Bundesliga 2016/17

To all our BL experts : why isn't Dahoud getting games at BM ? Style, fitness, form, not good enough ? None of the above ?
 
Well that is surprising considering that he is supposed to be a high quality DM ! Is that a guess or has the coach come out and said anything ?

He's a CAM, a 8/10 hybrid, not a DM.
 
He's a CAM, a 8/10 hybrid, not a DM.
Yes. I stand corrected. However he is known for his ability both defensively and constructively, so is it really a case of lacking defensive discipline ? Or is there something else to this ? Say manager/Player friction ? Rumours he's available in January doesn't sound good.
 
Yes. I stand corrected. However he is known for his ability both defensively and constructively, so is it really a case of lacking defensive discipline ? Or is there something else to this ? Say manager/Player friction ? Rumours he's available in January doesn't sound good.

In short: Xhaka's gone. They had to adapt to this situation, and since Stindl, who's running the show in their offensive midfield, already isn't the greatest in terms of defensive contribution, changes in personell were required.
Playing both Dahoud and Stindl would leave BMG's midfield wide open, so Strobl was installed to play alongside Kramer, whose presence isn't as massive as Xhaka's.
Can't say if there other factors playing into this, but the decision per se can be fully justified from a purely sportive POV. Stindl is great for them, and the Kramer/Strobl pairing provides defensive stability.
 
He's a CAM, a 8/10 hybrid, not a DM.

Yep. He is very similar to Gündogan in that regard as he shines the most when he has a defensively very competent partner either next to or behind him.
 
In short: Xhaka's gone. They had to adapt to this situation, and since Stindl, who's running the show in their offensive midfield, already isn't the greatest in terms of defensive contribution, changes in personell were required.
Playing both Dahoud and Stindl would leave BMG's midfield wide open, so Strobl was installed to play alongside Kramer, whose presence isn't as massive as Xhaka's.
Can't say if there other factors playing into this, but the decision per se can be fully justified from a purely sportive POV. Stindl is great for them, and the Kramer/Strobl pairing provides defensive stability.
Excellent. Thank you !
 
Holy shit Robben still sooo good. Without his injury plague he would probably be on Messi/Ronaldo level. :(
 
2-0 Bayern game over.

Lewa got the first with a sublime first touch from a Robben pass. Robben just doubled their advantage.
 
Great synergy with Robben and Lewandowski, as if they'd played together for years. ^^
 
Tuned in 10 minutes late and just now realized Alonso is playing
 
BVB with two bookings after ten minutes already:eek:
 
dembélé annoys me so so much. week in, week out.
 
Götze with scenes like in the good old days. Haven't seen him do something like this for us in three years :(
 
Kagawa has become so useless, he's really playing like a 150k player nowadays.
 
Does anybody else think that Thomas Tuchel is massively overrated?
 
Does anybody else think that Thomas Tuchel is massively overrated?
Not really, no. Excellent, brilliant coach.
However he's not exactly shown himself to be a big game/cup manager so far, which is of course an important trait to have at the very top.
 
Does anybody else think that Thomas Tuchel is massively overrated?

No, I think he's quite brilliant. It's not even that he's underachieving with Dortmund atm in my opinion...look at how young that squad is, look at how many players are out injured, look at how incredible they were last season. If anything he overachieved last season already.
 
No, I think he's quite brilliant. It's not even that he's underachieving with Dortmund atm in my opinion...look at how young that squad is, look at how many players are out injured, look at how incredible they were last season. If anything he overachieved last season already.
Personally I think the injuries is a weak excuse for Dortmund at the moment. Look at the bench yesterday it included Guerreiro, Bartra, Rode, Ramos, Schurrle and Weidenfeller. That's a strong bench. The starting 11 is still very strong. Yes some key players are missing such as Reus and Bender. Schalke were missing Coke, Huntelaar and Emobolo themselves. To pick up 3 points from 12 is an extremely poor return. One win in 90 minutes in the last 7 games is simply not good enough.

Like I said before this weekend, they have an extremely tough fixture list coming up and could find themselves off the CL pace.

He's a good manager and done a very good job in the league last season, but I don't think he's shown enough to get the praise he receives. As mentioned above there is a large ? in terms of his ability to win the big games.
 
He gets the praise he received not primarily for the results though but also for the football with which they achieved those results, which was simply awesome most of the time. And I think it is right to acknowledge something like that.

Of course, the question whether someone is 'overrated' is always connected to who rates that someone how high.
If you debate with someone who claims Tuchel's the best coach in the world and the certified second coming of Arrigo Sacchi you might rightfully answer that's massively overrating him, based on his achievements so far. I have not heard someone 'rate' Tuchel quite as high though yet.
 
Personally I think the injuries is a weak excuse for Dortmund at the moment. Look at the bench yesterday it included Guerreiro, Bartra, Rode, Ramos, Schurrle and Weidenfeller. That's a strong bench. The starting 11 is still very strong. Yes some key players are missing such as Reus and Bender. Schalke were missing Coke, Huntelaar and Emobolo themselves. To pick up 3 points from 12 is an extremely poor return. One win in 90 minutes in the last 7 games is simply not good enough.

Like I said before this weekend, they have an extremely tough fixture list coming up and could find themselves off the CL pace.

He's a good manager and done a very good job in the league last season, but I don't think he's shown enough to get the praise he receives. As mentioned above there is a large ? in terms of his ability to win the big games.

That's true. But just look at Guardiola's recent slump. Doesn't mean he isn't a good manager. Also consider that despite you saying that they have great players, 3 of their starting 11 are under the age of 20, and Weigl is only in his second Bundesliga season as well. Mor is another one who often features and is still very raw. Schürrle just came back from injury. Their starting 11 is strong but so is Schalke's for example.
 
Oh dear

A mediocre Hoffenheim vs a mediocre Hertha is the game of 3rd against 4th

Bundesliga is in a sorry state to be quite honest

feels like 2008 all over again

with the difference that in 2008 both Hoffenheim and Hertha had better teams
 
Personally I think the injuries is a weak excuse for Dortmund at the moment. Look at the bench yesterday it included Guerreiro, Bartra, Rode, Ramos, Schurrle and Weidenfeller. That's a strong bench. The starting 11 is still very strong. Yes some key players are missing such as Reus and Bender. Schalke were missing Coke, Huntelaar and Emobolo themselves. To pick up 3 points from 12 is an extremely poor return. One win in 90 minutes in the last 7 games is simply not good enough.

Like I said before this weekend, they have an extremely tough fixture list coming up and could find themselves off the CL pace.

He's a good manager and done a very good job in the league last season, but I don't think he's shown enough to get the praise he receives. As mentioned above there is a large ? in terms of his ability to win the big games.

There are no excuses, there are explanations. The current performances in October is nothing we didnt expect. It was clear from the begining that this is a transition season. With all the injuries its even more expactable that we drop points from such games.

Honestly, all the first halfes in these games were poor from us, with the second half picking up, like yesterday i thought give us 10 minutes more and we score. Fortunatly since yesterday Schürrle and Guerreiro are fit again, that should give us some rest. The last weeks all the young lads had to play in and out, despite our great squaddeepness we reached some limit (illustrated for example by the fact that Bruun Larsen had to play in the last game cause we runed out of players). And honestly our defence performance is bad at the moment, hope that a return of Batra and Sokratis will fix this, they hardly played together and in the first games they looked very promising togehter.

We have our problems now, but thats still ok. We are first in the CL group, in the near of the CL spots, and reached the next round in the cup.
Injured players are coming back, lets see how the next weeks work out.
 
I don't think Hertha is that mediocre. They are performing on a good level quite consistently.
 
with the difference that in 2008 both Hoffenheim and Hertha had better teams
I'd say Hertha then and now are pretty similar in strength although the 08/09 version had a better coach. That said looking at the 08/09 Hertha squad I can't believe they almost won the Championship that year. Probably would have been the biggest Bundesliga upset in my life time.
 
There are no excuses, there are explanations. The current performances in October is nothing we didnt expect. It was clear from the begining that this is a transition season. With all the injuries its even more expactable that we drop points from such games.

Honestly, all the first halfes in these games were poor from us, with the second half picking up, like yesterday i thought give us 10 minutes more and we score. Fortunatly since yesterday Schürrle and Guerreiro are fit again, that should give us some rest. The last weeks all the young lads had to play in and out, despite our great squaddeepness we reached some limit (illustrated for example by the fact that Bruun Larsen had to play in the last game cause we runed out of players). And honestly our defence performance is bad at the moment, hope that a return of Batra and Sokratis will fix this, they hardly played together and in the first games they looked very promising togehter.

We have our problems now, but thats still ok. We are first in the CL group, in the near of the CL spots, and reached the next round in the cup.
Injured players are coming back, lets see how the next weeks work out.
What would you say would be deemed a successful season for Dortmund, mate?