Bundesliga, DFB Cup, and other Bundesliga business 2014/2015

[anchan1989]

I'm sorry, you couldn't be far away from the truth. Reactions were mainly negative, especially with all the positive coverage for the Real Man Utd match. It's all right if you don't care, and if you think everything's great, but it's not true.

It's not the end of everything though, you can come back next season and it'll be a clean slate.

What the...
Its a friendly game. Who cares about that. And who cares about Pep being angry.
Our CEO Rummenigge praised the tour. And rightfully so.
We opened our center in New York, were 2times on US TV and so on. And that Pep thing is like any Bayern Dortmund drama. Just some more Bayern news.
"The end of everything" Are you kidding me. Pep already said sorry for his anger which is human and just that; a human touch.
It a great thing to have 100.000 people watch United Real but in the end that means nothing and you know that.

And Im sorry. Respect to Balu for his knowledge and so on but he is just someone who sees a glass as half empty(a saying in Germany; the positive one see it as halffull)
Winners and losers of a promotion time?
Can we turn it down a BIT...

But yes, you are right. Its all over now and we have to come back and wash us clean and its a battle and who has the best stories during these US tours wins.
Its just a show. And we did that and we now have the real thing.
THE SEASON. And if we are strong there the number of US fans will grow.
Do someone really care here about an angry Pep and how he came across the US because he didnt shake a hand? He shouldnt.

 

[Sphaero]

The club are going to China next year as they are opening a new office there. I like Balu's idea about going over to the US during the winter break. Not sure if they'd be able to face any decent opposition as the MLS season is on at that time if I'm not mistaken, but they could still use it to generate some good publicity. Unless Pep goes mental again!

It would be unwise in my eyes to give away the advantage Bundesliga teams have over clubs of other leagues. A winter break can not only be useful to give key players some rest, but also to make some changes with undisrupted training if it is needed.

While I do see the reasons and benefits of such tours, they always do carry some risks especially in Euro/WC summers because they are simply not the same as preparation at a camp. The players travel a lot and spend a big chunk of the available time for things not directly related to football. I for example don´t see much sense in dragging half a dozen German Internationals over the globe twice in a matter of three days just to show them off for ten minutes.

This pre season was always going to be a tricky one for teams, who send a large part of the squad to the world cup and Bayern was hit the hardest in that aspect given the amount of players who went over the full duration of the tournament.

How useful this pre season turns out to be in actual preparation for the season remains to be seen. Even with the large squad Bayern has the back bone is still the German core. The super cup is around the corner and while this is rightfully acknowledged as nothing more than a glorified friendly it can still give the winner some momentum like it happened to us last season. Their start of the Bundesliga is certainly also not easy with Wolfsburg and Schalke as the first two fixtures.

 

[fishfingers15]

What the...
Its a friendly game. Who cares about that. And who cares about Pep being angry.
Our CEO Rummenigge praised the tour. And rightfully so.
We opened our center in New York, were 2times on US TV and so on. And that Pep thing is like any Bayern Dortmund drama. Just some more Bayern news.
"The end of everything" Are you kidding me. Pep already said sorry for his anger which is human and just that; a human touch.
It a great thing to have 100.000 people watch United Real but in the end that means nothing and you know that.

And Im sorry. Respect to Balu for his knowledge and so on but he is just someone who sees a glass as half empty(a saying in Germany; the positive one see it as halffull)
Winners and losers of a promotion time?
Can we turn it down a BIT...

But yes, you are right. Its all over now and we have to come back and wash us clean and its a battle and who has the best stories during these US tours wins.
Its just a show. And we did that and we now have the real thing.
THE SEASON. And if we are strong there the number of US fans will grow.
Do someone really care here about an angry Pep and how he came across the US because he didnt shake a hand? He shouldnt.

 

[Balu]

It would be unwise in my eyes to give away the advantage Bundesliga teams have over clubs of other leagues.

The question is at what point the financial disadvantage is bigger than the more time for preparation advantage. The league should find a solution to give the teams time to do promotion work outside of Europe instead of punishing the top teams that do it, because the league overall clearly benefits from it. It needs to be better organised though. For example, I'd say that we should go to Asia at the end of our winter trainings camp in middle east, it's not that big a trip then, and play 2 friendlies and take part in that ICC thing in the US next summer again. That would allow us to promote new offices in China and follow up after the start of the marketing campaign in the US. In the years with international tournaments in the summer, we should stay at home though. We have fewer games in Germany than in England, so we still should have an advantage, if the teams actually work together to find the necessary time. Germany right now is in an amazing position to push on and leave Italy and maybe even Spain financially behind. The way football has developed in the past 2 decades, it has to be done if the league wants to stay competitive in Europe.

 

[Blackwidow]

Maybe the Asia tour could take place at the end of the season - we have done that before when there was no tournament. And could go to the US again for the begin of the next.

I remember that in 2001 after the CL win there was a tour into the US. Ok, maybe no blueprint if you believe into the stories that they were still very drunk when the tour started...

 

[Balu]

And Im sorry. Respect to Balu for his knowledge and so on but he is just someone who sees a glass as half empty(a saying in Germany; the positive one see it as halffull)
Winners and losers of a promotion time?
Can we turn it down a BIT...

??? I'm really not a pessimistic person at all. The problem is, you're clearly still in overdrive mode when it comes to everything about German football and it seems like you can't (or don't want to) see obvious things that aren't perfect. Of course the promotion tour was a success and obviously Rummenigge praised it, it's not his job to tell the truth. We made a step from doing nothing to being recognised and having a small platform to build on. The plan was to get a foot into the door and it happened, it's a start, nothing more. Still, the final image we left was far from brilliant and of course it makes sense to replace that with something a lot more positive as soon as possible, especially now that the Bundesliga will be available on TV in the US. You want to impress football fans and gain their interest and you can't possibly believe that the two games we played were anywhere near the show United, Liverpool and a few other teams delivered. There's a lot, really a lot of room for improvment.

 

[Sphaero]

The question is at what point the financial disadvantage is bigger than the more time for preparation advantage. The league should find a solution to give the teams time to do promotion work outside of Europe instead of punishing the top teams that do it, because the league overall clearly benefits from it. It needs to be better organised though. For example, I'd say that we should go to Asia at the end of our winter trainings camp in middle east, it's not that big a trip then, and play 2 friendlies and take part in that ICC thing in the US next summer again. That would allow us to promote new offices in China and follow up after the start of the marketing campaign in the US. In the years with international tournaments in the summer, we should stay at home though. We have fewer games in Germany than in England, so we still should have an advantage, if the teams actually work together to find the necessary time. Germany right now is in an amazing position to push on and leave Italy and maybe even Spain financially behind. The way football has developed in the past 2 decades, it has to be done if the league wants to stay competitive in Europe.

Well, thats the important question here. Its difficult to find the right balance here IMO and to get the cooperation of the German other clubs, who can´t afford such tours or don´t see a real benefit in it. We could already see how much love Rummenigge´s idea of moving back the start of the Bundesliga by a week got this summer. If anything the smaller clubs see a chance in the tours of Bayern Munich.

I´m not against such tours in general, though. I just agree with you that they would not be a wise idea in summers with International tournaments. A normal summer should usually give a team enough time to include such promotional work. Infact, we will very likely go on a tour as well next summer in Asia and I clearly support this idea.

 

[Balu]

Well, thats the important question here. Its difficult to find the right balance here IMO and to get the cooperation of the German other clubs, who can´t afford such tours or don´t see a real benefit in it. We could already see how much love Rummenigge´s idea of moving back the start of the Bundesliga by a week got this summer. If anything the smaller clubs see a chance in the tours of Bayern Munich.

I´m not against such tours in general, though. I just agree with you that they would not be a wise idea in summers with International tournaments. A normal summer should usually give a team enough time to include such promotional work. Infact, we will very likely go on a tour as well next summer in Asia and I clearly support this idea.

We should play the supercup in Asia then . At least it would be a neutral venue again, it's totally stupid that the 2nd placed team or cup winner has home advantage against the league champion in a one off game. Who came up with that bullshit idea?

 

[do.ob]

That would turn the competition even more into a farce than it already is.

 

[Balu]

That would turn the competition even more into a farce than it already is.

It's a glorified pre-season friendly anyway, at least that way it would have a positive impact on promoting the league abroad. Right now it's just completely meaningless.

 

[fishfingers15]

It's not a big stretch to imagine that both community shield game and the German equivalent will be held on neutral countries next year. Look at NFL, moving competitive games to England, they are willing to expermient.

 

[anchan1989]

Yeah. Now you showed who is right and behaves like an adult, arguing his point.

??? I'm really not a pessimistic person at all. The problem is, you're clearly still in overdrive mode when it comes to everything about German football and it seems like you can't (or don't want to) see obvious things that aren't perfect. Of course the promotion tour was a success and obviously Rummenigge praised it, it's not his job to tell the truth. We made a step from doing nothing to being recognised and having a small platform to build on. The plan was to get a foot into the door and it happened, it's a start, nothing more. Still, the final image we left was far from brilliant and of course it makes sense to replace that with something a lot more positive as soon as possible, especially now that the Bundesliga will be available on TV in the US. You want to impress football fans and gain their interest and you can't possibly believe that the two games we played were anywhere near the show United, Liverpool and a few other teams delivered. There's a lot, really a lot of room for improvment.

I never questioned that we have to make huges steps in the US but Bayern was already a brand and we pushed it a step. All fine. Where is that overdrive? Bayern is a big club and the US football fans know us and the world cup stars.
You put my comments in an context they dont deserve. And if that is your view of me dont act like it is the truth for most. If anything you proved my view of you.
A small plattform? Doing nothing? Were you there the last years? I just rate the world cup victory as what it is. The last step from German football to being back on the highest level with world wide stars.
And you put the level of importance way to high for the Pep thing. He was angry because his players were involved in fouls even the ESPN guys saw as too hard.
Will any US football fan care about that in a week. No. And Bayern builts his image every week in the season. Thats what I meant. And we will built a fine one I would say.
And now we shouldnt really talk anymore about a matter as unimportant as a coach being angry about hard unnecessary fouls.

 

[fishfingers15]

Yeah. Now you showed who is right and behaves like an adult, arguing his point.


Blah Blah blah

My good sir, the first step of any argument is understanding the other poster.

 

[Nanook]

Is there a reason why only 18 teams play in the top 2 divisions in Germany? Seems kind of odd when all the other big European countries have all changed to 20 in the last couple of decades for mainland Europe's largest country to only have 18. Greece, Portugal and Netherlands all have 18 in their top division but they're all far smaller than Germany.

 

[Blackwidow]

Is there a reason why only 18 teams play in the top 2 divisions in Germany? Seems kind of odd when all the other big European countries have all changed to 20 in the last couple of decades for mainland Europe's largest country to only have 18. Greece, Portugal and Netherlands all have 18 in their top division but they're all far smaller than Germany.

Yes, there is a reason. Germany does a winter break from about 20th of December to end of January.

 

[do.ob]

Apparently Schalke is organizing a cooking class for their player's WAGs as a consequence of their injury crisis

 

[Ruht]

I for example don´t see much sense in dragging half a dozen German Internationals over the globe twice in a matter of three days just to show them off for ten minutes.

And I agree with you. Don't know how good it did just showing them off for a couple minutes. That is why I was agreeing with Balu's suggestion that we could spend the Winter break in the US. Last year the team were in Qatar (if I'm not mistaken), and if it's a choice between Qatar and the US I'd certainly go with the latter. The pre-season wasn't a failure by any means, but could have gone better in my opinion. It was always going to be hard after a World Cup.

We might struggle at the start of the season since most of our players won't have had nearly enough preparation. Just hope we don't get any injuries.

 

[Blackwidow]

And I agree with you. Don't know how good it did just showing them off for a couple minutes. That is why I was agreeing with Balu's suggestion that we could spend the Winter break in the US. Last year the team were in Qatar (if I'm not mistaken), and if it's a choice between Qatar and the US I'd certainly go with the latter. The pre-season wasn't a failure by any means, but could have gone better in my opinion. It was always going to be hard after a World Cup.

We might struggle at the start of the season since most of our players won't have had nearly enough preparation. Just hope we don't get any injuries.

The problems we might have at the start might be more in the central midfield again. Thiago is not due back until probably start of September and Schweinsteiger will get some time to make an easy start into the season. The offense does not make any problems. Ribery is back, there is Lewandowski and the others can share time. Lahm and Müller should get in shape pretty fast, Robben could take a little longer, Shaqiri had one week more than they did. Götze I do not know.

The problems might come end of October or November. That is when the players start to get tired early.

The CL winner of the season 2014/15 (I tell it to you today!)

Photo from today - Pepe Reina came in time for all the advertising and photo shootings that were made this morning.

This one is really good

 

[Balu]

So Contento is really gone. Good for him. I'm really surprised that Shaqiri wastes another season of his career, he should have pushed for a move.

 

[Blackwidow]

So Contento is really gone. Good for him. I'm really surprised that Shaqiri wastes another season of his career, he should have pushed for a move.

Seems like he pushed for a move or still is pushing for a move but they do not let him go. From his personal view it for sure would be better. If there is no big injury crisis - and this has to be really big - he does not have much chances to play regulary.

 

[Winrar]

It's not a big stretch to imagine that both community shield game and the German equivalent will be held on neutral countries next year. Look at NFL, moving competitive games to England, they are willing to expermient.

France does it as well, PSG vs Guingamp supercup match was held in China this year.

 

[Ruht]

The problems might come end of October or November. That is when the players start to get tired early.

Let's hope that's not the case. They've had more than enough time to rest so hopefully they won't be tired come October. It's a good thing there is a winter break!

Love that cartoon of Reina and Neuer, he would finally be able to play further upfield!

 

[Winrar]

Let's hope that's not the case. They've had more than enough time to rest so hopefully they won't be tired come October. It's a good thing there is a winter break!

Love that cartoon of Reina and Neuer, he would finally be able to play further upfield!

I see what Bayern's doing now, Reina will be a first choice goalkeeper so that Neuer can play in midfield.

 

[Ruht]

I see what Bayern's doing now, Reina will be a first choice goalkeeper so that Neuer can play in midfield.

He has always wanted to play in midfield and finally he would be able to. Reina's move makes perfect sense, you see?

 

[Blackwidow]

He has always wanted to play in midfield and finally he would be able to. Reina's move makes perfect sense, you see?

I am not sure if he wants to play midfielder. He played striker in the Neuer and friends vs Nowitzki and friend game last summer and it looked good when he beat Hummels and scored... I see him as a great striker.

 

[Ruht]

I am not sure if he wants to play midfielder. He played striker in the Neuer and friends vs Nowitzki and friend game last summer and it looked good when he beat Hummels and scored... I see him as a great striker.

I meant it more as a joke, as in, he's always loved going forward and with Reina coming it would allow Pep to play him in a different position than a goalie!

Didn't catch that friendly but I saw the pictures and loved seeing him as a striker Just looks so unnatural!

Just saw it posted on reddit!

 

[Midnight1811]

Anybody watching Bayern All stars v United legend?

 

[ThierryHenry]

I am not sure if he wants to play midfielder. He played striker in the Neuer and friends vs Nowitzki and friend game last summer and it looked good when he beat Hummels and scored... I see him as a great striker.

Aah, the classic Germsn sense of humour.

 

[Kallech33]

 

[Blackwidow]

Bastian got himself Scholes shirt in the break. Seems that Scholes has to play the second half without number...

 

[Kallech33]

This is taken from the Arsenal thread. I was agruing that Dzeko is underrated (some said Giroud is better than him) and @Sphaero agreed. He didn't agree though about the bolded part.
I didn't want to take the Arsenal thread off topic so now we end up here. What do you guys think?

I disagree. You just have to look at Dzeko when he plays for Bosnia and played for Wolfsburg. When his team mates involve him in the game he's able to hold up the ball well and play some nice passes. At least on the level of Giroud. On top of that he's a better finisher and has more presence.

He really suffered at City because he came in the winter transfer period in 2011 and didn't hit the ground running. He needed half a year to acclimatize to the league, unfortunately for him City bought Agüero in the summer of 2011. After that it was clear that he would be a bench player because Agüero is simply a special player and at least a top 3 striker in the Prem at the moment.

I wish Dzeko would leave City. He's wasted on City's bench. He could IMO get >20 goals and 10 assists per season if he would be a starter.
I'd really would have liked to see him at Arsenal or go back to Wolfsburg. I think with him in the team Wolfsburg would be able to finish 3rd in the Bundesliga easily and even challenge for 2nd.

I agree with that, well except of the part about Wolfsburg easily getting 3rd or even challenging Dortmund with just the addition of Dzeko. A strong striker does not reduce the general pretty harsh drop between the starting XI and the bench.

Coming back to Dzeko himself, I also think he is underrated on here especially in terms of his play outside finishing. It was his hold up and link up play, which made him stand out the most at Wolfsburg and also at Manchester he produced good results despite being shifted around a lot. It was his general play, which made his name circulate so long as direct replacement of Lewandowski at Dortmund. While the Pole is better in terms of technique they are not that different in terms of style.

I think Wolfsburg would have the 3rd best starting XI behind Dortmund and Bayern if they had a good striker like Dzeko.
Schalke and Leverkusen who are -together with Wolfsburg- generally seen as contenders for 3rd and 4th (maybe Gladbach with a outside shot...not really though) also lack in depth. The only teams who really have (a lot of) depth are Bayern and Dortmund.

The difference is that Wolfsburg doesn't play CL while Schalke, Leverkusen (if they beat FC Kobenhavn, which they should) and Dortmund do.
I think it's not out of this world to suggest that if Schalke and Leverkusen reach the Round of 16 and Dortmund at least the quarters, Wolfsburg could profit heavily in the league if they concentrate mainly on that competition and finish 3rd or even challenge for 2nd.

I'm not saying they will finish 2nd. I actually don't think they will finish 2nd if Dortmund doesn't have an even worse injury crisis than last season (is this even possible?). I only suggest that they would/could challenge for 2nd for a good part of the season.
The last time the top 2 were nailed on after 30 match days IMO was in 11/12 when Schalke would have had to take 7 points in 4 games off Bayern to finish 2nd behind Dortmund.

I admit that I was a muppet when I said that Wolfsburg would finish 3rd easily. I still think they would be favourites to finish 3rd if they had a striker of the quality of Dzeko, or near him in quality.
Generally you needed around 1.9 points per game to finish 3rd in recent years. I don't think it's stupid to think that Wolfsburg could exceed that with a better striker.

 

[do.ob]

@Kallech33
I believe compared to the rest of the league Dortmund are in a similar spot as Bayern were before they started to spend big every season. Especially their squad depth is unheard of for a Bundesliga club (other than Bayern). I seriously doubt any of the other teams will be able to touch them as long as nothing extreme happens.

Given that every one is fit Schalke easily have the third best squad in the league. And that's with tons of youngsters who can make the next (couple of) step(s) at any moment. Their coach and management prevent them from touching Bayern and Dortmund but they still have enough quality to collect their points against hte rest of the league.

Leverkusen are uncertain at the moment. They have a new coach I don't really know all that well, with Brandt, Öztunali, Son and Calhanoglu they have a good bunch of youngsters who have the potential to be top players (in a league context). How will Drmic adjust to a bigger club? How good will Kießling's season be? How good is Wendell?
They should be top 5 at the very least, but with all their variables I could see them getting into top 3 aswell.

Wolfsburg apart from really needing one or two strikers have a very solid squad. But I think they might lack individual quality upfront if Arnold and Perisic don't make a big step foward. Also I think they lack a creative CM. Even if all of the above does happen they still lack squad depth. I see them as no 4-6.








Neuer is Germany's POTY with Reus just behind him.

 

[anchan1989]

The problems we might have at the start might be more in the central midfield again. Thiago is not due back until probably start of September and Schweinsteiger will get some time to make an easy start into the season. The offense does not make any problems. Ribery is back, there is Lewandowski and the others can share time. Lahm and Müller should get in shape pretty fast, Robben could take a little longer, Shaqiri had one week more than they did. Götze I do not know.

The problems might come end of October or November. That is when the players start to get tired early.

The CL winner of the season 2014/15 (I tell it to you today!)

The team is really strong on any position. Im with you on the CL winner part.
I can see Götze on the Kroos position in midfield. We will have some trouble in the first games.

The starting 11 in the Super Cup will be interesting. Not every WC winner can be ready then. Would be nice to win it. A fine trophy which grows in stature every year(Bayern Dortmund matches helping big there).
On my birthday too. Hope for a good present.

Btw; here is a Scholes interview to the Schweini shirt swap. Comes across as very nice here. Gives Schweini huge praise. Lovely to see.

 

[Kallech33]

I believe compared to the rest of the league Dortmund are in a similar spot as Bayern were before they started to spend big every season. Especially their squad depth is unheard of for a Bundesliga club (other than Bayern). I seriously doubt any of the other teams will be able to touch them as long as nothing extreme happens.

Given that every one is fit Schalke easily have the third best squad in the league. And that's with tons of youngsters who can make the next (couple of) step(s) at any moment. Their coach and management prevent them from touching Bayern and Dortmund but they still have enough quality to collect their points against hte rest of the league.

Leverkusen are uncertain at the moment. They have a new coach I don't really know all that well, with Brandt, Öztunali, Son and Calhanoglu they have a good bunch of youngsters who have the potential to be top players (in a league context). How will Drmic adjust to a bigger club? How good will Kießling's season be? How good is Wendell?
They should be top 5 at the very least, but with all their variables I could see them getting into top 3 aswell.

Wolfsburg apart from really needing one or two strikers have a very solid squad. But I think they might lack individual quality upfront if Arnold and Perisic don't make a big step foward. Also I think they lack a creative CM. Even if all of the above does happen they still lack squad depth. I see them as no 4-6.

Dortmund certainly have more depth than the other clubs (bar Bayern) but if you continue with your analogy, you could see Bayern in the past stumble in the league when they went deep in the DFB Cup and CL and other clubs who were not in this position where able to challenge them.
You just have to look at the last 2 seasons. 2 years ago Dortmund finished just one point in front of Leverkusen and last year they only secured 2nd place on match day 31. Admittedly they had unbelievable bad luck with injuries last season but they'll also miss Reus and Gündogan at the start of this season and if Sahin will be fit for the opening of the season remains to be seen. It also wouldn't surprise me if Bender and/or a defender picked up an injury at some point this season.

I think Schalke's squad is a tad overrated. There are many question marks IMO.
You already said that their coach is not not top notch (I think Hecking and a lot of other BuLi coaches are better).
They have plenty of depth in defense but apart from that...
Goretzka and Farfan are out injured which leaves their midfield as thin as the other clubs who contend for CL places.
They have Neustädter and Boateng with Höger and possibly Kirchhoff (both meh) as backup in CM/DM.
Behind the striker they have Meyer (wil he be able to continue his developement?), Draxler (will he come back better after a rather pedestrian season?), Sam (who only ever played one good half season at the age of 26) and Choupo-Moting (who's still kind of raw at 25).
The rest (Clemens, Barnetta, Obasi) are really nothing to brag about.
Up top they only have Huntelaar. Can someone tell me why did they let Szalai go (genuine question)?

So, sure they have the numbers but I think a lot of Schalkes starters are rather young and inconsistend and the bench is not all that great. Did I also mention their mandatory drama at one point in the season?

Agree mostly on Leverkusen. I think they are solid in the CB and DM department.
Further forward it will be wait and see I guess. They basically only have 2 proven players there with Kießling (who is at least an above average striker capable of >=15 goals a season) and Castro. I'm excited for all the other young talents (you named them), I'm just not sure that they will be consistend and be able to function as a team right away.

Regarding Wolfsburg: If they don't buy a quality striker (and I'm talking about a guy who can give them ~18 goals) they probably won't be able to get 3rd. I'd say 4th or 5th in that case, but I think the difference between them and Leverkusen and Schalke is that you know what you get.
They have a good coach. They added a proven 27 year old who was a leading figure at Bremen in Hunt and a good 24 year old RB in Jung.
The only questions I have is if Arnold and Knoche can continue or improve and if Perisic comes back as good as he was in the WC after his injury.
I think consistency and lack of CL can be a real advantage for Wolfsburg over Leberkusen and Schalke.

Also, does anybody know if Schalke (after Szalai left) and Wolfsburg (after Lukaku didn't happen) are interested in any strikers?

 

[Kallech33]

Neuer was voted football player of the year in Germany with 144 votes in front of Reus (135) and Müller (105).
Löw got coach of the year with 248 votes in front of Winzierl (152) and Guardiola (89).

 

[Midnight1811]

Bastian got himself Scholes shirt in the break. Seems that Scholes has to play the second half without number...

Right you're pal. Did you see Scholes giving the shirt to Bastian? I've only just seen the interview where he discussed it with the German presenter after the game.



At least he kept his eyes on the presenter, rather than her cleavage.

Here's highlights for the game: Any idea who the presenter is ?

 

[do.ob]

Dortmund certainly have more depth than the other clubs (bar Bayern) but if you continue with your analogy, you could see Bayern in the past stumble in the league when they went deep in the DFB Cup and CL and other clubs who were not in this position where able to challenge them.
You just have to look at the last 2 seasons. 2 years ago Dortmund finished just one point in front of Leverkusen and last year they only secured 2nd place on match day 31. Admittedly they had unbelievable bad luck with injuries last season but they'll also miss Reus and Gündogan at the start of this season and if Sahin will be fit for the opening of the season remains to be seen. It also wouldn't surprise me if Bender and/or a defender picked up an injury at some point this season.

Well, let's put it this way: I see Dortmund picking up at least around 70 points and right now I don't see that happening for any other team.
They also increased their depth massively (Sokratis, Ginter, Ramos, Aubameyang, Sahin, Ji (who Klopp really seems to like thus far), aswell as Kirch, Hofmann and Durm) over the past two seasons so I don't think you can make comparisons with the past.

I think Schalke's squad is a tad overrated. There are many question marks IMO.
You already said that their coach is not not top notch (I think Hecking and a lot of other BuLi coaches are better).
They have plenty of depth in defense but apart from that...
Goretzka and Farfan are out injured which leaves their midfield as thin as the other clubs who contend for CL places.
They have Neustädter and Boateng with Höger and possibly Kirchhoff (both meh) as backup in CM/DM.
Behind the striker they have Meyer (wil he be able to continue his developement?), Draxler (will he come back better after a rather pedestrian season?), Sam (who only ever played one good half season at the age of 26) and Choupo-Moting (who's still kind of raw at 25).
The rest (Clemens, Barnetta, Obasi) are really nothing to brag about.
Up top they only have Huntelaar. Can someone tell me why did they let Szalai go (genuine question)?

So, sure they have the numbers but I think a lot of Schalkes starters are rather young and inconsistend and the bench is not all that great. Did I also mention their mandatory drama at one point in the season?

They let Szalai go because he's a donkey. Afaik his replacement is EMCM (not a typical no9 at all imo), but I wouldn't be surprised if they panic buy someone before the beginning of the season. On the other hand Avdijaj has shown some promising first steps in their pre season and iirc Boateng played some games as a striker during last season.
Schalke don't win pretty, but in the end they edge out most of the regular teams. I also think that you underrate Sam and Draxler has had a bad season by his own standards, but compared to what other teams have he's still a good player and I think something like:
Fährmann-Ayhan/Höwedes,Matip,Höwedes,Kolasinac/Aogo-Neustädter,Boateng-Sam,Meyer,Draxler-Huntelaar is still a very competitive lineup. On the other hand their first fixtures are quite hard (Hannover, Gladbach, Bayern iirc), so we might see their mandatory crisis quite early this year (if they get rid of Keller early that might not even be such a bad thing).

Regarding Wolfsburg: If they don't buy a quality striker (and I'm talking about a guy who can give them ~18 goals) they probably won't be able to get 3rd. I'd say 4th or 5th in that case, but I think the difference between them and Leverkusen and Schalke is that you know what you get.
They have a good coach. They added a proven 27 year old who was a leading figure at Bremen in Hunt and a good 24 year old RB in Jung.
The only questions I have is if Arnold and Knoche can continue or improve and if Perisic comes back as good as he was in the WC after his injury.
I think consistency and lack of CL can be a real advantage for Wolfsburg over Leberkusen and Schalke.

Also, does anybody know if Schalke (after Szalai left) and Wolfsburg (after Lukaku didn't happen) are interested in any strikers?

Tbh I don't rate Hecking that highly - just a solid coach. Hunt is pretty much the same, decent player but not a difference maker. Jung looked good at Frankfurt, but they weren't a top team so we'll have to wait and see how he adjust and defence wasn't Wolfsburg's problem anyway. They are looking for a striker, but afaik they don't have that much money to spend. Both them and Schalke probably should've gone for Diouf, but maybe he wanted too much money.

 

[Blackwidow]

Andrea Kaiser

She was married to Lars Ricken from 2009 to 2013, the Dortmund player that shot the winning goal for their CL win in 1997. And is married to Sebastien Ogier - a french Rallye Driver...

I rate Hecking as a coach that can develop young players and is the perfect coach for an underdog. But I am not so sure he is the coach for a team like Wolfsburg or for a team how Wolfsburg aspires to be one.

 

[Kallech33]

Well, lets put it this way. I see Dortmund picking up at least 70 points and right now I don't see that happening for any other team.
Two increased their depth massively over the past two seasons so I don't think you can make comparisons with the past.

They let Szalai go because he's a donkey. Afaik his replacement is EMCM (not a typical no9 at all imo), but I wouldn't be surprised if they panic buy someone before the beginning of the season. On the other hand Avdijaj has shown some promising first steps in their pre season and iirc Boateng played some games as a striker during last season.

Sure Szalai is a donkey but he was still better than most backup strikers in the league. Yeah, makes sense that they see EMCM as a backup for Huntelaar if he gets injured. I just never considered him a striker myself despite him being quite tall.

Schalke don't win pretty, but in the end they edge out most of the regular teams. I also think that you underrate Sam and Draxler has had a bad season by his own standards, but compared to what other teams have he's still a good player and I think something like:
Fährmann-Ayhan/Höwedes,Matip,Höwedes,Kolasinac/Aogo-Neustädter,Boateng-Sam,Meyer,Draxler-Huntelaar is still a very competitive lineup. On the other hand their first fixtures are quite hard (Hannover, Gladbach, Bayern iirc), so we might see their mandatory crisis quite early this year (if they get rid of Keller early that might not even be such a bad thing).

I don't think I underrate Sam, he only had one half good season. And on that basis I'm just being cautious/skeptic if he can reproduce the form he had in that period. If he can, he's great to watch and puts up good numbers.

Regarding Draxler: I know he's immensely talented. He's a joy to watch because he theoreticly has it all (good shot, passing, technique, physical attributes). I'd even go so far as to say that he is (again in theory) the most gifted German player because he's so good with the ball and he's strong, fast and tall (as opposed to a Götze or Meyer who aren't as physically gifted (on a side note: Did Götze get fatter after his transfer to Bayern or is it just his milksop beard that makes his face look like a chubby boy's?)).
I just think Draxler lacks the endproduct which for example Götze and Müller offered at the age of 20. Admittedly he plays for a worse team but still the difference in numbers is quite big.
He needs to improve that if he wants to make it at a bigger club and the national team.

Tbh I don't rate Hecking that highly - just a solid coach. Hunt is pretty much the same, decent player but not a difference maker. Jung looked good at Frankfurt, but they weren't a top team so we'll have to wait and see how he adjusts. Wolfsburg are supposedly looking for a striker, but afaik they don't have that much money to spend.

Sure Hecking is no Klopp or Tuchel (I'd also say that Weinzierl and Luhukay were better coaches last season). But he looks like a solid guy with a plan to me and I don't think Keller has a plan at all (and I think you're not impressed by him either going by your comment). On Roger Schmidt I can't really comment I don't know much (or anything) about him.

At least with Hunt you know what you get, sure he's no game changer, but he's a consistent performer and leader and doesn't blow hot and cold like some teenage talents do. I'd also add that de Bruyne is the guy who they see as the difference maker. I was a fan of his since he was at Bremen, really like the guy.

 

[anchan1989]

Sure Szalai is a donkey but he was still better than most backup strikers in the league. Yeah, makes sense that they see EMCM as a backup for Huntelaar if he gets injured. I just never considered him a striker myself despite him being quite tall.


I don't think I underrate Sam, he only had one half good season. And on that basis I'm just being cautious/skeptic if he can reproduce the form he had in that period. If he can, he's great to watch and puts up good numbers.

Regarding Draxler: I know he's immensely talented. He's a joy to watch because he theoreticly has it all (good shot, passing, technique, physical attributes). I'd even go so far as to say that he is (again in theory) the most gifted German player because he's so good with the ball and he's strong, fast and tall (as opposed to a Götze or Meyer who aren't as physically gifted (on a side note: Did Götze get fatter after his transfer to Bayern or is it just his milksop beard that makes his face look like a chubby boy's?)).
I just think Draxler lacks the endproduct which for example Götze and Müller offered at the age of 20. Admittedly he plays for a worse team but still the difference in numbers is quite big.
He needs to improve that if he wants to make it at a bigger club and the national team.


Sure Hecking is no Klopp or Tuchel (I'd also say that Weinzierl and Luhukay were better coaches last season). But he looks like a solid guy with a plan to me and I don't think Keller has a plan at all (and I think you're not impressed by him either going by your comment). On Roger Schmidt I can't really comment I don't know much (or anything) about him.

At least with Hunt you know what you get, sure he's no game changer, but he's a consistent performer and leader and doesn't blow hot and cold like some teenage talents do. I'd also add that de Bruyne is the guy who they see as the difference maker. I was a fan of his since he was at Bremen, really like the guy.

Is this a joke or are you serious? Götze was in great shape when they won the title in 2011 and he was 18. He is not the tallest but can hold his own against anyone 1 on 1.
Dont really get where these "Götze is fat" stories come from in Germany. He is anything but.