Schalke with another loss. 0 points after 5 games, what a disastrous start. What's wrong with them? I thought they are moving in the right direction, Weinzierl now already under big pressure. They will back him for the moment, but of course you can't continue like that much longer.
Bundesliga 2016/17
- Thread starter Piratesoup
- Start date
Schalke. 
For shits and giggle, I hope that they sack weinzierl and heidel. #relegation.
For shits and giggle, I hope that they sack weinzierl and heidel. #relegation.You did a lot of things right? HSV was 5 points away from relegation games. That's not doing a lot of things right. The 10th place is deceiving. Make no mistake, you were fighting against relegation until the 33th matchday. You'd have had the better goal difference, but that day you were 3 points away from relegation. Bit close to call that "doing a lot of things right".
Besides matchday 1 we were never lower down the table than 13th which is respectable when half of the teams in the League were threatened by relegation. Whichever way you look at it, we played a solid season overall unless you expect us to play European football. Obviously it gets kinda close points wise with so many teams on similar level, but as stated there were always more than enough teams behind us in the stands and that is what counts. If we didn't have so many key players injured for such a long time I'm sure even more would've been possible.
And by doing things right I'm not only talking about performances on the pitch btw.
What's the general opinion on Hertha's Esswein, bundesliga followers?
It is actually not that complex IMO.
They just wanted too much change at once and now struggle with the transition. Changing coaches can already be tricky, changing the DoF on top of that is even more dangerous as the latter´s role tends to underrated and is supposed to give a club stability. On top of that Schalke also lacks the the highly competent boss (CEO) to offer some guidance and help move things along.
So Schalke got new guys in two of the three key positions in terms of management, but it does not stop there. They also caused (and were partially forced into) a pretty heavy overhaul of the playing personell aswell.
Granted, the players they signed look pretty damn good on paper: Konoplyanka, Embolo, Stambouli, Bentaleb and Baba are all good footballers but right now the pressing question is not so much who joined, but when. Most of their new signings arrived when the season was already running and instead of easing tem into the team, Weinzierl fielded starting line ups with five or six new guys. How is that supposed to work? There is no understanding or mechanisms in this squad which makes them terrible going forward and shaky in the defense. But where is that supposed to come from? This is what you build in pre season and this is exactly what they look like. A team in pre season trying to find itself.
The thing they need the most right now is time, which is a luxury they don´t have. The clock is ticking and the EL now proves to be a major distraction for them. They somehow need to get into the next International break and then sort their mess out. By then it will probably be too late for any chance of finishing top 4 and without CL their construct of loan deals will crash like a house of cards, forcing them into the next squad overhaul.
The biggest question for me when it comes to Schalke right now, is where the heck is Johannes Geis? His overall performances might not have been stellar, but he is still by far their best set piece taker. If I suck that much offensively from open play, I should at least try to claw my way into games via other ways. it is like shooting my one foot, when the other has gone numb already.
I figured I might post these charts as I make them. I regularly take the expected goal numbers that the two mentioned twitter accounts posts, and incorporate them into a spreadsheet. I do this because goal difference is by far and away the most accurate (really the only reasonable) way of evaluating performances and of making predictions for the future. And since actual numbers are influenced by luck way too much, I take the expected numbers to get a clearer view that is not confounded by lucky goals etc.
Some surprising things there, like a good start to the season by Leipzig, Köln and Frankfurt (I tipped Frankfurt to get relegated this year). Sure, they can drop in form and their GD can stagnate while others improve, but they'v elaid a good foundation for the rest of the season.
For Schalke, both their numbers are shocking. Their defending is bad, but seriously, I think the bad defense would be tolerable if they were able to create at least an average amount of chances - but they can't. They literally cannot create enough to get 1 expected goal on average. That's just appalling. They're not a team battling relegation, for them it's not about picking up points - it's all about not dropping points. And for that, you need to win. How can you do that consistently if you cannot even score one goal? Especially when your defense is leaky.
Schalke have big problems going forward, and this is usually the telltale sign of a team that will have big problems for a LONG time. Gladbach was not like this last year numbers wise (they conceded too much, but still created enough), and Dortmund was not this bad in the year before that, either. There are no quick fixes for Schalke - it's not just about finding the right balance and geling together so that your defence works, and suddenly you play well again. Because not even a stable defence is going to help them much, the way they are.
Weinzierl has to change a lot, fast. Their midfield AND their attack are not good enough. Embolo is a literal waste of space on the wing (and just not that good in general right now), Choupo-Moting is not really a winger either, and their midfield players are trying to be flashy rather than solid.
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Scientists discovered new Ladybug on lawn in Schalke Stadium!
From their own kind, the Ladybug (..) differs particularly in that their wings have no points.
"The sensitive animals do not like quick movements or too much noise such as in a goal celebration of the home team," explains the Bonn entomologist John Schmalenbach. "But that seems not to be a problem at Schalke."
http://www.der-postillon.com/2016/09/marienkaeferart-schalke.html
From their own kind, the Ladybug (..) differs particularly in that their wings have no points.
"The sensitive animals do not like quick movements or too much noise such as in a goal celebration of the home team," explains the Bonn entomologist John Schmalenbach. "But that seems not to be a problem at Schalke."
http://www.der-postillon.com/2016/09/marienkaeferart-schalke.html
Bayern doing their best impression of a Van Gaal coached United.
I've got Hertha on my bet and they've just hit the woodwork twice in a minute
Come on Köln, fight back ffs!
We play well and have lots of chances, Haraguchi has developed into a really good player, was very unfortunate with his shot. Good first half for Hertha. I don't see the "new manager effect" working for Hamburg at all, even though one can see a slightly different approach of Gisdol already. They are very open at the back now and still don't create lots of chances. Simply a team of average and poor players apart from Adler.
Kimmich has turned into Ronaldo. The guy can't stop scoring.
We should've put at least 2 past you already. Had a bucket load of chances really. Not saying you didn't of course, but a draw would've been fair so far imo.
Köln! Show some balls! Courage and force, thats what we want to see!
Well done Hummels, runing his team´s offside trap
Mr. Sleepless at his best. He can go on like this.Well done Hummels, runing his team´s offside trap
And that is the relegation for Darmstadt. Meier/Fach, what a mess of an appointment, but that´s what happens, when your president is pretty clueless.
Mhm, maybe i missed some in the first half, apart from Lasogga's freekick, i didn't see "a bucket load of chances".
It's just that we usually don't make opponents look shaky and that is the impression i get from Hamburg today - in attack you are okay, but it has been some time since we had as many chances. I hope Gisdol can sort out the team as i really liked some HSV teams of the past.
Now a stupid tackling by Ekdal...you guys beat yourself too often, maybe the new manager can change that and bring some belief back.
This Sky commentator is even more unbearable than Wolf Fuss
I will celebrate when the are finally back in obscurity. They should've never been here in the first place.
We had four clear cut opportunities, with Müller heading it over the bar from 5 yards out etc. It's Gisdol so it's end to end stuff of course, unfortunately we really seem to be cursed atm. That 1-0 today... wish we could score like that one time. Having two away games in a row is also not what we need right now.
Oh man, Zoller missed a golden chance there...
At least Gisdol gets some time to work with the team during the international break.
Always a pleasure to see that red bowl called Hoeness' face suffering.
Hopefully Dortmund will take advantage of Bayern's result. Could have been even better had Zoller scored towards the end.
pretty dreary stuff
Hopefully it goes on like that: mediocre and simple tactics, structural problems in the play, a 35mio euro boy who plays so badly football and a non existent squaddeepness. I would like that you give Ancelotti a 10year contract!
How it went for the scottish Bale, Oliver Burke? Did he already became an integral part of Leipzig team?
Cool story bro
Hope Dortmund beats Leverkusen to close the gap on Bayern Munich.
Our squad tonight:
Bürki - Piszczek, Sokratis, Ginter, Guerreiro - Rode, Weigl - Pulisic, Castro, Dembélé - Aubameyang
Bank: Weidenfeller, Passlack, Schmelzer, Sahin, Kagawa, Götze, Mor
Rapha the first time as a FB, will be interesting.
Bürki - Piszczek, Sokratis, Ginter, Guerreiro - Rode, Weigl - Pulisic, Castro, Dembélé - Aubameyang
Bank: Weidenfeller, Passlack, Schmelzer, Sahin, Kagawa, Götze, Mor
Rapha the first time as a FB, will be interesting.
Well a game just 3 days after having played the most uncomfortable team in Europe away was never going to be easy.
You are satisfied with the kind of play your team is offering atm? Or with the performance of your 35mio wannabe golden boy?
He's been used of the bench mostly.
I'd rein in the arrogance until Dortmund actually win something for the first time in a few years.
Let me this moments of joy, we have been waiting for a slighty weak Bayern for years. Actually we as fans won something little in being witness of good football and young players who play good.
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I thought we weren't that bad today. We just didn't take our chances, which is a major problem and has been for some years now. And I actually thought Sanches was better than he had been in the last few games he played for us. Same goes for Bernat.
Renato with an ok performance today, yes. Seemed less nervous. Bernat had a good game, good to see.
Köln were actually very weak until they scored out of nowhere.
Still, there's a somewhat lazy, self-satisfied air about our team at the moment IMO.
'Unleashed' my arse
Great save.