At BVB, the mood is depressed after the clear bankruptcy against RB Leipzig. The discouraged and for the most part unimaginative appearance at the Saxons looks like a throwback to old patterns and doesn’t fit the team we’ve seen so far this season. The analysis of the defeat in Leipzig reveals a number of construction sites at BVB that need to be fixed in the coming weeks
As in the previous season, BVB has had an inordinate amount of bad luck with injuries. With Sebastien Haller, Mo Dahoud, Jamie-Bynoe Gittens, Karim Adeyemi, Donny Malen, Gregor Kobel, Thorgan Hazard and Mateu Morey, Edin Terzic is currently missing eight players, all of whom are not exactly unimportant. And most even fail in the long term. BVB is in the middle of English weeks and is the team in the league that has completed the most sprints before the match day. The high intensity and the lack of rotation were noticeable in Leipzig. Edin Terzic’s team ran a total of four kilometers less in the 3-0 defeat, measured against the season average, which puts BVB in third place in the league. The fact that Borussia hardly found their way into the duels against Leipzig and had no access to the game at all is probably also due to the lack of reserves. Players like Marco Reus, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jude Bellingham, Julian Brandt or Raphael Guerreiro are currently not getting any breaks at all and are walking on their gums. The personnel situation will hardly improve before the upcoming games against Manchester City and Schalke 04. Only Karim Adeyemi and Donyell Malen are expected back next week. The storm duo could become important for BVB immediately.
Because Adeyemi and Malen both bring exactly the qualities that BVB are currently lacking: speed and penetrating power. Something successful about the wings, be it through a sprint or a won one-on-one; Dortmund is missing that completely at the moment. But you can’t really blame the team or the coaching staff. With Malen and Adeyemi, but also with Bynoe-Gittens and Hazard, Borussia are currently missing all the players who have these skills. With Malen and Adeyemi, at least two speed dribblers are coming back, who can take the burden of the offensive ball forward a little off Marco Reus’ and Julian Brandt’s shoulders. With Malen and Adeyemi, BVB will be significantly more dangerous again in the coming weeks. After Edin Terzic’s team didn’t get a single shot on goal against RB Leipzig, that’s also sorely needed.
The thin staff cover affects almost all areas at BVB, including tactics. Head coach Edin Terzic is currently reaching his limits when it comes to variability and unpredictability. Without the pace dribblers in the team, Terzic has to improvise and increasingly draw the game to the full-backs. Raphael Guerreiro and Thomas Meunier are currently forced to play there (Marius Wolf has to help out further up the field). This is problematic insofar as an attacking game via Meunier’s side is hardly suitable for the Bundesliga. The Belgian has his qualities when working without the ball, but increasingly has to direct the team’s ball forward from the build-up play. And this is due to the lack of variability. Anthony Modeste does not exist in the game outside of the two penalty areas, a game through the middle is currently hardly possible. Defending teams can therefore calmly close the Guerreiro side at BVB and force Borussia to bring the ball to the Meunier side sooner or later. Without offensive speed dribblers and a striker who, apart from scoring goals, does not take part in the game, BVB has no real choice – and is therefore completely calculable.
This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as Tempo, Tactics and Personal: The construction sites at BVB.
