Personnel problems at BVB: The improvisation in Dortmund continues

Marco Rose had actually hoped that the defensive improvisation phase would finally come to an end after Mats Hummels and Raphael Guerreiro, two important defenders, returned to Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga team last weekend. Thomas Meunier is also ready to go after suffering from Covid, but coach Rose has known since the beginning of the week that his chain of defense will cause him concern for even longer. After a good ten minutes of playing time in Freiburg, Hummels' knee "immediately reacted again," he reported on Thursday. The national player, who is also not in the first line-up announced by national coach Hansi Flick this Friday, is out for the time being. But that's not the only reason why the defense remains a difficult topic at BVB.

Nico Schulz suffered a muscle injury in Freiburg, he too has to take a break, and Felix Passlack experienced good, but also very difficult moments during his missions on the right side.

Nevertheless, hardly any BVB supporter longs for the return of Thomas Meunier or Emre Can with full conviction, who could replace Passlack.

Both made too many mistakes last season.

And when Rose is asked on Thursday whether a starting eleven with a three-man chain is also conceivable, he has to laugh and asks: "With whom?"

Is that what a master looks like?

So it didn't take many match days to refute a thesis that was often formulated before the start of the season. BVB is "better positioned across the board" than Bayern Munich, Lothar Matthäus said, for example, and a number of commentators agreed. However, the impressions so far indicate that injuries immediately lead to major problems. The Dortmund licensed player boss Sebastian Kehl therefore says: "We can also position ourselves better in terms of personnel." Especially outside in defense. Even Guerreiro was criticized again and again last year because he occasionally lets open gaps in his back in a four-chain system in favor of his offensive strength.

The fact that reinforcements in these positions would be good for the squad can hardly be overlooked, but captain Marco Reus said during the summer break: "We have the squad to become German champions." This claim can be discussed controversially after the first impressions of the season .

Rose has probably seen where his squad has weaknesses for a long time, but he consistently avoids discussions about less well-filled positions: “We don't even have to start with this topic.

I don't let my boys get in the way, ”he says, knowing that he can hardly count on prominent newcomers.

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The financial leeway is namely small and cheap professionals for the upscale Champions League level that Dortmund strive for, rare.

For a long time, sports director Michael Zorc said that the club would "do nothing for economic reasons unless another player leaves us".

On Wednesday Thomas Delaney was sold to Sevilla FC, a transfer of seven million euros is speculated.

This money and the saved salary can be invested in a new professional for the outside lanes.

And since Zorc is also working on the sales of Marius Wolf and Roman Bürki, the income could even increase by the time the transfer closes on August 31st.

"We evaluate the situation again and again and look around," said the sports director at "Sport 1".

At first, Marcel Halstenberg was considered a candidate, the left-back from RB Leipzig would like to come to Dortmund, but according to reports, Dortmund's interest in the injury-prone national player has expired. Or are they just playing poker? For the other wing, an option would be Inter Milan's Valentino Lazaro, who worked with Rose as a loan player at Borussia Mönchengladbach last season. But the Austrian has his strengths on the offensive and never prevailed in Gladbach. Really good full-backs are hard to find.

It is therefore quite possible that the Dortmund team will implement a transfer in the coming days that has not yet been speculated about, although Rose does not find this whole discussion very productive anyway. After the defeat in Freiburg last Saturday, the coach is more focused on the old debate about the character of the team than on possible weaknesses of individuals. "We lacked unconditionality in Freiburg," said Rose in a panel discussion for club TV, "first and foremost in every profession is work, then comes the free style."

The new trainer has thus also made his first contribution to the long history that has been negotiated in many chapters over the past few years under the title “Mentality Debate”. Against Hoffenheim this Friday (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and at DAZN) a victory is urgently needed, because "if we don't get a result, it will be really uncomfortable," says Rose.