Borussia Dortmund (H) Post-Match Thread

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Play him as he was played at Villa and we have a magnificent player on our hands.

The issue there is that as i recall he had a fairly free role at Villa. They would have a striker and he would play anywhere along the front line where he could find space. And they would always look to him. Watkins would be the out and out striker and Targett would be an overlapping LB when he would start from the left wing position but he would just look for space anywhere.

He isn't going to get that with us. We asking him to hold a position so we have passing options. Maybe he is better suited to one of our 3 mid positions.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Take the fee out of the equation and he is a useful squad player , but its difficult to ignore a spend of £100m and it will always be thrown in his face , for that amount of money you expect a game changer/match winner and he isnt a the moment , not sure he ever will be.
He looked superb at Villa amongst players who belong in a mid-table team , he now looks an average player in an elite squad of players , my only concern is a player like Palmer who has huge potential will not get enough game time now

Similar to the £60m reject we got from Wolfsburg?

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

For me, tempo is half the battle.

Are you a “heavy metal” kind of guy? ;-)

 

[Octavian]

IIRC he was played as a 10 with all the team working to provide him the ball, that's not gonna fly here.

No chance that happens when we’ve got KDB, Gundo and Bernado who all play that role.

 

[grim up north]

Fully agree with this, fuck knows what Pep sees in Grealish but to me he’s dogshite!

That’s why Pep is the top manager in the world and you are not I guess

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

A bit unfair that imo, whatever his limitations he always put in a shift as a youngster in an appalling team let down by countless senior pros

I don’t think anyone could question his graft. Brown, as you say, stood out in a field of manure around him.

I used to work with a former City youth and U21 player who told me Brown wasn’t particularly liked in their dressing room as he thought he was the best around.

Not the world’s most cutting criticism, but I found it interesting at the time.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

They were both rubbish. Silva should be first on the team sheet every week.

He’d be shite in goal, to be fair.

 

[shevtheblue]

No chance that happens when we’ve got KDB, Gundo and Bernado who all play that role.

Nobody plays a real 10 position for us, the 8 is a middle and there's much more expected from the player. I do think he can play it, but he would need to understand the game a bit more when it comes to going back.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I feel really sorry for Jack.

He very clearly isn’t a left winger but is constantly being played there.

Never in a million years is he going to go outside a full back and whip a left foot cross in like a proper left winger would.

It’s absolutely mental.

If persisting with it at least give him a proper overlapping full back rather than the set up we had last night.

The system is making him look a much lesser player than he is and must be doing his nut in.

Who was out last winger to do what you suggest? Sane would be closest, but didn’t really get the the byline and whip crosses in.

Petrov, maybe?

 

[David Silva]

Didn’t he play there loads for Villa?

From memory he was generally a number 10 in a 4231 while Villa were in the championship.

Continued there when they first got promoted, but Villa struggled and Dean Smith pushed him out to the left so they could pack their midfield with workhorses. Not sure we’ll ever see him play in midfield at city to be honest.