Bundesliga 2016/17

Shite performance, but a win is a win. Alaba and Müller still need to find form, I don't know what's wrong with them, they have been awful for quite some months now. At the moment I would start Bernat over Alaba.
 
Xivon said:
Shite performance, but a win is a win. Alaba and Müller still need to find form, I don't know what's wrong with them, they have been awful for quite some months now. At the moment I would start Bernat over Alaba.
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Can't remember the last time I saw Muller put in a good performance.
 
Schurrle puts Dortmund up against Bremen.
Only 1 goal in these first halfs. And it's Dortmund.
 
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Seems like most teams are still in hibernation... what a dire matchday so far.
 
Regular BL watchers, how good a midfielder is Naby Keita from RB Leipzig really? I've only seen him twice plus the obligatory YouTube compilations, and what strikes me most about him is his ridiculous pace and also great nack for combination play on the offensive. Might be lacking a bit in defensive capabilities (?) to be a top b2b, but from my limited knowledge of the player he seems like one to watch out for.
 
Schalke continue to be inconsistent, which is hard to understand with the players they have. Really thought they'd improve under Weinzierl.
 
bucky said:
Schalke continue to be inconsistent, which is hard to understand with the players they have.
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That has been their trademark for the last 20-odd years and beyond. Schalke is a money burning machine instead of a football club. Which goes for a remarkable number of german teams - Wolfsburg, HSV, Hertha, Stuttgart, the reasons in all cases obviously being rooted in the clubs leadership. If they focussed on cleaning *that* mess up, the Bundesliga would be much less of a one-club show. They seem to be happier to blame Bayern rather than getting their shit together.
 
Hoffenheim leading against Leipzig.
And Robben scores for Bayern.
Wener equalizes. Let's see if Hoffenheim can keep their unbeaten run now.
2-0 Alaba. Game basically over.
 
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bucky said:
Schalke continue to be inconsistent, which is hard to understand with the players they have. Really thought they'd improve under Weinzierl.
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What players? Burgstaller? They are okay in defense but absolutely atrocious on the attack.
 
High intensity game in Leipzig with lots of counter pressing and fast attacks, as expected. I love how composed Hoffenheim generally are in possession under Nagelsmann. The BL needs more teams (and coaches) like that.
 
do.ob said:
What players? Burgstaller? They are okay in defense but absolutely atrocious on the attack.
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Meyer and Embolo are promising players. They also have Huntelaar, Choupo-Moting, di Santo and Konoplyanka. They really should do better than 10th. Injuries have played their part and maybe not right now, but I was speaking in general.
 
Wagner off. Hoffenheim down to 10 men.
Hoffenheim don't give up attacking, albeit they are 1 man down.
Baumann keeping Hoffenheim in the game with a fantastic save.
Lucky deflection to put Leipzig up.
 
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Poor Darmstadt.
First defeat in the league for Hoffenheim. I didn't know Khedira's brother played for Leipzig.
 
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bucky said:
Meyer and Embolo are promising players. They also have Huntelaar, Choupo-Moting, di Santo and Konoplyanka. They really should do better than 10th. Injuries have played their part and maybe not right now, but I was speaking in general.
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Meyer looked very impressive when he hit the spotlight, but since then he hasn't really developed much further (only 21 years old - I know, but already 150 matches under his belt), imho Schalke should cash in on him while people still pay a bonus for his age
Embolo has been struggling a lot with adapting to Bundesliga's level, he basically had one good game and since then he's been injured.
EMCM belongs to a midtable team, so does di Santo who had one good season for Bremen and since was pretty terrible (2 league goals for Schalke) - the latter has also been injured since November.
Huntelaar is waaaaay past it to the point that he's severly holding back Schalke's attacking flow and he's also been out for months.
Konoplyanka from what I've seen of him for Schalke has a lot of pace and a bit of technical skill but abyssmal decision making and end product.

I think their defensive setup is pretty sound, but they have absolutely no idea how to advance the ball, Naldo and Höwedes are old school defenders, Geis completely lacks the technique and agility to orchestrate the match against teams who favour pressing (spoiler alert: everyone in Bundesliga does), Bentaleb has been doing okay I guess, he's been the only one who put some edge into their attacks. Goretzka is a good talent imho, but not someone who has the skills on the ball to turn the tide of a dysfunctional attack. I guess Weinzierl's defensive approach doesn't help either: they mostly play 3atb and Kolasinac (absolute brute who is mediocre at best on the ball) and Schöpf (medicore) on the wings.

I guess Schalke could be higher up the table, but I really don't see them in the top bracket in terms of squads anymore, given that the contracts of Kolasniac and EMCM are running out this summer and Meyer+Goretzka next summer, as well as five of their players being loaned they'll be in for a massive rebuilding job next season and I think they might have finally completed their transition to a midtable team. Even their impressive academy does seem to let them down at the moment.
 
If we play like we did in the last 2 games I can see us lose against Arsenal. At the moment we rely on individual magic rather than a team performance so much, it can't be all explained with the absense of Thiago. Kimmich was great though, he should start more often.
 
Classic Chicharito, about time he scored again. Fight for 3rd and 4th is going to be something else.
 
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