I am not sure if the schedule is better for Frankfurt. They played great against top teams (since March they have beaten Bayern, Dortmund, Wolfsburg, drawn against Leipzig), but they have the occasional stupid loss in them against small teams. That doesn't happen to Wolfsburg, who just lack the edge against the best teams. So it could well be that in fact both are getting very similiar results.
Yeah fair enough! It's true all of that was just assuming Dortmund could go on a winning streak which is just unlikely to happen, but it could end up a close race if they win today and Wolfsburg loses to Bayern next.
Would be typical for Dortmund this season to lose today. That would bring Stuttgart back in the fight for EL/ECL - and that is now Dortmund's position to lose. So they are not even safely qualified for any international cup next year. One would love to see them completely missing everything.
Yes looks lost especially without Lewandowski. Not sure what excuse PSG can use if they don't reach the semi finals?
If it only was Lewandowski but there are so many starters injured or at a lot less than 100%. Still, losing the first leg is inexcusable and totally on them.
Lewandowski the difference maker though. With the amount of chances created If he had played mid week it could easily have been 5-3 1st leg win instead of a 3-2 defeat.
Tedesco
I think they have a bit different qualities. Nagelsmann is getting great results with a good squad, Hütter is getting similar results with a squad of good and great players, who basically failed elsewhere (Kostic, Jovic, Silva, Durm, Rode are the most prominent ones I can think of). In the end both coaches perform on a similar level, but I think Nagelsmann is better at developing and evolving a team, while Hütter seems to be better with difficult characters (who Leipzip generally don't have in their squad - Frankfurts management did not fear to sign those, and Hütter seems great at getting the best out of them). On the other hand Frankfurt did win the DFB Pokal with Kovac as a coach and a comparable squad to Hütters now - Hütter surely is the right man in the right place for them, but much of this is the work of Bobic who signed all these players and the coach.
Tedesco
Is he going to Leverkusen or why do you include him?
Difference to someone like Werner is that Hütter has been confirming his quality repeatedly and on a higher and higher level.
And Bosz is a proven failure as much as he is a proven good coach.
So honestly both Ten Haag and Hütter are the odd ones out on that list.
Is he the Kevin Kuranyi of German managers?
Hütter is proven though. How much more proven than Hütter can you get, just below CL level?Of course they're not proven, that's the very definition of 'promising'
will this historic humiliation cause Herrlich to finally be sacked?To be fair to them, they don't really have quality attacking players. Their strikers are all target men, their attacking players are limited on the ball but very athletic and disciplined, and their most creative player in Brekalo is inconsistent. Their best players are in the midfield and defence. I want to see how this team performs if they get someone like Erik Thommy or one of the good attacking players from Stuttgart (off the top of my head).
.That explains everything. I had no idea that Horst Heldt was leading the way at Köln.
That's true, but with the players at this disposal, Gisdol's football has been quite proactive (some would say surprisingly so). This season, Wolfsburg have scored more goals than they did last season, and so far, they've scored more than Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach despite not having as talented a set of attacking players.
Fair enough. I brought this up and worded it brutishly à la "who is better, a or b" which is admittedly obnoxious. I also wasn't aware that news about his future and a potential move to Gladbach were that imminent.
Losing Hütter really would be a blow for them. But I don't think they are staring at an abyss. They are basically done with the squad planning for next season, will not lose any core players (except Jovic if you count him as such) but bring in some talent, and if they really qualify for CL they will have some options in the summer to act - and they are promoting their chief scout / squad planner Ben Manga, so that he basically can then sign the players himself instead of just suggesting them. There are no signs or rumours of their squad breaking apart so far, and even if some players want to move on, Frankfurt are in a strong position and not forced to do anything stupid just because they need money. At least that gives them time to sort out the higher management levels, but having to find a new coach who fits the more or less assembled squad could be a bit of a problem. Generally there is likely a lot of changing coaches incoming in the Bundesliga, all those transfers might be more interesting in the summer than which players are moving.
They sold all of Jovic, Rebic, and Haller at once so
The claim that Frankfurt have a better squad than Gladbach is more than debatable. It's infused in hindsight by how the teams have performed. Noone, not even the chief proponent of the theory @Zehner, would have claimed that ahead of the season.
