Ciro Immobile aka our worst signing since the beginning of time...
15
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 7
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 1
- Status
What was wrong with him off the pitch? I know on the pitch things didn't go too well.
Publically complained about a lack of warmth in the team and by the Germans in general, which is kinda hilarious when you watch the interactions of the rest of the team and the overwhelming praise they and ex players have for the family like atmosphere in the club. But nobody wanted to invite him to dinners for example, so everything sucked for him
. Like I said whiny bitch, who especially at the end of the season completely isolated himself from the rest.I always found it funny that a forward who has to be clinical is named Immobile
Here's Moneymay's compilation of Januzaj's debut. It's better quality compared to the previous videos. You can see how much easier it will be for Adnan to impact the game with the movement Dortmund have and the freedom he has to go around the pitch.
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Hes going to be a fantastic player, hope it with United
Money may the user? @MoneyMay
That performance looks like something that might be on par with one of his best games in a United shirt.
One of the reasons why I think KDB is being seriously over rated by many and his price tag was laughable.
One of the reasons why I think KDB is being seriously over rated by many and his price tag was laughable.
Fascinating what you can learn from a performance in a meaningless friendly against a club not even playing in the Bundesliga.
Yeah and if you watch the whole game you can see how much work it takes to play an offensive position at Dortmund. The fluidity of our attacking play is of course positive for offensive contribution, because it adds (passing) options and makes it less predictable, but at the same time fluidity can also turn into vulnerability very quickly when the defensive discipline is not there. More static setups are more stable by nature, because they are less chaotic and the positioning is easier to learn and master, the roles are more rigid. In systems as ours this vulnerability is countered by collective defending of the whole team. This defending is also not only about back tracking, but about strong positional play to block passing routes aswell. Without that the space which is naturally created by our heavy rotation on the pitch can be used to punish us on the counter. That means that every player activiely works vs. the ball, including the striker. No one can hope to get seriously involved if he just waits for the ball to come to him.
This is where I see the most work for Januzaj and also where he will struggle at first. There is no shame in that, though, because not only does he have no experience playing such a (physically and mentally) demanding style, but it is even normal for players to have a hard time to completely get that system down. The list of these players is long and colorful and quite frankly the only two players who excelled in that department from the start were Kagawa and Mkhitaryan, who are both naturally very gifted in terms of pressing play.
Overall, the first days for Januzaj were pretty positive, where he left a good first impression on the coach and teammates, who all described him as quiet, but also open minded and actively seeking guidance of other players. There is a visible effort to become a part of the family from the start, which is the most important thing.
Still, it wouldn´t be unwise to reign in some expectations here. A friendly vs. a 2nd league side, which gave their academy players as much opportunities as we did, is not the measure stick here. Nobody should feel disheartened about not seeing him start in any Bundesliga game in September for example, because I expect Tuchel to get him get used to league and it´s own style (especially the high focus on pressing) via sub appearances, because the advantage in stamina will probably make it a bit easier for him. At the same time I expect to see a lot of him in the EL, not only to give the key players opportunities to rest, but also because they are ideal to make him comfortable with our system.
Starting October the integration period will be over, though, and then the only things that decide who plays will be performances. Thats the problem with the deal. There is not much time, so he has to learn quickly.
Seemed like he had a very good game from those highlighs. Very different role from how he played for us with a lot more fluidity which suits him well, hopefully he can develop well there.
He has too much talent to not be a very good player as long as his attitude is semi decent which it seems.
Unfortunately don't see it being at United if LVG's still here.
Unfortunately don't see it being at United if LVG's still here.
It's not because he 'has the freedom to go round the pitch', look how much space he is getting. Premiership is very fast paced aggressive football and when 80% of teams play man united they sit back and constrict space. Januzaj is thriving on not being passed the ball and turning into chelsea or stoke playing 2 banks of 4 on the edge of their box
^It's a combination of that and the fact under LVG we've not really the type of team that passes to feet when the player (asking for the ball) is under pressure. Call it player fear, inability or whatnot but it's those 50/50 situations which creates pockets of space with those half turns etc. In that video, he lost the ball quite a few times but also managed to create space despite being inbetween players and was able to play it forward/progressively. If you play those balls regularly, only then can your players build from that and break down tight defences.
Despite all the ridicule and criticism Falcao and RVP got, it was natural to their game to play intuitively between lines and they showed it enough times for me that the problem wasn't their movement but our lack of pace on the ball. There's not many players in the world, who could take a ball from a standing start with no movement around them and create something i.e there has to be pace on/off the ball, movement from team mates.
Right now we pass when players are already set and that's basically an uphill battle when you want players to create things. Schweinsteiger has rightfully and equally wrongly been called out for his 'inconsistent' passing but that's because he plays the ball when players are on the move (the same goes for his own movement as he moves with and without the ball, a massive contrast to Carrick); it creates pace on the ball and opportunity for the receiver.
Despite all the ridicule and criticism Falcao and RVP got, it was natural to their game to play intuitively between lines and they showed it enough times for me that the problem wasn't their movement but our lack of pace on the ball. There's not many players in the world, who could take a ball from a standing start with no movement around them and create something i.e there has to be pace on/off the ball, movement from team mates.
Right now we pass when players are already set and that's basically an uphill battle when you want players to create things. Schweinsteiger has rightfully and equally wrongly been called out for his 'inconsistent' passing but that's because he plays the ball when players are on the move (the same goes for his own movement as he moves with and without the ball, a massive contrast to Carrick); it creates pace on the ball and opportunity for the receiver.
Good post, keep us updated with his progress!
I didn't realise St. Pauli got relegated. Also reckon Januzaj will have many performances like that in this season.
St. Pauli played one season in the Bundesliga in the last decade, that was 5 years ago and they finished dead last that season. They barely escaped relegation into the 3rd league last season, finishing 15th out of 18 last year in the 2nd Bundesliga. But good to know that your opinion on German football is based on so much knowledge and that you have an open mind about it. And I'm still fascinated how much you can take away from watching a short video of a player in a friendly during the international break with both teams using quite a few youth players. You'd make a fantastic scout for a pro football team, maybe you should apply for a job at United?
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Most teams park the bus against Dortmund, too. It´s the problem Klopp could never solve. His Dortmund and LVG´s United look very similar in that regard. Possession going nowhere, only OG is not as deadly in the Bundesliga.
As for Januzaj. He has a high pass completion rate, but also seems to like to dribble a lot, which leads to turnovers. What he can learn under Tuchel in the current Dortmund side, is to use the unselfish passing more and pick his dribbling spots better. Making the extra pass and making the runs is what Dortmund have done brilliantly so far this season.
As expected Januzaj on the bench vs. Hanover, Hofmann comes in for the slightly injured Reus.
He's in for Hofmann.
How did he do?
Reddit REDDEVILS//
He's playing quite well actually. He's dribbling again. He just had another key pass to Shinji for the penalty. And Shinji is showing glimpses of pre-United Shinji. How I wish it could have worked out
Got a assist!
Assist. Get in!
Assist. Get in!
He did well. He'll have to get used to the amount of defensive work Dortmund do.
@Sphaero How did he do? From a 1-10 performance scale?
When? The goals when he was on the pitch were assisted by Ginter (OG) and Kagawa (Pen).
Still a good debut. Nice and tidy on the ball, some good space opening passes and two decent dribblings (both resulting in corners). Overall a performance to build on. Will probably start his first game on Thursday in the EL.
7-8
Just saw on Reddit that he got a assist but when viewing the gifs I couldn't see it.
Decent sub apearance ,dribbled passed two, found some nice passes to his team mates,looks go on ball.It would take some to adopt to Dortmond pace.It just his first game and he would learn a lot.
calm down buddy. Have a drink.Nice debut today. Doesn't look out of place in this Dortmund side.
Sounds like most of his games for us
I cant help feeling a bit bitter about this.
Martial cheered me up obviously but i was kind of cursing van gaal when we couldn't bring januzaj on at half time or when young looked like he might have got injured.
Feck it i guess, gives a bit of space to lingard and perreira and could do him a lot of good
*shakes fist at van gaal anyway*
Cheers for linking that.
Decent performance
What a goal!
Was he given MotM?
Just finished seeing it, it was a friendly. Still, great goal.
Squawka Stats from his first official Dortmund game.
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I still think he's overrated because he was the only bit of joy in that season of shit under Moyes which made everyone view him differently.
Never heard it put like that before, Elmo. I guess he really was shite then.
You know you can evaluate a player without taking into account how bad the team was. He had a great season. Had United been flying that season, he still would have had a great season as an 18 year old.
Wrong thread ? Or bit random bump ?
Could have done with him tonight. Baffling how our only attacking option available was Fellaini
Ffs, I swear I clicked the Fellaini thread
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