Not saying you're wrong but out of curiosity, do you think the same about coaches like Guardiola or Ten Haag? After all, their approaches are quite similar. Always thought if anything, Bosz football is more suited to top clubs and if he fails at Leverkusen it is because tge players lack the quality to play his way (fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case).
Bundesliga 2018/19
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Not saying you're wrong but out of curiosity, do you think the same about coaches like Guardiola or Ten Haag? After all, their approaches are quite similar. Always thought if anything, Bosz football is more suited to top clubs and if he fails at Leverkusen it is because tge players lack the quality to play his way (fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case).
No, I don't think the same because their approach is more cautious. Guardiola is the undisputed control freak among the managers and he can be very conservative if he thinks that's how he could have control of the game. Ten Hag also relies more of the structure of play and he can be pragmatic if it's needed (for example Ajax did not play from the back against Spurs)..while Bosz is all ""attack.. attack.. attack".. He is very Cruyffian in his views and I admire him for that but in my view that's a bit naive in today's football..
Ok, Leverkusen won that match against Bayern short after the winter break
but
they lost the Cup against Heidenheim
tied twice with 1:1 and 0:0 against mighty Krasnodar and went out of the Europa League
lost against Gladbach (when they were still strong), Dortmund, Bremen, Hoffenheim, Leipzig (all top 8)
and won against
Wolfsburg, Mainz, Düsseldorf, Freiburg, Hannover, Stuttgart, Nürnberg and a Frankfurt in between the Europa Cup semi finals.
Actually apart from Bayern all of that were must wins for a team like Leverkusen.
Leverkusen is not a team made of youngsters. Havertz is. Brandt just might be 23 - but played his first Bundesliga season 2014.
but
they lost the Cup against Heidenheim
tied twice with 1:1 and 0:0 against mighty Krasnodar and went out of the Europa League
lost against Gladbach (when they were still strong), Dortmund, Bremen, Hoffenheim, Leipzig (all top 8)
and won against
Wolfsburg, Mainz, Düsseldorf, Freiburg, Hannover, Stuttgart, Nürnberg and a Frankfurt in between the Europa Cup semi finals.
Actually apart from Bayern all of that were must wins for a team like Leverkusen.
Leverkusen is not a team made of youngsters. Havertz is. Brandt just might be 23 - but played his first Bundesliga season 2014.
5 teams with 51 to 54 points fighting for rank 4 to 7
How in the world did Wolfsburg get into that position? Would hate it if they get into the top 4. A bunch of average players overperforming, similar to Schalke last season. The only player I would think as being worthy of playing for a top side is Arnold.
Don't worry, we got that under control
No offense but Leverkusen are one the last teams I expect to be consistent come the pressure situations
being young, they can fold any time.SportBild reporting (in very committal terms) that Demirbay to Leverkusen is all but done for close to €30m.
Kicker reporting it on their own as well now, putting the fee at €32m.
Hard to imagine them committing such a sum without selling either Brandt or Havertz? Especially since CL money is far from certain at this point?
Kicker reporting it on their own as well now, putting the fee at €32m.
Hard to imagine them committing such a sum without selling either Brandt or Havertz? Especially since CL money is far from certain at this point?
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No offense but Leverkusen are one the last teams I expect to be consistent come the pressure situations
Where is your young team?
The team from yesterday had 5 players from 88/89 - already too old for the German national team...
Wendell, Alario, Volland are born 92/93 and are now 26 or 27
Tah and Brandt might be "only" 23 but are in their 5 or 6th Bundesliga season
Havertz is the only really young player
Big bad Bayern
Kaiserslautern won the Bundesliga in 1998 immediately after promotion
Kaiserslautern won the Bundesliga in 1998 immediately after promotion
Leverkusen confirmed the capture of Demirbay on a 5 year contract. Kicker puts the fee at €32m, comfortably making him their record signing ahead of Alario (€24m) - hopefully that one will work out a bit better for them.
To repeat myself. I think this means they will be selling either Brandt or Havertz, since I neither see all three of them fitting into the team nor do I see them spending so much money for a luxury option.
Really interesting signing. €32m is a hefty price and I wouldn't have expected Leverkusen to follow through on that. I love Demirbay as a footballer and have been following his development since he came through the Dortmund youth (he also spent a lot of his youth at Schalke and Wattenscheid). Has always been great to watch on his day, maybe a bit inconsistent. It certainly did not help that he went to Hamburg I guess. At Hoffenheim he is finally consistently showing his potential. I hope for Leverkusens sake that he can keep that consistency up now, which is not a sure bet in my opinion. He may still be great in Bosz's system so I am excited to see how he does there.
I agree that Leverkusen will probably sell one of their youngsters to make room or rather Demirbay is a replacement for one of them. I can see Havertz staying for another season. Right now he should command a hefty price and I neither see Bayern coughing up that kind of cash nor do I see him moving abroad yet. For Brandt on the other hand it seems like a good point in his career to make a move. He is 23 now, has established himself at Leverkusen and if they miss out on CL football I can see him jump ship. Not sure if it is going to be to my club and I am not sure if I want that either but out of those two he seems the more logical transfer even if you don't consider his supposed release clause.
The way I see it is that if Leverkusen miss out on the CL, then he'll come in as the replacement for Brandt. However, if they reach the CL, he'll come in as a rotation player for their mdifield to sustain their triple load (he's also defensive minded enough to play on the 6 in their system).
If they make it into the CL, this is the most likely outcome, very much to my chagrin. Still, he's definitely our prime midfield target and
he ain't gonna get any cheaper next year. I think it depends on the player. We've splashed out 85m for Lucas, I'm pretty sure the club would even meet the 100m figure asked for by Völler.
Question is, will he force a move? Going by his last statements, a lot will indeed depend on where B04 is going to end up. So, I'm *really* hoping for them to finish 7th or 8th.
It's going to be either BVB or some club abroad, but I'm certain he'll move regardless how they end their season. As you've said, he's 23 now, and it's about time for him to score some lucrative contract.
I think it would be a very big step from being a CM in in Nagelsmann's 532/4312 to being the anchor in Bosz's 433, especially since the latter has preferred Baumgartlinger over Aranguiz (who seems closer to Demirbay in comparison) for that role.
But regardless of that it would make a lot of sense on paper to bring in Demirbay now, either as a direct replacement for Brandt or with the view to ease him into being a starter when a slot opens up next season.
Yet we're talking about Leverkusen here and not Bayern, Leipzig or Dortmund. It's not as much about what would make sense from a sporting perspective, as it is about what they can actually afford. Looking at previous years it doesn't look like they can actually (net) spend a lot of money, if any.
€32m could be easily more than their entire transfer budget, even with CL money. I reckon their defense needs that money more than their midfield depth.
If they make it into the CL, this is the most likely outcome, very much to my chagrin. Still, he's definitely our prime midfield target and
he ain't gonna get any cheaper next year. I think it depends on the player. We've splashed out 85m for Lucas, I'm pretty sure the club would even meet the 100m figure asked for by Völler.
Question is, will he force a move? Going by his last statements, a lot will indeed depend on where B04 is going to end up. So, I'm *really* hoping for them to finish 7th or 8th.
It's going to be either BVB or some club abroad, but I'm certain he'll move regardless how they end their season. As you've said, he's 23 now, and it's about time for him to score some lucrative contract.
I simply don't know how crazy Bayern are willing to go on the market this summer window, I am sure you would know more about that than me. I know Hoeneß as announced a transfer offensive and I am sure they are willing to spend big. But two players for €185m still seems like a gigantic amount for their standards. I'm not saying Havertz will cost €100m or that Bayern won't spend that much, it just seems unlikely to me. Then again Havertz would be exactly the kind of signing Hoeneß loves and I rate him extremely likely. My take on the situation would be that Havertz may be too expensive for Bayern (this season and next as well if he keeps his performances up) and will be moving abroad. If this were indeed the case (a lot of guesswork on my part obviously) I could imagine he stays one more season at Leverkusen before taking the step abroad which might come too early yet. We will see, very interesting lad.
The Demirbay Transfer will have nothing to do with a possible Brandt or Havertz departure. He plays a deeper role in midfield and is probably the replacement for Aranguiz who will leave back to Chile in 2020.
Brandt might leave this summer if we miss out on the CL again anyway, but the Demirbay move is completely independent from Brandts situation.
Brandt might leave this summer if we miss out on the CL again anyway, but the Demirbay move is completely independent from Brandts situation.
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I thought Leverkusen's midfield basically consists of Baumgartlinger as the anchor plus two out of Brandt, Havertz, Aranguiz next to him. But even so the question kind of remains the same: can Leverkusen afford to invest €32m net into their midfield? I wouldn't rule it out categorically, but history suggests the likely answer is: no.
Bailey might pay for him, too, but Paulinho isn't ready for a major role yet, is he? And if they stick Brandt on the wing his big reason for staying would kinda go out of the window.
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Baungartlinger has only come in after the injury to Bellarabi, before that it was Aranguiz-Brandt-Havertz in midfield but with Bellarabi out Havertz has gone to the RW role and Baumgartlinger as a the DM.
As for the Demerbiay signing, I disagree that he is a defensive midfield signing. His style is very similar to what we're seeing Havertz and Brandt play so it is likely that Brandt will be leaving and Demerbiay coming in for him. Last season Geiger was playing as the DM with Demerbiay a more box to box, this season with Geiger's injury Grillisch is given the more defensive role.
I know Bosz started his tenure with Aranguiz as the anchor, but Baumgartlinger started the last 10 league matches in a row. Even the ones where technically every attacking player was fit. That didn't last long though, so it's hard to say whether it was for tactical or fitness reasons that Baumgartlinger got all those starts in a row.
You're both wrong. Since Bellarabi's injury, Bosz plays with four midfielders. In possession, this is a 3-6-1 formation with Weiser/Bender on the right, Bailey/Volland on the left side and Wendell, Tah and Bender as centrebacks. Aranguiz and Baumgartlinger play as deep midfielders, Brandt and Havertz as 8/10 hybrids in front of them and behind the lone striker Volland/Alario. This formation was very successful for us in the last matches. If we stick with it, we could play Aranguiz, Demirbay, Brandt and Havertz simultaneously.
I also think the Demirbay transfer has nothing to do with Brandt. Realistically, Havertz, Brandt and Aranguiz will all have left come 2020. It would have been really dumb to not sign Demirbay when the chance occurred since we can plan with him for the next 3-4 years at the very least.
I'd say the thinking behind it was something like "okay, if we make it to the CL, we can pay the fee through that. If not, we have to sell somebody".
I also think the Demirbay transfer has nothing to do with Brandt. Realistically, Havertz, Brandt and Aranguiz will all have left come 2020. It would have been really dumb to not sign Demirbay when the chance occurred since we can plan with him for the next 3-4 years at the very least.
I'd say the thinking behind it was something like "okay, if we make it to the CL, we can pay the fee through that. If not, we have to sell somebody".
Well, we haven´t re-invested the €20m we got for the Henrichs transfer to Monaco last summer. €32m is a lot of money for our standards, but I don´t think it´s impossible that we can pay such a sum once without the need of selling somebody else.
Baumgartlinger came into the team afer both our wingers in Bailey/Bellarabi got injured, same for Alario. I don´t expect him to be a regular starter next season but a very nice player to rotate.
Any reason Sancho isn't starting?
He was injured all week.
Havertz with his 6th goal in 6 games, he now has 16 goals this season..and he's still not 20 years old.
Cheers.
Doin his best DeGea right there.
Missed penalty there. But Dortmund's defense is just as much in tatters as ours. So many easy mistakes.
If it stays like this then final day will be really interesting, Bayern play Frankfurt and Dortmund play Monchengladbach, both of whom are on similar points and fighting for a top 4 position.
Well done, Bayer, proper bottlers.
I fecking hate Schalke. Ruined both Dortmund title challenge and now Leverkusen UCL chances. Such a pathetically average side as well, won't even get relegated as well. Hope they do next season.
Monchengladbach passes Leverkusen on 4th, and hopefully Eintracht will do the same tomorrow.
It's battle of Borussias in last round though.
It's battle of Borussias in last round though.
Dortmund...this is pathetic.
Please don't tell me they conceded twice in extra time!
Jeez Dortmund last 5 minutes, could easily have been 3-3.
They have been a mess at the back second half of the season. Dusseldorf only had 10 men aswell.
They have been a mess at the back second half of the season. Dusseldorf only had 10 men aswell.
Ok they didn't, but they could've conceded 3 or 4 between 90-97 mins against 10 men Düsseldorf. Only 1 went in though.
3-2 Full time
This Dortmund side. 
At least we get a last day decision too.