Skip to main content

Christian Pulisic and Gordon Lightfoot and Revierderby Woes

Hey Pulisic fans,

Man, what a rough stretch it's been. First this happened:
Then, Pulisic missed the next game against Tottenham, a game that didn't really matter as far as standings went but was huge for team morale. And guess what, CHA BOI (me) WAS AT THAT GAME!

Yes, Pulisic fans, I actually went to a game. In Dortmund. I actually went to the city of Dortmund, and I actually had a ticket to the Borussia Dortmund vs. Tottenham game, and I actually went to the stadium, and I actually sat in a seat, and my eyes actually took in the game and the Yellow Wall and the fanfare and all of it.

But, of course, Dortmund lost. And Pulisic didn't play.



Luckily Pulisic was back for the Revierderby against Schalke, as evidenced here:

But by this time I had already left Germany and was in Paris experimenting with drugs and drinking too much alcohol and generally feeling bad (see: not that bad) about myself.

ANYWAY, let's talk about Pulisic and the current state of Borussia Dortmund. As things currently stand, Dortmund are kind of fucked. No one really believes in Peter Bosz, Aubameyang is almost certainly leaving the team in January if anyone will buy him, there's still no real leader (although Sahin showed some leadership against Schalke, at least in the first half), and injuries continue to plague them (especially with Mario Gotze's new little number). Whether it be because of Bosz's system or Bosz's leadership (or something else), the players are not playing up to their potential. Weigl is apparently a shell of what he was under Tuchel. Yarmolenko was good for the first few games but has been mostly harmless since then. Pulisic has been a bright spot but it's as if he's been a bright spot in a dark pond at times. There's no cohesiveness, there's no leader, there's no fighting spirit (see: second halves) and Dortmund have a helluva lot of work to do to right this ship which is currently listing like the Edmund Fitzgerald just before it DIDN'T make Whitefish Bay back in 1975.



"When the gales of November came slashin'," sang Gordon Lightfoot in probably one of the best songs ever made in the history of human musicality. And the gales of November have certainly slashed Dortmund, almost to shreds. I don't know if I've ever seen a more dead, more lifeless team than how they looked in the second half against Stuttgart. Same thing against Tottenham. Same thing in the last 30 minutes against Schalke.

What is going on? What it is going on? What is going on?

Things to be happy about: Pulisic is (seemingly) healthy again. He didn't play all that well against Schalke but he didn't play terribly either. He sort of set up the first goal (hand of God!) and was generally dangerous. Also, expectations are so low from this team right now that they don't seem to be going into the games with the arrogance of yore. The arrogance they were criticized for. This is a good thing. Also, Aubameyang (typing his name is the absolute worst; weird combo of letters) has been in much better form. Also, as I think Pulisic stated after Bayern, things can only get better.

The legend comes on, from the Chippewa on down.....


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts before USMNT vs. Panama

I think I might just not care about the USMNT anymore.  I think I really might just not care. Shame on US soccer for playing crappy players when better players are available. Shame on US soccer for playing the veterans -- for as long as I can remember -- and thus never realizing the potential of our youth talent. There's an article out right now called " Christian Pulisic doesn't play for the best American soccer team ," and you know what? I think they could very well be right. At the very least I would say the US would be BETTER tomorrow against Panama if they were forced to play a U-25 or a U-23 team. Ethan Horvath in goal. Pulisic and Kellyn Acosta running the show. Weston Mckennie bruising people in the back. And also it would be about 800 times more fun to watch. Alexi Lalas was right on the money when he called the USMNT soft underachievers. The thing is, with the exception of Bradley and a few others, they could be hard. The could be dangerous. They coul...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dortmund Thrill vs. Leverkusen, Pulisic Not So Much

Embed from Getty Images Dortmund played Bayer Leverkusen today in Leverkusen in the most exciting match of matchday six. I didn't know how to feel about it, however, much like I don't know how I feel about this blog moving to wordpress.com. I really don't like Wordpress themes. They all look the same. They're all ugly. And so I think I might be going back to Blogger. Hopefully you will follow me there. The reason I didn't know how to feel about today's game was because even though the game was thrilling, and Dortmund came from behind, and from a Dortmund fan perspective the game was a 10 out of 10, from a Pulisic fan perspective it was a bit of a letdown because not only did he not play that well, he was also was subbed off in the 60th minute. And so I felt kind of how a dad might feel if he was watching his son's violin concert, making eyes with the cute mom of the girl who plays the cello from across the aisle. On the one hand it's titillating...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chelsea vs. Man United Preview and The Importance of Ross Barkley

Remember that scene in Game of Thrones where Jon Snow is facing down all of Ramsey Bolton's army, standing there with his sword, facing certain annihilation? I feel like that's a bit like what Chelsea is facing against Manchester United in their first game of the Premiership this season, this Sunday at 8:30am United States west coast time. Why would I give you west coast time? Well, first of all because I love the west coast. Second of all because I live on the west coast. And third of all because I'm a mariner. Friends, I live on a sailboat. The sea is my companion. When I wake up I don't think about Greenwich mean time. I think about the west coast. I think about bull kelp. And I also think about Cha Boi. Speaking of Cha Boi, most media outlets seem to think that he will start on Sunday. Christian Pulisic, who just last year was struggling for minutes in the Bundesliga, will probably start on Sunday against, what, the biggest football team in existence? Is that hyp...
Post a Comment
Read more