The absence of Mahmoud Dahoud leaves BVB coach Marco Rose wondering who will replace the international at eight. Two options are obvious, another would be a surprise.
Whether the correlation of events was fortunate or unfortunate is probably in the eye of the beholder. When it became clear in Borussia Dortmund’s match against Sporting on Tuesday that Mahmoud Dahoud would have to leave the pitch early due to a knee injury, the latter’s coach Marco Rose was surely happy to have the recently recovered Julian Brandt back on the bench. On the other hand, the coach would not have minded being able to call on both players at the same time for more than seven minutes.
Coach and players must now take it as it came. Fortunately, Dahoud’s injury turned out to be “only” a sprained inner ligament; worse things had been feared at first. The German international is expected to be an option again in the second half of October, starting with BVB’s next but one game against Mainz 05 on Saturday, 16 October. Whether it will be enough for the Syrian-born player, however, cannot be seriously assessed at this stage.
There are no doubts about Brandt’s footballing ability, but …
It is clear that Rose will be missing another option for the eight position for the upcoming encounter on Saturday. Dahoud, one of the few Dortmund players who was able to complete the entire preparation, has been in the starting eleven in each of the ten competitive games this season, on the six or most recently in one of the more advanced positions in the half-field. Since Giovanni Reyna will probably not be ready to play until after the international break due to a muscle injury, Rose has far fewer options for filling the position alongside Jude Bellingham than he would have had if the squad had been at full capacity.
The first candidate is probably Brandt, who made a surprisingly quick return to the squad after his muscle injury. Against Sporting, the 25-year-old was called upon for longer than planned due to his early substitution. He tried hard, but was much more disembodied and careless, especially in comparison to Bellingham. An avoidable ball loss in the final phase even earned him a loud rebuke from Mats Hummels. The former Leverkusen player still has to prove that he can cope with the diverse demands of Rose’s system. In terms of footballing ability, there is no doubt about Brandt, but he has yet to permanently prove the equally sought-after qualities in defence.
The second option is Thorgan Hazard, whose versatility Rose had recently praised. The nominal attacking player, who himself prefers to play centrally behind the top players but can also operate as a playful winger and centre forward, proved with the Belgian national team as a left-back in front of a three-man backline that he can also play in reverse gear.
A starting eleven comeback for Can seems even less realistic
A starting eleven comeback for Emre Can, who only returned to team training at the beginning of the current week, seems less realistic at least at present. However, the international is expected to be back in the squad on Saturday. Raphael Guerreiro may also have a chance as an outsider. The Portuguese, who is actually set as a left-back, has the playing qualities to also play further centrally – and in the course of a game he often appears exactly in the eight-man areas anyway due to his interpretation of the role. For him, Nico Schulz would probably start at left back in this constellation. Tobias Raschl would also be an option, but the U-23 player, who has a professional contract, is more of a six and can so far only show 25 Bundesliga minutes from June 2020.
Possible, but rather unlikely, is a basic order without two eights. So far, Rose has operated in Dortmund either in a 4-4-2 with a midfield pack or in a 4-3-3 with a six and two eights. The coach chose the formation with two wingers in the games against Eintracht Frankfurt, Union Berlin and, most recently, Sporting, i.e. against teams with a three-man backline and dangerous wing-backs, in order to tie up the forwards. Most recently, FC Augsburg had operated in a 3-3-2-2 similar to Lisbon on Tuesday, but its gaps in the half-areas in front of the defensive chain were shown quite clearly by SC Freiburg on Sunday. So it is quite possible that FCA coach Markus Weinzierl will return to a four-man backline at BVB – and that his opposite number Rose will play with the diamond again regardless of the decision.
