my boy kempe just scored this

https://streamable.com/byppk

on the one hand yes, i'll have to agree with you: for a club signing such a player it's not really the best attitude and certainly does not really support any hopes of him finally making the breakthrough. mainz, however, is a relatively small and cozy (for the lack of a better word) club where the overall pressure in terms of expectations, and media attention is relatively low compared to the level of competition - so IF there is a club such a player could still develop in, i'm quite confident it would be ours - we even have some spaniards here that could make the transition a little easier for him...

also, on the human side, i'd obviously give him a pass for that 100%. football is a cutthroat business and success is obviously the all determining factor for any club. ever since deisler and especially enke, however, i realised what a toll it can take on players mentally, despite all the money and fame.

that's an awesome goal, no question. did it take a little deflection though? there's not really much spin on the ball, which says no, but it sure looked a little funny how it went in there and the goalie looked somewhat surprised as well...

This post was edited by fender on Jan 29 2017 09:50am

That's true. The pressure is insane, and it does take some special mental strength to cope with everything surrounding top level football. Not everyone can cope with that and I can't blame them, I don't dare say that I certainly would.

btw, speaking of spaniards, how are Jairo and José Rodríguez doing?

not the first time an insane youth player flops on senior level, the difference is huge
have seen it myself that the biggest talents were crap and almost invisible youth players suddenly step up

but decent signing for mainz once again, why not give him a shot

@fidelitas

proper goal
and gz

This post was edited by ampoo on Jan 29 2017 10:08am

well, jairo had a great last season for us, i was very happy with his development, especially tactically and physically. unfortunately, he was injured and missed the beginning of this season and since his return, he didn't produce to much in terms of scoring, assisting, or even memorable performances. he might get some more playing time if our injury troubles with strikers continue. de blasis, who is clearly our 1st pick on the left wing, might play an even more offensive role then. with malli gone, öztunali might take a more central role, freeing the right wing spot for him (not that our manager isn't rotating already plenty as is)... if muto and cordoba are back for good, however, i think the left wing spot is pretty much a lock up for pablo...
i definitely wanna keep him though, i see his potential, acknowledge his overall development and willingness to learn and personally just like him, seems to be a good kid.

rodriguez, however, i'm not a fan of. i can't even properly evaluate him to be perfectly honest since he plays so little, and the days i had time enough to visit our public training sessions are over unfortunately.
ever since his 3 minute red card and the well deserved ban after his despicable and completely unnecessary tackle against augsburg, he didn't even make the match day squad afaik. sure, he still is young and generally i'm in favour of giving ppl a second chance but from a pure quality perspective, i don't think he's urgently needed here. our central midfield, as long as they aren't injured, is quite strong: gbamin, latza, frei certainly, and even ramalho maybe, are just better i guess. i'm sure he has some quality, after all he went through real madrid's youth team but yeah, to my knowledge his days here are counted...

this just in: jairo starter, de blasis on the bench. playing dortmund atm so if you have time to watch you can see our boy jairo in action...
... aaand we're behind already... gbamin with the mistake, i guess i jinxed us with my evaluations...

This post was edited by fender on Jan 29 2017 10:35am

I see, thanks. Its nice to see that Jairo is doing ok despite the setback phase he's currently at. He has been with you for a while already, so he seems pretty settled and that will help him. And I agree with you on José Rodríguez, I'm not a fan either. It's not that I dislike him, but to me he just seemed very mediocre... I see him as the type of player who will just be a random in a low-end club in topflight, or a starter in a top club in the second level.


e: gl against Dortmund despite the bad start. Can't watch because I have some things to do before Mallorca's game starts in 20 minutes, but gl and I hope Jairo does well

This post was edited by zarkadon on Jan 29 2017 10:39am

lost 1:2
pretty bad and boring game
we scored late after they scored the 2:0

thx, good luck to your boys, too.
ref already disallowed a goal for us, ffs...

what a cross by öztunali, goal latza, 1:1! de blasis almost with the winner!

ffs, we could have won this... overall a draw against dortmund is a very decent result ofc and it's not like it was undeserved or anything but considering the ref disallowed us a perfectly legal goal, this is somewhat bitter...

This post was edited by fender on Jan 29 2017 12:22pm