Arrivals
Before today's game against Gladbach, in an interview with Sky, Rudi Voller shot down once and for all the rumours which linked us with a move for Julian Draxler saying that he has never been a topic of discussion. More interestingly, he kept the door open for at least one newcomer before the transfer window closes - "we still have some ideas that we have to implement, and that we are trying to implement." This should of course refer to a new winger and a right back (most likely Arias). Only 10 days remain - if things are to happen, they'll have to happen soon!
Departures
On Thursday Wendell finalised his move to FC Porto, signing a 4 year deal. Wendell leaves Bayer 04 after 7 years and 250 appearances, the most made by a Brazilian. He will be sorely missed by all and I wish him all the best in the next chapter of his journey. Maybe we can meet again next year in the Champions League!
My thoughts on today's game
Today's 4-0 thrashing of Gladbach has to go down as one of the best performances by a Leverkusen team I have ever seen. From back to front, every single player gave their all for the badge from minute one. I never truly appreciated the impact of fans on football games, after all, we have always taken them for granted until recently, but today every single person in the crowd played their part and I am convinced that we would not have played anywhere near as well without their presence.
The game plan from Seoane was executed perfectly. The pressing was so intense it was actually tiring to watch! It was extremely heartening that despite our preseason troubles we have already got to such a high level of fitness. Seoane wanted to make us horrible to play against, he has certainly succeeded in this game at least! There were a few cheeky, dirty fouls which we gave away which for some reason I do not think would have happened last season, e.g. Demirbay's and Paulinho's yellow cards. By kicking the ball away at a freekick it is hardly the most sportsmanlike thing to do but you still have to admire the fact that they are willing to put themselves on the line for the sake of the team. Unfortunately for Gladbach, our relentless aggression saw a plethora of their key players walk off injured, players like Thuram who would have been a major threat to us; hopefully they recover quickly otherwise they are in for a tough couple of games.
The combination play was worthy of Barcelona at times today, especially on the wings with Bakker/Paulinho and Frimpong/Diaby completely overwhelming the opposition full-backs with ease. I was very impressed with Scally last week against Bayern but we made him look ordinary. The pace and power, combined with the speed of thought produced some beautiful football. In the middle of the park, Palacios, Aranguiz and Demirbay also looked extremely safe with the ball at their feet. Andrich too, when he came on, looked surprisingly technical and agile. With regards to Andrich, signing him early might be one of the best decisions of the summer. From what we saw today at least, he is made for Seoaneball.
The goals we scored today were 'lucky', yes, but we made our own luck. We created so many great opportunities to score that on another day, we could have won by six or seven. Bakker once again proved PSG fans wrong, exuding class on the left side, and deserved his goal but unfortunately for him it counted as a Sommer own goal. On the other side, For the second goal it was a good run and cut back by Diaby to Schick who placed it into the left side of the net, with Sommer not able to keep it out, despite getting a good hand to it. Hopefully the first of many this season for the Euros top scorer. The third goal was a half volley scored by Diaby and assisted by Bakker, taking a big deflection off Bensebaini which gave Sommer no chance. The final goal was technically superb with Amiri hitting home a volleyed Wirtz cross, again Sommer made a horrific mistake though as he failed to stop the ball rolling agonisingly past the goal line after initially getting his hands to the shot.
Whilst one shotstopper had a night to forget, one had a night to remember. It was an excellent display by Hradecky who of course saved a penalty from Stindl which changed the course of the game. Up until that point, Gladbach were beginning to establish themselves in the game and put our defence under a lot of pressure to no avail. Saving that penalty took away the last bit of hope the team in white had, and in turn boosted our own confidence. He also looked assured dealing with all the other chances Gladbach had. The clean sheet puts an exclamation mark on what was a truly outstanding performance from the team. The whole squad, and Seoane, deserve Man of the Match. Given our imperious record against Augsburg we can hopefully build on this!
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