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I had to give a talk this morning which I started with "I would have liked to be more prepared for this talk, but the match went to penalties". Oh well, the football is worth the failing out of grad school.
So, ratings:
Manager:
Thomas Tuchel 7
Points deducted for ineffective subs who slowed down the attack momentum and allowed Union to counter.
Points awarded for the nice defensively-minded formation and playing Jacob Bruun Larsen.
Starting XI:
Roman Weidenfeller 7
He definitely made up for his performance this weekend. He was very solid and imposing, and had a few nice sweeps. And omg that penalty shootout! Having someone as practiced and formidable as Roman in goal would surely make the penalty takers pause for a minute.
Points deducted for not having the best positioning in the 1-1, and trying to sweep but failing spectacularly at that late Skrybski run.
Łukasz Piszczek 7
Lukasz did what Lukasz does best. At this point he's gotten it down to fine art.
Matthias Ginter 7
Decent performance, much better than the weekend. Maybe he just needs a Sokratis next to him to take command of the defense.
Sokratis 8
This match reminded us why we really need Papa in our back line. Without him the defense is in shambles. Also, just how awesome is Captain Papa?
Felix Passlack 8
At this point, Schmelle is going to have to fight for his spot back. Passlack got it all handled, he even had a few nice crosses.
Nuri Sahin 8
What a comeback! Nuri hasn't just risen from the dead, he's won back his starting spot in just one match (and my heart).
Emre Mor 5
Too many dribbles, too few passes. It seems he's hesitant to both pass or shoot, and chooses to dribble instead until he loses his chance. He was really frustrating to watch. He seems to be having the
Gonzalo Castro 4
Once again, Castro was the weakest point of the game. It was especially frustrating watching him sky three good chances. After all this, why do we still let him take free kicks?
Mario Götze 8
Mario has already become the glue that keeps our midfield together. This was his best match yet, and shows just how important he is in keeping possession and build-up play.
Jacob Bruun Larsen 9
I want to go to Stuttgart, find Hannes Wolf, and kiss him. How did he manage to turn a bunch of sixteen-eighteen year olds into the best football players in the world?
Bruun Larsen is from the same U17 graduating class as Passlack, Pulisic and Burnic. This match was his debut for the first team in a competitive match, and what a debut it was! If he doesn't get promoted to the senior squad next year I'll be very surprised.
Adrian Ramos 7
Once again, an amazing work rate. He plays his heart out, and has really carved out a space for himself in the team.
Substitutions:
Julian Weigl 6.5
Maybe it was because he was replacing Sahin, but he didn't make the sort of impact he usually does.
That being said, my rating is very much the Asian parent we-wouldnt-be-so-hard-on-you-if-we-didnt-believe-you-can-do-better approach.
Ousmane Dembele 7
I'm starting to see the differences between him and Emre Mor. Where Emre hesitates, Ousmane takes the shot. He's bold, but his audacity haunts him the same way Emre's caution haunts him. I feel like we need to play them both together, because they seem like they're the sort of players who can bring the best out of each other.
Sebastian Rode NR
A reliable late sub, but I can't say much more than that.
That's it for me. What are your ratings?