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2015-16 Performances

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5.5 Season Average Rating
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7
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1
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In the presser for upcoming match vs. Krasnodar there was a specific question regarding Januzaj´s integration and chances to play tomorrow:

Head coach Tuchel first of all praised Januzaj´s attitude in training, calling him very open minded, diligent and eager to become part of the team (in a social sense). He appears to enjoy his time and is happy with his current process (literally: "Coming to training with a smile on his face every day") and is already very well integrated, which is not natural for every player joining the team in the middle of the season.

In terms of chances to play, Tuchel once again referenced Adnan´s starts for United and his good performance in the game vs. St. Pauli as clear signs of him being a definite option already. He was also content with his sub appearance in his official debut. On the other hand, he stated that the high intensity in games and training (this I personally found interesting) is something he still has to get used too. The coach is confident his "absolutely obvious" abilities and potential will finish this process quickly, though.


My intepretation: He will definitively play tomorrow, unless injuries force us to sub differently. If he will start will depend on the volume of rotation Tuchel will choose. The next hard Bundesliga game vs. Leverkusen could point towards a heavier rotation while Krasnodar being our most serious opponent in the group could make him choose something closer to the best XI. The only things definite at this point are, that Reus won´t play (is expected to rejoin training on Friday) and that we will swap GK´s once again.

The game begins 6pm English time tomorrow, the starting formation is published one hour before that.
 
I wonder what he meant with the high intensity in training and games. I doubt that the game intensity is that much higher in the Bundesliga or that we have an "easy" training under LVG
 
I thought LVG's training was very intense? Why the hell are our players complaining?
 
Escobar said:
I wonder what he meant with the high intensity in training and games. I doubt that the game intensity is that much higher in the Bundesliga or that we have an "easy" training under LVG
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One criticism one could levy at Januzaj is that he's comes across as someone who waits too much for the game to come to him. His intensity at times isn't quite what it could be. I think tuchel's Dortmund play frantically than klopp's but the majority of the players are the same so I imagine Januzaj might possibly have to up his off the ball game.
 
What he needs at this stage, more than anything else, is to find a definite position to play in and play in that position on a regular basis. If he doesn't I'm not sure he will develop right.

Dortmund is a great place for him - IF he gets the time on the pitch.

I'm still not sure if he's best as a no.10 or a left-winger. I don't like him on the right particularly. I think probably I would say he needs to play left wing.

Problem is, that's where Reus plays. Oh and then there's Mkhitaryan and Kagawa in the middle...
 
sincher said:
What he needs at this stage, more than anything else, is to find a definite position to play in and play in that position on a regular basis. If he doesn't I'm not sure he will develop right.
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From what Van Gaal was saying it sounds a bit lifestyle and attitude oriented as well. I am sure he will be okay, I think this will give him a bit of a reality check. The lad has considerable talent but not all things are given on a plate.
 
sincher said:
What he needs at this stage, more than anything else, is to find a definite position to play in and play in that position on a regular basis. If he doesn't I'm not sure he will develop right.
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I don't think having a set position is that important right now. I think he just needs to add some physicality to his game this season, get stronger, learn to protect the ball etc. Once he is able to handle that side of the game his natural ability should shine through in any attacking role.
 
United again! said:
From what Van Gaal was saying it sounds a bit lifestyle and attitude oriented as well. I am sure he will be okay, I think this will give him a bit of a reality check. The lad has considerable talent but not all things are given on a plate.
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Funnily enough, this is where he is praised the most by Tuchel at the Moment, who himself has a very high standart in that regard. Maybe being sending him on a loan in the first place already sparked that change, but it is of course also possible that their problems came from both sides and Tuchel simply connected better with him.
 
sincher said:
What he needs at this stage, more than anything else, is to find a definite position to play in and play in that position on a regular basis. If he doesn't I'm not sure he will develop right.

Dortmund is a great place for him - IF he gets the time on the pitch.

I'm still not sure if he's best as a no.10 or a left-winger. I don't like him on the right particularly. I think probably I would say he needs to play left wing.

Problem is, that's where Reus plays. Oh and then there's Mkhitaryan and Kagawa in the middle...
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He's the type of player that won't really have a typical position, though. Seems to be a vogue recently for tricksy, attacking midfielders who don't hold down any one specific position. I'd be hard pressed to say exactly which position players like Chamberlain, Oscar, Willian, Reus, Goetze or Sterling actually plays. Not quite wingers, not quite number 10s either. They might settle into one role or another as they mature but they do seem to be expected to play left, right or central as required while they're still developing.
 
sincher said:
What he needs at this stage, more than anything else, is to find a definite position to play in and play in that position on a regular basis. If he doesn't I'm not sure he will develop right.

Dortmund is a great place for him - IF he gets the time on the pitch.

I'm still not sure if he's best as a no.10 or a left-winger. I don't like him on the right particularly. I think probably I would say he needs to play left wing.

Problem is, that's where Reus plays. Oh and then there's Mkhitaryan and Kagawa in the middle...
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That's the key, if he plays regularly in attacking / wide midfield he should develop nicely.
 
Chamberlain has the same problem. Sterling had a good season when on the right wing, a much less good season when shifted about. He will likely do well at City because he will play mostly on the right. Reus can change but is based mostly on the left and in any case has already matured. Oscar is either a central midfielder or a 10 and he has the same problem. Goetze's form has been a bit dodgy, I'd say he has the same problem. Willian is best wide right etc.

The best players develop best when given a single primary role. See Giggs. He played occasional games as a second striker or switching to the right but he really developed on the left wing. Someone needs to make this choice for Januzaj. I think he wants to be a 10 but his game is not really mature enough for this at the top level and he will benefit a lot in discipline and in effectiveness if he focuses on the requirements of playing as a left winger. Where, in fact, he had his best season for us. It's perhaps not so important what the position is, it's just very difficult for a player to do consistently well when shifted about.

It's true that minutes on the pitch is more important than anything but I would hate to see him filling in all over the place or used as an impact sub as you can't learn the game properly that way.
 
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Sterling was at his best playing through the middle with Suarez and Sturridge ahead of him. Chelsea fans would probably tell you Willian is at his best in the #10 role as well.
 
I'm old school and prefer footballers to have consistent, strict positions. It just doesn't seem the done thing anymore, particularly with attacking midfielders now so few teams play with conventional wingers. I named a bunch of players off the top of my head there but could probably name more if I thought about it longer. How about Mahrez at Leicester, or Eriksen at Spurs? Wingers? Number 10s? Neither?

He's at the right club for attacking midfielders that are neither 10s or wingers, that's for sure!
 
Thinking about it, who is the best 'conventional' winger out there? They all just want to cut in and score/dictate play through the centre. Now even Bale plays through the middle too.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I'm old school and prefer footballers to have consistent, strict positions. It just doesn't seem the done thing anymore, particularly with attacking midfielders now so few teams play with conventional wingers. I named a bunch of players off the top of my head there but could probably name more if I thought about it longer. How about Mahrez at Leicester, or Eriksen at Spurs? Wingers? Number 10s? Neither?

He's at the right club for attacking midfielders that are neither 10s or wingers, that's for sure!
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Mahrez plays on the right, Eriksen through the middle. They aren't swapped around that much... it makes it very difficult to have a good run of form.
 
DWelbz19 said:
Thinking about it, who is the best 'conventional' winger out there? They all just want to cut in and score/dictate play through the centre. Now even Bale plays through the middle too.
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There kind of isn't any. Navas is probably the only one at a top PL club and they seem even rarer in Europe (although admittedly I don't watch much non-PL football, so could be wrong about this). Even if you do get someone who plays nominally wide, chances are they'll be on the "wrong" wing, so constantly drift into central areas anyway.
 
The traditional Winger's role has been filled by full backs.
 
Adisa said:
I thought LVG's training was very intense? Why the hell are our players complaining?
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I believe that Dortmund's training sessions are different to our's. Januzaj may have to attack open space a lot in Dortmund, making runs, trying to shake defenders of his shoulders and play with the ball at full speed, which I do not think he experienced much at United under LvG.
 
Water Melon said:
I believe that Dortmund's training sessions are different to our's. Januzaj may have to attack open space a lot in Dortmund, making runs, trying to shake defenders of his shoulders and play with the ball at full speed, which I do not think he experienced much at United under LvG.
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Why? Dortmund play quite possession heavy themselves atm. According to whoscored's data they actually average about 5 percentage points more than United.

Here's a decent article in English that's having a look at their tactical setup:

http://spielverlagerung.com/2015/09/15/team-analysis-tuchels-borussia-dortmund/
 
do.ob said:
Why? Dortmund play quite possession heavy themselves atm. According to whoscored's data they actually average about 5 percentage points more than United.
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But in a much more fluid way. Van Gaal's possession system is rather static in comparison to the Cruyff school that influenced Sacchi and Guardiola and Tuchel looks like he's a bigger fan of the more chaotic one than the crazy organised version of it.

I wouldn't read too much into these comments about the intensity of the training though. You can read something like that almost every time a player moves. Usually it's just different and therefore often feels more intense because you have to get used to new methods in the beginning. I'd be very surprised if van Gaal's training lacks intensity. That certainly didn't seem to be the case ever at Bayern.
 
Balu said:
But in a much more fluid way. Van Gaal's possession system is rather static in comparison to the Cruyff school that influenced Sacchi and Guardiola and Tuchel looks like he's a bigger fan of the more chaotic one than the crazy organised version of it.

I wouldn't read too much into these comments about the intensity of the training though. You can read something like that almost every time a player moves. Usually it's just different and therefore often feels more intense because you have to get used to new methods in the beginning. I'd be very surprised if van Gaal's training lacks intensity. That certainly didn't seem to be the case ever at Bayern.
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Yeah, I know that Dortmund play differently to United, but his comment suggests to me that he believes that Dortmund are about counter attacking, when they actually are quite the opposite now.
 
do.ob said:
Yeah, I know that Dortmund play differently to United, but his comment suggests to me that he believes that Dortmund are about counter attacking, when they actually are quite the opposite now.
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Yeah, that's definitely true. Though the quick transitions are still the best way to goals for Dortmund, but quite clearly there's a lot more to the team than that and those quick transitions start now in a different way than they did under Klopp.
 
I am becoming more optimistic about Januzaj's loan working out and him returning a better player after this 'process' to United. Maybe Van Gaal decided to sacrifice in the short term, by not keeping him as an attacking option for this season, to be in a better position in the long term. Hope he gets good opportunities in Dortmund and applies himself well.
 
CG1010 said:
I am becoming more optimistic about Januzaj's loan working out and him returning a better player after this 'process' to United. Maybe Van Gaal decided to sacrifice in the short term, by not keeping him as an attacking option for this season, to be in a better position in the long term. Hope he gets good opportunities in Dortmund and applies himself well.
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Since Januzaj's chances of playing are obviously not better at Dortmund wouldn't that mean that he (implicitly) admits that Tuchel is the better coach (for Januzaj)? That wouldn't strike me as a typical van Gaal thought.
 
do.ob said:
Since Januzaj's chances of playing are obviously not better at Dortmund wouldn't that mean that he (implicitly) admits that Tuchel is the better coach (for Januzaj)? That wouldn't strike me as a typical van Gaal thought.
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Well I was kind of hoping that his chances to play would be better at Dortmund, especially the comments posted by @Sphaero seemed quite positive. But if he doesn't feature much, I kind of agree with you. Although Van Gaal did allude to the need to changing his lifestyle and something about his lifestyle to justify this loan. Maybe he felt that Januzaj was becoming a bit complacent (although I have always thought that he is very dedicated). Anyway we will see. :smirk:
 
CG1010 said:
Well I was kind of hoping that his chances to play would be better at Dortmund, especially the comments posted by @Sphaero seemed quite positive. But if he doesn't feature much, I kind of agree with you. Although Van Gaal did allude to the need to changing his lifestyle and something about his lifestyle to justify this loan. Maybe he felt that Januzaj was becoming a bit complacent (although I have always thought that he is very dedicated). Anyway we will see. :smirk:
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I wouldn't be surprised if he plays a good amount at Dortmund, but it's not like United's bench is looking strong either. And (at least in both squad's current form) to me it seems like United's first XI is actually way easier to break into. If van Gaal really rates the kid he shouldn't have trouble giving him at least as much playtime as Tuchel will.
 
He'd have got more time in the first team here. It was a bizarre decision, made even more ridiculous considering our current attacking options.

We had to resort to Valencia as an attacking option again the other night ffs. And don't tell me Valencia is a better option then Januzaj.
 
Lovely pass there from Januzaj. Mykhtarian should have done better.
 
I have said Januzaj looks like a #10 in the future, but for now the position he is best in is probably left wing, that is where we have seen his best performances.
 
hes looked really good playing the reus role for dortmund today..starting on the right but drifting to the left to create an overload..worked really well for their opening goal.
 
lem8sh said:
And hopefully we may be sweetening up Dortmund for a certain player of theirs, I can dream anyway.
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As long as it doesn't involve Januzaj going the other way.

But yeah, MFR to join BFS :)
 
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