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German Football 2017/18

BobP

Memri Fan
Spielformation-Wolfsburg-2007-2009.png

Bh-6BpHIgAEPG9C.jpg
 

BobP

Memri Fan
I remember this team very well it was under Magath, loved watching Grafite play up front.

Guy just lugged together a bunch of journeyman and blasted his way to the title.

Also:

"While in charge of Wolfsburg during a training camp in July 2008 in Switzerland Magath declared after a team lunch that training would be canceled for the day. Instead the players would be rewarded with coffee and cake at a nearby location with the provision that the players retain their training attire just in case. As the players prepared to board the gondola that took them up the mountain to the coffee house their delight was soon replaced with horror as Magath told them they would get there by running the full 2362 meters. They ran for two and a half hours straight up the hill with Magath running right behind the team. Their star striker Grafite collapsed before the end and had to be carried down the valley on a stretcher while other players broke down in tears as they reached the summit where they were finally able to enjoy their coffee and cake."

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Guy almost killed Grafite.
 

Toby

No longer a Stuttgart Fan
Moderator
Looking at the table, the title "race" and the international cups, I feel the Bundesliga needs some new impulses.

The scouting and development has always been good, but everyone bar Bayern is struggling with financially more powerful competitors from foreign leagues to land or keep these young talents.
Foreign talent sometimes still ends up in Germany, but is quickly gone. Own talent is starting to glance towards England, too.
problem is, if you can't financially compete for expensive quality players you need to rebuild again and again with young talent. To build a team you need about 2 to 4 seasons. Now if these young players get signed away quickly, there's not really a chance to build teams anymore.

Bayern is up to scavenging the league for german talent/quality again, which obviously weakens the competition. It's their right to do it, it's understandable why players want to join them, but don't go out and have a dig at other clubs saying they should focus on working better again, when you clearly profit from that work. But, Bayern is surely not the only or main reason here.

There has been lots of noise surrounding the 50+1 rule, which prohibits investors from having a majority in shares, which has to remain with the actual club. Lately, Hannover's main investor, as well as Hamburg's and Hoffenheim's before that, have had a go at this rule, saying it weakens the Bundesliga's ability to challenge internationally because of financial constraints.

I think it's a good rule. It puts the focus on healthy, longterm business strategies as well as consistency and quality in the operational side of football and backroom work.
It has been a reason for the resurgence of german talent since about mid last decade, then helped develop the scouting system for foreign talent from about 2012/13 on, and bar Red Bull, has as of now kept more shady business deals out of the league. It has allowed the clubs, as majority shareholders, as well as fans, to stay relevant in club matters. I don't think it should be revoked, as I fully expect the financial bubble of football to explode at some point in the future.

I think, next to financial constraints, the main two reasons are down to player development and cowardly tactics in the fight to reach international spots or not get relegated.
The surgence of quick, system focused football in the last decade has lead to a lot of players being formed into quite one dimensional system pieces. Basically pass and move, pass and move, fulfill your task in a system, and thus has robbed them of their innate creativity and playfulness. That's a critique Mehmet Scholl voiced, and I do think he's right to some degree. If you look at teams like Hertha, Augsburg, Frankfurt, Hoffenheim, etc...they all managed to implement a system that gets them to where they want to be, but the focus on that system and the lack of true, above average talent prevents them from pushing on. And that talent is too expensive to buy or leaves early for higher wages.
The need to generate income via league position, and especially the need to stay in the top division, puts so much stress on managers and clubs, they always aim for the safe bet. They'd rather play it safe and finish 8th, then play it risky and aim for 5th, because they could end up finishing 11th. The refreshing, quick, pressing game from around 2010 to 2014 has become stale and defensive.

While I do think the finances are a problem, I'd still not overrule 50+1 for already stated reasons. I'd advocate a TV deal that's more fair, further focus on scouting and developing talent, as well as finding some means to keep them at a club longer. High release clauses, a ruling or precedence on striking players, stuff like that.
But most of all, I want to see an influx of foreign managers who change the boring, defensive and safe football that has been ruining the league for the last 2, 3 years.
 

Toby

No longer a Stuttgart Fan
Moderator
For anyone interested: It's Kovac vs. Hasenhuettl tonight. Frankfurt play Leipzig in half an hour.
 

dashsnow17

Doesn’t Rate Any Of Our Attackers
Trusted ⭐
It's the Battle of the Rhombuses tonight! Who will win: the black rhombus or the green rhombus?
 

Borussin

AM's Resident Dortmund Fan
Good to see Reece Oxford in the starting 11 for Gladbach again tonight! He's getting his chances in the Bundesliga.

This is a game I don't really mind who wins, I don't want Bremen to go down though, so maybe I should hope they win! But I like Zakaria from Gladbach, and it's time for Lars Stindl to get going again if he wants to get in that world cup squad.
 

BobP

Memri Fan
That's interesting, but it does have its limits. I'm sure they can't actually practice playing or defending with all those ropes in the way in midair.

It's more of a conceptual tool if anything, helping clarify things such as:

Ideal distances between teammates and the position of the shape depending on where the ball is.

Think of a more modern take on Arrigo Sacchi's 'shadow play' which so perplexed opposition scouts.
 

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