Bundesliga 2023/24 - Wolfsburg or Bayern? - It's the same question as the years before

Currently nowhere near the quality of Pucks when it comes to general league performance, and a year too old to be part of the u20's too, it means I have low expectations for Landenberger potentially translating into a senior international quality CB.

And just looking at her... OK skill set as a CM/DM, I'm not even sure we know if Landenberger going to be a stronger long term presence for Leipzig as a CB too..

Küver, Pucks, Viet, the 3 names who lead the pack as the nations most promising young CB's. While Axtmann still seems to be highly rated within the wnt program, I also see Frankfurt's athletic young CB Wallrabenstein as the potential next player to emerge as a future senior wnt prospect.

At age 20, without any of the stand out attributes or clout attached to the other names I've mentioned, Landenberger will need to produce some truly excellent performances as CB for Leipzig next season, if she's going to jump ahead of the pack and receive senior wnt recognition anytime soon.

 

LOL... watching some of the Wolfsburg game Vs Duisburg, witnessing Brand and Endemann's finishing...


They should have been leading by 4 or 5 within the first 30 mins lol, but had Brand and Endemann inventing ever more creative ways to miss wide open chances to score lol...

Oh... and while she a far better forward than Smits, I don't see how Kalma ever fits into a long term plan for Wolfsburg... Good player... wrong club.

 

According to Giovanni Albanese and confirmed by Mauro Munno, 🇩🇪 Paulina Krumbiegel is about to leave the Bundesliga for Juventus FC. The contract of the 23-year-old‘s midfielder with TSG Hoffenheim expires at the end of the season. #JuventusFC #figcfemminile #PaulinaKrumbiegel pic.twitter.com/yodDt5IxbW

— Soccerdonna (@soccerdonna) April 24, 2024

 

LOL... if Krumbiegal is moving to Juve in hopes it will see her finally gain game time as a winger/wide forward, this could be a great move for her to make.

But if this move just see's her repeat what's happened at Hoffenheim, where she's pushed towards a new position, all because she still can't make the winger position her own... yeah, I don't see any future for Krumbiegal's within the wnt lol.

Fighting with the bleak reality of forcing her way past Memeti, Alber, H-Füller, or having a fresh start within a #2 placed Serie A UWCL qualifier Juve...

 

Watching Werder Bremen's GK casually react to Bayern's 3rd goal just fly over her head...

After the initial error she'd make for the 2nd goal, she not only repeats the exact same sequence, but decides to jog backwards towards her own goal, way before the ball even close to crossing the goal line lol.

Having seen Krumbiegal actually shoot from within her own half to score Vs Köln, you can let the GK get away with this level of surprise once. But damn... to see this happen to the same GK twice in the same game...

 

With all the persistent injuries, a 31yo Leonie Maier decides to finally end her football career at the end of this season...


Tremendous shooting with either foot, dependable to provide strong performances within either RB/LB roles, and deceptively robust for such a small player.

It tells you the kind of FB she really was, when over her career I think people will associate her peak era with a host wnt games featuring some of her genuinely impressive goals...

 

Thank you for the great moments, Leonie!

but it’s super sad how she fell into irrelevance as the years went by… 2013-2016 wnt era was great for her but then she kind of flopped once Jones took over + not even regularly playing for Bayern… really she reached her peak in her early 20s…

 

Having won 2 league titles, Maier would suffer an ACL tear at Bayern, lose muscle mass, and just never look the same ever again...

This physical decline so bad, Maier would see herself pushed into a CM role for club and country, by coaches attempting to see if her new less dynamic skill set could translate better within a new role more effectively than FB.

But no... as we all witnessed with her later transfers, the old Maier would never return, seeing her slowly fade away, way before the period of time many players would typically see as their peak years.

 

Yes, I forgot to point out it all was because of injuries - if she stayed healthy, I really wonder how much of a beast she would become given how good she was in her early twenties

 

Germany have quite an history, if I am not wrong, of top-players whose careers were seriously hampered by major injuries.

 

Yes... it's been a major issue that's never really been identified as bad fortune/luck, or something else directly linked to German women's football...

With Keßler, and Kulig, both dealing with persistent knee problems, I feel like Germany lost two legit Ballon d'Or level CM's before their peak years. But then you also have random events like a horror injury snaping Wensing's ankle, alongside Lotzen's body straight up refusing to allow her participate at an elite level.

It's really hard to tell how much of this simply part of a wider issue within women's football, where females are naturally more at risk of career ending injury, and specifically knee injury...

We'd never see Maier return to her past physical condition after her ACL tear, while we see her replacement Gwinn looking great having suffered two close succession, knowing both players going through rehab with Bayern (Bayern known to have a very good ACL/MCL rehabilitation department)..

 

Looking back at Maier's era of FB's... we've seen Simon reach higher highs at club level, but accomplish very little with the wnt. So it hard to know if Maier would have been able to retain her wnt starters role, given the amount of talent she'd have to compete with now...

See... there could have been a reality where a peak years (age 28-32) Maier had to compete with Gwinn, Linder, Rauch, and Simon..., making it hard to imagine Maier being a guaranteed starter for the last Euro's team.

Maier a FB who's peak saw her rated highly enough by wnt coaches to continue selecting her all the way into 2021..., years after she'd already started to decline, unable to even find match time within her WSL Everton side.

But starting ahead of Gwinn, Rauch, or Simon... I really don't know lol.

 

Maier's best period (2013-2016) with the wnt saw her having to mainly compete with Kemme, Cramer. Then during her decline years it was a mixture of Gwinn, Simon, Hendrich, Schweers.

So if this another time line where Maier maintained peak fitness, do we think she really competes to start ahead of Gwinn, Simon, Rauch...?

Maybe... the run of Euro win, WC semi finalist, Olympic gold medallist, enables anyone to genuinely argue a healthy Maier 100% still a first name on the wnt.

 

She was mainly a RB though, and I doubt she would start over Gwinn

Hard to compare when it comes to LB. Simon’s a class act but Maier would beat out Rauch cause I just consider Maier an overall much better player

 

True... but there's lots of games you'd see Maier play LB too... like this game Vs USA

RB one half, and then she'd play LB for the other 45 mins lol.

Yeah.. she's probably not starting ahead of Gwinn, but the battle between Maier, Simon, Rauch, would have been very interesting considering Simon part of the same Bayern team...

Simon another player who'd dealt with a lot of injury, was also a long time wnt outcast who'd present a rather underwhelming presence on her return to the wnt for 2019's WC squad; suggesting Maier would have the advantage here.

However, seeing Simon's impressive form for Bayern over recent years, and the underrated effect of Rauch on Wolfsburg's success, it's very difficult imagining a timeline Maier consistently the wnt's 1st choice LB for the years leading to the last Euro...

I think we take it for granted now how good Gwinn, Rauch, Simon, Linder all are as modern FB's. Maier always being very impressive in her time with the wnt, never actually coming close to the level of productivity witnessed with Germany's current pool of FB's at club level.

 

It's interesting seeing how much stronger Maier appears to be within international football, than she ever would be at club level....


Even with her being part of consecutive league titles with Bayern, it feels like Maier's career really was defined by her time with the wnt.

 

@hotjam2 Sooo.... we not going to have you generate anymore reasons to praise Nüsken lol...?

Seriously though... seeing Nüsken play for Chelsea Vs Barcelona, I still don't think she's come anywhere near the level of Oberdorf, Lattwein, Lohmann... or even this seasons Gräwe....

All these players at one point producing moments of overall quality so impressive Vs Barcelona, I'm not even placing Magull on this list, when she'd be able to score and assist during her sides victory Vs Barcelona last season...

Between the various defeats and victories... of all Germany's various CM talents, it's the now perennially benched Lohmann who'd manage to produce the single most impressive display of any German wnt player Vs the much lauded Barca CM trio.

And now I begin to wonder how much WSL clout is carrying Nüsken..., knowing 1) she's not really being used in her best position 2) not even produced better than Däbritz (AM/CM) this season.

 

Nüsken as a DM should really be Leupolz's replacement at Chelsea..., with Nüsken's role within the wnt also a little confusing right now, when we've seen Senß enter the squad appearing to be a very stable DM presence, as Oberdorf continues to appear a far more dominant box to box presence whenever she allowed to feature in this role.

Meaning after 2 years competing with Oberdorf and Nüsken, we finally have Senß become the leagues best DM (which leaves me speechless as to why Wolfsburg wouldn't recruit her), but at a point in time few people will truly acknowledge this as the reputations of Oberdorf and Nüsken both carry far more clout.

Being at Leverkusen meaning the overall progression of Senß wouldn't ever receive the same attention as her wnt peers. But if I'm looking at the various CM options this leagues created for the wnt... Oberdorf - Lohmann potentially the most gifted double 6, Oberdorf - Lattwein the most proven double 6, but Oberdorf - Senß for me the most balanced the wnt could select right now...

 

During the short break period, some other facts that seem interesting is knowing Huth leading the league in a lot of offensive data, but without any of her strong play leading to any goals or assists..

If Huth's general impressive ability to create chances for others could manifest in actual goals, she'd be without doubt the leagues... no, Europe's most effective CAM's...

Krug is still among the leagues best CB's too, with L.Ostermeier remaining at the very top of all data dealing with best defenders. It's never not going to confuse me why Ostermeier never been selected for the senior wnt.

And with it very clear all season Purtscheller the leagues best 1v1 dribbler, we see Brand move into #1 position for successful dribbles into the opposition penalty box; to both highlight some positive growth in her overall IQ as a wide forward, but also shine another spot light on the ineffective aspects of her not creating enough assists and goals...

 

nobody was going to look particularly outstanding in Hayes close knit/bunker type formation meant more to disrupt Barca’s tiki tacca/short passing game instead of sny kind of individual brilliant performances. Nusken’s hitting the side post is as close to Chelsea got to scoring a goal. They’ve barely got any out of all everything, Lauren James in this match.
But to be fair, Barca should of been heavy favorites to win the two game/semis considering what they had on their roster—-meantime Chelsea missing Kerr & Ramirez, two speedsters badly needed if the rest of your team is playing so far back.

I’m surprised why you would bring up anything from the past considering this season all three Bundi Champions League clubs flopped, BIG time! At least Nusken got her squad into the semis—-and as Wolfsburg noticed the last two times—-the buck stops there when you face Barca!

 

Chelsea's approach for the 2nd match definitely looked a little confusing to me... Hayes bunker approach never likely to work twice, versus an opponent we've seen made to look very beatable facing opponents who actively seek to attack them using quick transitional football.

Wolfsburg did it, Lyon did it, even Bayern managed to do it too... but instead of just copying the homework assignment, Hayes would fall into the trap of repeating the same anti football trick twice, believing Barca haven't faced anything as strong as Chelsea's low block bunker...

... Barca aren't the unstoppable wining machine people claim them to be, and if Chelsea's only way to succeed in this competition is having an even bigger budget, to create an even bigger squad than the one we currently see now... then yeah, they really didn't deserve to accomplish anything within this particular competition lol.

I mean Chelsea's squad wasn't even as depleted as you claim; still having Reiten, Kirby, Beever-Jones on their bench, for a team still able to select a starting 11 featuring Macario, James, Kaneryd within it's attack.

Seriously.... this just reads like a poor reflection of Hayes, when we've seen Wolfsburg accomplish a better offensive performance missing key players, even using mediocrity like Wilms within their defence...

 

This ancient distant past your insinuating, is literally only as far back as LAST SEASON lol.... With the last two games between Wolfsburg and Barca, seeing a 2-0 semi final 2nd leg win for Wolfsburg, and then a 3-2 win for Barca during last seasons final.

Even if I believe this leagues future UWCL coefficient in serious trouble with Bayern being it's strongest representative..., I feel like your intentionally being dense here, pretending not to understand why I'm using analysis from last season, or why would still be very relevant to events taking place right now/the future.

Until this season, Wolfsburg record within the UWCL always being among the very elite... meaning a level of performance better than anything outside of Lyon, or Barcelona. With a big part of that consistency coming with the CM partnership of Oberdorf - Lohmann.

Then we look at Bayern who's regressed within the UWCL under their latest coach, still provide a platform for Lohmann to produce an individual performance Vs Barca of such a high quality, it would be significantly better than anything we've seen from any of her wnt CM peers.

Leaving Frankfurt, who without UWCL experience would somehow manage to produce football on a eye level with Barcelona, featuring a young Gräwe in a DM role showcasing general composed quality over both games, I don't think we've ever seen from Nüsken facing such opposition...

Yeah... during a UWCL season German clubs have underwhelmed, I'm probably not surprised everyone ignoring how Däbritz actually Germany's best AM within the competition, when everyone so eager to instantly hand Nüsken clout for merely existing within a WSL team lol.

But when I'm comparing German CM's playing UWCL football... it's funny seeing all the praise being lavished on Nüsken's offensive qualities, when the only area she's actually placed among the UWCL's best this season, is... drum roll... tackles lol...

Not goals, or factors like offensive assists.... no. Nüsken's best attributes this season, where she's among the top players in 2023/24's UWCL, is making tackles lol...