Andrea Pirlo - l'architetto

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We've done it!!!

Two finals to look forward to now and I'm delighted with the boys. We still put out a rotated side with Adrian Ramos getting a precious few minutes gametime in due to his occurring injuries this season. He repayed me today with two great finishes to send us through to the final. Dame N'Doye for Trabzonspor today was really impressive and I'm astonished to see him playing in the Turkish League. There was a few teams who may have been looking at him today to bolster their front line - 22 goals in all competitions this year.



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We could have done with the point to just secure 2nd today but we played some fringe players today as we have the final in less than a week. The players which was on the pitch was lackluster and lacked any real conviction to go and win the game and Darmstadt responded in real fashion with them scoring a winner 20 minutes before time.



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Did the job which was required of us. Although not in spectacular fashion we still managed to get the 3 points.
We will have to up our game massively against Arsenal should we want our hands on our first chance of silverware this season. We have our two biggest games of the season coming up and it could absolutely make a wonderful difference if we can bring one, if not both of the trophies back to the Signal Iduna.


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Dortmund Starting XI

I have gone with a little bit more strength here, it's a cup final afterall and silverware on your CV is what you get judged by. I've left Auba on the bench but he will be available if I need that deadly injection of pace. I'll be looking to counter-attack Arsenal as I know when they attack they commit many men forward so I'll be looking to exploit their weakness. Ozil and Sanchez are their main threats and I've chose Matthias Ginter in this match to personally man-mark Ozil. I've told Piczczek that he will need to be on top form today to stop Sanchez but he has the ability. In the middle I believe that Ilkay Gundogan will have the advantage on Aaron Ramsey and they are looking to nullify our threat in Shinji Kagawa with playing James McCarthy.



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Arsenal Starting XI

A very strong team but I'm perplexed to why Petr Cech isn't starting in the sticks. I believe that we will get most joy down their left-side against Monreal. I've put Pione Sisto in the spot for this match due to his raw pace which I think will cause him a problem, in the videos which I've watched in the build up to this match I've seen Monreal get slaughtered by direct wingers such as Bolasie, Montero and Pedro just to name a few.


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Ecstatic!!!

Our first trophy under me and it's a major one in Europe. I'd like it to be the Champions League but we can work towards that! The lads and the fans deserve everything today for their efforts and the fans acted like a 12th man for us today.

The gameplan went exactly how I wanted it too, we got an early goal from a break down the right where good interplay between Piszczek and Sisto was too much for Monreal to handle and Sisto got round the back and smashed it between the legs of Ospina who was helpless.

Sisto was excellent today, it's his debut season for us and despite being a back-up player most of the year to Henrikh and Reus he's never complained and always tried to deliver. Today he did it on the biggest stage of them all. It was a very entertaining game to watch and I'm sure Arsene Wenger will agree that either team could have won it in the end.

UP DER BVB!!!!

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Ours.



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Bayern lift the cup deservingly.

It was a cruel way to lose it though after battling hard to the 90th minute. Roman Burki went for the clearance and slipped which allowed ex-Dortmund Mario Gotze an easy tap-in to go win the DFB-Pokal.

It's gutting but we won a massive trophy only a week ago and we are happy with our progress this season. Pep Guardiola has an amazing team at his disposal and is a fantastic manager so I hope they enjoy it tonight, our season has still been a huge success.

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End of Season Review

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Set out to finish 2nd and we did that exactly. Next year I'd like us to close the gap a little on Bayern, with me making my own signings and having a little more of a transfer budget to bring in the players I want I believe we can put up a little more of a fight. The youngsters which have been playing this year will have a years experience under their belts such as Felix Passlack, Pione Sisto and Yuri Mamute. I still believe we need a stronger squad and there will be players leaving the club in the summer, some games we run out of steam and had very little or few options to bring on from the bench.


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As it shows, the team of the season.

I think that a personal mention goes to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who got 52 goals in all competitions this year. He has been sensational and the season just gone can be branded in the same bracket as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. I am also delighted with the breakthrough of Felix Passlack who managed to be top of the assist charts for us; the boys still 18 and will develop into a world-class player.

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First out the door

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Adrian Ramos just didn't hit it off here and it's a shame, good attitude and a great character. He was also plagued with injuries so this made it even harder for him to get in a rhythm. Aston Villa will offer him more a chance and I believed the move to be good for both parties; we will be looking for a replacement to take some of the load off Auba's shoulders next season.



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Re-united at last.

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£47m - Ilkay Gundogan

Upon leaving Liverpool to go join Manchester City as manager Jurgen Klopp rushed to sign his first target which was our very own Ilkay Gundogan. £47m is the very minimum we will get for Ilkay, if he hits his bonuses we will be looking upwards in the range of £55m. I stated I didn't want to sell my best players but when money like this is being flaunted around I'm happy to accept it. For this money we will be able to replace Ilkay, he was good last year but I don't believe he was our best midfielder and thats on the basis why I accepted the offer.



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Happy to cut a small loss on Castro, offered nothing last season and was happy to be a bench-warmer. We got a good fee with him which adds to the budget again, but we won't need to replace him as I'll be calling youngsters from the youth team up for a rotational role in the team. Dzenis Burnic will be that man who will get a chance this season.

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Incoming

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Obviously Geronimo was agreed in January, we've been crying out for a leading keeper in our team since I don't believe we can grow with Burki in goal. Although still young, Rulli showed impressive performances last year and wowed in the La Liga. Hopefully he can bring this to us and we will be successful.

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Notorious for his directness, Carillo is something we was crying out for last year. An older version I'd say of Pione Sisto and more advanced. His quality is undoubted as we fought off teams all around Europe to secure his signature; including Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Liverpool. He will be here fighting for a place and he knows that but it's part of his character.



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Next through the door

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Christian Benteke
Fee - £8m

With Liverpool not utilizing him properly last year, he fell out of favour. With us losing Adrian Ramos and Ciro Immoble we needed a replacement striker and I don't believe that Yuri Mamute is quite up to scratch to be challenging Auba for a spot in the first team. We all know how lethal Christian can be and if he finds that form here we will be delighted.


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One for the future

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Thaigo Maia
Fee - £4m

I had seen bits and bobs of the young boy over in Brazil and was very impressed. When I found knowledge of Santos needing money desperately for financial reasons I thought it would be perfect to cash in and pick him up on the cheap. He has bags of potential and could turn out to be a fantastic player in the future.



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