As Stefan Buzcko poignantly noted in his article, "Pulisic Dortmund's lone bright spot in defeat to newly promoted Hannover," "Football is just a a game."
Indeed, Mr. Buzcko. Though it must be noted that when certain players play the game, i.e. 19-year-olds from Hershey, Pennsylvania, it ceases to become a game an becomes something else entirely. We saw a few moments of that in the game against Hannover on Saturday. These moments were, dare I say, celestial?
Exhibit A:
Yarmolenko robs Christian Pulisic of an assist, he stole the ball & put it on a platter for him! Awful miss. #BVB #H96BVB #NiemalsAllein pic.twitter.com/ioASU36x4X— GolazoJuice (@GolazoJuice) October 28, 2017
Now, I'm not super fond of the caption: "Yarmolenko robs Christian Pulisic....." etc. because shit, we've all been there, sometimes you miss an easy shot, and Yarms did plenty good for the team yesterday. Do I think he should've put it in the back of the net? Obviously. Do I think he should be deported back to the Ukraine because of it, and forced to subsist on saltines and water for the rest of his life? Of course not. Do I think he should be paraded naked through the streets of Dortmund while people throw tomatoes at him and chant, "Shame"? Come on guys, now you're just getting excessive.
One of the most frustrating things about this loss was that Peter Bosz STILL CLAIMS HIS NAIVE TACTICS ARE NOT THE CAUSE OF DORTMUND'S PROBLEMS. After the game he told Sky Sports Germany, "Hannover was much more aggressive, that was the problem." What, you mean like Hannover played straight-forward balls behind the back line that a U13 team should be able to defend? And that they only worked, and have continued to work, because the back line is too high, leaving a veritable airfield of space to exploit?
"It has nothing to do with us defending too high," Bosz went on to say.
An article in Bild sports today said, "DORTMUND HAT KRISE" (Crisis in Dortmund), followed by a video entitled: "BVB trainer Peter Bosz: There is no crisis" (my translation). The question, what must he do to convince people otherwise? The answer: Beat Apoel handily on Wednesday, and beat or at the very least draw against Bayern Munich on November 4th. At this point the fans and the pundits will accept nothing less.
Let's just return to Christian Pulisic for a moment, since he's the focus of this blog and also my reason for getting out of bed in the morn-- just kidding, my zest for life knows no limits! I am a happy and carefree person! I have friends!
Christian started off a bit shaky but then showed some of the form he exhibited in the first five or so games of the season, namely with some beautiful runs and the aforementioned ball he stole and served up to Yarmolenko. After the game he said he and the team haven't been playing that well (watch the video) lately and need to play better.
"Me, personally, and the team, just isn't having a good run of things lately..."
I love him for saying this, because it shows he can be critical of himself and humble. This is one thing that represents Pulisic from the Neymar's and other egotistical monsters of football, and frankly I wish there were more like him.
As far as Dortmund and Peter Bosz's situation, something will have to give. Either Bosz's system will have to start working and Dortmund will have to start winning, or Bosz might be Bla Bla Car-ing back to the Netherlands. Or maybe taking the Flixbus. Or hitchhiking.
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