2013

[cgf]

I know he's not going to feature for Schalke in the upcoming tie with Madrid but how good is Max Meyer?

This is his first season and he'd been mostly a sub in the first half, but the kid has even more raw talent than Gotze or Draxler as he kind of adds Draxler's brilliant shooting technique to Gotze's ridiculous footwork, quickness and vision. Still got a lot to learn, but if he develops well kid could be the best player of his generation.

[MaliBrah]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/henrywinter/status/437219189833875456[/tweet]

, glad they're doing something about it.

[Ted Lasso]

I'm not sure everyone will agree, but there is a simple solution. Unless there's a violent offence, fouls which lead to penalties should not be accompanied by red cards.

Then again, imagine the outcry had Suarez still been on the pitch to take a penalty against Ghana. It just feels wrong.

[Man of Steel]

I know he's not going to feature for Schalke in the upcoming tie with Madrid but how good is Max Meyer?

This is his first season and he'd been mostly a sub in the first half, but the kid has even more raw talent than Gotze or Draxler as he kind of adds Draxler's brilliant shooting technique to Gotze's ridiculous footwork, quickness and vision. Still got a lot to learn, but if he develops well kid could be the best player of his generation.

Yeah, it surprised me a bit to hear a friend of mine who's a Schalke fan saying Meyer's got the potential to be even better than Draxler. Doesn't seem to be as physically imposing but perhaps that's a plus in the footwork column.

[cgf]

Schalke have probably the best academy in germany. They produced Ozil, they've now produced Draxler, Meyer is next and after him will be Avdijaj, who I'm not as high on as I am Meyer, but some people think its Avdijaj who'll actually be the greatest attacking mid to come out of their youth team.

[Man of Steel]

Schalke have probably the best academy in germany. They produced Ozil, they've now produced Draxler, Meyer is next and after him will be Avdijaj, who I'm not as high on as I am Meyer, but some people think its Avdijaj who'll actually be the greatest attacking mid to come out of their youth team.

No kidding. Just read he's yet to play for the first team and is already locked up on a contract till 2019 with a 50M release clause Good to see them being proactive about keeping their talent around.

Not gonna lie though, it's good to see Schalke drop points before the CL tie. Even with such an injury-ravaged lineup, I'm sure Draxler and Boateng will give us a little grief if we let them.

[cgf]

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see them develop in the coming years as the Papa and Draxler sales will settle their debt. And while they've had a carousel of managers they've actually had a pretty steady management team who've been doing a pretty good job given all that they have to deal with financial and fan-wise. If they can be shrewd with what money they do have to spend as they have been snapping up the likes of KPB, Sam, Goretzka and Aogo at nice prices, and build up the depth this club will have a great roster.

They just have to replace Keller and then they could become a great team pretty soon as Boateng at the 8 behind Meyer has done a ton towards solving their issues building up from the back, with Sam coming in even without Draxler they'll have a dynamic winger pair as both Sam and Farfan are very dangerous and will feed the hunter well. A backline that might just have solved their FB dilemma with young Sead Kolasinac and the long term signature of Dennis Aogo in front of a young goalkeeper who's been playing really well in this ruck runde so far. With a pretty solid bench with Szalai, Goretzka, Avdijaj (probably), Ayhan and Hoger there's a lot already there, just need another bench winger, a depth defender and maybe an 8/10 like Holtby if the price is right and the bench winger brought in isn't that great.

As for the game for you guys, I wouldn't worry to badly. Schalke fight unlike Leverkusen so you probably won't just walk right through them, especially since they've been on a pretty good run lately and are actually being secure with their possession without over committing men forward and leaving their goal exposed. If Draxler's back and fit they certainly have the talent to give you guys a real go, but you should still win the tie by 2+ goals.

[Foye]

Schalke have probably the best academy in germany. They produced Ozil, they've now produced Draxler, Meyer is next and after him will be Avdijaj, who I'm not as high on as I am Meyer, but some people think its Avdijaj who'll actually be the greatest attacking mid to come out of their youth team.

No kidding. Just read he's yet to play for the first team and is already locked up on a contract till 2019 with a 50M release clause Good to see them being proactive about keeping their talent around.

Not gonna lie though, it's good to see Schalke drop points before the CL tie. Even with such an injury-ravaged lineup, I'm sure Draxler and Boateng will give us a little grief if we let them.

Draxler is far away from top form. He was horrible against Mainz yesterday after being subbed in for the first time in months. I doubt he'll give you any trouble in the first leg.

[5DOM]

The thing with Meyer is he's TINY. Being small has its advantages, and size seems to matter less these days, but I am less intrigued by his potential because he's so damn small. And before someone brings up Messi who's incredibly gifted athletically, I think Meyer's even smaller. I do very much like his combination of brain and skills though, and who knows, maybe size won't matter here either or he'll eventually mature physically in time.

[cgf]

The thing with Meyer is he's TINY. Being small has its advantages, and size seems to matter less these days, but I am less intrigued by his potential because he's so damn small. And before someone brings up Messi who's incredibly gifted athletically, I think Meyer's even smaller. I do very much like his combination of brain and skills though, and who knows, maybe size won't matter here either or he'll eventually mature physically in time.

Size has it's limitations and advantages. Guys like Messi, Gotze, Iniesta, Meyer, Veratti, Mata, xavi and other skilled midgets who are still effective, are so great in traffic because their top notch dribbling combined with their quickness, lower center of gravity, and short steps lets them weave through the trees and move in a way the longer legged players can't. So if he keeps learning and gets stronger I don't see any reason his size should prevent him from becoming a top notch #10. The only advantage Draxler's size lends him is that it makes him more positionally versatile, he can play the 10, he play off the wing and in time he could become a striker to, while Meyer will be a 10 or possible an 8 if he develops well.

[cgf]

Zenit have gone with a very mobile midfield, with oldies like shatov and zyryanov not available and the hard working Shatov and Faizulin replacing them. I'm thinking a hard fought 2-2 like against Shaktar in the first leg last year.

[Ted Lasso]

Fifth straight victory for the away side then? Let's see if the hosts can at least score this time around.

[MaliBrah]

Damn you Steve Mandanda

[Foye]

Looks good for Dortmund.

[Captain_Obvious]

Hulk is really good. But Dortmund's speed is like a culture shock for them. Not prepared for their pressing at all.

[MaliBrah]

Hulk is really good. But Dortmund's speed is like a culture shock for them. Not prepared for their pressing at all.

they haven't played competitive football in a while. 2 months I think and you could tell. They put them selves at a huge disadvantage coming into CL knockout stages rusty.

[Foye]

Hulk is really good. But Dortmund's speed is like a culture shock for them. Not prepared for their pressing at all.

they haven't played competitive football in a while. 2 months I think and you could tell. They put them selves at a huge disadvantage coming into CL knockout stages rusty.

Yeah. But its not like they were more convincing in the group stage.

[MaliBrah]

Yeah thats true , they're a bad team regardless

[MaliBrah]

lol so much happened in one sequence ... offside?

[Captain_Obvious]

lol classic Sokrates