ShiftyPowers;2922289 said:
The German League is at the beginning of a renaissance. Sensational young generation coming through and the finances heavily favor German clubs in this tough time.
yeah, lots of great young talent ... and people are yet to see the likes of Marco Reus, Timo Gebhart, Christian Träsch, Mats Hummels, etc. on the bigger stages ...
and the benefits of the financial rules already in place, coupled with the emerging talent, there is little to be argued against the signs ...
ShiftyPowers;2922289 said:
And now they have worsened by several multiples.
back to square one, then?
Samp are still in the contest ... Bremen are well in control of their destiny, but that late goal from Pazzo keeps the tie open ...
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Sampdoria were very, very unlucky with some key moments ... Pazzini just straying offside on the correctly disallowed goal early in the match ... then, at 1-0 down, Pazzini again at the end of a good move that saw the ball agonizingly ping back off the upright and into the keeper's arms ... and then the telling deflection on what was otherwise a superb move for Bremen's third ...
it was very evident, to me at least, that the Italians were playing their first competitive game of the season, because they still looked to be in pre-season mode ... the Germans, on the other hand, have already had some competitive action in the DFB Pokal, and it showed in their pace and especially their rhythm ... it must have been obvious to Guberti and Poli, watching from the sidelines, because they injected some much-needed impetus and focus to Samp's play ... in fact, I'd have preferred to see Poli start ahead of Tissone, who was nothing short of terrible ... and Guberti ahead of Semioli too, with Mannini retained ...
anyway, Samp are not out of it yet ... they have a tough ask to come back, but would hopefully have learnt a lot from today's match, and will be up to the requisite match speed [of thought] to get the necessary result ...
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have to give recognition to Aaron Hunt ... he slotted into Özil's free role impressively in the first half, and was causing problems for Doria all over the place ... I've kept an eye on him since he emerged, coz the "manager" in me is fascinated by the challenge of mentally conceiving an English club team with a core of young, talented Englishmen, who have the technique to play an attractive game ... Hunt and Lewis Holtby have always featured in those plans of mine ... good to see Aaron Hunt step up to the challenge of filling Mesut's void, just a day after his departure ...