Loose takeaways from BVB’s 3-2 win over Liverpool

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The Yellow Wall

·20 July 2019

Loose takeaways from BVB’s 3-2 win over Liverpool

It’s pre-season, so not the time to read too much into single matches. However, there are a few observations we want to share.

The first thing that popped out from the line-up was Julian Brandt starting as a defensive midfielder. And indeed, BVB’s arguably most exciting summer signing is a smooth customer. Brandt did not look out of place at all. To the contrary, it gave an opportunity to reaffirm Lucien Favre’s observation that the 23-year-old does not only possess great technique and finishing skills but has an extremely good feeling for space in midfield. Even though Liverpool made things tight in the midfield, Brandt had solutions to offer in his distribution from deep. He is also extremely useful in fast breaks. We’d like to see more of that.
No, Mats Hummels won’t get much faster. His lack of pace is visible. However, all that is quickly forgotten as the centre-back had three outrageously good passes right into the path of a striker.
Ömer Toprak looked very comfortable next to Hummels. If he sticks around and stays healthy, he should become useful further down the line with the inevitable injury malaise.
Jadon Sancho struggles against English sides. Blame it on the dry turf.
Gio Reyna picked up an assist for Paco Alcacer three minutes into the game. The surprisingly tall 16-year-old looked like he can have a future at the club.
No idea whether it was down to Julian Brandt playing alongside him, but Julian Weigl had quick feet and a mind to match it. Positive start to his pre-season.
Mario Götze needs to pick up his slack. With the amount of competition, there’s no time to fuck around.

Marius Wolf is here to stay. Whether playing as right-back or further up in midfield, the 24-year-old is having a great pre-season so far. By some BVB fans he’s been labelled as the winner. Last season, his cut-back was subpar but now he seems to connect with his teammates, which would make him an assist machine.
Since Gonzalo Castro joined VfB Stuttgart, somebody has to gun for the pre-season Ballon D’or. Jacob Bruun Larsen appears to be playing above his capabilities in summer camp.
Thorgan Hazard might need a bit more time to acclimatise. With BVB’s hyper-fluid front four, the summer signing needs to build more automatism.
There are fans that rue the transfer of Abdou Diallo to PSG. Leonardo Balerdi might alleviate that pain a tiny bit with his performance which looked very solid.
People seem to be undecided about Mateu Morey‘s match against Liverpool, which means he had some good moments but also some awkward ones – like giving away a penalty. Don’t put too much expectation on the kid. He is just returning from a season-long, complicated knee-injury and just arrived at a new club. Patience is key.