Topic: Germany League - Bundesliga Prediction Thread - page 245. (Read 660841 times)

Not expecting much from Leverkusen this season honestly. After a belter of a season, a quite unbelievable one, you start over-complicating things. That's what's going on over there right now, and it's not their fault. I understand that they have built a certain expectation around them, but always living up to the expectations is difficult, for everyone.

Leverkusen already had tough games in front of them, and are having a hard time keeping up. They still would be a top team and would stay top 4 in the league till the season ends, but they don't have all that it takes to go for the title again. A few offloads and incomings probably in the winter, but that does not really change much, does it? They needed to strengthen a lot more in areas they need strengthening because even after an unworldly season of football, there would be areas you need upgrades in, but I don't think Leverkusen were able to get that upgrade.

Now they are also going to be playing UCL in a few weeks, and there is always a flow of league matches around them. So it will be really interesting to see how they cope up with that, or were they only a one season wonder? because more often than not, teams who get crazy success in a season, struggle really hard to keep up with that level of consistency. So this will be the real challenge for Leverkusen, which I am really excited to find out.

Xabi Alonso couldn't make the kind of a start he would like in the Bundesliga this time. That comeback by Leipzig must be devastating. It happened even in a home game for Leverkusen which was more unexpected.  

I assume so many people lost because of betting on them as well. Do you think the spell is broken?    I don't think so honestly. I can't judge them by only one game. But if they maintain a bad form for many weeks then there is a serious problem...

The Coach of the Year prize is going to be given during Ballon d'Or this year. Xabi Alonso is also a candidate with Ancelotti, de la Fuente, Gasperini, Guardiola and Scaloni. What do you think? Can Xabi Alonso clinch the prize?

That's football, always giving unexpected surprises, like Leverkusen who last season surprised us all and this can motivate other underdog clubs in the Bundesliga, to work harder and implement a good vision and mission in the team so that they can also talk a lot in the competition, and as we know the Bundesliga is now much more interesting with the arrival of new competitors who can trip up elite clubs like Munich, Dortmund, Leverkusen and others. Heidenheim is no exception. They have that momentum, the previous two matches indicate that other clubs must be vigilant. Visiting Signal Iduna Park in week 3 Heidenheim is not to give in, even though Dortmund clearly has the opportunity. If you look at the head to head of the two teams, I think Heidenheim can steal points and maintain their top position temporarily.

It is difficult to maintain consistency like last season and now I see Leverkusen losing their best ability in the form of the game collectively. This is what is feared when they managed to dominate the Bundesliga in the previous season will affect the team to continue to be consistent and maybe some players who leave become a problem so that Leverkusen does not play like the previous season. Xabi Alonso must evaluate the weaknesses of the team and they also have to improve their defense to be better because if they are allowed to play like before it will make them lose the opportunity to defend the Bundesliga title.

Finally, Borrussia Dortmund is that club I would love to see challenge for the Bundesliga League Competition this season seriously. My first choice would still be Bayern Leverkusen. As much as I want to see them win it back to back, I wouldn't mind seeing Borrussia Dortmund fight to win the Bundesliga League Competition thus time around. They have always cime second runners up season after season, it was also disappointing to see that they couldn't get the chance to win it when they was close three seasons back. If Bayern Leverkusen can do that what they dis last season, then other clubs can do just the same if they're consistent and discipline finally. It'll be a long and tougher Bundesliga League Competition ahead. I don't know about the level of football, I can't say too much but they're very good clubs with high technicality.

Players that are high profiled players will always enchanced their capacity and having absolutely everything to absorbed pressure. Maybe it's high time Xabi Alonso push for his exits from Bayer Leverkusen? Checking his stats in the managerial role  I think he's tried and given his very best to the club, they're currently included in the category of one of the best clubs in Germany. Bayer Leverkusen have to make improvements in their team because watching previous performances and game stats against RB Leipzig, definitely not encouraging on their ends.

Exactly my point, bringing in a celebrity player there would give the indigenous players kind of low morale and inferiority complex might set in, thereby promoting the players to start competing for recognition among themselves rather than cooperating and delivering results as a team.

Personally I believe that with more training and motivation, the Leverkusen team would still deliver like last season and by the end of this season, the players would've developed more confidence to incorporate a new player of any worth. Bringing in a player it's good to be done during preseason in such a team of young players to enable them blend in before season sets in properly.

I start from a natural logic, it is known that the Bundeliga had been dominated for many years by Bayern, but then Leverkusen came along and gave a lesson on how to win a Bundesliga and with an unbeaten record, something that is very difficult in German football, Xabi achieved it, but for this season the mentality of all these Bundesliga teams changed, perhaps they thought that if Leverkusen had the ability to do such a thing, why not them? So the level of football in the Bundesliga is now higher, but for that reason, any team now believes in it and that is good , there is tougher football with a higher level.

It is the dream of all football club fans to see their team win the title at the end of the season because nobody loves to be a loser. Leverkusen fans are not exempted from such expectations, especially with the current form of the team. It will be very difficult for Leverkusen to defend the title because this season will not be as easy as last season for them.

All clubs that will be playing with them will take the match very serious in order to make sure that Leverkusen will not defeat them because they are now seen as a threat in the league. Xabi Alonso has more work to do because this season Leverkusen is playing in the champions league.

But to be able to compete with stronger teams it will be difficult, like Leverkusen who will compete in the Champion League competition this season, I think there needs to be an improvement made by Xabi Alonso but he didn't do it this season.
For Leverkusen's strength this season is still the same as last season, they are still strong but every team should have an increase in quality every season.

And it all comes back to trust, Xabi Alonso is the most trusted person now after his great success in building Leverkusen with what he had, so for this season too, everyone will continue to trust Xabi Alonso.

Exactly my thought: bringing in a star player will affect the squad this season even if they get back their performance; it will be next season because right now the season has already started, and bringing in those players will take them time to develop their performances again. However, Alonso feels balanced and good with his current players, which is why he is not bringing in new players to the team; he knows that the current squad can still do it as they are still strong and in good shape. 

I think Bayer will have a completely different season, first of all because of the heavy workload on the players in the Champions League, to some extent because the Champions League will use a new format, which will increase the number of games. In the next round they will go to visit Hoffenheim, and after that the Champions League matches will begin, and we will have to see how the results in the Bundesliga can change from the end of September. It seems to me that Bayern is more accustomed to this regime, so they will cope with it better.

They screaed to stand against Leverkusen because they saw the perfect performance from this team and the performance of Leverkusen during the last season was well enough which made this team unbeaten during the games they had in the Bundesliga. However they recently lost a game because of a comeback but still, Leverkusen is scary for any team in the Bundesliga.
I think Leverkusen fans also expect to see much better performance from them because they still want to see their team win the title at the end of the season.
 

Alonso is not unwilling to bring in the most prominent players in his squad, but he prefers a different approach by utilizing the quality of players evenly in every line to produce compact cooperation and build a relationship of mutual need for each other. Dependence on certain players will disrupt the stability of the team, other players will find it difficult to develop because they have to serve respected players.

Alonso is keen to retain the players who were successful last season and add some new faces as he looks to improve his squad after qualifying for the Champions League. Teamwork must always be maintained as it was done last season, the defeat to Leipzig must be overcome immediately so that the same incident does not happen again in a crucial game.

Yes, Xabi Alonso's arrival at Leverkusen has had quite a significant impact. He was able to bring the club that was less favored last season to become undefeated and seize the throne of Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga is getting more competitive with the presence of new competitors. This season, Leverkusen could retain the trophy, although as you said it will be difficult because we all know that other competing clubs are also not sitting still with a number of new ammunition and the competition looks increasingly tight. Bayern Munich is no exception, they have shown good development under their new coach. The bookies provide opportunities according to the progress shown by each club. so it is natural that Munich is favored in this case. But it is still too early to judge all that, this is only week 2, the journey is still long. surprising things are still hidden ahead. It could be that Leverkusen and Munich are not the ones lifting the trophy this season. this is still a mystery, we just enjoy it.

Anyway, I still can't believe the draw that Stuttgart got last week because they could have actually secured the win but unfortunately a mistake at the end of the match ruined it all. It really doesn't make sense where what was initially leading by 2 goals was immediately equalized by Mainz and not long after Stuttgart took the lead again but once again it seems that Stuttgart really made a fatal mistake.

I bet on this match and that's why I was quite emotional when I saw their game especially the defense that was easily penetrated by the away team was very inappropriate. Now I'm starting to be wary of betting on Stuttgart again and in the next match they will face Gladbach and of course this is a difficult match to predict considering Gladbach always presents surprises for anyone they will face. On the other hand, I am also increasingly doubtful that Stuttgart can compete again at the top and it will be an unexpected decline.

Ever since Leverkusen lost in the Europa League final, they have been constantly conceding a lot of goals and that is not a good sign. Most teams that become champions do so because they have a good defense, and at the end of the league they have not conceded more than 25 goals. In many cases they even end up conceding less than 10 goals. But look at Leverkusen:

1 - In all the friendly matches they have conceded a goal

2 - They have played 2 games in the Bundesliga, conceding at least 2 goals in each game

3 - They have only signed 1 defender this season: Jeanuël Belocian

https://www.transfermarkt.pt/bayer-04-leverkusen/startseite/verein/15

In just 2 games they conceded 5 goals. This number of goals conceded should be at least 10 or 15 games, normally for a team that is a candidate for the title. By this I mean that the Leverkusen coach has reason to be worried, because it is possible that they will not even finish in the 3rd position. This weak defense will also be a problem in European competitions.

This season, of course the competition is getting tougher and Bayer Leverkusen is impossible to show the same results as the record in the previous season, the teams that previously experienced a setback would definitely make improvements to the squad to be better and become a heavy competitor again, so this is very Naturally, especially this is a season that is still early for us to watch.

In another perspective, we don't know what Xabi Alonso planned with Bayer Leverkusen, whether he was testing a new strategy or what, because the previous season must have been predictable to be easily defeated, adding senior players or stars might be done But I think they are not ready with salaries that must be given with a large risk, because not necessarily also adding new experienced players will make them much better if they are not accompanied by the strategy needs made by the coach.

Everyone acknowledges how Xabi last season was able to bring Leverkusen to break the latest record throughout the season. But this season it seems like it will not be easy to maintain the unbeaten record. Even bookmakers favor Bayern Munich as the holder of the Bundesliga title this season because the performance of several other teams such as Dortmund and Munich is increasing. So Leverkusen will have difficulty in winning the title again this season and my prediction is that Bayern Munich will return to win the bundesliga title after losing dominance last season. There is no other choice but to fight for the runner up that Xabi must pursue.

Since the arrival of Xabi Alonso last season, he has been quite successful in lifting the performance of this team with all the limitations that exist so that I think that there is indeed a match between the players and the tactics applied by Xabi Alonso so that they can display good performance.

For this season, it is also not much different compared to last season because Xabi Alonso did not make many changes, but regarding whether or not Leverkusen will be able to defend the title, I think it is regardless because Bayern Munich has also improved its performance and also several other top Bundesliga teams that are increasingly developing so that the competition for the title will be even fiercer.

And for the defeat experienced by Leverkusen last week, I think it will not be significant, in fact, the defeat could be a benchmark for Leverkusen to build its team much better in the future.