German Football Part III

[HajdukSplit]

Appears Dortmund will hire Stoger until the end of the season

 

[Deficient Mode]

Appears Dortmund will hire Stoger until the end of the season

Yeah. Fine choice for now.

 

[Just Win]

Peter fired, Peter hired.

 

[Albatros]

Stöger is neither good enough for Dortmund nor as bad as this season in Cologne made him look like. But it's a smart move to pick someone who knows the league, maybe they can salvage European qualification at least.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Köln lol

 

[Nalens Oga]

Nice shot from Augsburg, in the Koln game, the ref had to manually count the steps because they couldn't find the penalty spot in the snow. I find it weird that they count from the goal line instead of the 6-yard box, there's less steps to take and less room for error from the 6-yard box.

 

[samabam]

.......I'm looking pretty forward to the Hertha game and also wonder if Koln looks better now with the new manager (but I'm not gonna watch them against Freiburg, that's the most bleh team in the league right now).

Good decision, what a boring game Köln-Freiburg was

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Seen reports that Dortmund are "fairly confident" that they can land Nagelsmann next summer.

 

[cgf]

this schalke monchengladbach game is fun. monchengladbach unlucky not to be up 2-0, but schalke had a shot towards goal deflected over the goal by m'gladbach defender on the line.

Monchengladbach should've won today against S04. VAR is so weird, but they made the right decision on both plays... must suck for real fans to watch their team's goal/penalty taken away by video, though. It's like the offside rule, kill all the momentum.

Watched the match this morning and yeah, BMG really should've taken a multi goal lead but we saw after the goal in the 1st half the biggest flaw with Hecking strategically. His natural impulse is to have his side drop deeper and play on the counter once there is a lead to defend, but doing so disrupts BMG's flow with the ball and though the team came up with a great performance against bayern, usually they start to get lackadaisical when they sit back to defend a lead...which in turn just invites the other team into the match and takes away their own momentum unless they can connect on one of those counter attempts that constantly cede the ball back quickly. Yes Stindl was probably level with the keeper on his offsides goal, and if the refs hadn't noticed Wendt's push then Stindl one of won a penalty; but BMG was much worse between the 25th & 45th minutes than they were in the opening 25 and the start of the second...though there to they started to sit back & counter in the lead up to the demoralizing equalizer.

It's easy to point to those two scenes with Stindl & the brace that Hazard left on the pitch; but what cost BMG the 2 points in this match was Hecking's desire to sit back & counter with the lead instead of continuing to dominate the ball to force his opponents to get more aggressive in their pressing and leave themselves exposed for a 2nd.

That's why I pray that they can woo Tuchel to replace Hecking in the summer...especially as Benes, Cuisance & Neuhaus push into the midfield mix and the team must see more of the ball to ensure everyone gets their touches.

 

[cgf]

Seen reports that Dortmund are "fairly confident" that they can land Nagelsmann next summer.

That would be a game changer if they could hijack his move to Bayern...but it's probably no longer possible given the agreement between Bayern & Nagelsmann, and the house Nagelsmann's building in Bavaria for his family to move into before the season even ends.

With how poorly Favre would get along with Watzke I don't even know who which german-speaking coach would be getable & a good fit for BVB...unless they decided to go the Jupp/Hecking rout; praying that the possession foundation Tuchel left behind hasn't been entirely erased by Bosz, and getting a more pragmatic man manager who can bolster the camaraderie & defensive organization. Stöger could be that guy, as could Hecking if BMG can get Tuchel to replace him.

Some are really hot on Stuttgart's Wolf, but I'm not. To me he seems like just another kloppo knockoff like Hassenhuttl or Roger Schmidt; rather than a pep successor like Tuchel, Nagelsmann and maybe Tedesco.

Maybe Jens Keller? He's not as bright or innovative as Tuchel / Favre / Nagelsmann; but he can organize a cohesive possession game without ignoring the defensive organization entirely, and he seems to have been well liked in both the Schalke & Union locker-rooms. Honestly I don't think he's a good enough coach for a side aiming for the CL anymore...and back when he was that was mostly because Schalke was stronger and the rest of the league was weaker. Which is why I see his ideal job atm as solidifying Werder as a top 10 team who play attractive & positive football, while intermittently playing in the EL...but maybe his possession minded football & light locker-room atmosphere would be just what the doctor ordered for BVB, and would get them playing the way a team that can roll out a lineup like this, should:

Auba - Yarmo
Raphael - Gotze - Dahoud - Pulisic
Weigl
Toprak - Sokratis* - Bartra
​

and still have a bench like this:​

Reus/Phillip - Isak/Schürrle
Toljan - Sancho - Kagawa - Castro
Sahin
Schmelzer - Zagadou* - Pisczek​

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Been away since before Bosz got sacked yesterday, really good developments.

Bosz needed to go, Stoeger is a good replacement for this season.

Did anyone mention that a few publications have reported that we have a deal in place with Nagelsmann for next season?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

It went on long enough that I started to wonder if BVB were waiting for him to resign to save money on a payout, hoping he'd want to salvage what was left of his reputation. The past few weeks their performance has been so hopeless. Not even chaotic Bosz football. Just nothing. I'm starting to suspect that there are real issues with team unity that go way beyond what Tuchel allegedly did to them. Older players like Sahin may resent being supplanted by a carousel of young, talented players. In the end, he grew uncertain which players or what style was best for him.

Sahin, Schmelzer, Subotic, Castro, Sokratis. Yup, we need a further clear out. Maybe Schurrle is part of it? This guy provides the game winning assist in the World Cup, and for two years he's been a back up to Dembele, Pulisic, Mor, Philipp. Yarmolenko came in and had a spot over him right away. Piszczek could be part of it, but he knows that as bad as he has been, he has no competition when he returns.

Doesn't apply to Goetze and Reus because they are good, but the others, it might apply.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Seems like the issues at Dortmund are deeper than Bosz imo.

Yes, they are, but he also needed to go.

RB, CB, CM have been brutal this season. Letting Dembele go has hurt the team, and Reus being injured doesn't help. A number of other good players have not played up to the level required of them so far this season.

I saw someone make a good point recently about the problem with Bosz. Teams that can organize behind the ball, concede possession and hit on the break with athleticism can beat Bosz teams rather easily. There's not much of that in the Eredivisie though, almost every team is like a worse version of Ajax or PSV, so Bosz had success due to having much better players than the other teams. He was exposed in the Europa League final against Man United. The shot quality under Bosz this season has been appalling, we got the highest quality shots in Europe under Tuchel last season.

 

[Vipers31]

A contender hires a coach that shortly was fired from the last place team for a historically bad run.

I know, Stöger isn't that bad or the leading reason to Cologne's demise, but this definitely is the weirdest timeline.

 

[Deficient Mode]

Yes, they are, but he also needed to go.

RB, CB, CM have been brutal this season. Letting Dembele go has hurt the team, and Reus being injured doesn't help. A number of other good players have not played up to the level required of them so far this season.

I saw someone make a good point recently about the problem with Bosz. Teams that can organize behind the ball, concede possession and hit on the break with athleticism can beat Bosz teams rather easily. There's not much of that in the Eredivisie though, almost every team is like a worse version of Ajax or PSV, so Bosz had success due to having much better players than the other teams. He was exposed in the Europa League final against Man United. The shot quality under Bosz this season has been appalling, we got the highest quality shots in Europe under Tuchel last season.

Yes, that is one of the starkest differences between Bosz and Tuchel: Bosz is really enamored with shots outside the box. It was true in the Eredivisie too. The collective creativity really took a hit this year, and it was evident even when they were winning early in the season.

 

[MrFunnyWobbl]

What are expectations under Stoger? Top 4? More development of young players and average results?

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Giroud claims that he nearly got transferred to Dortmund last summer, until Auba decided to stay.

 

[cgf]

*sigh* god damn Jogi

 

[cgf]

Raffa given a break & still no midfield trio to get Cuisance on the pitch; instead we get to watch Drmic waste space *sigh*...f***ing Hecking...

If Raffa needs a rest then why not experiment with a 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 given the spark the young frenchman has provided in his cameos? Especially against a pressing wizard like Streich who has owned Gladbach throughout his tenure...

EDIT:
God damn Zakaria. He covers so much space in a stride or two to close in on attackers. And then he looks Yaya-esque when galloping up the pitch with the ball on a break. Man if this kid develops well he could really be something, especially with the possession schooling he's getting from BMG. Wonder how long it takes before he gets his wish for a spot with one of the EPL's financial giants?

 

[cgf]

How sexy would BMG's back line look if they were able to get Soyuncu instead of ginter...Soyuncu-Vestegaard-Elvedi.

F*** VAR. That's 3 goals from VAR that BMG have had to overcome in the past 3 days. This one on an obvious dive from the Freiburg player where he tripped himself.

 

[MrFunnyWobbl]

Nothing concede in the first half under Stoger. Defence looked much better overall.

 

[MrFunnyWobbl]

1-0 BVB... ugly goal but we're ahead.

 

[YNWA14]

God damn Zakaria. He covers so much space in a stride or two to close in on attackers. And then he looks Yaya-esque when galloping up the pitch with the ball on a break. Man if this kid develops well he could really be something, especially with the possession schooling he's getting from BMG. Wonder how long it takes before he gets his wish for a spot with one of the EPL's financial giants?

I've had very high hopes for Zakaria ever since I saw him a couple years ago. Followed him enough to sign him in my Dynasty league and have rebuffed every trade offer for him. There's too much raw talent/physical tools there. Glad to see he seems to be playing well.

 

[cgf]

I've had very high hopes for Zakaria ever since I saw him a couple years ago. Followed him enough to sign him in my Dynasty league and have rebuffed every trade offer for him. There's too much raw talent/physical tools there. Glad to see he seems to be playing well.

How well he's doing is making me really pissed off with Hecking's dogmatic adherence to this 4-4-2/4-2-4. Cuisance should be starting alongside Kramer & Zakaria, but he can't get on the pitch without Hecking making a change.

 

[cgf]

Well Hecking listened and they look better; Raffa almost tying it less than 10 minutes after coming on; but now Streich has his chance to respond...since Hecking didn't just start with the right players...