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Opening Day
Red Bull Salzburg is started their second season under Dave Thacker. Last season was harsh lesson in the necessary for good tactics and the limitation of the current lineup. The tactics have been revamped and the lineup has been tweaked. A new AM has been installed. Expectations are realistic but are hopeful to finish sixteenth, two places of last year. And away we go.
Part 1-Round 1 through 6 DLDWDL “This is not how we wanted to start”
Salzburg started out very slowly, earning just 7 points out of the first six rounds. The single win was a 1-0 at Sparta Prague. We earned 3 clean sheets but also were not scoring a bit. At this point we are a P15 on the table. The best thing we could say is that we kept two our matches close against two of the top six clubs.
Part 2-Round 7 through 12 DLLWWL “What in the actual F is going on?”
You may have thought that it couldn’t get worse, but it did. After a draw with Schalke, we were well and truly drubbed by Shakhtar Donetsk 0-5. Thacker, apparently hung over after a long night at the pub, played D against random tactic, which turned out to be P. We really made them look good. We then dropped a close one the Ajax and then actually turned the tables with two shutout wins. Our third loss from part 2 was from Rennes. We dropped down to 16th place.
Part 3-Round 13 through 19 DWLWWLW “Hey, look! We can score goals!”
As we headed to the halfway point, the sun came out and started to shine on Salzburg. We put 13 points on the board in seven rounds and had our first back to back wins. We finally managed to score three goals in a game and won a couple of close ones. Things were looking up. At the halfway point we were full of optimism. We had shot up to the twelfth place in the table and and our record was 7-5-7. Maybe Thacker DID know how to manage.
Part 4-Round 20 through 25 DDLLDL “So very, very winless”
The scoring drought came back with a vengeance. The points disappeared. We scored 1 or none goals for the for the first five games of the stretch. We broke out to score 3 games in round 25 playing Real Sociedad, but the defense disappeared and we lost by one. Six games, three pathetic points. We slipped right back down to seventeenth place losing all the ground we had gained.
Part 5-Round 26 through 31 DWLLW “Making points the hard way”
Well of course, we had get a couple of more draws We did feel good after we fought Shakhtar to a 2-2 draw, the team that had beat the stuffing out of us our first meeting. The goals were slowly coming up, but not enough. We lost against Benfica by 2 and by Lyon by 1. This part of the seaason a was a grind. We were close in almost every game, and scored 8 points in the round. We were starting to pick up suspensions from accumulated DP, which did not help. We’re not keeping up and have dropped another place to eighteenth.
Part 6-Round 32 through 38 WLWLDLD “Drawing to a close…”
As we drew to the close of the season the goals were still hard to find and we still had a tendency draws. In the end we had the second twelve draws, second highest in the league. Even though are new AM helped getting more shots, we just are making quality shots. In the last seven games we only brought in five points and again two one goal games. We ended 18th. Again.
Summary. “So what did learn?”
We’re closer. I know we are closer because the games were closer. But it’s not one or two seasons away, Probably more like four. The things we have set in motion will take that long to come to fruition. Sometimes that is a thankless task. In the meantime we have research to do. There are are probably some goals to be found on improving the formations we have used. Time to go to work.
Words: 711 for Salzburg
Red Bull Salzburg is started their second season under Dave Thacker. Last season was harsh lesson in the necessary for good tactics and the limitation of the current lineup. The tactics have been revamped and the lineup has been tweaked. A new AM has been installed. Expectations are realistic but are hopeful to finish sixteenth, two places of last year. And away we go.
Part 1-Round 1 through 6 DLDWDL “This is not how we wanted to start”
Salzburg started out very slowly, earning just 7 points out of the first six rounds. The single win was a 1-0 at Sparta Prague. We earned 3 clean sheets but also were not scoring a bit. At this point we are a P15 on the table. The best thing we could say is that we kept two our matches close against two of the top six clubs.
Part 2-Round 7 through 12 DLLWWL “What in the actual F is going on?”
You may have thought that it couldn’t get worse, but it did. After a draw with Schalke, we were well and truly drubbed by Shakhtar Donetsk 0-5. Thacker, apparently hung over after a long night at the pub, played D against random tactic, which turned out to be P. We really made them look good. We then dropped a close one the Ajax and then actually turned the tables with two shutout wins. Our third loss from part 2 was from Rennes. We dropped down to 16th place.
Part 3-Round 13 through 19 DWLWWLW “Hey, look! We can score goals!”
As we headed to the halfway point, the sun came out and started to shine on Salzburg. We put 13 points on the board in seven rounds and had our first back to back wins. We finally managed to score three goals in a game and won a couple of close ones. Things were looking up. At the halfway point we were full of optimism. We had shot up to the twelfth place in the table and and our record was 7-5-7. Maybe Thacker DID know how to manage.
Part 4-Round 20 through 25 DDLLDL “So very, very winless”
The scoring drought came back with a vengeance. The points disappeared. We scored 1 or none goals for the for the first five games of the stretch. We broke out to score 3 games in round 25 playing Real Sociedad, but the defense disappeared and we lost by one. Six games, three pathetic points. We slipped right back down to seventeenth place losing all the ground we had gained.
Part 5-Round 26 through 31 DWLLW “Making points the hard way”
Well of course, we had get a couple of more draws We did feel good after we fought Shakhtar to a 2-2 draw, the team that had beat the stuffing out of us our first meeting. The goals were slowly coming up, but not enough. We lost against Benfica by 2 and by Lyon by 1. This part of the seaason a was a grind. We were close in almost every game, and scored 8 points in the round. We were starting to pick up suspensions from accumulated DP, which did not help. We’re not keeping up and have dropped another place to eighteenth.
Part 6-Round 32 through 38 WLWLDLD “Drawing to a close…”
As we drew to the close of the season the goals were still hard to find and we still had a tendency draws. In the end we had the second twelve draws, second highest in the league. Even though are new AM helped getting more shots, we just are making quality shots. In the last seven games we only brought in five points and again two one goal games. We ended 18th. Again.
Summary. “So what did learn?”
We’re closer. I know we are closer because the games were closer. But it’s not one or two seasons away, Probably more like four. The things we have set in motion will take that long to come to fruition. Sometimes that is a thankless task. In the meantime we have research to do. There are are probably some goals to be found on improving the formations we have used. Time to go to work.
Words: 711 for Salzburg