Magic Lamps

If Giroud is out this is curtains

This was so stupid. All to 0 again just with 3 stupid yellows. Uphill battle now

Why are we pushing so high ffs after having the lead. Stupid atupid

We have allowed these long balls by pushing too high. also ne pen but a fk

Ffs

I am worried with our lack of and their abundance of pace in the starting XI. Then again it was the same with ManU and Wolves and we still managed to keep the space tight enough such that there was no real threat coming from it. Need a monster game from everyone today

I hate to admit it but we will struggle to keep hold off the ball high up the pitch with Willian out. Better we strike quick and early and don’t concede ffs. We need Pulisic to be on his A game as they will triple him

Saw it coming when he took that tiny runup

Sarabia almost whacks the Lyon player’s leg off. Ref signaling ball played. French footy is just as corrupted as ours ffs

Different times, different players. Matic did fuck all for Utd and was shit for the past 1.5 years before he left. Buying bakayojo and drinkie was obviously stupid af but the decision to sell matic was right. The Club can only be sustained with profitable player sales. We are not Madrid or Bayern who can simply tap up players on the cheap or get government funding

I am wondering why Eberl has allowed both his main centrebacks to run down their contracts to a single year and yet is so adamant about keeping them. I know both have fixture related extension options but if the players wnated out they could easily force his hand. If we really would want and tempt him, we surely could strike a good deal.

There is a golden rule in football. When a player's legs go, make sure he is not on your books. We should really internalise this. Sell players exactly or shortly after the end of their prime.As you see your own players every day you know exactly when their powers start to wane. Outsiders who are not as ITK might still bid a ton of money for them. As all of us I really like the guy but Kante has been knee-deep into decline for two years now. He already started showing signs of it in the last Conte season. Sarri ran him into the ground and aggravated his injury. He has not been the same since. In truth we look much more fluent without him, having only lost 2 games in his absence all season. And I dont think our midfield is majorly at fault for the goals we concede but rather defense and Kepa. When he plays we win balls back earlier but we can not really play out from the back. He also does not carry the ball out of defense with his trademark dribblings anymore. given his physical characteristics are so vital for his style of play, once his pace goes and it has been on its way out for two years now, he is not that useful anymore. The only reason to keep Kante would be if we fail to get an adequate replacement and if no one makes a decent enough bid (80m+ pounds obviously)

Said it before, I think there is a very high probability Rice is gonna return to Chelsea some day. Most definitely not this summer tho

It was most probably a smokescreen. Also Alonso and Giroud are unlikely to leave and will continue to start matches albeit not as regularly. But yeah we will be even shorter next season. Don't like it either. On the upside, Havertz is better in the air than most of our players apart from giroud offensively, so I can imagine us scoring more headed goals next season

I think so. He has a great reputation over there and would gladly take him back. I am not sure Ginter is willing to move clubs yet tho

why are there even international breaks in a season were there is nothing to qualify for smh anyway, that is why we will probably need our huge squad for once.

Ginter definitely played an awesome season. But also Hummels and hinteregger had great seasons which does not mean we should sign them. Especially in the beginning of the season, Ginter led the by far best defense in the leauge, but they tailed off in the later stages. You have to say Ginter is tactically extremely well educated, having played under various tactical perfectionists such as Tuchel and Streich. Gladbach play a very offensive style with a high line that leves a lot of space to cover, so Ginters positioning and organisation of the defense have been vital for them. In the poor second half ot the seaosn, the offense somehow stopped firing and invited more pressure on the defense, which Ginter was less comfortable of coping with but still remained their best defender. He is very experienced at 26 with a good 250+ games at top level but not much CL and I think it will take some time for Löw to realize that he cant trust Rüdiger till he makes Günter 2nd CB next to Süle. That being said, i dont think a deal is likely. He will most probably extend with Gladbach. Also it is reported we only inquired about him being free next season, whic is highly improbable. If he moves this summer, Atletico and Inter are reportedly pondering a bid more concretely. https://sport.sky.de/fussball/artikel/transfer-news-sky-info-atletico-steigt-in-rennen-um-ginter-ein/12037696/35311

Love it.Tought about it myself as it accomodates our personnel best and resolves that fullback issue. I think it is not even that improbable we try it out. Barca have used it before in 2012 and 2014. however, i see two main problems: Mount and Kovacic would be the tasked with covering the wings in defense. They sure have the engine for that but both are central players and would need a lot of training till they manage that. We would need to operate in the half spaces and channels more which is different to the two approaches Lamps used this season: int he first half we pressed like crazy forced turnovers and then played balls into Mount and Tammy to finish with quick, intricate passing. In the second half we mainly worked free players on the flanks to cross to Giroud, which allowed us to commit fewer players forward, stay more compact and concede fewer chances (still conceded lots of goal bc of Kepa). Secondly, as all its players are basically central players the system is super vulnerable to opponents playing a lot of diagonals. Everytime they circulate the ball from left to right, the whole teams has to move horicontally over the pitch which makes it more difficult to engage opponents in pack and will lead to more 1 on 1s which we struggle with. So it will be imperative to stay as much on the ball as possible. and obviously the whole team has to help in defense. Even Werner, Haertz and Ziyech. If we somehow manage to work it out it could be brutal. we coujld overload opponents easily, press the shit out of them and have tons of creatros and scorers on the pitch at the same time. basically can attack with 6 players who are actually good at it every time instead of needing to use fullbacks with limited crossing aiblity for the overlap. Also for squad managemend it would be brilliant for our shitload of midfielders. bc so many of them can play varouis positions we could easily rotate, chuck one player in and out without it affecting our style.

IMO Ginter is clearly better than Elvedi albeit 3 yeras older. Klostermann is in between IMO but has huge upside. ginter and Klostermann are also very versatile. can play right back and probably also DM. Koch i have not seen as much but he can play DM and CB but is a bit of a weird guy I heard. Interesting enough,all 3, Koch, ginter and Elvedi are in their last year of contract. Of all the listed options, Ginter is probably the most feasible and with the biggest immediate impact but with the least upside potential. Obviously I am pro German players here but not too many,dont want a group within the group.

Interesting choice. He is definitely Gladbachs Abwehrchef, knows how to organise a defense. Not particularly quick or physical tho. More of technical and tactical defender. Very good height (1.91m) and aerial prowess. We could do better but also could do a lot worse. But the main advantage of this deal would be that he has only 1 year left on his contract and will probably be available for less than his true value

How is Willian a leader? Just because he is old does not mean he is a good leader.

Both are terrible players tho. They are lucky to get rid of them. I can’t see them having du ja. Frugal summer again. But with the team they have there is only so much they can improve upon. Their main threat will be ageing, their style is not exactly energy preserving

Best Story of the season. A washed up 33 year old, only just evaded the chop, rediscovers the form of his life, leading our line and a team in disarray into the top 4.

He is 3 weeks older than VVD but that is not even the point. VVD has played PL most of his career whilst KK has been in granny league. Serie A is very different to PL in terms of pace and physical requirements. Koulibali enters the twilight of his career. HIs anyway overrated athleticism is waning slowly and moving to the PL will need a few months or years of adjustment for him. He does not have this time.

Oh well... did not see that coming. Willian has been surprisingly durable but will continue to be one of the most frustrating players ever. I can see him starting a lot of games to give us ‘balance’ at least in the first half of next season. Willian had one of the best seasons of his career and his his shoes exactly we we should let him go. The amount do goals created or scored Form open play by him is abysmal given the huge amounts of time he spends in the ball. Time he takes away from our actually creative players. Our attacks are considerable shorter lived without him still we have no issues scoring goals without him. And it is not that he adds any form of leadership despite being one of the most senior guys on the squad