German football season 2023/24

[luiginb]

Bayern scoring three and still it felt they should have had at least double. I REALLY like Kimmich at right back. Zentner is a good goalkeeper, even though I've seen him make blunders, but he limits the score here. And even though he tried sometimes to do too much by himself, I liked what I saw from 19yo Gruda at Mainz.

I missed two minutes from the start of the second half and it's already 4-1 haha

 

[cgf]

Bayern scoring three and still it felt they should have had at least double. I REALLY like Kimmich at right back. Zentner is a good goalkeeper, even though I've seen him make blunders, but he limits the score here. And even though he tried sometimes to do too much by himself, I liked what I saw from 19yo Gruda at Mainz.

I missed two minutes from the start of the second half and it's already 4-1 haha

Gruda's a lot of fun. He's tiny and his top speed isn't special, but he has really quick feet & soft touch, he's also crafty & way more chippy than you'd think. Not in the Wirtz / Musiala / Darvich tier, but Gruda's been one of my favs from that next tier since he started popping up for Mainz last season and he's been developing well for them despite this craptastic season.

I liked Burkardt a lot too before his massive injury, but we'll see if he can recover that form he was tapping into before missing a year+. He wasn't ever a standout athlete but he did have good speed & size to go with an excellent sense of space and where the attack needs support. He was captaining the U21 team with good cause.

Weiper's another big time talent of theirs that I like a lot, but he's been injured most of the season. Doesn't have the straight line speed of a Sesko, but he moves that huge frame very well, has a strong nose for goal, and is very skilled. Like a rich man's Füllkrug...only hopefully without the years in the wilderness before he got serious.

And they've got some interesting defenders who haven't yet made the jump from the youth level. Would suck to see them go down, because Mainz' academy is doing some absolutely fantastic work lately.


EDIT:
If Nagelsmann doesn't play with 3 CBs & an attacking WB, but uses 2 FBs & 2 CBs in the back 4, then I hope we go with Kimmich & Henrichs...assuming Martel doesn't force his way onto the team.

We could invert them and leave them deeper, letting our possession structure vacillate between these two shapes, depending on how we're being pressed:

ter Stegen/Neuer
Rüdiger* - Thiaw*
Kimmich - Can - Henrichs
Musiala - Wirtz - Gundogan - Sane
Füllkrug

ter Stegen/Neuer
Rüdiger* - Can - Thiaw*
Kimmich - Gundogan - Henrichs
Musiala - Wirtz - Sane
Füllkrug


*Schlotterbeck / Hummels / Tah / Süle​

 

[luiginb]

I think I heard Burkhard's name twice in the 60 minutes I watched the game. He lost the ball twice, but he didn't have any good balls either played into him, as Mainz' wingers and creative midfielders were always looking for the shot.

 

[cgf]

I think I heard Burkhard's name twice in the 60 minutes I watched the game. He lost the ball twice, but he didn't have any good balls either played into him, as Mainz' wingers and creative midfielders were always looking for the shot.

Not surprised. He hasn't looked the same since coming back at the end of the hinrunde. I'm hopeful that this run to end the campaign and a healthy offseason help him get back to where he was.

...because before he went down he was playing as well as, or better than, Brandt & Führich have played this season and he was looking more like a young Müller than any attacking prospect we've had since Brandt.


Now that level may just no longer be achievable for him, even once he gets his body back to 100% of what it is still capable of AND he rediscovers his swagger...but he just came back this winter, so I'm not really expecting much from him until next season at the earliest.

Flo looked like a shadow of himself when he got back at the end of last season too, so hopefully getting a healthy offseason in has a similar effect on Joni

 

[cgf]

Damion Downs scored his first for Köln, wish I had been able to watch that one. Looks like it was a fun derby.

 

[cgf]

Nifty goal for Malen. Maybe they will make a profit on him this summer.

Süle & Can try to give Werder the equalizer but the Bremener didn't expect it and immediately lost the ball both times.

Good adjustment to Werder's pressing set up. Those first 25ish minutes BorussiaCorp.'s buildup play was under almost no pressure.

 

[gary69]

Damion Downs scored his first for Köln, wish I had been able to watch that one. Looks like it was a fun derby.

It was a rollercoaster match, especially the wild 10 minutes with several goals. Köln getting 3 goals was a surprise as they have been struggling to score all season. New scoring heroes for them, Alidou with a brace and Downs took his shot well to score soon after coming on.

A point is a good for Köln in a vacuum, but it doesn't really help them trying to catch teams above them. They would really two or even three wins in their next 4-5 matches to get out from the play-off position.

As for rest of the match, their win was a foregone conclusion after the first half, but the demolition in the 2nd half still showed their spirit is back.

Goretzka was man of the match for me, great performance by him. Kane obviously was clinical with his goals, and Musiala did well, both statistically and showcasing his great individual abilities.

 

[cgf]

Damn Sancho, great run before that goal.

 

[cgf]

Good call. Again sucks for BVB, but I'm glad that there's no question about those being red in the BuLi. Watching a well officiated & governed league is so nice.

Should make this second half very interesting with Werder having a man advantage to turn around a 2-goal deficit.

 

[cgf]

It was a rollercoaster match, especially the wild 10 minutes with several goals. Köln getting 3 goals was a surprise as they have been struggling to score all season. New scoring heroes for them, Alidou with a brace and Downs took his shot well to score soon after coming on.

A point is a good for Köln in a vacuum, but it doesn't really help them trying to catch teams above them. They would really two or even three wins in their next 4-5 matches to get out from the play-off position.

As for rest of the match, their win was a foregone conclusion after the first half, but the demolition in the 2nd half still showed their spirit is back.

Goretzka was man of the match for me, great performance by him. Kane obviously was clinical with his goals, and Musiala did well, both statistically and showcasing his great individual abilities.

I'm a bit bummed that it's looking like Bochum, Augsburg, & Heidenheim will survive while at least one of Mainz or Köln gets relegated. Can't be disappointed with any season that we aren't relegated, but I'm still rooting for Bochum not to get another point


Didn't watch the Bayern match either, but I'm glad that Musiala seems to be heating up heading into the summer and Kimmich is coming to terms with having to play FB again at the club level.

Our defensive balance will be tricky to get right with this transitional point our defense is in after the failure of the Süle / Tah / Kehrer generation...but watching Wirtz & Musiala create for Füllkrug should be a ton of fun; especially if Sane can get his s*** back together.

I dunno that I will ever be able to be fair to LeGo. I had never seen a super talent like he was at 17, live before, and watching him racing up the wings for Bochum with his size & skill, just blew my mind.

Glad he had a good game, but it's hard for me not to be a little frustrated whenever he does play up to the player I thought he could be...and Jude ended up becoming instead.

 

[JoVel]

Nifty goal for Malen. Maybe they will make a profit on him this summer.

He's heating up at the right time for sure. He was among the very few players at Dortmund contributing at the start of the season, then went really cold for a couple of months. Then again, since the start of the calendar year, best Dortmund player.

 

[gary69]

Damn Sancho, great run before that goal.

Good choice by Sancho to come back to Germany, looking much better than in Manchester & compared to someone like Antony (whatever little time he even shows up recently) and getting to play at least.

With the sending off and Bremen scoring, can Dortmund hold on for the win, though.

 

[gary69]

Didn't watch the Bayern match either, but I'm glad that Musiala seems to be heating up heading into the summer and Kimmich is coming to terms with having to play FB again at the club level.

Kimmich has been good after returning to the RB position, he must see/understand it himself, too. Much more benefitial for the team. Hard to understand if would still insist playing in midfield.

 

[cgf]

Kimmich has been good after returning to the RB position, he must see/understand it himself, too. Much more benefitial for the team. Hard to understand if would still insist playing in midfield.

Have you seen how much more FBs have to run than deep playmaking midfielders? I completely understand why Kimmich & Lahm prefer(red) playing the 6

 

[Brunkmeister]

Kane toying the league and still not winning a shit. Couldn´t have written it better myself.

 

[cgf]

Kane toying the league and still not winning a shit. Couldn´t have written it better myself.

Yeah, Musiala & Sane are doing their best to try and overcome Kane’s arrival, but they are just human…at least this season; Jamal will be back to god-tier sooner or later, but unlike last year, he’s not the best young player in Europe this season.

 

[cgf]

He's heating up at the right time for sure. He was among the very few players at Dortmund contributing at the start of the season, then went really cold for a couple of months. Then again, since the start of the calendar year, best Dortmund player.

Btw what’s up with Brandt? He was so ridiculous good at the start of the season. Did he just run out of gas / get banged up?

 

[JoVel]

Btw what’s up with Brandt? He was so ridiculous good at the start of the season. Did he just run out of gas / get banged up?

I would say so, running out of gas paired with a pretty serious illness he had at the end of January. He only played one full game in a 5 game span.

Julian Brandt reveals he lost 6kg weight during recent illness

Julian Brandt has revealed that he lost six kilograms of weight during his recent illness that saw him spend two weeks on the sidelines.

bvbbuzz.com

 

[JoVel]

Ironically I think Dortmund's biggest game of the season for this year's Bundesliga success will be the game on Wednesday against PSV. They need that 5th UCL spot for Bundesliga. Dortmund still has to play all other teams in Bundesliga's top 6, while Leipzig only plays Dortmund and Frankfurt.

 

[Jack Straw]

Pretty

 

[luiginb]

That clown Tuchel cannot go away fast enough. When asked why Zaragoza hasn't been playing he answered "he has trouble with English, he has trouble with German...". Even if true Imagine throwing your player under the bus like that, as if Bayern needed a linguist to play the wing.

 

[bluesfan94]

That clown Tuchel cannot go away fast enough. When asked why Zaragoza hasn't been playing he answered "he has trouble with English, he has trouble with German...". Even if true Imagine throwing your player under the bus like that, as if Bayern needed a linguist to play the wing.

I mean, if you can't communicate, I get it.

 

[luiginb]

I mean, if you can't communicate, I get it.

I'm sure a team with Bayern's pockets can find a translator. Zaragoza might be as dumb as a rock and I'm on record being very skeptical about this transfer but Tuchel's comments are still classless and uncalled for.

 

[bluesfan94]

I'm sure a team with Bayern's pockets can find a translator. Zaragoza might be as dumb as a rock and I'm on record being very skeptical about this transfer but Tuchel's comments are still classless and uncalled for.

A translator can't run on the pitch with him.

 

[luiginb]

A translator can't run on the pitch with him.

Tevez killed it in England and he still can't speak any other language than Spanish. You're being contrarian for the sake of it. Tuchel saying "I'm not playing X because he can't speak the language" is shitty no matter how you look at it. I'm sure Zaragoza isn't the only player in this situation in world football, but it's the first time I hear a coach going at his player because of it.