BVB between black & yellow: The truth lies somewhere in between

Pessimists can see a relapse into old patterns in BVB’s 0: 3 at RB Leipzig. For optimists, the black and yellow world has only received a small damper despite the bankruptcy against ex-coach Marco Rose, which is not too tragic in view of the table. The truth in Dortmund is probably somewhere in between.

One thing is certain: one swallow does not make a summer. And with that five euros in the phrase pig. The start of the season in Dortmund was largely successful. Coach Edin Terzic’s team looked much more stable and mature than in the past few months – maybe even years.

The setback from Leipzig came at the wrong time in this black and yellow high mood – especially against Marco Rose, who was kicked out in the summer and who has now found a new task in Leipzig.

BVB lacks the pace

“We were aware that Leipzig would show a high level of intensity under Marco Rose and play clearly and purposefully behind the chain. But we didn’t understand how to stop these strengths,” explained sports director Sebastian Kehl to the Ruhr news.

“There were too many easy ball losses, even in spaces that hurt us. We’re already disappointed. A win could have given us a bigger gap to our opponents and continued our run. But to be honest, we didn’t deserve that either “, Kehl analyzed and pushed afterwards: “The pace through the wingers was definitely something that we missed. We don’t have to talk about it.”

Above all, the absences of Karim Adeyemi, Donyell Malen, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Thorgan Hazard, who are at home on the offensive wing, were meant. Without the wingers, BVB visibly lacked pace. “Of course, we don’t move so fast with the staff that the balls can often go deep,” said Terzic after the defeat.

So it was a resounding defeat, which was due to the lack of pace players. Or was the previously highly praised defensive work not as good as in the previous games?

Modeste is up in the air – also because the flank quality was miserable

There are a number of reasons for the bankruptcy. It should be clear to everyone in the current constellation that it will be more difficult to win games without fast players on the wings. In the front, on the nine, Haller’s representative Antony Modeste finally plays. A type of striker who is not particularly fast and cannot be involved particularly well in combination play. Rather, Modeste’s strengths lie in goal closure – especially with his head. One or two contacts – that’s all the French usually need to score.

Offensively, this is currently a problem for BVB. Not only against Leipzig. There it was particularly evident on Saturday afternoon. An “expected goals” value of 0.65, only five attempts on goal, none of which ended up on the Leipzig box, are simply not enough for any team in the world to be able to win a game. It is logical that Modeste is so completely up in the air.

Terzic didn’t have any real alternatives. Youssoufa Moukoko doesn’t seem to be a real option, and the youngster couldn’t do any self-promotion with his 30-minute joker bet. For the time being, the BVB offensive has to run with Modeste. Even without the missing wingers, Borussia needs solutions. One of them would be to bring more crosses into the penalty area.

Also Malen and Adeyemi are not “flank gods”

That was tried here and there against Leipzig, the result was more than just sobering. The crosses from Meunier, Guerreiro and Co. were simply not suitable for the Bundesliga. With his technical skills, one should expect significantly better crosses from the Portuguese in particular.

It remains to be seen whether the problem will solve itself when Malen and Adeyemi are back. Both have tremendous speed. However, they are not known as “flank gods”.

Either way, BVB have enough players on the field who can make the difference in attack. Effectiveness would be the keyword here that will be needed in the coming weeks. You saw that against Hoffenheim and Copenhagen. In Leipzig, however, there were almost no chances to score.

The key to success remains the defensive

A stable defense that allows Black & Yellow to win games again with just one or two of their own goals is the second key factor. After all, it was a “new” quality that could be shown under Terzic in the first weeks of the season.

In Leipzig, on the other hand, they conceded three goals. However, the game was not a real indication of a significantly worse defensive work. The number one goal conceded came from a corner (a well-known problem in Dortmund). Orban headed in from around eleven meters. A goal that certainly doesn’t happen every day. Which was all the more true for Szoboszlai’s dream long-range shot, which had finally pulled the tooth out of BVB.

And so you shouldn’t side with the pessimists in Dortmund. The start of the season was too good overall to have to be colored completely black after the Leipzig bankruptcy. There is currently no reason for exuberant optimism – which is also due to the personnel situation.

The truth lies somewhere in between. Old problems cannot be solved overnight. Not even from Edin Terzic. Dortmund still seems to be on the right track!

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This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as BVB between black & yellow: The truth lies somewhere in between released.

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