Plea´s shooting technique is really impressive. 1-0 Gladbach with their first shot, pretty undeserved at this point.
Bundesliga 2018/19
- Thread starter uamini
- Start date
I don't think anyone earned a sending off, aside from Cordova and that was basically the last attack of the match - they spread their fouls around fairly well. It's certainly cynical, but the vast majority of referees doesn't really punish tactical fouling, so they are usually fine - tactical fouls also seem a huge part of City's defensive concept, it's just the smart thing to do these days.
Also:
DÖP DÖP DÖP²
Even if Bayern turn this around this won't be a pleasant international break for Kovac.
I hope it won't be just a break, but a permanent vacation. What a horrorshow. Still unbelievable how we ended up with fecking Kovac in a year when Tuchel went to PSG, Nagelsmann signed a pre-contract with Leipzig and Favre went to Dortmund.
His goal last week v Wolsburg was superb.
Magnificent goal.
This one against Bayern is somilar in terms of accuracy.
Bayern now losing 2-0.
Will Kovac make it to Xmas as manager?
Kovac on a mission to make Bayern spend huge money next summer just like 2007. 
Honestly, Hoeneß must go. Since he's back, Bayern moved years back in time.
Honestly, Hoeneß must go. Since he's back, Bayern moved years back in time.
Don't forget BRAZZO (it speaks volumes about his standing imho, that people still call him this). Appointing people with questionable credentials in both key positions, apparently because they were popular players sounds like a move from the 90s. Wasn't that the kind of stuff they wanted to leave behind when they hired van Gaal? From Guardiola, Reschke and Sammer to this..
Still.. the squad is in fairly decent shape. If they act swiftly the club should be fine.
Not sure about that. Fairly decent, maybe. But surely not better than that.
The attack is a mess:
Lewandowski has started to decline, but is obviously still good enough for 2-3 more years if he wants to stay and is motivated. That's a big if though. Robben and Ribery don't realise that they're past it. They should have roles similar to Scholl in his last seasons at the club. Impact subs who can still provide a few moments of magic during the season when they play 15-20 minutes in the end of games against tired opponents. Instead they moan and cry whenever they don't start and cause massive problems in the squad. It's silly. Coman is more injured than available, Gnabry isn't good enough and I'm not sure Müller will ever find his peak form again. We need to buy James, but that's alread 45million we have to spend in the summer just to keep him. We need to sign two new wingers and just like Shaqiri, Götze and Coman haven't worked out, you don't know if the next 2 signings will. Especially because you have to look at young talents, because there aren't any established wingers available.
The midfield isn't good enough:
Thiago never fullfilled his potential outside of a handful of games and can't be relied on. Goretzka is a decent signing and Martinez can still play DM, but that's certainly not a good enough midfield to dominate games and create chances in a possession based system. None of Tollisso or Sanches are good enough for the ambitions of the club. There's leadership and quality missing in midfield.
The defense should be fine. Not sure it actually is, because none of Hummels, Boateng or Alaba have shown their peak form in the last 2 years. But Kimmich and Süle are quality and it's certainly not a priority. We just need another backup fullback.
Overall the quality of the team has dropped significantly and it was already obvious the last 2 seasons. The fact that the other bigger clubs in the Bundesliga declined so much at the same time kinda helped hiding the problems. The Dortmund side from Tuchel's first season and the Wolfsburg team with de Bruyne would have won the league against Bayern the last 2 seasons.
@Balu
With Bayern's spending you can't expect to keep pace with Real's and Barca's squads, but I'd say that retiring one of Rib/Rob and signing a WC winger would've put Bayern into a good position to compete with them squad-wise. The rest is Kovac's fault. So to me it looks like the biggest problems could be fixed by new year.
With Bayern's spending you can't expect to keep pace with Real's and Barca's squads, but I'd say that retiring one of Rib/Rob and signing a WC winger would've put Bayern into a good position to compete with them squad-wise. The rest is Kovac's fault. So to me it looks like the biggest problems could be fixed by new year.
Bayern are a much high Quality Player Squad then thee Kovac had before so i genuileny think even he has to adapt to the new Situation. lets hope he (kackt ab) with the bayern
I don't expect that. I don't even mind if we rebuild and perform on a lower level for a while. But we aren't rebuilding at the moment. Pep actually started to rebuild the team in 14/15. But it didn't work out for various reasons (injuries and unrealised potential) but at least young players were thrown into the team. Now the only young and new player who gets playing time is Sanches. And it looks more like we're trying to protect the investment rather than we actually believe he'll ever be good enough.
I'm not sure how much is Kovac's fault actually. We signed a mediocre manager who had a surprising successful year once. We get what we should expect from him. Hoeneß and Salihamidciz are at fault.
I think both can (and actually is) be true. Kovac is under-performing as a coach, but since that was to be expected the management also share that blame.
I also think it's a bit harsh to say that Bayern aren't rebuilding:
Süle, Gnabry (him less than the others) and Goretzka are young players you would expect to grow into important players, as is Tolisso to some extend and they signed that MLS kid.
Fun fact:
Alcacer is Bundesliga's top scorer without starting a single game.
Absurd to judge a manager as underperforming as a coach after winning his first 4 BL matches...even if it is Bayern.
It's good oul fashioned player power responsible for this. A complete breakdown of discipline because 36 year old whingers like Ribery are in denial about the end of their careers.
This is much easier to do with a manager who has never won a major league. A real case of "What have you won?" ..... "We're in charge here".
The players are supposedly unhappy that their management team are speaking Croatian (as well as German)... which they cannot understand. Big Deal.
Are these professionals or what?
It's probably the first time since Klinsmann that Bayern got one point out of three consecutive Bundesliga matches and it's not just the results, it's also the way they play. Bayern's philosophy is to dominate and Kovac thus far doesn't seem to able to deliver that.
Blaming the players because he might have lost the dressing room after two months is just a lame excuse. Bayern are the biggest club in Germany, having world class players with the accompanying egos is part of their philosophy, if Kovac can't handle that he doesn't deserve to sit on their bench.
Someone like Tuchel had zero problems making the leap from Mainz to Dortmund and Dortmund to PSG, because he can win players over with his attacking philosophy and training, player power is only a problem if you can't get them to believe in you.
That has to be it for Kovac. Joke of an appointment. Nothing qualified him for the job.
We lost 3 in a row under Pep towards the end of the season once if I remember correctly.
I hope he takes Brazzo with him and everyone else starts ignoring Hoeneß. Although I doubt that.
Surely this time Heynckes won't come back to save the season. Absolutely no clue who could fill in now. What a feck up, worst summer since 2008.
Why Bayern not going for Tuchel this summer? Any rift between him and Hoeness?
That was always going to be a disaster of an appointment does it ?
Rumour, iirc, was that they approached Tuchel but he said he already committed to PSG.
the depressing reality is, that nothing is going to change until Hoeneß gives up control. Nobody can push him out and I don't see him stepping aside. All of that is on him. I still can't believe that we passed on Tuchel to get Kovac.
I have never watched PSV and have idea what kind of football they are playing, but I think van Bommel would be a very interesting option.
I was going to do a whole thing about how managers impact at top clubs is overstated but, Kovac and Lopetgui are killing that theory.
Pragmatic, counter attacking football.
Totally insane.
Not caring after the league has already been wrapped up is something else entirely though.
So when does Heynckes get the call again?
Kovac didn't sound like someone who expected to be sacked in the post-match interview.
Zidanes off to Bayern......stuck with Jose guys, gonna have to cope!
Hahaha .
Kovac to Utd.
Or even better get Heynkes(I know he is retired), old as feck but better than most out there.
So old guard in Bayern want to sack another manager?
you should watch us some more ;-)
Hakimi is just on loan from Real Madrid. The others though, you should check them out, some great young talent there, Akanji and Sancho being the pick of the bunch so far.
they did go for him, but being their arrogant selves, they left it late, thinking he'd wait for them. But he'd already agreed to go to PSG by the time they approached his agent.
I kinda wanted him to go to Bayern, I'd give him 6 months before having a massive fall out with Hoeness and Rummenigge. TT can't help himself.
Still, I'm also enjoying things right now as they stand in the Bundesliga, it has been a fantastic start to the season, for many teams. So cool to see.
Was at the Dortmund match today, incredible atmosphere.
Paco Alcacer now the leading goalscorer in Bundesliga, brilliant transfer. No idea why he is never allowed to start, he is sooo much better than Philipp.
Reus was a bit disappointing, missed a sitter a few minutes in, which would have changed the course of the game.
Sancho may actually be the best player in the league right now. He has the same insane dribbling ability like Ousmane Dembele, but much more mature decision making. Selling Dembele for 105m, buying a better player for 8m. Just Dortmund things.
Paco Alcacer now the leading goalscorer in Bundesliga, brilliant transfer. No idea why he is never allowed to start, he is sooo much better than Philipp.
Reus was a bit disappointing, missed a sitter a few minutes in, which would have changed the course of the game.
Sancho may actually be the best player in the league right now. He has the same insane dribbling ability like Ousmane Dembele, but much more mature decision making. Selling Dembele for 105m, buying a better player for 8m. Just Dortmund things.
Zidane would be a great coach to have for Bayern. He can handle the egos and have them playing a better, more consistent system. He can steady the downing ship for a season or two.
Was at the Dortmund match today, incredible atmosphere.
Paco Alcacer now the leading goalscorer in Bundesliga, brilliant transfer. No idea why he is never allowed to start, he is sooo much better than Philipp.
Reus was a bit disappointing, missed a sitter a few minutes in, which would have changed the course of the game.
Sancho may actually be the best player in the league right now. He has the same insane dribbling ability like Ousmane Dembele, but much more mature decision making. Selling Dembele for 105m, buying a better player for 8m. Just Dortmund things.
Uhm, no. He is certainly in the conversation for the most talented player in the league, but in terms of current overall ability he is not the best of the team and thus of course also the league. The overall best player of Borussia Dortmund is still Marco Reus, which is also the reason why he played nearly every minute this season. Marco Reus is a far more complete player: way more own goal threat, better off the ball movement, far better defensive contribution, stronger weak foot and more positional versatilty.
Don´t get me wrong, Sancho is already a fantastic player and this is actually a quite unfair comparision as Reus is a fully matured and very experienced player in his prime, but we should also not forget that the team does a lot of work to set him up to really shine. This starts with a general tactical idea to tire out the opposing team and ends with multiple players helping to recover balls Sancho loses in his dribbling attempts (which are clearly encouraged by Favre). In short Sancho is right now in the ideal place for the stage of his development, with a team around him that enhance his strenghts and cover for his still existing shortcomings.
I would not be surprised if he ends up being an even better player than Reus, though, as I believe that his talent ceiling is a bit higher as the one of our captain.
He is the most in form player in the league right now, that is what I mean. Before this match, many have said that Sancho only looks good because he comes off the bench when the opponent is tired. He has been brilliant today for 90 minutes and I don't think what you write fits with the match. His dribbling attempts have been very successful, he almost always only lost the ball when he made a pass which the others didn't anticipate. Also I don't think the team is perfectly set up for him, the transitions have been rather poor and the one time he got a great pass played into space by Witsel, he put it on a plate for Alcacer. More often than not, the other Dortmund players miss the perfect moment to pass and Sancho has to start dribbling in not very favourable positions.
Favre loves his Reus as second striker thing, but if Dortmund actually had a number 10 like Gotze, he could play the wingers into dangerous positions much more effective.
I see no reason why Dortmund can't play with Reus on the left, Paco up top, Sancho on the right and Gotze as 10. Reus can still do his usual thing and you lose very little without Laarsen. Looks like a very one-dimensional player to me.
Yeah, sorry, I don´t base my evaluation of "best" (even if it comes to form) on a single match. Then the title of best would change every playday and if we narrow it down that strictly, the best in form player of the league would be Paco Alcacer right now.
Well, first off, Götze has simply not done enough in this season so far to warrant a starter place.
Secondly, I really think you underestimate how much Reus does for the game from a more central position. He does a ton of off the ball movement to draw in attention, falls back to midfield to carry the ball in the last third and fans out to the sides to assist the wingers. He is also the one who usually initiates position rotations. If you watch games with the focus on him rather than just the ball, you really see how large his srea of effect actually is.
Lastly, Larsen provides strong goal threat, which is something we need, especially with Phillip struggling atm and he might even be the best player in the team right now when it comes to getting behind the opposing defense line on the sides and working in these spaces, which gives our game more width and also depth. Larsen and Sancho offer different things, both very valuable ones in making our offensive game more unpredictable.
Has Goetze ever been played as a number 10 behind a classic number 9 like Paco this season? Every time he was playing this season, he was next to Philipp or Reus in a 2-men-strikeforce and that is not his game at all. He was also the only midfielder next to Witsel today when he came on because Weigl went off and he did really well in building up play, much better than anything I have seen from Weigl in a long time. The things you write about carrying the ball forward from midfield, assisting on the wings etc., Gotze can do that as well. Gotze is only bad when you have him having to actually beat a man with pace and you have enough other players who offer that.
I am not saying Reus is bad in his second striker role, I am just saying he is no number 10 with great passing. This feels like early 2012/13 again, when Klopp used Reus in the middle and Großkreutz on the left and finally realised after some games that Reus is not a great playmaker in the middle. He put Reus on the left, Gotze as number 10 and the result was glorious.
This direct goal threat by Laarsen can be offered by other, much more well rounded players as well. You could put Philipp or Reus on the left, or put an attacking LB like Guerreiro to get width on the left. Favre used Gurreiro as an LM today and he actually did much better than Laarsen, despite me thinking he should be a LB, not a midfielder. Or he should be sold and a proper attacking LB should be brought in, Diallo as LB is a big hindrance.
Kovac is a good manager who did a great job at Eintracht Frankfurt. That's why he got the Bayern job in the first place.
But unlike an Ancelotti or a Pep he couldn't point to champions league titles that he had won.
It seems clear to me that the players at Bayern are unprofessional and not performing in order to get Kovac the sack so that they can probably have old Grandpa Juup back.....Perhaps they were in charge and picking the team under his stewardess.
One interesting view in all of this would be the view of Ancelotti.
This is a club on the wane, with old players or other past it who have lost their motivation after 6 in a row. Kovac has taken over in the middle of all that and he has 36 year olds going to the media because they've been left on the bench.
No wonder they're nicknamed Hollywood FC
But unlike an Ancelotti or a Pep he couldn't point to champions league titles that he had won.
It seems clear to me that the players at Bayern are unprofessional and not performing in order to get Kovac the sack so that they can probably have old Grandpa Juup back.....Perhaps they were in charge and picking the team under his stewardess.
One interesting view in all of this would be the view of Ancelotti.
This is a club on the wane, with old players or other past it who have lost their motivation after 6 in a row. Kovac has taken over in the middle of all that and he has 36 year olds going to the media because they've been left on the bench.
No wonder they're nicknamed Hollywood FC
Kovac finished 11th and 8th in his two full Bundesliga seasons, that's hardly breath taking - even if he won that one cup. Even more importantly he accomplished these finishes by using a style that's the polar opposite of what Bayern and their players want to see. I sincerely doubt he would've gotten anywhere close to the job if it wasn't for his past at the club.
And even if what you're saying about the players being against him is true, there is no way the coach isn't at fault if he has a mutiny at his hands by the beginning of fall.