Bundesliga 2018/19

CookieMonster said:
You really need to work on your reading comprehension.

No one is saying that it was a penalty. The consensus is that the DFB/DFL need to make the VAR work - and fast. Why the situation (and every possible penalty) wasn't looked at again with the VAR I can't tell you, as it doesn't make sense.

That doesn't change the fact that one of the most promising young players in the Bundesliga was fouled until he couldn't get up anymore. And guess what - if Dortmund had played against Hoffenheim and Sancho or Pulisic had been fouled at virtually every second run down the wing until they had to get carried off the pitch I would have been pissed off, too. Especially if a player like Pulisic, Sancho, Reus or Rebic just came back from an injury on his ankle and got injured by a sliding tackle from the side that went "through" both his feet/ankles.

But in general we can say that the referees did a bad job last night. The referee gave a penalty that was no penalty and didn't even ask the VAR to check up on it. But the referee also did not communicate to the Hoffenheim players properly that they should start playing fairly or see their players sent off the pitch, if they continue to try and kick other players off the pitch.
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Whether Hoffenheim played dirty or not is irrelevant to the fact that the match probably would have been a 1-1 draw (and should have been a 1-1 draw) because a penalty was given to Bayern that simply was not a penalty. As you state the referee didn't consult VAR on the penalty decision.

The referee decided the outcome of the match and, "coincidentally", it just happened to favour Bayern.

Players get injured in football matches. It's part and parcel of the game and here's hoping Coman makes a speedy recovery.

I'm also sick and tired of whinging Bayern supporters moaning about the opposition challenging them.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Naldo? The 36 year old defender? Or is there a new one..
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Yes. Actually 35 years old until next month. He has been the best CB in Bundesliga in the last season and one of the best since his Werder Bremen days. Impeccable in the air, very good passing game, always a threat at set pieces and blessed with possibly the hardest shot in the league.

He was the second highest scorer of Schalke last season, who finished 2nd. He was solely responsible for several wins/points, like scoring the 4-4 in the last second of extra game against Dortmund after they were 0-4 down at half time. He also scored with a direct free kick in the return leg, securing the win with the important 2-0.
 
Don Alfredo said:
Yes. Actually 35 years old until next month. He has been the best CB in Bundesliga in the last season and one of the best since his Werder Bremen days. Impeccable in the air, very good passing game, always a threat at set pieces and blessed with possibly the hardest shot in the league.

He was the second highest scorer of Schalke last season, who finished 2nd. He was solely responsible for several wins/points, like scoring the 4-4 in the last second of extra game against Dortmund after they were 0-4 down at half time. He also scored with a direct free kick in the return leg, securing the win with the important 2-0.
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I remember the Naldo/Mertesacker CB pairing.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
I remember the Naldo/Mertesacker CB pairing.
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Yes, those were the days. Naldo/Mertesacker at the back, Diego in midfield and Pizarro up front:drool:. Not as good as the title winner side of 2004, but they won the DFB-Pokal and reached the Europa League final in 08/09.
 
Don Alfredo said:
Yes, those were the days. Naldo/Mertesacker at the back, Diego in midfield and Pizarro up front:drool:. Not as good as the title winner side of 2004, but they won the DFB-Pokal and reached the Europa League final in 08/09.
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Trying to remember best I can:

Weise
Fritz Naldo Mertesacker Magnin
Frings Baumann
Ozil Diego Hunt
Pizarro
 
hasanejaz88 said:
Trying to remember best I can:

Weise
Fritz Naldo Mertesacker Magnin
Frings Baumann
Ozil Diego Hunt
Pizarro
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I forgot to mention Ozil. Diego was the star, but Ozil was simply electric. When he came through, he was the biggest German talent for decades. Only surpassed by Kroos and Goetze in terms of talent since then.

He had 23 assists in all competitions. It's an insane number for any player, let alone for a 20-year-old.
 
Brandt and Havertz will destroy Gladbach now. Really exited about Leverkusen and our young German prodigies this season! :-) Leverkusen looks great on paper! Best team they have ever had imo.
 
Don Alfredo said:
I forgot to mention Ozil. Diego was the star, but Ozil was simply electric. When he came through, he was the biggest German talent for decades. Only surpassed by Kroos and Goetze in terms of talent since then.

He had 23 assists in all competitions. It's an insane number for any player, let alone for a 20-year-old.
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Yea, his talent was obvious from the moment he broke through the Schalke squad and I was delighted when he moved to Bremen to play under Schaaf and Diego. Don't think be would have developed as well as he did that early if he wouldn't have moved there.

On to today's match. Henrichs starting for Leverkusen, stange given last week he was certain to move to AS Monaco.

Volland, Bailey, Brandt and Havertz also starting. Very exciting attack.
 
Don Alfredo said:
I forgot to mention Ozil. Diego was the star, but Ozil was simply electric. When he came through, he was the biggest German talent for decades. Only surpassed by Kroos and Goetze in terms of talent since then.

He had 23 assists in all competitions. It's an insane number for any player, let alone for a 20-year-old.
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You forgot Marco Marin, too, who at that time looked like a promise for the future, too. Where is he playing now?
 
Blackwidow said:
You forgot Marco Marin, too, who at that time looked like a promise for the future, too. Where is he playing now?
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Still under contract at Olympiakos, but trying to find a new club. Almost signed for Red Star Belgrade but that didn't work out.
 
Blackwidow said:
You forgot Marco Marin, too, who at that time looked like a promise for the future, too. Where is he playing now?
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Marin didn't play in the 2008-09 season. He came in the season after when Diego left. The 2009-10 was more impressive than the previous seasons with the front three of Ozil, Marin and Hunt. They were close to challenging for the title before a 2nd half of the season collapse.
 
belanglos said:
Brandt and Havertz will destroy Gladbach now. Really exited about Leverkusen and our young German prodigies this season! :-) Leverkusen looks great on paper! Best team they have ever had imo.
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And....they lost 2-0. :lol:
 
VorZakone said:
And....they lost 2-0. :lol:
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I'm really disappointed :-D I guess once the Benders, Baumgartlinger and Aranguiz return the midfield will look more solid. Today was a very poor performance.
 
belanglos said:
Brandt and Havertz will destroy Gladbach now. Really exited about Leverkusen and our young German prodigies this season! :-) Leverkusen looks great on paper! Best team they have ever had imo.
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Not as a direct reaction to their loss but there's no way that squad is better than the team they had with Lucio, Ballack, Schneider, Berbatov, Ze Roberto etc.
 
Blackwidow said:
Leverkusen. A lot technically very great players but they lack something. Leverkusen is Germany's Arsenal...
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Nah. We just play dumb football that doesn't fit our strengths. Bailey and Brandt are forced out right on their weak sides and Havertz is pushed into CM so that we can play two absolutely clueless strikers who ca't score for their lifes. Herrlich is doing that since the start of 2018 and coincidently we play terrible football since then. He tries so hard to make our strikers function but it just doesn't work.

We looked best with a three men back line, two CDMs (Bender, Aranguiz), two CAMs (Brandt, Havertz) and two of Wendell/Bailey/Henrichs/Bellarabi as wingbacks butHerrlich just refuses to play this formation. It is terrible, we have so talented players and they are forced to remain out wide and cross it to incompetent strikers. We are literally adjusting our whole system towards our weakest players.In the end, we had three strikers on the pitch today and they were still atrocious.
 
You can always count on the Frankfurt fan with the Bayern hatred to moan and bitch about Bayern even if his team wins. :drool:
 
Don Alfredo said:
Yes. Actually 35 years old until next month. He has been the best CB in Bundesliga in the last season and one of the best since his Werder Bremen days. Impeccable in the air, very good passing game, always a threat at set pieces and blessed with possibly the hardest shot in the league.

He was the second highest scorer of Schalke last season, who finished 2nd. He was solely responsible for several wins/points, like scoring the 4-4 in the last second of extra game against Dortmund after they were 0-4 down at half time. He also scored with a direct free kick in the return leg, securing the win with the important 2-0.
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Be that as it may, I still disagree that Robben and Ribery are nowhere near him.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Be that as it may, I still disagree that Robben and Ribery are nowhere near him.
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They are the same age, yet Naldo was the best in the league at his position last season. He was an unanimous choice in every Bundesliga TotY. Robben and Ribery are not even the best wingers at their club, let alone in the league. They are substitutes who are allowed to play every game because Coman and Gnabry are injured more often than not. Bayern fans had a meltdown over their contract extensions, they hate it when they see them in the starting line-up over Coman.

Don't really know what to say anymore, did you even watch Schalke last season or are you just making up your own assumptions about the level of those players in comparison? This is not meant as a dig, I really want to know.
 
Don Alfredo said:
They are the same age, yet Naldo was the best in the league at his position last season. He was an unanimous choice in every Bundesliga TotY. Robben and Ribery are not even the best wingers at their club, let alone in the league. They are substitutes who are allowed to play every game because Coman and Gnabry are injured more often than not. Bayern fans had a meltdown over their contract extensions, they hate it when they see them in the starting line-up over Coman.

Don't really know what to say anymore, did you even watch Schalke last season or are you just making up your own assumptions about the level of those players in comparison? This is not meant as a dig, I really want to know.
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I think we're arguing different points. Naldo had a better individual season last year obviously. I was arguing then purely on ability.
About not being the best of their clubs, well, Bayern isnt exactly a fair comparison to the rest of the league, since they are, for all intents and purposes, in one of their own.
I didnt know the fans had such a meltdown. Seems rather ungrateful to two of their best players of the last decade, but then again Im not a Bayern fan.

Also I would vote the entire Bayern team as team of the league every year, saves them a lot of hassle :)
 
KirkDuyt said:
I think we're arguing different points. Naldo had a better individual season last year obviously. I was arguing then purely on ability.
About not being the best of their clubs, well, Bayern isnt exactly a fair comparison to the rest of the league, since they are, for all intents and purposes, in one of their own.
I didnt know the fans had such a meltdown. Seems rather ungrateful to two of their best players of the last decade, but then again Im not a Bayern fan.

Also I would vote the entire Bayern team as team of the league every year, saves them a lot of hassle :)
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I would understand your point if we are talking players in their mid 20s. Arnautovic had a better season than Alexis, doesn't make him the better player. However, if we are talking grandpa's in their mid 30's who are close to retirement, then you are not as good as you were some time ago, you can only be judged based on your latest performances. A top-player who had a mediocre season in his 20s can recover from that, a player in his 30s is very rarely able to play as good as the season before, let alone reach their peak again.

I won't comment on the thing with the Bayern team being voted the team of the year, I will just say neither Gnabry nor Coman is the best winger in the league.:)

The meltdown isn't about gratefulness, Bayern fans know they are over the hill and want a clear cut. It's not a big deal really. Your former top players decline, you ship them out and replace them with younger, better players. It's what the most successful clubs do like Madrid, Man City etc.
 
Don Alfredo said:
I forgot to mention Ozil. Diego was the star, but Ozil was simply electric. When he came through, he was the biggest German talent for decades. Only surpassed by Kroos and Goetze in terms of talent since then.

He had 23 assists in all competitions. It's an insane number for any player, let alone for a 20-year-old.
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Stop this. This makes me cry.
 
Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
Where is Werner? Didn't see him playing for Leipzig during the whole pre-season.
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Probably not fit because he came back from the world cup, played 90 minutes in their Europa League match on Thursday but didn't score (0-0).

Zehner said:
Nah. We just play dumb football that doesn't fit our strengths. Bailey and Brandt are forced out right on their weak sides and Havertz is pushed into CM so that we can play two absolutely clueless strikers who ca't score for their lifes. Herrlich is doing that since the start of 2018 and coincidently we play terrible football since then. He tries so hard to make our strikers function but it just doesn't work.

We looked best with a three men back line, two CDMs (Bender, Aranguiz), two CAMs (Brandt, Havertz) and two of Wendell/Bailey/Henrichs/Bellarabi as wingbacks butHerrlich just refuses to play this formation. It is terrible, we have so talented players and they are forced to remain out wide and cross it to incompetent strikers. We are literally adjusting our whole system towards our weakest players.In the end, we had three strikers on the pitch today and they were still atrocious.
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I'm trying to remember but I don't think Leverkusen were great when they played the 3-5-2 and became a lot better when they switched to 4 at the back. Looking at the stats, there isn't much difference in the performances between when they played 3-5-2 (1.7 ppg) and 4 at the back (1.58 ppg). Overall for the match I think Leverkusen were unlucky, they should've been up by 3 at the half but missed three glorious chances, Alario missed another great chance in the 2nd half by heading straight to the keeper. Defensively, just a lot of individual mistakes cost them the match.

So yea, I do agree that they lack a clinical striker because Alario's finishing isn't great while Volland isn't supposed to be a goalscoring forward (don't know why they signed that Swedish player, his record is poor and seems to be there just because he's tall). They have talented playmakers all around in Havertz, Bailey and Brandt so they will score goals with a better striker.
 
Looking forward to Mainz-Stuttgart coming up in ten minutes.

Surprised no one has come in for Pavard, you'd have thought Bayern or Dortmund would've been all over that transfer. Ascaibar is another promising player, part of the new Argentine generation.

Stuttgart had brilliant second half of last season.
 
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