Borussia Dortmund has been eliminated from the <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/kingsley-coman-the-player-with-the-longest-contract-in-the-bundesliga/" title="Kingsley Coman: The player with the longest contract in the Bundesliga“>DFB Cup, has massive personnel problems – and coach Nuri Sahin is under massive pressure. There is not much time left to find ways out of the crisis. On Saturday the Bundesliga will be against the in-form Leipzig team.
Sebastian Kehl knew that he had to appear clear and decisive when answering this question. That he must not let on any shadow of a doubt. And Borussia Dortmund’s sports director tried to do justice to that. With regard to the assessment of the coaching question, “nothing” has changed, said Kehl – apart from the fact that “we are all disappointed and the coach is also very disappointed. But we will stand together. We’ll go through this together.”
Even after the first chance for a title was lost on Tuesday evening at VfL Wolfsburg: Nuri Sahin, according to the message, will not be questioned internally.
The declaration of loyalty was to be expected – how long it will last is a completely different question. On Tuesday evening, Dortmund suffered the next blow. After a balanced, intense fight, they conceded 0-1 in the 117th minute, three minutes before the end of extra time. This sealed the end of the DFB Cup. Some players sank to the grass in frustration, and goalkeeper Gregor Kobel angrily threw his gloves onto the pitch. The BVB fans who traveled along whistled like hell.
“The ball didn’t want to go in”
The team can’t be blamed for much, at least not on this evening. “She gave everything, she pushed herself to her limits. The ball didn’t want to go in. The luck that you need was missing,” explained Kehl – which was definitely true in relation to the hard-fought, if anything but high-class game.
BVB had to compete without seven injured players; the line-up resembled a puzzle. Sahin, who was rightly accused of not helping the team find its feet with a lot of adjustments and system changes, was forced this time to move the players back and forth like chess pieces in order to get a starting eleven together. Pascal Groß had to help out as right-back, Julian Brandt as a “six” and captain Emre Can, who has been criticized for weeks, in central defense. There were five players from the second team on the bench at kick-off.
The evening in Wolfsburg gave an indication of how difficult it is to overcome the current crisis. Even though the performance was fine in contrast to last Saturday’s 1-2 defeat in the Bundesliga at FC Augsburg, it was the fourth defeat in the fifth competitive game in a row. It was the fifth away defeat in a row across all competitions. The reflex to call for a change of coach is hardly surprising.
Whether this would help is another question. It is obvious that Sahin also played his part in the undesirable developments of the past few weeks. The 36-year-old sent the wrong signal to the players through substitutions and changes in the 5-2 defeat in the Champions League at Real Madrid. But the reasons for the negative development are complex.
The currently missing alternatives don’t just have something to do with bad luck with injuries. Dortmund’s purchasing policy was highly praised last summer. With Serhou Guirassy came a playful, goal-scoring center forward who is good for the team. Pascal Groß, another signing, is a ball-safe strategist who can organize the game. With Waldemar Anton came a central defender whose abilities there are no two opinions about, and with Maxi Beier, who had BVB’s best chance to score with a shot against the post in Wolfsburg, a promising offensive talent has been signed.
But mistakes were also made: the squad is sparse, especially in the defensive area. There are only three central defenders and three full-backs. This is currently taking its toll.
“I don’t know what squad planning in the summer should have prepared for this scenario,” said Kehl with regard to the current personnel shortage. On paper, Kehl is responsible for putting together the squad. In fact, it was a joint effort. Other BVB decision-makers as well as Sahin were also of the opinion that it would be better to have a compact squad, which also means a certain degree of permeability for young talent, than too many players and therefore inevitably dissatisfied bench warmers.
The hopes of getting out of the predicament are currently based on two assumptions: Firstly, that Sahin will be able to reassure the now insecure players that their quality is significantly better than what they are currently playing. Secondly, that the hospital clears out as quickly as possible. Until the latter happens, however, there could be another setback in terms of the most important goal of the season. RB Leipzig comes on Saturday (6.30 p.m./live Sky). If Sahin’s team lost again, they would lose touch with the Champions League places.
