Sunday 31 October 2021
New Dortmund objectivity
With “Lidl-Haaland” and merciless efficiency
Borussia Dortmund is sovereign second in the table. The 24 points from the first ten games are a solid base for the rest of the season. The Rose-Elf are not even the better team against Cologne, but they are mercilessly efficient. Also because a 23-year-old scored his first league goal.
Bayern are back to “FC Hollywood”, Leverkusen is in crisis, Wolfsburg has already changed coach and Leipzig is just another Bundesliga club without Nagelsmann. It is different at Borussia Dortmund, who develop into eager point collectors with a rump team, the last four league games have all been won. Coach Marco Rose has stabilized the team. A factual 2-0 win was achieved against 1. FC Köln. With hits from Thorgan Hazard and Steffen Tigges.
Jude Bellingham was pumping. The 18-year-old crowd favorite was once again one of the decisive factors for Borussia Dortmund. But now, shortly before the final whistle of the game against 1. FC Köln, nothing worked. He dragged himself towards the corner flag, defended the ball, pumped and just wanted to avoid being sent off. Shortly before, referee Martin Petersen had warned him and clearly signaled to the upcoming 100 million man: One more offense and the game is over.
Bellingham would probably have loved to accept the offer. So that he can finally get a break. At the age of 18 he is the heart of the Dortmund game and indispensable. He was in the starting line-up in every competitive game of the season, was only substituted four times early and otherwise always played for the full 90 minutes. Bellingham waived the dismissal, stayed near the Cologne corner flag in the game and waited for the redeeming end. He cheered and with him the 66,709 spectators in the Dortmund stadium. We haven’t seen that much in a German stadium for a long time. They saw a BVB, who got by without conceding a goal for the first time in the league, continues to act on par with the 38-goal Bayern team in the table. Could look worse.
With “Lidl-Haaland” to victory
The BVB goes on the gums. Third division striker Steffen Tigges instead of superstar Erling Haaland, first Marius Wolf and then Felix Passlack instead of Raphael Guerreiro. The former Wolfsburg supplementary player Marin Pongracic in defense, the fickle Julian Brandt as the central figure. On the bench? Lots of inexperienced second-row players and a bunch of ailing players. It was enough for Cologne. Because Effzeh slept in both goals and because Dortmund were efficient, including Tigges, who was ridiculed by some fans as “Lidl-Haaland” before the game. The 23-year-old is suddenly a Bundesliga goalscorer and therefore “proud as Bolle,” said Rose. Tigges came on shortly before his goal together with Donyell Malen, because Hazard could no longer, because Pongracic allowed himself many minor mistakes in defense. Rose changed the system and showed a lucky hand.
There really wasn’t much to blame 1. FC Köln on Saturday. Above all, they attacked on their right side. Again and again they came in final positions, but despite a goal shot statistics of 21: 8, a ball possession of 57 percent and a pass rate of 83 percent to Dortmund’s 75, they did not want to score this Saturday. “There are a lot of things that could be improved,” said coach Rose. “We want to act differently, play more dominantly, put the opponent under more pressure. We chased a lot.” But it didn’t work. After all, without conceding a goal, that had not yet succeeded in the nine previous games.
After ten match days, BVB are now in second place with 24 points, just one point behind series champions Bayern Munich. The eight wins and two defeats this season clearly show: Borussia Dortmund is a lot more stable this season despite all the injury problems. This is also shown by a look at the preseason. They only got eleven points from ten games against the same teams. Home defeats against Frankfurt and Cologne, plus two draws against Hoffenheim and Mainz and one defeat at Bayer Leverkusen. The starting balance in the previous year with 19 points from the first ten games also shows Dortmund’s development.
Only collect points
Dortmund’s big weaknesses in the past seasons were rarely the balance against the competitors for second place in the table, but rather against the teams from the middle and lower half of the table. In addition to the obligatory bankruptcies in the duels with Bayern Munich, BVB did not necessarily stumble against Leipzig, against Wolfsburg, but rather against Hoffenheim, Mainz, Augsburg or Cologne. This is new this season, despite the shortage of staff.
“When you see who is all out, I have to pay a big compliment to my team. How we manage to collect points and advance in the cup in this difficult phase,” said Rose after the game. Dortmund’s sober efficiency without Haaland does not attract a lot of attention, but it also refuses to talk about crisis. In autumn 2021, BVB is just there and does not lose any points, makes little fuss about itself. In the league, Borussia have now won their first six home games, and even the last ten across seasons.
Two more games until the next international break. The next performance in the Westfalenstadion will follow on Wednesday. Against Ajax. Against which they recently went down 4-0 in the Champions League. But unlike after Bayern’s defeat in the cup, there was no great excitement. After Ajax, the trip to Leipzig follows. Points have to be collected. Hollywood is a long way off in Dortmund these days thanks to Bellingham and co.