2ndTouch
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- Mar 13, 2015
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- Bayern München
Tough luck on Haller, but there will be a replacement signing. Adeyemi is raw, but raw with some kind of end product. Özcan is a better Laimer for just 5m. I can see a formidable partnership with Bellingham there, and there could be worse things happening than to have better alternatives to an ageing Hummels and brainfart-waiting-to-happen Akanji. I don't discount the points you're making, but neither RB nor 04 look poised for a strong league campaign either.There's always the risk that last season was just a purple patch, but I think unlike some other players Schick was genuinely very good throughout all of last season. So I wouldn't lump him in with some of the other names.
And what about Dortmund's window?
Adeyemi - I don't see the short term effect yet - he looks very raw to me and I wouldn't be surprised if he needs a season to settle in.
Özcan - there's only so much you can expect signing a player from Köln for €5m.
Süle/Schlotterbeck - that's where the net improvement seems really obvious, Schlotterbeck in particular looks quite exciting. But even then it comes at the cost of Akanji and (benching) Hummels.
Haller - at the moment you need to hope he gets well, before you can think about the football side.
I think in general the window looks promising, because it seems like Kehl is focusing on balance, effort and cohesion, but bottom line is: a bit better in defense a lot worse in attack (until Haller hopefully recovers).
And Terzic is still an unknown quantity. His interim stint was all about improvisation, which didn't go well at all at the beginning and was later (also) carried by the individual quality of Haaland, Reus and Sancho hitting form on the final stretch.
So to summarize I would neither say that the squad or the coaching situation is necessarily improved and I think performances will shape expectations: if the team starts well people will say "oh well, rebuild successful" and expect second place, but if they struggle people will say "oh well, it's a rebuild and what can you do with Haller getting ill" - at least to a degree (finishing top four)
And while Terzic might not be Pep2.0, his football gives at least the impression of an underlying idea. Rose had you playing the the worst football since Doll, it can only get better from here, despite Haaland's departure.