Champions League & Europa League 2014-15 Thread - Page 86

On November 27 2014 06:52 Stratos_speAr wrote:
So I really can't say that BVB is a good team at this point. People keep talking about a "poor run of form", but at some point, a "poor run" turns into "what the club actually is".

And honestly, what is BVB good at anymore? Both their offense and defense are horrible (counting among the worst in the Bundesliga), with some of the worst finishing and worst passing you can see. They don't have a lot of speed, they give up easy goals, and their possession is only good because they constantly hold the ball in their half/the middle 3rd. There really isn't a single thing BVB is good at this year (even though commentators love to talk about their counterattack, which is absolutely horrible due to unreliable finishing). Their only wins were against a struggling Arsenal and Gladbach, both at home, and the Gladbach one relied on an own goal that BVB had absolutely nothing to do with. Dortmund has failed against all quality competition, including Arsenal today and Bayern, Schalke, and Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

The problem is that their signings have been a complete failure. They lost the likes of Lewandowski and Götze (transfer) and Reus, Gundogan, Kuba, Schmelzer, Subotic, Hummels, Pizsczek, and Sahin (injuries), and they have completely failed to replace them. Aubameyang, Mhki, and Immobile are all busts that have failed to fill their potential with poor finishing and terrible passing, Sokratis is good but unreliable as he sometimes makes baffling positional decisions, Ginter is young and makes a lot of terrible decisions, Ramos and Jojic don't play enough to be a factor, and Dong Won Ji has completely disappeared since joining BVB. Worst of all they haven't made a single move to shore up the midfield. If Gündogan and Sahin were consistently healthy this wouldn't be as much of a problem, but the likes of Bender, Grosskreutz, Kehl, and Jojic don't make enough of a difference or just simply aren't good enough.

The glaring mistake is that BVB didn't make a single move for a proven, high-quality, high-talent player. They bought a whole lot of potential in Ramos, Dong Won Ji, Jojic, Ginter, Aubameyang, and Mhki, but almost all of these were a complete bust. The closest thing to "proven talent" that they bought was Immobile, but even as Serie A's top scorer he still wasn't on the level of a signing for Van Persie, Lewandowski, Götze, Alonso, Neymar, Suarez, Khedira, Özil, Kroos, etc. etc. etc. Dortmund saw the mistake they made in the late '90's after their CL win (sink a shitload of money into high-cost players and sink into debt) and tried to go in the completely opposite direction by investing in all potential, but none of that potential has paid off at all.

On November 27 2014 06:07 wingpawn wrote:
Stupid Barcelona, selling Alexis and Cesc who then immediately went on to being two best players in EPL.


Nah, Germans don't have a link upfront, only playing long balls and hoping for the best. Any other team with strong front line would expose Monreal and Mertesacker many times already.

Mkhitaryan in current form just doesn't cut it.

On November 27 2014 08:34 GizmoPT wrote:
Bye bye Benfica :D

On November 27 2014 10:22 Skynx wrote:
Dortmund is just fine with their entire squad.

Reus and Hummels is monumental in BVBs set up, I would dven dare to say Dortmund without Reus is like Real without Ronaldo. He has a touch in all the chances they create, him alone posesses half of the teams counter attack phase, and on top of that he makes the plays like we saw in Gala game.
Hummels on the other hand is arguably one of the best CBs in the world, always on top of positioning, you cant land a single air ball inside dortmund pen area when he is there. Not to mention his threat in opposition area during corner kicks.

Just my two cents.

On November 27 2014 08:19 Twisted wrote:


I don't want to point out the obvious here, but when players leave for lesser clubs while holding their own in the top teams of the world, obviously they're gonna shine. Fabregas has played well for Chelsea, but no better than he did at Barça. He also has way more space in the BPL because it's a more offensive/easier league for a player with his specific qualities.

Trading Alexis for Suarez is all politics though. I don't think either is better than the other. Suarez was the best player in the BPL, now Sanchez has taken over the throne. I don't think there's much difference in skill between the two. Unless Suarez starts banging in 30 goals a season, I wouldn't call him better than Sanchez.

On November 27 2014 13:55 CeriseCherries wrote:

i think its a system issue too tho... esp with cesc but really with sanchez too.

when you go to barca, messi is the star, not sanchez and that leads to sanchez being shoved wider
for cesc barca is limiting his freedom, because he's really a xavi double and thats where they tried playing him for a long time

On November 27 2014 17:32 Pandemona wrote:
England 10 - 2 Germany

Bundesliga strong this week :D
Lets see if Everton can beat Wolfsburg for the clean sweep

On November 27 2014 16:33 wingpawn wrote:
Actually, BvB yesterday didn't look that bad. The game was fairly level.

They lost to Arsenal because of their own, maximum-risk style of playing. First goal was a failed offside trap, second was central midfielders pushing way too far up and Sanchez running into the space behind to get an inspiring one-in-a-hundred shot.


Is this some sort of collective amnesia? Yes, Fabregas could and should've been taking over Xavi's boots in Barcelona but they never gave him a chance because a) nobody had the balls to bench Xavi even when he had a poor run of form and b) the whole Barca tactics was based on a midfielder who is a passing robot and who always recieves first pass after the interception to maintain the posession with more safe, short passes (just as Xabi Alonso does in Bayern now).

After years in England, Fabregas could never been such player because he was taught to play ball fast above everything else. Because of that, if he played instad of Xavi, the whole team would have to pretty much change their style of playing OR, do what they did and constantly use Cesc as "that one too many" midfielder. By choosing the latter, they've basically refused to face the issue of Xavi's aging and now, they have Rakitic, who has the same compatibility issues while being a lesser player than Fabregas.