What's happening in your game?
Bundesliga 2016/17
- Thread starter Piratesoup
- Start date
They were 2-1 up against ten man Eintracht, it finished 2-2
What do you feel about Hummels? Just curious.They were 2-1 up against ten man Eintracht, it finished 2-2
Very bad for us so far. Not an upgrade at all as it stands.
I think Hummels is a top CB. His ability on the ball is a huge asset to any team and he is generally very good at the defensive part of his job as well. The only drawbacks are his occasional lapses of concentration and his lack of pace that can be exposed by fast strikers.
I don't think he's had a good start to his Bayern career however and @Piratesoup's post is a case in point. Their midfield and especially Alonso is a bigger problem than Hummels imo, he's been very good in a similar setup for the national team.
Refs are absolutely atrocious. Luckily Gladbach didn't get rewarded for their diving today.
Alonso and Thiago were mentioned. I can understand Alonso might be getting towards the end, but I thought Thiago was supposed to be great?
Thiago's been struggling ever since his last long injury. He shows glimpses of brilliance again and again and the way he can handle the ball is beautiful to behold, but he can't take a game by the scruff of its neck and consistently run the show anymore. Playing alongside Alonso (as @ctp said), who's just downright useless most of the time, doesn't help either. I've been waiting for a long time now to see him come good again, but as it stands he's not anywhere near the world elite anymore.
We really need another world class midfielder in the Verrati mold to play next to Vidal.
We need to go back to a more reactive 4231/442 with Müller as a 2nd striker under Ancelotti, that suits Ancelotti's idea of football better anyway. Kick Alonso and Thiago out and play Vidal - Martinez in midfield with Sanches, Kimmich, Thiago and Alonso as midfield back-ups and options in case we need something different.
We really shouldn't force trying to continue to play an extreme possession game, it's boring and ineffective if you don't focus on all the details as much as Guardiola did. Considering how easy our schedule was so far, this should be an interesting season. We'll drop a lot more points in the upcoming weeks.
That'd be ideal, but I fear that Ancelott, for some reason, just won't play Martinez in midfield.
Martinez in midfield was brutal for opponents.
Dunno about his Chelsea spell, but at Milan & Real Ancelotti routinely played a deep lying playmaker in DM (Pirlo, Alonso, Kroos, now Alonso again + Thiago). He was very stubborn in that regard in 2014/15 and ran Kroos into the ground by playing him all the time; even Sergio Ramos had to play in a higher box-to-box role beside him. It seems to be Ancelotti's absolute favourite setup, so it would surprise me if he would opt for a Martínez/Vidal midfield. (Doesn't mean it's impossible, of course.)
I for one think Thiago is having a very good season so far.
Obviously you can't expect him to be what he's not.
He's not as reliable a controller as Kroos he's much too adventurous for that.
He's also not one to battle down and put his stamp on an entrenched midfield battle, he's too lightweight for that, even if he's quite good in challenges on his day.
I've said from the beginning that I think Ancelotti will be a good coach for him and i still believe that.
His standing with fans has understandably suffered after his two very poor, and very high profile no-shows, away at Barca and away at Atletico in two consecutive CL semis. In both cases him, and Bernat, let the team down at the highest level.
I'm never a fan of blaming individual for defeats though; we are warned now about his inconsistency in the toughest games, but apart from that I see no reason to ignore his often terrific contributions on a weekly basis.
So Thiago would be better not playing next to Alonso? Needs someone with a bit of bite next to him to do the hard work.
I'm tempted to say yes, but then I'm not sure whether it's possible to generalize like that.
Because the fact of the matter is we have played matches where both have performed very well and it worked without a problem. Much more matches than the ones they struggled, tbh. Yet the ones they struggled give the impression they lose control when the going gets tough.
But again, I'm not sure whether it's correct to draw those conclusions after bad games.
As in, you win 5 games, then draw 2 and then there's supposed to be a systemic flaw? Not sure..
Alonso gets singled out a lot, and indeed he often times looks culpable when we are not playing well. But then maybe even in those instances the problems start further ahead and he's just the guy where they crystalize?
How's young Sanches settling in?
Not yet anywhere near the level where he'd be a real asset for us. We'll have to be patient with that one.
I can haz Pep back?
Ousman Manneh 19
fled the Gambian dictatorship in 2014. Just scored his first Bundesliga goal - a 2:1 for Bremen against Leverkusen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ousman_Manneh
fled the Gambian dictatorship in 2014. Just scored his first Bundesliga goal - a 2:1 for Bremen against Leverkusen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ousman_Manneh
We have imo two problems. One is about individual performance levels (especially Alonso and Thiago), the other is about tactics.
With Müller out wide and no AM on the field, there is too much distance between our attackers. They are too isolated, because non of our MFs is occupying the space behind the striker. They often stay too deep and play on a line (at least two of them), which makes it really easy to defend.
Playing Müller as SS would be the easiest way to fix this (with two of Vidal/Thiago/Sanchez, Kimmich/Martinez/Thiago/Alonso behind him). If we play with 3 midfielders, one of them has to move further forward and given our squad, this needs to be Thiago. I am not sure if he is up for this. Quite honestly, I am not even sure what his best position is anymore.
With Müller out wide and no AM on the field, there is too much distance between our attackers. They are too isolated, because non of our MFs is occupying the space behind the striker. They often stay too deep and play on a line (at least two of them), which makes it really easy to defend.
Playing Müller as SS would be the easiest way to fix this (with two of Vidal/Thiago/Sanchez, Kimmich/Martinez/Thiago/Alonso behind him). If we play with 3 midfielders, one of them has to move further forward and given our squad, this needs to be Thiago. I am not sure if he is up for this. Quite honestly, I am not even sure what his best position is anymore.
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That was Ancelotti's problem at Real too, especially in his last months there. The distance between the lines were sometimes huge, the AM often deserted and the CM lost somewhere in the space between all this. Tbf, Real's squad with its prevalence of BBC leaves almost no choice than to play like this and both Real coaches after him had the same problem.
But Ancelotti's Bayern spell will maybe give a hint if some of these structural problems were also down to his coaching. There he should have the means and the authority to correct these issues and to find a concept to make the team play tighter. But as I have said with this and the last post, some of the current tactical problems look curiously similar to those at Real, despite Ancelotti having inherited a vastly different (= Guardiola) team. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the course of the season.
The table...
Leipzig can jump on third tomorrow.
Not talking about the title challenge - but Dortmund 4th, Gladbach 8th, Leverkusen 9th, Wolfsburg 14th, Schalke 16th were the ones everybody told will be competing for a place in next season's European competitions.
Leipzig can jump on third tomorrow.
Not talking about the title challenge - but Dortmund 4th, Gladbach 8th, Leverkusen 9th, Wolfsburg 14th, Schalke 16th were the ones everybody told will be competing for a place in next season's European competitions.
Greetings from the second place 
At Chelsea he started with a diamond IIRC, and the base was a DM (Mikel or Essien probably). Later he moved to a 433, before Torres arrived and it became quite disorganised.
What the hell's gotten into Modeste?Greetings from the second place
Hah I'm watching the replay now and Bayern got scored with the chest Fellaini would be proud.
Fellaini would be proud.Fabian cost 3 million Euros. Talk about a bargain.Hah I'm watching the replay now and Bayern got scored with the chest
I was sure he'd be shipped out in the summer because the new manager Kovac didn't rate him. But he's won him over in the past month. Frankfurt are doing really well considering their squad.
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Yes, somebody had to tell them that the intensity of the matches outside of the EPL is not lower...
it is a brilliant story. hopefully he can score a few more.
Did anyone see the foul on Embolo? How bad was it?
Someone already asked but can anyone go into a bit more detail about Renato sanches? I thought he'd be a standout player straight away given some of his performances in the Euros, what have been some positives/negatives so far?
Was he really that good at Euro 2016 though?
A few flashes here and there, and of course the game he scored in, but he was far from the finished article.
given his age and the occasion , I thought he was pretty good and the hype generated somewhat justifiable. He seems to have the combination of talent and athleticism that would help him stand out in the bundlesliga, particularly in a Bayern team that should dominate every game they play.
He's quite similar to Anderson was at that age. Whether he pushes on and develops other areas of his game is up to the coaching he receives and his application.
I liked Sanches before the tournament, but do think that he was overhyped for merely adequate displays in France.
His athleticism and powerful running are two major assets, but he needs to score more goals and play more penetrating passes.
So how does he actually play? Is it a bit like pogba in the sense that he's pretty versatile across midfield?
He likes to receive the ball from in and around the centre circle, then turn and run forward with the ball. He likes to play quick, one-two passes as well.
At times, I feel like he gives the ball to more senior players instead of taking on responsibility himself. But with big personalities like Ronaldo, Ribéry and Vidal playing with him, that's to be expected. Bayern like to attack down the sides if possible, which is obviously wise given the quality they have in wide areas.
Really enjoying Leipzig-Wolfsburg match.As a non-German I am very attracted to the Leipzig story. It makes the Bundesliga more interesting for me. I understand that some of the more traditional clubs and fans do not like RB Leipzig. I can respect that point of view but I also hope traditional fans can understand why outsiders like myself are attracted to Leipzig's story and are watching the Bundesliga more as a result.
I have a lot of time for Rangnick. He is one of my favorite current tactical thinkers in modern football. Like Bielsa, I find their both their story and their team's style of play compelling. Rangnick has a lot of direct and indirect influence on some of the more famous counter-pressing managers like Klopp and Tuchel. I also find the story of Rangnick coming in to Leipzig and building the club from the ground up to be a fascinating story. I enjoy Rangnick's style of play.
This was the first full match I was able to watch of Leipzig this season but it won't be the last. As usual, the atmosphere in Germany is just incredible. I clicked over to the Soton-Burnley match and the stadium was a cemetery compared to the atmosphere at Leipzig. Even if its a little extreme I love stories like the actual bull's head being thrown out at the stadium. That passion makes the Bundesliga more interesting. I can understand the traditional dislike.
I, for one, will be cheering for Leipzig, but not buying any Red Bull
I have a lot of time for Rangnick. He is one of my favorite current tactical thinkers in modern football. Like Bielsa, I find their both their story and their team's style of play compelling. Rangnick has a lot of direct and indirect influence on some of the more famous counter-pressing managers like Klopp and Tuchel. I also find the story of Rangnick coming in to Leipzig and building the club from the ground up to be a fascinating story. I enjoy Rangnick's style of play.
This was the first full match I was able to watch of Leipzig this season but it won't be the last. As usual, the atmosphere in Germany is just incredible. I clicked over to the Soton-Burnley match and the stadium was a cemetery compared to the atmosphere at Leipzig. Even if its a little extreme I love stories like the actual bull's head being thrown out at the stadium. That passion makes the Bundesliga more interesting. I can understand the traditional dislike.
I, for one, will be cheering for Leipzig, but not buying any Red Bull
If he had done it without the influence of RB and wouldn't bypass the 50+1 rule I don't think anyone would have a problem with Leipzig. They play some amazing football, have a competent board, give youngsters a chance and seem to have a solid long term plan. I respect them a lot for that.
On the match and especially Wolfsburg: I can't see how Hecking won't lose his job sometime this season. They have been underwhelming since De Bruyne bar the one good game here and there and nothing has changed as of yet.
I personally think that it's a really great story as well and have no problem looking past Red Bull's investment here. There are so many positives worth pointing out like finally having an Eastern European club back in the Bundesliga or their focus on youth development. So far every sport Red Bull invested money in has benefited massively in the long term. Most of the criticism is bullshit anyway and massively blown out of proportion, often coming from fans of traditional clubs that have been mismanaged for years despite a big enough budget to achieve a lot more.
I don't mind at all if it attracts neutrals to the league at all and Leipzig is a beautiful city where a big enough local fan base can develop to support the club and make for a good atmosphere, that's a big difference compared to Wolfsburg or Hoffenheim.