After the work victory over the cheeky VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund is in a brilliant position – from a purely formal point of view. BVB raises an infinite number of puzzles. The wild form curve of Captain Marco Reus is only the largest of them.
In the end, Marco Rose didn’t quite believe his remarks on the subject of tailwind and self-confidence. With folded hands, Dortmund’s coach sent a quick prayer to heaven.
“I really hope so,” replied the coach when asked how much he would like to see an almost bulging backdrop against FC Bayern in two weeks’ time.
“The fans were a factor today. They gave us a lot of energy and carried us through the game.” If the black and yellow appendix is already so elementary in a laborious 2: 1 over notoriously weak away team from Stuttgart, that is all the more true for the top game.
BVB is actually in a great position
Shortly before the showdown with FC Bayern, Borussia is actually in a great position. In the league, with the seventh home win in a row, BVB not only expanded its start record, but also reduced the gap to the front runner to one point.
In the DFB Cup, the ambitious Westphalians are just as on track as they are in the Champions League. On Wednesday, Sporting Lisbon will play the round of 16. And yet BVB remains a huge surprise bag that lives from the strength of the home and has to hope that, in view of the current corona development, the lavish fan support in the former Westfalenstadion will not dry up again soon.
The hope of many supporters for a heartbeat final in the championship including the end of the overwhelming Munich hegemony could be premature. In the duel with presumably poisonous Munichers, Dortmund may well be expected to jump to the top of the table. The next crushing defeat against the industry leader but also. Because the recent success over the table sixteenth Stuttgart only confirmed the earlier impressions of this season.
Rose: “In some areas we are still a long way from being satisfied”
The traditionally fickle BVB can meanwhile also dirty victories. But playful progress compared to the previous season is hardly noticeable so far. “We didn’t shine too much,” said defense chief Mats Hummels openly.
Coach Rose put it about as complicated as a trick pass from midfielder Julian Brandt: “In some areas we are still far from satisfied.” The bottom line: On closer inspection, BVB looks more like a pseudo giant.
With 18 goals conceded, the defense remains an upright mediocrity, while building up the game and on the offensive there is a huge problem despite 30 goals. A game philosophy of the new coach is at best only rudimentary after a third of the season. Only rarely is BVB able to produce an offensive force without star striker Erling Haaland.
In moments of change, such as the decisive counterattack against VfB, it sometimes works great. But with dominance and in ball possession phases, especially against low-lying opponents, it often becomes very tough. No wonder that the boulevard has already launched its first Edin Terzic stories. The club actually wanted to avoid speculation about a return of the cup hero to the BVB bank.
The biggest puzzle is called Marco Reus
The unbelievable bad luck with injuries can certainly be cited as an excuse, even if the well-known squad should still serve for higher claims. Rose can also do little for the sometimes adventurous shape curves of some of the actors.
The biggest puzzle is probably Marco Reus – against Stuttgart as seen under the magnifying glass. The captain shone with a great free kick and a few shots – and yet remained a single disappointment until his goal. Fitting: He energetically initiated the winning goal, but then the ball happily fell at his feet.
In many games before that, Reus had played unusually uninspired, without a creative, brilliant idea. He missed many great opportunities himself. He could score far more than just five goals in all three competitions.
The number of his assists (7) has so far been very limited. The captain recently caused a stir with the criticism of the game with a three-man chain, which some observers even saw as an inappropriate tip against their own coach.
BVB attack remains a mystery
On the other hand, Reus is up for a world-class goal in good minutes out of nowhere, like in the victory over Mainz. By the way, the offensive star has found its way back into the national team. A consolation for the BVB fans: The game designer already needed an extreme run-up last season before he was a guarantor of the spectacular BVB finish. With eleven goals and 14 assists, he played a major role in the fact that Dortmund qualified for the premier class and won the DFB Cup.
Another mystery is the BVB attack. After Dortmund had emancipated itself a little from Haaland in the season finale 20/21, the dependence on the one-man show has grown unhealthy again in recent months.
All the worse is the current failure of the Norwegian, which shifts the entire statics of the game. There is no alternative, all attempts with Reus or Thorgan Hazard as the “false nine” were clearly successful.
BVB: What’s the plan with Moukoko?
The athletic management has often been criticized for this vacancy in the squad. Also for the fact that the club doesn’t seem to know how to treat Youssoufa Moukoko. On the one hand, BVB does not want to put a second top striker in front of the supposed prodigy in his development.
On the other hand, Borussia may not yet burden its youngster with an overly important role out of care. Perhaps BVB has more confidence in him in the future, now that Moukoko (in civilian clothes) celebrated his 17th birthday in front of the south stand. That’s almost a normal professional age.
Steffen Tigges still owes the proof of high class, even if he can now call himself Bundesliga goalscorer and with the presence of mind set off the counterattack to 2-1 against VfB. It is difficult to imagine that the joker from the 2nd team will soon drive the Munich defense to despair.
Rose on painting: “That was the benchmark”
The supposed king transfer Donyell Malen was planned from the beginning as a Haaland sidekick, and not as a replacement. That would not do the Dutchman justice either. But the 30 million euro man from PSV Eindhoven is unfamiliar with the role in Dortmund – whatever that may be.
He’s not a winger like Jadon Sancho, nor is he an edgy striker, and his teammates have not yet embarked on his hybrid role in between. There is still a huge problem with the vote.
Painting had to catch up with a fitness deficit and visibly struggled to get there. The 22-year-old, who is strong at dribbling, even celebrated his goal debut in the Bundesliga against VfB – with a bit of luck from a deflected shot from distance.
“That was the benchmark for Donny today. He invested a lot and created good moments for himself,” Rose let himself be carried away with a single praise. Malen is still a long way from a real breakthrough. It is possible that he will only become a factor in making BVB a real Bayern hunter after the winter break.
