For Domenico Tedesco and Heiko Herrlich it will be tight, because they let old football play. At Borussia Dortmund it works because team and coach harmonize. Three theses on the Bundesliga.
1. Tedesco’s time on Schalke is soon over
Domenico Tedesco’s worker football is reaching its limits this season. After the five lost games at the beginning of the season, Schalke 04 seemed to have been caught. The squires have even won three games in a row. And that with the well-known game of the past season: Standing low, doing a lot of maloching and hoping for a bit of luck in the front. However, Tedesco realized that this tactic would not suffice if luck failed in his 2-0 defeat to Werder Bremen.
Under coach Florian Kohfeldt, the Bremen team play impressive offensive football and often bridge the midfield with short, direct passes. Schalke doesn’t want to stay in the midfield for long, but solves the problem with the opposite approach: long shots and hope for the second ball. The emphasis is on “hope”.
This kind of football has passed its zenith. Tedesco would have to reinvent itself in order to establish a connection to the upper table regions with Schalke. Werder has shown how it can work. If Tedesco doesn’t succeed in giving his team a new face far away from the Maloch identity, he won’t experience the winter break as Schalke coach. The 33-year-old has proved that he can do things differently in the second league with Erzgebirge Aue. But in Gelsenkirchen he currently does not have the right squad for elegant combination football. That could cost him his job.
2. In Leverkusen, nothing could be wonderful any time soon
In the end, Heiko Herrlich could and had to take a deep breath. Karim Bellarabi saved Bayer Leverkusen with his goal in injury time a point against Hannover 96 and the coach perhaps already the job. Eight points from eight games, with 15 goals against the fourth worst defensive of the league and last two draws against supposed relegation candidates: That can’t meet Bayer’s traditionally high standards.
“At the moment, we lack lightness, self-confidence and luck,” said Herrlich after the match. You can’t expect a comprehensive error analysis shortly after the final whistle, but a little more self-criticism would have been appropriate. Especially in the first half Bayer 04 showed a weak home game. Lady hammer Casino has a wide selection of online casino games.
Only two shots brought the Werkself to the opponent’s goal: Wendell’s penalty and the equaliser by Lars Bender. Leverkusen improved after the break, but fell behind again after a standard situation. Bayer then played more than half an hour in excess of Felipe after the sending-off and still had to tremble to the last moment.
The coach, who was praised last season for his refreshing attacking football, is now accused of being too susceptible to goals from his unconditional offensive. He has no “Plan B”, they say. At least this plan cannot always be called “B like Bellarabi“. Otherwise Herrlich Leverkusen will have to leave soon.
3. The variability and Favre make Dortmund so strong
After the 4-0 gala at VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund remains the sovereign leader of the Bundesliga. But that’s not all: 27 goals after eight matchdays mean a club record and give an indication of why things are going so well at BVB. Not only does Borussia have Paco Alcácer, Europe’s strongest striker, they are also extremely variable when it comes to attacking.
The BVB already has 13 different scorers after eight match days. To put this into perspective, only eight Bundesliga clubs have scored more than 13 goals so far. Also in Stuttgart four different Dortmunders met again: Jaydon Sancho, Marco Reus, Alcácer and the substitute Maximilian Philipp.
You could have guessed it before the season: Borussia and Lucien Favre – that seems to fit. The Swiss likes fast switch-over football and has exactly the right staff for it in Dortmund. He also wants to ensure that his players reach the best possible final positions. Because they implement his specifications, the Dortmunders succeed in scoring as many goals as possible from relatively few chances.
