2023-24 German Bundesliga Discussion Thread

[Foye]

Nice to see Burkardt scoring some goals. I'm really high on Gruda, Weiper, & Burkardt, when they're fit & on form. Feels like that could be a very exciting attacking trio for you if you stay up this season and they are all 100% next year.

We also have Paul Nebel parked in the 2nd league who is playing well for Karlsruhe.

Need to stay in the league.
Else the trio is probably torn apart before they ever played together for a while.
Also Amiri will only stay if we stay in the league.

That said, I still think management has done a shockingly bad job to assemble the roster.
There is at least 10 players on the roster who are either not Bundesliga quality players or misused in their current role.

I don't rate Nebel nearly as much, think you've got a handful of similarly talented prospects that I'm not nearly as excited by as that trio. Nebel & co. certainly have first division talent, but Weiper / Gruda / Burkardt all have CL-starter talent.

Despite the dreadful performances and transfers this year the future starting lineup could look quite promising thanks to the youth academy.

———Burkardt - Weiper - Gruda
————Amiri - Nebel (Gleiber)——
——————-Kohr (replacement needed possibly Amann)
Caci (Müller)- Hanche-Olsen (Dal)-van den Berg-Widmer (replacement needed)
Zentner (replacement needed)

The issue being this group will never play a single game together if Mainz is relegated.

[cgf]

We also have Paul Nebel parked in the 2nd league who is playing well for Karlsruhe.

Need to stay in the league.
Else the trio is probably torn apart before they ever played together for a while.
Also Amiri will only stay if we stay in the league.

That said, I still think management has done a shockingly bad job to assemble the roster.
There is at least 10 players on the roster who are either not Bundesliga quality players or misused in their current role.

I don't rate Nebel nearly as much, think you've got a handful of similarly talented prospects that I'm not nearly as excited by as that trio. Nebel & co. certainly have first division talent, but Weiper / Gruda / Burkardt all have CL-starter talent.

Despite the dreadful performances and transfers this year the future starting lineup could look quite promising thanks to the youth academy.

———Burkardt - Weiper - Gruda
————Amiri - Nebel (Gleiber)——
——————-Kohr (replacement needed possibly Amann)
Caci (Müller)- Hanche-Olsen (Dal)-van den Berg-Widmer (replacement needed)
Zentner (replacement needed)

The issue being this group will never play a single game together if Mainz is relegated.

Schulz & Dal have looked good for you at the youth levels as well. Your academy has really started pumping out talent.

[Foye]

I don't rate Nebel nearly as much, think you've got a handful of similarly talented prospects that I'm not nearly as excited by as that trio. Nebel & co. certainly have first division talent, but Weiper / Gruda / Burkardt all have CL-starter talent.

Despite the dreadful performances and transfers this year the future starting lineup could look quite promising thanks to the youth academy.

———Burkardt - Weiper - Gruda
————Amiri - Nebel (Gleiber)——
——————-Kohr (replacement needed possibly Amann)
Caci (Müller)- Hanche-Olsen (Dal)-van den Berg-Widmer (replacement needed)
Zentner (replacement needed)

The issue being this group will never play a single game together if Mainz is relegated.

Schulz & Dal have looked good for you at the youth levels as well. Your academy has really started pumping out talent.

I‘d be surprised if Schulz actually makes it to the first squad in the next 2-3 years. He used to play midfielder for many years in our youth teams but
he is bit limited in his technical ability.
That is why they started using him as CB last season. A role which he does well in the youth teams. Eventually, I think he is too slow to be a CB at the professional level, though.

I prefer Gleiber and Amann over him as talents if we are talking about 8 or 6 midfield positions.

For CB Dal is definitely more talented than Schulz imo. But even Dal will most likely need one or two more years to really be an option for the pro team.

CB just take longer to develop.

[cgf]

Despite the dreadful performances and transfers this year the future starting lineup could look quite promising thanks to the youth academy.

———Burkardt - Weiper - Gruda
————Amiri - Nebel (Gleiber)——
——————-Kohr (replacement needed possibly Amann)
Caci (Müller)- Hanche-Olsen (Dal)-van den Berg-Widmer (replacement needed)
Zentner (replacement needed)

The issue being this group will never play a single game together if Mainz is relegated.

Schulz & Dal have looked good for you at the youth levels as well. Your academy has really started pumping out talent.

I‘d be surprised if Schulz actually makes it to the first squad in the next 2-3 years. He used to play midfielder for many years in our youth teams but
he is bit limited in his technical ability.
That is why they started using him as CB last season. A role which he does well in the youth teams. Eventually, I think he is too slow to be a CB at the professional level, though.

I prefer Gleiber and Amann over him as talents if we are talking about 8 or 6 midfield positions.

For CB Dal is definitely more talented than Schulz imo. But even Dal will most likely need one or two more years to really be an option for the pro team.

CB just take longer to develop.

I don't disagree with any of this, especially since I haven't seen Schulz play outside of your academy or youth NTs, but there was something about him for the youth NTs that makes me want to buy in on him.

Something about his mentality / reading of the play / combativeness stuck with me and makes me think he'll be one of those guys who makes the absolute most out of what talent he has. Although I do think the best spot for him will be as part of a back 3, where his athleticism can be compensated for and his technical skills can grow into a strength at that position.

I won't be totally shocked if he maxes out as just a 2nd division starter / 1st division injury-insurance guy, but I will be a little surprised if he doesn't become at least a quality BuLi starter...somewhere around a Rode or Vogt depending on which direction his development goes.

Dal certainly has the higher ceiling and I was quite impressed with him at the euros last summer, but I like Schulz a lot too...although that might just be because he has old-school Union energy

[Foye]

Schulz & Dal have looked good for you at the youth levels as well. Your academy has really started pumping out talent.

I‘d be surprised if Schulz actually makes it to the first squad in the next 2-3 years. He used to play midfielder for many years in our youth teams but
he is bit limited in his technical ability.
That is why they started using him as CB last season. A role which he does well in the youth teams. Eventually, I think he is too slow to be a CB at the professional level, though.

I prefer Gleiber and Amann over him as talents if we are talking about 8 or 6 midfield positions.

For CB Dal is definitely more talented than Schulz imo. But even Dal will most likely need one or two more years to really be an option for the pro team.

CB just take longer to develop.

I don't disagree with any of this, especially since I haven't seen Schulz play outside of your academy or youth NTs, but there was something about him for the youth NTs that makes me want to buy in on him.

Something about his mentality / reading of the play / combativeness stuck with me and makes me think he'll be one of those guys who makes the absolute most out of what talent he has. Although I do think the best spot for him will be as part of a back 3, where his athleticism can be compensated for and his technical skills can grow into a strength at that position.

I won't be totally shocked if he maxes out as just a 2nd division starter / 1st division injury-insurance guy, but I will be a little surprised if he doesn't become at least a quality BuLi starter...somewhere around a Rode or Vogt depending on which direction his development goes.

Dal certainly has the higher ceiling and I was quite impressed with him at the euros last summer, but I like Schulz a lot too...although that might just be because he has old-school Union energy

Yeah, Schulz does have a winning mentality but not every deficit can be erased with effort.
I see him somewhere topping in 2nd/3rd league.

We do have a couple other solid talents in the U19 squad like Kalemba, Dardari, Bierschenk and Toure.

Dardari is probably the most technically gifted but I have been a bit frustrated with him lately.
He keeps making the same mistakes and his workrate could be better. He is not as dominant as he could be.
Reminds me of Bobzien who is now somewhere on loan in Austria and unfortunately never made the jump.

Bierschenk has been injured ever since the U19 championship unfortunately. That definitely hampered his development.

Kalemba has been used as a striker lately but that’s definitely not his best position.

Toure is interesting.
Not the best scoring record now as 2006 guy but I do think he has potential because he is a rather quick striker. If his body catches up he could be good.

[cgf]

I‘d be surprised if Schulz actually makes it to the first squad in the next 2-3 years. He used to play midfielder for many years in our youth teams but
he is bit limited in his technical ability.
That is why they started using him as CB last season. A role which he does well in the youth teams. Eventually, I think he is too slow to be a CB at the professional level, though.

I prefer Gleiber and Amann over him as talents if we are talking about 8 or 6 midfield positions.

For CB Dal is definitely more talented than Schulz imo. But even Dal will most likely need one or two more years to really be an option for the pro team.

CB just take longer to develop.

I don't disagree with any of this, especially since I haven't seen Schulz play outside of your academy or youth NTs, but there was something about him for the youth NTs that makes me want to buy in on him.

Something about his mentality / reading of the play / combativeness stuck with me and makes me think he'll be one of those guys who makes the absolute most out of what talent he has. Although I do think the best spot for him will be as part of a back 3, where his athleticism can be compensated for and his technical skills can grow into a strength at that position.

I won't be totally shocked if he maxes out as just a 2nd division starter / 1st division injury-insurance guy, but I will be a little surprised if he doesn't become at least a quality BuLi starter...somewhere around a Rode or Vogt depending on which direction his development goes.

Dal certainly has the higher ceiling and I was quite impressed with him at the euros last summer, but I like Schulz a lot too...although that might just be because he has old-school Union energy

Yeah, Schulz does have a winning mentality but not every deficit can be erased with effort.
I see him somewhere topping in 2nd/3rd league.

We do have a couple other solid talents in the U19 squad like Kalemba, Dardari, Bierschenk and Toure.

Dardari is probably the most technically gifted but I have been a bit frustrated with him lately.
He keeps making the same mistakes and his workrate could be better. He is not as dominant as he could be.
Reminds me of Bobzien who is now somewhere on loan in Austria and unfortunately never made the jump.

Bierschenk has been injured ever since the U19 championship unfortunately. That definitely hampered his development.

Kalemba has been used as a striker lately but that’s definitely not his best position.

Toure is interesting.
Not the best scoring record now as 2006 guy but I do think he has potential because he is a rather quick striker. If his body catches up he could be good.

Haven't seen enough of Kalemba, Dardari, or Toure, but Bierschenk definitely popped before his injury when I saw him for the youth NTs.

Hopefully you & Köln can catch Bochum still.

[Foye]

0-0 draw at Leipzig.

Could be a very valuable point.

Bayern losing against Dortmund cements Leverkusen as the champions.
13 points clear with 21 points left.

[cgf]

0-0 draw at Leipzig.

Could be a very valuable point.

Bayern losing against Dortmund cements Leverkusen as the champions.
13 points clear with 21 points left.

Points for you, us, and now Köln. If Darmstadt can beat Bochum, this will have been a great weekend for the relegation race...just 5pts ahead of you, and 6 ahead of Köln.

[Foye]

0-0 draw at Leipzig.

Could be a very valuable point.

Bayern losing against Dortmund cements Leverkusen as the champions.
13 points clear with 21 points left.

Points for you, us, and now Köln. If Darmstadt can beat Bochum, this will have been a great weekend for the relegation race...just 5pts ahead of you, and 6 ahead of Köln.

We need to win our next two home games to have a chance of staying in directly.
I hope they will get it done.
But kinda pessimistic. We haven’t been playing well lately (even though we got some results).

Bochum only got a draw. That works in our favor.
We didn’t lose ground in a match day where we should’ve lost ground.

I expect Köln to beat Bochum next week. They have been terrible away from home.
So we need to beat Darmstadt.

[cgf]

0-0 draw at Leipzig.

Could be a very valuable point.

Bayern losing against Dortmund cements Leverkusen as the champions.
13 points clear with 21 points left.

Points for you, us, and now Köln. If Darmstadt can beat Bochum, this will have been a great weekend for the relegation race...just 5pts ahead of you, and 6 ahead of Köln.

We need to win our next two home games to have a chance of staying in directly.
I hope they will get it done.
But kinda pessimistic. We haven’t been playing well lately (even though we got some results).

Bochum only got a draw. That works in our favor.
We didn’t lose ground in a match day where we should’ve lost ground.

I expect Köln to beat Bochum next week. They have been terrible away from home.
So we need to beat Darmstadt.

Yeah next week could be big for the relegation race. Wolfsburg & Gladbach are going head to head as well, loser of that one could slip into the mix, and we've got to host Leverkusen.

[Foye]

4-0 win against Darmstadt.
Darmstadt was shockingly bad given it was basically their last chance to get back in the relegation race.

Solid performance nevertheless. Hanche-Olsen, Gruda and 2x Lee with the goals. Could’ve even scored more.
Need to win again next week against Hoffenheim.

[cgf]

4-0 win against Darmstadt.
Darmstadt was shockingly bad given it was basically their last chance to get back in the relegation race.

Solid performance nevertheless. Hanche-Olsen, Gruda and 2x Lee with the goals. Could’ve even scored more.
Need to win again next week against Hoffenheim.

The relegation race is getting really tight. You (23) and Köln (22) are now only 3 & 4 pts behind Bochum (26)...with FC VW (28) & us (29) just 2 & 3 pts ahead of them.

As are the races for 4th & 7th...with BVB & Leipzig tied on 53pts, while all three of Freiburg, Hoffenheim, & Augsburg tied on 36pts, with Heidenheim just 3pts behind them.

[Foye]

Impressive 4:1 home victory against Hoffenheim.

We are back in the race for 15th!
Just one point behind Bochum.

[Foye]

Leverkusen winning the championship in style.

5:0 against Bremen.

Wirtz is the man.

[Foye]

Darmstadt winning in Köln was big for us.
Wolfsburg beat Bochum.

If we can get something out of this game at Freiburg tomorrow we are out of the relegation spots for the first time in months.

Union is down 5-0 to Bayern.
A win and we would even pass them tomorrow on goal difference.

[Foye]

Point in Freiburg.
Out of the relegation spots for first time since match day 2!

Comes at a cost, though.
Lee is out against Köln with his 5th yellow.
Means we will have to play one of the non performing bench players next week.