International Break thread

[cgf]

After the u19s got eliminated by Spain in one of the craziest semifinals I’ve ever seen…after two Spanish stoppage time goals to turn around a 1-2 deficit we drew it on the last kick of regulation with an own goal, before another 5 goals in extra time left the final result 6-5…our u21s face France today.

Should be another fun game between two of the top teams at the tourney. France has the better defenders on paper, while we have the better attacking depth, keeper, and coach. But the difference between what happens on paper and what happens on the pitch is even starker at the you levels.

France got wiped (Weipered) out

Great game from Weiper. Somehow our management managed to blunder this again and hasn't signed him to an extension until 2030 before the U21 EC.
I expect great things from him next season. Especially if we lose Burkardt.

Never getting to see Weiper, Burkardt, & Gruda…who was fantastic off the bench in this one…is one of the great tragedies of the past season. You would’ve been so fun if all three were fit & clicking.

But yeah, strong all around performance from the U21s. Score flattered us a little, but we just outplayed them across the board. Onto the English…who we beat in the group with a B-team.

[cgf]

France got wiped (Weipered) out

Great game from Weiper. Somehow our management managed to blunder this again and hasn't signed him to an extension until 2030 before the U21 EC.
I expect great things from him next season. Especially if we lose Burkardt.

Welcome to the club (management blunder). We lost Woltemade for nothing because he didn't see a vision in Bremen. A year later and he's on the radar of top clubs after a breakout season. Very bittersweet to see him play now.

At least you didn't spend 10-12 mil. on freaking Hollerbach while gifting Union the money to buy the more talented Ansah for just 4 mil.
I do hope and think that we will be able to retain Weiper due to the fact that he was born and raised in Mainz, has been in the club since he is 7 years and was always a fan.
But it is beyond ridiculous to me that management hasn't done everything possible to get an extension done months ago.

I think Hollerbach is near the ceiling of his talent…but his combativeness & tenacity are world class. So I will be surprised but not shocked if he has another level in him.

[Foye]

After the u19s got eliminated by Spain in one of the craziest semifinals I’ve ever seen…after two Spanish stoppage time goals to turn around a 1-2 deficit we drew it on the last kick of regulation with an own goal, before another 5 goals in extra time left the final result 6-5…our u21s face France today.

Should be another fun game between two of the top teams at the tourney. France has the better defenders on paper, while we have the better attacking depth, keeper, and coach. But the difference between what happens on paper and what happens on the pitch is even starker at the you levels.

France got wiped (Weipered) out

Great game from Weiper. Somehow our management managed to blunder this again and hasn't signed him to an extension until 2030 before the U21 EC.
I expect great things from him next season. Especially if we lose Burkardt.

Never getting to see Weiper, Burkardt, & Gruda…who was fantastic off the bench in this one…is one of the great tragedies of the past season. You would’ve been so fun if all three were fit & clicking.

But yeah, strong all around performance from the U21s. Score flattered us a little, but we just outplayed them across the board. Onto the English…who we beat in the group with a B-team.

Don't forget about Nebel.
Gruda's family most likely bottled it convincing him to take the money. Shame we never got even one full season of the four together.

Gotta say, I have cooled a bit on Gruda, though.
From what I have seen this U21 EC, he hasn't developed in the year in Brighton.
Still making the same mistakes of being too egoistic. His dribbling skills are crazy but he tends to ignore his teammates a bit too often.
If he fixes his decision making he could be absolutely world class one day. But I am not seeing it yet.
Right now, I would say Nebel is the better player. He has less potential but he is much closer to reaching his potential than Gruda.

[Foye]

Welcome to the club (management blunder). We lost Woltemade for nothing because he didn't see a vision in Bremen. A year later and he's on the radar of top clubs after a breakout season. Very bittersweet to see him play now.

At least you didn't spend 10-12 mil. on freaking Hollerbach while gifting Union the money to buy the more talented Ansah for just 4 mil.
I do hope and think that we will be able to retain Weiper due to the fact that he was born and raised in Mainz, has been in the club since he is 7 years and was always a fan.
But it is beyond ridiculous to me that management hasn't done everything possible to get an extension done months ago.

I think Hollerbach is near the ceiling of his talent…but his combativeness & tenacity are world class. So I will be surprised but not shocked if he has another level in him.

Obviously, you have seen much more from him in recent years than I so I hope you are right.

Here is the thing that makes me very skeptical about this Hollerbach signing:
- I don't like to buy the best players from bad offenses. I'd rather buy the 2nd or even 3rd best player from a great offensive team (even from 2nd league as we can not afford to buy from great Bundesliga offenses ). Football is a team game, if a teams offense isn't working the best player is part of the problem no matter what his stats are. And it is been two seasons in a row now that Unions offense is bad essentially since Hollerbach arrived.
- The fact that Hollerbach is among the players with the most lost possessions in the league and also most dribblings in the league (with poor winning percentage) is incredibly concerning. I can accept that for a young player but he is 24 already.
- His scorers are actually fairly unimpressive if you consider the amount of minutes he got.
And while Unions roster doesn't exactly look extraordinary strong there are some quality players on the roster still. Doesn't seem to make sense that the offense was as bad as it was in the past two years.

I hope he will do well in Mainz but my gut feeling is not very good.

[cgf]

France got wiped (Weipered) out

Great game from Weiper. Somehow our management managed to blunder this again and hasn't signed him to an extension until 2030 before the U21 EC.
I expect great things from him next season. Especially if we lose Burkardt.

Never getting to see Weiper, Burkardt, & Gruda…who was fantastic off the bench in this one…is one of the great tragedies of the past season. You would’ve been so fun if all three were fit & clicking.

But yeah, strong all around performance from the U21s. Score flattered us a little, but we just outplayed them across the board. Onto the English…who we beat in the group with a B-team.

Don't forget about Nebel.
Gruda's family most likely bottled it convincing him to take the money. Shame we never got even one full season of the four together.

Gotta say, I have cooled a bit on Gruda, though.
From what I have seen this U21 EC, he hasn't developed in the year in Brighton.
Still making the same mistakes of being too egoistic. His dribbling skills are crazy but he tends to ignore his teammates a bit too often.
If he fixes his decision making he could be absolutely world class one day. But I am not seeing it yet.
Right now, I would say Nebel is the better player. He has less potential but he is much closer to reaching his potential than Gruda.

Nebel surprised me this year, but I still don’t think he has the kind of potential that the other 3 do, so he’s not as exciting.


I waffle with Gruda. I do think he would’ve progressed more had he stayed with you for at least another year…but of the English clubs, Brighton are the best at developing young players and he has been adapting to the greater physicality allowed by English refs.

The talent is still ridiculous and I think he could be an effective joker for the NT already, but there is that step he needs to take as a decision maker to be a difference maker for the full 90.

[cgf]

At least you didn't spend 10-12 mil. on freaking Hollerbach while gifting Union the money to buy the more talented Ansah for just 4 mil.
I do hope and think that we will be able to retain Weiper due to the fact that he was born and raised in Mainz, has been in the club since he is 7 years and was always a fan.
But it is beyond ridiculous to me that management hasn't done everything possible to get an extension done months ago.

I think Hollerbach is near the ceiling of his talent…but his combativeness & tenacity are world class. So I will be surprised but not shocked if he has another level in him.

Obviously, you have seen much more from him in recent years than I so I hope you are right.

Here is the thing that makes me very skeptical about this Hollerbach signing:
- I don't like to buy the best players from bad offenses. I'd rather buy the 2nd or even 3rd best player from a great offensive team (even from 2nd league as we can not afford to buy from great Bundesliga offenses ). Football is a team game, if a teams offense isn't working the best player is part of the problem no matter what his stats are. And it is been two seasons in a row now that Unions offense is bad essentially since Hollerbach arrived.
- The fact that Hollerbach is among the players with the most lost possessions in the league and also most dribblings in the league (with poor winning percentage) is incredibly concerning. I can accept that for a young player but he is 24 already.
- His scorers are actually fairly unimpressive if you consider the amount of minutes he got.
And while Unions roster doesn't exactly look extraordinary strong there are some quality players on the roster still. Doesn't seem to make sense that the offense was as bad as it was in the past two years.

I hope he will do well in Mainz but my gut feeling is not very good.

We’re a defensive club that has been struggling the past two years. Even for a club of our level Hollerbach shouldn’t be your best attacker, but he has been…which is why we’ve been in the relegation race.

So I dunno how he’ll do for you, but he’s the type who will chronically overachieve…so I think you may unlock another level from him.

[cgf]

Finals day. Excited and hoping the team brings their best performance of the tourney…though I worry Woltemade may be distracted by the transfer to Bayern that he wants to push through.

[Baphomet]

Harvey Elliott has shown in this tournament that he deserves more minutes at Liverpool, or move to somewhere he can start. Very talented player, clearly a cut above.