Hsv 
Bundesliga 2018/19
- Thread starter uamini
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Looks liek Hamburg are going to do a Sunderland....were woeful and fully deserved the 0-3.
I watched it to see how Bates who they signed from Rangers would get on in defence and he made Titus Bramble look like Baresi.
I watched it to see how Bates who they signed from Rangers would get on in defence and he made Titus Bramble look like Baresi.
All those HSV fans who convinced themselves that going down was a good thing to turn the club around 
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After you survive so many years just thanks to a big luck you are fecked when you go down.
So Eintracht have loaned Geraldes from Sporting... I'll have to keep an eye on them then like in the Varela days. They have Rebic (for now) & Hasebe, too, so that's a plus.
Horn and Hector both started for Cologne against Bochum yesterday. They won 2-0. I expect to see them back in the Bundesliga next season.
I do feel sorry for their fans. The stadium is always sold-out and yet Hamburg play like crap.Looks liek Hamburg are going to do a Sunderland....were woeful and fully deserved the 0-3.
I watched it to see how Bates who they signed from Rangers would get on in defence and he made Titus Bramble look like Baresi.
Witsel signs for Dortmund, they still need a striker
Dortmund have a great chance this season to win the league, with Bayern not looking to strength.
I don’t think anybody can tell how Bayern look this year. The complete team just got together and the BuLi starts in 2.5 weeks.
And I am not convinced by Dortmund‘s transfers. What do you have as their starting XI?
Taken from a Dortmund forum:
---------------------------------- Philipp -----------------------------------
-----------------------------------(Isak/?) ----------------------------------
------ Reus------------------------------------------------- Pulisic -------
---- (Sancho) --------------------------------------------- (Wolf) -------
--------------------- Götze --------------- Delaney ----------------------
------------------ (Kagawa) ------------ (Dahoud) ---------------------
---------------------------------- Witsel ------------------------------------
--------------------------------- (Weigl) ------------------------------------
- Schmelzer --------- Akanji -------------- Diallo ------------- Piszczek --
- (Guerreiro) ----- (Zagadou) --------- (Toprak) -------- (Hakimi) -
----------------------------------- Bürki -------------------------------------
----------------------------------- (Hitz) -------------------------------------
That's a pretty deep squad. They definitely need a new striker though... if they can find someone worth the money then this is a good team.
There's good depth there. Time for BvB to compete for the title. Burki is shit though.
There is good depth, but the starting XI is severely lacking quality. Striker, keeper and defense are nowhere near good enough to seriously challenge Bayern.
Their fullbacks are woefully average and way past their best. They make Young and Valencia look like 23-year-olds. I would not be surprised to see Akanji shifted to LB again, with Toprak coming into the central defense.
There are just not enough goals in that side. Reus and Philipp are the only two players capable of scoring more than 10 league goals, if one of them gets injured for a longer period, it is pretty much game over.
I would have only signed one of Witsel or Delaney, put faith into Dahoud or Weigl to come good. Those boys have the talent, they just need a good system. Rather invest in proper fullbacks instead. Diallo for 28m was way overpriced as well, just sign a cheap CB backup, play Toprak and Akanji and use the funds for a good striker.
Don't agree. They have Schmelzer and an aging Piszek as FB first choice, both GK are ok-ish at best, no striker, and they still might lose Pulisic or Weigl.
Michael Zorc is now quoted as saying that "international top strikers are almost impossible to get for Dortmund."
They're not gonna beat Bayern without a strong finisher so unless they find a good option for cheap they won't be serious challengers for the title.
They're not gonna beat Bayern without a strong finisher so unless they find a good option for cheap they won't be serious challengers for the title.
They spent 36 MP on two midfielders (Witsel and Delaeny) so it begs the question why they decided to invest so heavily in that position when the striker was a clear weakness. They did well in selling players like Yarmalenko and Sokratis for 18 MP but I don't understand spending 18 MP on Witsel when they already bought Delaeny and have Weigl, Dahoud, Gotze, Sahin and Rode for the same positions (you can maybe include Gotze as well); that makes no sense unless they are considering to cut short some deadwood.
Also, where did the funds for Dembele and Aubamayeng go? Can't understand this logic that they can not get any top international striker.
Yep, strange they are not gonna replace him.
They did, but went with the cheap option and got Marvin Hitz, who isn't much better, for free. It's basically going to be a competition between two average keepers.
They haven't invested well in this squad and really it's down to Favre's tactical magic to get the best out of them. He managed to take Gladbach to the top 4 with a front-line of Hanke and Reus so he can only do better with Reus and Phillpp, though the Reus of now has lost considerable speed over the Reus from that season.
It's really down to players finding the form they had with Tuchel. You look at their squad and there are a lot of players and on paper they are very good, but that's based on their past performances. Gotze, Guerriro, Weigl, Dahoud, Gotze, Kagawa, Reus are all players who once played at a very high level but have not been near there best recently; some of that down to injuries. If they all find their best form then definitely that squad can be good enough to compete for the title, Guerrero can solve their LB problems while Weigl-Dahoud-Gotze should be a great midfield with creativity and defensive soundness. If they continue on from their form last season then I can't see them challenging Bayern.
Let's hope that those players improve their performances under a great coach like Favre.
I kinda get Witsel since they were looking for an experienced leader to anchor the defensive midfield position..or as Zorc put it: "When we analyzed the past season we saw that in several matches it was too easy to beat us - to put it bluntly. We didn't fight back enough. We didn't have enough leaders who'd say 'Toughen up guys or else this isn't gonna work out.' This is what I expect from Axel Witsel."
Delaney is the more puzzling choice, he sounds more like added depth than a real ugrade.
As for transfer funds, they've spent close to 100 million € in 2018 and have earned 107 million (minus taxes) in that same time frame. So there isn't any Aubameyang money left. Dembele's fee seems to have disappeared into thin air though. ^^
Transfermarkt says they made a profit of 140 ME last season from the sales of Dembele/Aubamayeng and purchases of Akanji/Yarmalenko etc. This season they have a net spend of 25 ME, so the question is again where the hell are the remaining 115 ME?
If you want ambition and challenge Bayern, you have to consider spending over an above what you've made. Yet, they are seeminingly trying to profit on their transfers rather than spend more.
Just noticed they also lack a proper CF. Still difficult to beat Bayern, then.
Well, the traditional striker in Favre's Gladbach system was Mike Hanke, he scored 8 goals in the 11/12 season while Reus scored 16 iirc. Hanke wasn't used as a traditional striker but his use was more in his ability to hold the ball and play quick passes in transition; his workrate off the ball was also vital. Phillpp-Reus can work in a similar sense. Both are flexible and can play quick passes in transition, the only drawback is that neither have the strength Hanke had and therefore may not be able to hold the ball as well as Hanke did that season.
Favre can work without a proper CF so the current line-up can be successful. Again, a lot of their success will depend on whether Favre can find the tactics to work because their are very clear deficiencies, starting from CF.
They also lack FBs, Keeper, CB. They are more likely to battle with Neverkusen, Leipzig, Schalke than with Bayern.
Afaik Rennes got a piece of the Dembele fee (which isn't reflected in the TM numbers) and Dortmund have committed around €20m into infrastructure investments.
Also keep in mind that they are still looking for a striker, so there is still some money left for that, but probably not nearly a 10 digit sum.
Signing both Witsel and Delaney seems a bit redundant to me and while Witsel seems like a solid transfer with the potential to be a pillar of the squad, I'm not that convinced by Delaney whose career followed a rather obscure track until now.
The squad looks a bit unbalanced.
GK: Bürki can be a bit hit and miss, frequently great saves, rather good on the ball, but also some howlers at times and I have the suspicion that he sometimes crumbles under pressure. Hitz is a very good signing as far as a number two goes, but he clearly lacks the skills on the ball to properly challenge Bürki
CB: I think they did a good job of rebuilding here, Akanji seems to have a great future ahead of him, Toprak had a shaky start under Bosz but looked rather solid after the winter break - he's not a world beater but for a club like Dortmund he's as good a 3rd CB as they could hope for. Diallo may have cost too much, but the talent seems to be there. Zagadou showed the potential to be a great CB, but at the same time also the inconsistency and lapses in concentration of youth, he may be a candidate for a loan. All of them are good on the ball and it looks like they solved there problems here.
FB: Tbh I find it quite baffling how little was done here. Age has caught up with Piszczek, defensively he's still quite reliable, but during build up he's a clear weakness. Schmelzer is okay at most things but great at nothing, he's sufficient in a transition based approach, but like Piszczek he's a clear weakness when building from the back against a well organized pressing.
Guerreiro for some reason seems to be everyone's darling when it comes to the LB position, but I don't think he was ever even able to displace Schmelzer there, he would certainly solve a lot of problems going forward, but I think he's likely to be a defensive liability. There were also rumours about his work ethics and unless there is a tournament with Portugal coming up he's always injured. Hakimi I can not really judge, but given his age and lack of experience one would expect him to be a backup for now. Toljan seems to be frozen out at this point - he seemed completely out of his depth defensively anyway.
I think Dortmund really should've spent big on both positions and I reckon their possession play will suffer for it.
CM:
As mentioned earlier I think signing both Delaney and Witsel might have been a bit overkill, but I think overall this is the position where they look best. Weigl/Witsel as no 6, Dahoud/Delaney/Witsel as b2b players and Götze/Kagawa as creative options. Good/decent quality, lots of experience and lots of different player profiles for Favre to pick from. Dahoud is the one to watch out for, since he has the all around potential to be a complete and special midfielder, though at the moment his decision making/passing consistency leaves a lot to be desired if Favre can help him find consistency there he could elevate their midfield to another level. Sahin and Rode seem history at this point. Maybe the former can be a situational option, because his passing is still very good.
AM:
A bit overrated I think. Reus is great but might end up playing as a striker, Sancho is suberb for his age, but at the end still an 18 year old, Pulisic is rapid and a very good dribbler but he lacks end product and I'm afraid he might becoming a bit too selfish in relation to that. I don't really see the value of Wolf yet - aside from being a work horse.
ST:
Philipp has a bit of everything (aside from height and strength) and seems like a natural finisher, but I see him more as a second striker or inverted attacking winger rather than a out and out striker. Isak shows why he could be a good striker in the future, but at the same time he looks like he really needs to bulk up and his finishing is woeful, he should probably be loaned out. Dortmund desperately need to sign a real #9 and I think they will do so soon after the PL window has closed.
If they sign a good striker they should be able to comfortably finish second, but I think over the course of the season the FBs and lack of a second top tier winger will cost them and thus Bayern remain strong favourites for the title, unless Kovac really fecks up.
Also keep in mind that they are still looking for a striker, so there is still some money left for that, but probably not nearly a 10 digit sum.
Signing both Witsel and Delaney seems a bit redundant to me and while Witsel seems like a solid transfer with the potential to be a pillar of the squad, I'm not that convinced by Delaney whose career followed a rather obscure track until now.
The squad looks a bit unbalanced.
GK: Bürki can be a bit hit and miss, frequently great saves, rather good on the ball, but also some howlers at times and I have the suspicion that he sometimes crumbles under pressure. Hitz is a very good signing as far as a number two goes, but he clearly lacks the skills on the ball to properly challenge Bürki
CB: I think they did a good job of rebuilding here, Akanji seems to have a great future ahead of him, Toprak had a shaky start under Bosz but looked rather solid after the winter break - he's not a world beater but for a club like Dortmund he's as good a 3rd CB as they could hope for. Diallo may have cost too much, but the talent seems to be there. Zagadou showed the potential to be a great CB, but at the same time also the inconsistency and lapses in concentration of youth, he may be a candidate for a loan. All of them are good on the ball and it looks like they solved there problems here.
FB: Tbh I find it quite baffling how little was done here. Age has caught up with Piszczek, defensively he's still quite reliable, but during build up he's a clear weakness. Schmelzer is okay at most things but great at nothing, he's sufficient in a transition based approach, but like Piszczek he's a clear weakness when building from the back against a well organized pressing.
Guerreiro for some reason seems to be everyone's darling when it comes to the LB position, but I don't think he was ever even able to displace Schmelzer there, he would certainly solve a lot of problems going forward, but I think he's likely to be a defensive liability. There were also rumours about his work ethics and unless there is a tournament with Portugal coming up he's always injured. Hakimi I can not really judge, but given his age and lack of experience one would expect him to be a backup for now. Toljan seems to be frozen out at this point - he seemed completely out of his depth defensively anyway.
I think Dortmund really should've spent big on both positions and I reckon their possession play will suffer for it.
CM:
As mentioned earlier I think signing both Delaney and Witsel might have been a bit overkill, but I think overall this is the position where they look best. Weigl/Witsel as no 6, Dahoud/Delaney/Witsel as b2b players and Götze/Kagawa as creative options. Good/decent quality, lots of experience and lots of different player profiles for Favre to pick from. Dahoud is the one to watch out for, since he has the all around potential to be a complete and special midfielder, though at the moment his decision making/passing consistency leaves a lot to be desired if Favre can help him find consistency there he could elevate their midfield to another level. Sahin and Rode seem history at this point. Maybe the former can be a situational option, because his passing is still very good.
AM:
A bit overrated I think. Reus is great but might end up playing as a striker, Sancho is suberb for his age, but at the end still an 18 year old, Pulisic is rapid and a very good dribbler but he lacks end product and I'm afraid he might becoming a bit too selfish in relation to that. I don't really see the value of Wolf yet - aside from being a work horse.
ST:
Philipp has a bit of everything (aside from height and strength) and seems like a natural finisher, but I see him more as a second striker or inverted attacking winger rather than a out and out striker. Isak shows why he could be a good striker in the future, but at the same time he looks like he really needs to bulk up and his finishing is woeful, he should probably be loaned out. Dortmund desperately need to sign a real #9 and I think they will do so soon after the PL window has closed.
If they sign a good striker they should be able to comfortably finish second, but I think over the course of the season the FBs and lack of a second top tier winger will cost them and thus Bayern remain strong favourites for the title, unless Kovac really fecks up.
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Yep, a nothing special Bayern team are still gonna walk the league.
Maybe not „special“, but:
Neuer
Kimmich Boateng(Süle) Hummels Alaba
Martinez
Müller Thiago James Coman
Lewandowski
is still more than just a bit above okayish
Yeah for sure, they are good enough to walk the league, even if they are aging.
Looking forward to meeting Arsenal in the CL.
don'T hold your breathWe are awaiting you to drop into the Europa League
don'T hold your breath
You have nothing to worry about if the two sides meet. Ozil is the weak spot anyway who will be targeted all the time and has played shit for years
Apart from joke, i am glad we are in the Europa League atm so we don't have to face you anymoredon'T hold your breath
It has english subtitles.
I am curious to see if Hamburg can lose against Sandhausen as well this sunday. It would be quite a comical and a tragic start at the same time.
Goretzka foe Thiago please. Otherwise its all good.
Goretzka will get minutes, but Thiago is (still) twice the player Goretzka is.
Twice? Goretzka has to prove himself at the highest level yet but I don't think Thiago is s lot higher than him.
Plus, I think Goretzka can work tactically as well because we saw James wanting to come deep to build the play, that can qllow Goretzka to push forward into the box and score goals.
So Thiago could be off to Real. Bad deal for Bayern if it happened. It seems they want to get rid of some of the players Pep brought in.
Hamburg up 1-0 against mighty Sandhausen, thanks to a very generous opposition GK! They're coming home!!!