Marco Rose showed complete understanding for the whistles of the few thousand spectators who had got hold of a ticket for the still almost empty stadium. Somehow you even got the impression that he would have liked to have whistle himself: “People come to the stadium to whip their team forward – and then we put our balls in the back,” complained Rose. And otherwise, Borussia Dortmund’s coach was able to quickly explain why everything had gone under his direction, similar to every BVB defeat. In short, the conclusion: the players do not follow the coach’s instructions. So it’s no wonder that Dortmund’s group of artists went down 5-2 against Bayer Leverkusen.
The constant rain in Dortmund put a veil over the events. But the real reasons for BVB conceding goals 32 to 36 in the current Bundesliga season cannot be narrowed down to a single factor as Rose wanted to do again on Sunday. Dortmund is de facto out of the third title competition this season with the debacle against Leverkusen. BVB will no longer become champions either (nine points behind Bayern), just as they cannot defend the DFB Cup victory (after the embarrassing 1-2 in the round of 16 at second division St. Pauli), and out of the Champions League Dortmund was out after just five games in the group stage – after some similarly confused performances as this time against Bayer 04.
The explanation for this in Dortmund is doomed to remain vague: “We don’t stick to the guidelines,” summarized captain Marco Reus contritely after the 2: 5. It’s just one of the basics of football: If a team is often unable to implement the coach’s instructions for a long time, then you may have to adjust the instructions. Because the squad of a team can hardly be changed within a season.
Smart coaches therefore scan the skills that their existing players have and then attempt to format that knowledge into a viable tactic. They know from Marco Rose in Dortmund that he is going a different way – that of the big names in the industry, such as Pep Guardiola, who prudently only hire from clubs that financially fulfill all the wishes for a squad that goes exactly with their coaching game idea fits.
Marco Rose’s model does not fit the squad – but the coach remains stubborn in his specifications
Rose wants to develop his style of play in Dortmund, which is a bit like that of Leverkusen or that of Champions League opponents Ajax Amsterdam, against whom BVB went swimming in two games with a total of 1:7 goals. Rose wants to press high, force the opponent to lose the ball, keep his own offensive on alert almost all the time, either by creating his own chances or by forcing opaque game situations deep in the opponent’s half, from which you can quickly benefit. And if an opponent escapes from the high pressure, then the second midfield row snaps. As far as the model from Rose. It’s reminiscent of Jurgen Klopp’s philosophy, who once said: “Counterpressing is the best playmaker.” And everything with Klopp on it is well received in Dortmund.
At the latest after this 2: 5 against Leverkusen, where the result could have been even worse, it dawns on many at BVB that the instructions of the coach are not implemented so often because they are actually intended for a completely different squad. But not for the real existing Borussia.
Applauds the fans, but not the game of their own team: BVB coach Marco Rose (right).
(Photo: Ina Fassbender/AFP)
Dortmund can rightly refer to second place in the league, still with a solid cushion at the back. And that’s exactly what you do while the skins are swimming in the current. Second place and the good number of points cast a mild light on every interim result of this season so far, even with cloudburst. Although Bayern have rushed again and are as uncatchable as ever, Leverkusen are still five points behind BVB in third place. Dortmund’s only true goal of the season, reaching the Champions League, hardly seems to be in danger, despite the frequent dropouts. But that doesn’t change the obvious imbalance at BVB.
Rose had prepared his players for Bayer’s extremely fast counterattacks throughout the week, but apparently failed to adapt his own tactics to his squad’s weaknesses. He later had to state that four of the five goals conceded ultimately went back to precisely such counter-attacks after Dortmund lost the ball. But Rose also insists on his basic line-up against explosive opponents like Leverkusen, who in a rush with what feels like no more than two vertical passes from their own penalty area to the opposing goal.
Normally, this only includes a typical protection player in the so-called “six” position in the center. And in the system he is also called Mo Dahoud, who is neither a defensive player nor particularly robust or particularly fast. However, Dahoud still seems to be the best six in the squad. And no matter how often this model is taken ad absurdum by opponents like Leverkusen or Ajax: the guidelines remain the same.
Individual mistakes are added to the faulty tactical basic construction
That often works well against opponents who don’t have the means to punish Dortmund’s offensive self-love. But in the spheres that BVB is striving for, modern football is teeming with high-speed players who fly into the hardly secured areas in front of the Dortmund penalty area at the speed of light. Only the first goal from Leverkusen had nothing to do with this design flaw in Dortmund’s tactics and squad. In that 0:1 defender Dan-Axel Zagadou slapsticked the ball in his own penalty area and played it into an opponent’s path in an exemplary manner. Marco Rose never gets tired of complaining about these “individual mistakes” – and rightly so. Rarely have you seen such a technically talented team make so many mistakes in concentration.
This does not change anything about the deficits in the occupation of the defense, especially the external defense, nor about the complete lack of at least one classic six in the squad, nor about the speed deficits on the flanks – nor about the lack of a dribbler like the Jadon Sancho, who switched to Manchester, could crack intelligently staggered defensive rows like those of Leverkusen in the end on his own on the football field. BVB has just loaned its last dribbler, the very young, very fast Ansgar Knauff, to Frankfurt.
One of the fast Leverkusen wingers that BVB couldn’t get a grip on: Mousa Diaby (left) scored the 5-1 win for Bayer.
(Photo: Christopher Neundorf/imago)
Coach Marco Rose is therefore not to be envied in every respect. Eleven defeats and 57 goals conceded, all competitions together, and then the same speeches afterwards, the same roller coaster ride – not easy at all. But the biggest obstacle for Rose – compared to his own previous yield – is the record of his predecessor Edin Terzic. After all, he won the DFB Cup with this moody squad, whose ups and downs are now managed by Rose. After tight games, Terzic only dropped out of the Champions League against Manchester City in the quarter-finals and with seven wins at the end of the season he stormed into the Champions League ranks, the promised land of BVB’s business model, which was almost lost.
Edin Terzic has been “Technical Director” since the summer and is now watching from the stands. That’s why the team shouldn’t fall short of coach Rose’s specifications too many times.