We've beaten our rivals both times this season which we have deserved to be winners both times. This one is dedicated to the fans which see's us progress to the Semi-Finals of the DFB-Pokal. It was a tight game which only took a moment of quality from Auba which was enough to win it although he nearly missed the game due to injury we secure our place.
The red card was awful from Johannes Geis, a double footed lunge at Marco Reus; he was lucky not to have another broken ankle. There is no time in football for that and it was a cowardly challenge which should be reviewed and given a longer ban.
With no shots on target it's pretty much clear to see which way this game has gone and there was only one clear winner. With 68% possession we controlled all of the game. How we only managed to muster 3 shots on target is beyond believable as I felt we absolutely battered Gladbach into a corner; if it was a boxing match it would have been over.
A win is a win and it was nice for Shinji Kagawa to get on the scoresheet securing the game.
We was awful today and look like we never even left the bed! Second half was awful and the worst display I've seen from the team since I've been manager here. There was no talking, no motivation or energy in our play. We basically rolled over and give Frankfurt the win today; or that's how it felt.
I hope we pick up our form dramatically or we will soon be handing over 2nd place to Leverkusen.
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Those are the two lads which stand out for me. Baumjohann could go on to be a world class midfielder if trained right and I will do my uttermost to guarantee that happens while Mohr could be trained to play a variety of positions and come useful as a very versatile player for us.
It's proving to be Yuri Mamute's competition which he is getting the chances and taking them with ease. 6 goals in 5 appearances in the Europa League may warrant a call-up to the First Team sooner or later, we might not have to go out and buy a back-up striker in the summer.
Pione Sisto was the player of the two legs with a goal in either, his direct running and pace caused knots inbetween the Club Brugge backline and I bet they are still looking for him now, at only 21 it's hard to forget he's still raw and got time to improve.
I thought we was going to capitalize after the red card until they got a set-piece and we didn't defend it properly. But we havn't lost to Bayern this season and two score draws is ok and more than acceptable. We still keep the chase on for 2nd but this is a positive note to end on in February.
A bad start to the month with the defeat to Hoffenheim but our form gradually picked up and a slight blip at Frankfurt. This is nothing we cannot learn from and build on. It's my first season as a manager and I'm continually learning; the result against Bayern has delighted me and I'm so pumped that we havn't lost to them this season.
Ok so we have surrendered 2nd spot to Leverkusen but we play them next month and there are still points to be played for. There is still quite a bridge of a gap which we want to extend next month and not let anyone within a sniff of thinking they can get into the top three.
Captain fantastic this month. He has been solid in games and just rallying the troops when we have needed it most, a calming influence and great to have in the changing room as a manager. Another player who is in the world class bracket and I hope stays at the club for a very long time.
Things could get interesting this month. If we start well then it could give us more fight to end the month well. We want to continue in all competitions and I really really want to win the game vs Leverkusen to give us that mental edge for the running in on the season.
Thought we was in for a scare after conceding just on the stroke of half time. We was fighting and fighting and it took an own goal to get us back in the league. That was due to us barraging Augsburg with shots and in the end that's what it succumbed to. We will take anything! Adnan finished off the game with a wonderful 25-yard curled strike which ended up in the top left corner of the goal and it's going to be one you remember!
A classy performance between two teams today who cancelled eachother out brilliantly. It should have ended a draw but we was the team who pushed just that little bit extra, we broke them down by finding that key pass where Dani Parejo brought down Ilkay Gundogan in the area when the ref didn't hesitate to give us the penatly. Yuri Mamute stepped up and coverted the penalty sending the keeper the wrong way. We take this advantage over to Valencia in a weeks time.
The defensive aspect of our game in the second half of this season has improved dramatically and we look so much more defensively sound. Marco Reus scored a super goal with good interplay with Shinji Kagawa in the centre of the pitch and he repayed the favour later on in the game. We have a strong unity as a team and we keep going till the end!
A few times we could have been on the back rope but we defended as a unit and kept battling. Valencia are a team of a high calibre and once we had the away goal it forced them to come at us, therefore leaving gaps when they brought men forward. We never truly capitalized on this opportunity but I didn't want to get caught on the counter ourselves. I chose to play my cards in a certain manner and it paid off for us today.
What a spectacle, the goals was worth just the ticket price on itself.
We raced into a 3-1 lead and tried to expand on it but while we went hunting for the fourth Leverkusen managed to seize on our lapse in possession and clawed one back through Stefan Kiessling who then gave them the incentive to go on and get another which made the game all square.
Both teams was going hammer and tong at eachother as neither wanted to lose the game and both needed the win to take them ahead of one another but it was former player Kevin Kampl who went and secured the winner for Leverkusen and celebrated all the way infront of the travelling fans to celebrate.
Pretty chuffed overall with the month. We could have won the Leverkusen game and we also could have got something from it but it's not the end of the world. We have progressed in Europe again and we have a good chance of going all the way should we progress against West Ham in the Quarter-Final. We need a strong finish to the end of the season should we want to challenge Leverkusen for that 2nd spot. I made that my target at the beginning of the season and I want to achieve targets that I set.
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The Leverkusen game was a big 6-pointer. We still have time to catch them and we have the much easier run-in to the end of the season. We have our rivals Schalke closing in on us and we play them next month. Wolfsburg have managed to pull themselves out the ruck finally and there season may have just changed direction. Bayern have all but sealed the title which we all expected.
Player of the Month
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For yet another month. 4 goals again this month and 2 assists. I've promised Auba that if another mammoth bid comes in for him in the summer and he wants to go I won't stand in his way of progressing. He's a natural born finisher who knows where the net is and is a natural poacher. I hope we manage to work together next season as he will be getting plenty more deliver and option of watching us grow as a team.
April
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Another month of importance. Three competitions all the play for, we need to find that extra gear to push us forward. It all starts with the local derby with Schalke; we have the mental advantage of beating them twice already. They will want revenge and we wont let it happen. We need to be on top form against West Ham as they havn't got this far for no reason and they have a player in Enner Valencia who's got 21 goals in the Europa League alone this season so we will need to be at our very best. Then we are at Braunschweig who are in the division below will love a shot at the final of a cup so they will be 10 times harder than usual to beat.
We smashed them to pieces yet again and proved why we are miles ahead of them in every department. It's great to see the pressure taken off the shoulders of Auba when we had different goalscorers today. Henrikh has come back great from his injury and he is mentally prepared for the end of the season.
Captain fantastic won us the game with a bullet header just after the turn of the half and all but killed the game off. We have kept 3 clean sheets against Schalke every time we've played them this season.
