn't convinced of them last season, but they look like a tougher team this season than before. They have the second-best Goals Against in the Bundesliga (17; Leipzig have 14). In terms of Goals Scored, beyond Bayern Munich, they have 32 goals scored, which is 3 goals behind both Dortmund and Mönchengladbach, both of whom have more recognisable goalscorers. That's impressive despite them not having a great goalscorer. Alario's okay, but he's not good enough to lead the line, and despite that, they are up there thanks to goals from other players (Bailey and Schick, most notably). Obviously, they won't be challenging for the Bundesliga, but that should be enough for a top 4 spot. The only way I'd see them struggle is if they somehow lose Wirtz. He's the key to their current balance. If he's not around, I do think that they'll be in trouble.
Mainz having some fun out there. They seem to be a scoring machine against the top sides.
Bad dropping of points by Leipzig if they don't win this.
Bad dropping of points by Leipzig if they don't win this.
All of BVB, Leipzig and Leverkusen losing, we're going to go 7 points clear tomorrow.
There's really no other way put it, the other so-called 'top teams' in this league are nothing more than a sad bunch of hopeless losers.
There's really no other way put it, the other so-called 'top teams' in this league are nothing more than a sad bunch of hopeless losers.
That's a rather un-nice way of putting it... Everyone in the EPL are hopeless losers as well, I take it? Cause that league is all over the place this year. I'd rather say that Bayern continues to be too good for the BL, to everyone but Bayern's eternal boredom.All of BVB, Leipzig and Leverkusen losing, we're going to go 7 points clear tomorrow.
There's really no other way put it, the other so-called 'top teams' in this league are nothing more than a sad bunch of hopeless losers.
How is Bozs viewed in Germany?
That's the thing - we haven't been too good for a few months now. In terms of points, we are roughly the same as in 18/19 under Kovac (well, I assume us to have 3 more points by tomorrow), but then BVB had 16 more points on the board at this point of the season. In Pep's last season, for comparison, we had 49 points after 18 games.
Who will make top 4 between Leverkusen, Gladbach and Dortmund is anybody's guess now. Leverkusen and Gladbach have the more cohesive collective, Dortmund have better individual quality - none of them are really consistent. A few weeks, after Dortmund beat Leipzig, things were looking rosy for them and Leverkusen seemed out of reach, while Gladbach appeared to be in crisis, now it's the other way around - Dortmund are under pressure, Leverkusen have lost a ton of games recently and Gladbach went on a run. 5 Games from now it might be the opposite again.
Coaching Leverkusen means the public barely pays attention to his job and his time at Dortmund basically rules out any kind of hype that his style might usually create. Aside from Bayern and Dortmund, Nagelsmann and Rose get by far the most attention. Then maybe Streich, because of his personality and perhaps Kohfeldt, because he's charismatic and Bremen is a club a lot of people care (a bit) about.
So what about Wolfsburg? They've sneaked their way into there now. Actually, lots of clubs are within touching distance now because of the instability of Leipzig, Leverkusen, Gladbach, and Dortmund. I suppose you guys still think it'll be between those four though?
I for one do, yes.
However I could see Frankfurt making a meaningful challenge towards top 4, over the rest of the season, rather than Wolfsburg, I could imagine they will have a strong Rückrunde.
I have no doubt that Leipzig will finish top 4. They may not be good enough to march through the competition, but they have both the cohesion and individual quality to deliver a solid 2ppg average at least.
Wolfsburg are very tough to beat, but not much more. Outside of Weghorst their attack is painfully average and usually those teams fall off eventually.
Pure clown show by the supposed contenders once again. We already won the matchday on the couch.
Think we are going to see lots of this in the remaining season. The teams in multipe competitions look very tired in all European leagues.
The fight for the European spots and rank 16 seems to get very interesting this season.
The main talk in the recent weeks in Germany was Bayern's weaknesses...
Bremen leads 3:1 against the big city club. The 3:1 from Bittencourt was a fine one.
The main talk in the recent weeks in Germany was Bayern's weaknesses...
Bremen leads 3:1 against the big city club. The 3:1 from Bittencourt was a fine one.
RBL does lack individual quality in attack to a certain degree. There is a reason why Angelino has been their best "attacker" for some time now. Forsberg, Olmo, Nkunku etc. are all good players but not top club material either (at least yet) and their strikers (Poulsen, Sörloth) might not even represent midtable level. In a lot of ways I'd say RBL overperformed in regards to their output based on the quality they have and I don't think it's sustainable.
Their biggest strength is certainly their defense or at least had been so far this season but they might keep dropping points because their attack isn't potent enough.
Overall I would also guess that they should still be in the top4 at the end but they are also not THAT stable/established or have so much individual quality that it would be shocking to see them drop out of the top4. They ended last season as 3rd with 3 points ahead of 5th placed Leverkusen and in the ranking of the 2nd half of the season they were just 5th.
Atm they are 4 points ahead of 5th placed Gladbach and RBL has to play Leverkusen next match...
So no reason for RBL to panic but they are anything but a safe bet (yet).
Fully agree with that, especially the Poulsen and Sörloth bit. The lack of a top striker in that squad is glaring.
I agree with you in the sense that they won't challenge Bayern. But I still see them clearly ahead of Leverkusen, Gladbach or Dortmund in their current shape.
If that is so, it's down to the presence and work of Nagelsmann, not to the overall quality of their squad.
Joke of a league. Only needs Bayern to sign 2nd-3rd placed team's best centre-back. Hopefully when Lewandowski, Muller and Neuer retire, 3-4 years from now, it becomes a little bit more competitive.
Yep this matchday has showed that again.All of BVB, Leipzig and Leverkusen losing, we're going to go 7 points clear tomorrow.
There's really no other way put it, the other so-called 'top teams' in this league are nothing more than a sad bunch of hopeless losers.
Oh happy day....if they somehow manage to convince Rangnick that this is a worthwhile project then there'd finally someone competent to take care of this mess.
Unless they have Rangnick standing by I don't see how sacking both your DoF and coach at the same time is anything but mental. Though I doubt he would be interested: Hertha's riches were one time payments and a huge chunk of it has been spent already, the squad doesn't look particularly promising, the club's strategy doesn't look particular long time oriented and the short term outlook is bleak.
What a cross Kimmich. 1-0 Bayern - Muller
What else would you expect from a club that desperately puts its fate into the hands of guy that is the perfect blend of a Windei and a Vollhorst.
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Musiala looks a real player.
Fahrmann
Who pissed into your coffee?