Hope you all had a great weekend! I haven’t written in a while, so here’s what’s going on in BVB land:
BVB Beat Arsenal 3-2 in the “Emirates Cup”
Normally, I wouldn’t really care about a win in a preseason friendly, but after so much acrimony among the fan base after BVB’s lackluster friendly performances in Japan, I’m happy to see a positive result, especially against an Arsenal team that had quite a few of its elite players in the lineup.
There are many young players who have a very strong chance of playing big minutes this season. Several
of them were in the squad today, and they gave us fans many reasons to be excited. Everyone will speak highly of Konstantinos Karestas and his wonder-goal, but I was even more impressed by Samuele Inacio. He was using his pace very effectively throughout the game, and was positioned perfectly to finish a chance set up by Felix Nmecha. On the defensive end, Joane Gadou had a terrific game, looking right at home defending against players like Viktor Gyökeres and Kai Havertz.
On the negative side, I do not think that this experiment of playing Maximilian Beier at wing-back has legs. It’s not that he’s a horrible defender, but I just don’t like giving one of our more talented attacking players so much defensive responsibility. Beier only had 19 touches in 59 minutes and had essentially no offensive impact. Kauã Prates also came on for a cameo and conceded a pretty sloppy penalty.
The Arsenal YouTube channel posted the game’s highlights:
The El Mala Saga Continues
Last season, scoring goals was probably Borussia Dortmund’s single biggest problem. To fix the offense, Ole Book has had his eyes set on FC Köln’s Said El Mala, and has been willing to blow the club’s transfer record out of the water to get him. Dortmund have already offered €45 million including bonuses.
Now, according to Patrick Berger BVB are willing to pony up €50 million, including bonuses. According to Berger, Köln are still playing hardball. Even Jürgen Klopp, the new manage of the German National Team, is trying to push the move, with the former BVB coach contacting the player to encourage a move to Dortmund.
This whole saga should be coming to a resolution soon. Dortmund have decided internally that they will not bid over €50 million. While there may be some wiggle room regarding the structure of all the various bonuses, eventually Köln will need to decide whether they are willing to pull take the deal.
