Borussia Dortmund is once again failing itself: In Glasgow, coach Marco Rose’s team deprives itself of the fruits of its labour and lacks the highest quality. It is becoming increasingly clear how great the squad’s need for renovation actually is.
Stadiums change, premises change, external circumstances change. But the questions that BVB coach Marco Rose has been asked in the virtual press conference rooms of the current football world since he took up his post in Dortmund last summer, they are the same each time.
In the past few months, the 45-year-old has had to answer X number of times how such hair-raising individual mistakes, which his players make time and again, can be remedied. And each time he had searched for meaningful words and explanations. No matter whether it was after the Champions League exit, the knock-out in the DFB Cup or the six defeats in the league.
Rose’s influence on the team is limited – so is her quality
And of course he also responded after the elimination from the Europa League, which was disappointing from a sporting point of view, did little for prestige and was painful for the club’s coffers, which had become thin due to the Corona pandemic. As an observer, one could have understood if he had simply not wanted to play this time. After conceding two goals in the 2:2 draw with Glasgow Rangers, which was not enough to correct the 4:2 defeat in the first leg in Dortmund. And which showed the disappointed Rose once again that his influence on this enigmatic team is limited. As is their quality.
After all, things had looked so good at the break. Dortmund were leading 2-1 at that point and – despite the 0:1 after a clumsy foul by Julian Brandt in their own penalty area – were in control because, unlike in the first leg, they were committed. Rangers were reeling, the enthusiasm of their fans, 47,000 of whom had come to the atmospheric Ibrox Stadium on this cold and wet February evening, was broken. One more goal from BVB and the door to the last 16 would have been wide open for the visitors.
But due to a lack of ideas and penetrating power, the goal did not come. Instead, Glasgow scored after substitute Marius Wolf had allowed Calvin Bassey to cross and Mats Hummels to pass the ball in the middle. The 2:2 left BVB’s options open at that point – half an hour before the end – but in the end it was one goal too many in a total of 180 minutes of a duel that was decided mainly by Dortmund’s weakness.
With a simple conversion, Rangers steal the momentum from BVB
“The boys tried everything and invested a lot, but when you concede six goals and only score four, the opposition deserved to get through to the next round,” said Rose, who again failed to stabilise this strangely fickle Dortmund side in Glasgow and instead had to watch from the outside as they once again put themselves behind through the most avoidable of mistakes and then lacked the quality to extricate themselves from that predicament.
A simple change by the opponent – from a four-man defensive chain to a five-man line – was enough on this evening to steal the momentum from Dortmund. Although Rose tried everything on the touchline, talked to his players, gave instructions and drew running routes with his hands in the air. It was all to no avail. Nothing changed in the final phase after the BVB coach had gradually thrown his remaining offensive options Youssoufa Moukoko, Steffen Tigges and Reinier into the game. “We had to nibble at the changeover,” admitted Rose. And that, although he had seen it coming during the break. And so Dortmund’s European Cup tour ended before the last 16 – for the first time since the 2011/12 season. “For us,” said Rose, “this is the next bitter disappointment. “
Lack of quality across the board, lack of consistency at the top
And there have already been a few of those this season, which clearly shows those responsible how great the need for renovation of the well-paid and nominally well-known squad really is. There is a lack of quality across the board. There is a lack of consistency at the top. The current ensemble may be sufficient for the vital Champions League qualification via the Bundesliga. But it’s not enough to tackle more ambitious goals and play the kind of football Rose has in mind.
To achieve this, a radical change will be necessary, which, in view of the financial situation, will take place under difficult conditions and is likely to last longer than a transfer period. Especially since the club did not collect good reasons why a player should definitely play for BVB with performances like the one against Glasgow recently or against Amsterdam, Lisbon or St. Pauli before. “We have not collected any good sporting arguments up to this point. We were weak on the road in the cup competitions,” Rose summed up in Glasgow. “That affects the overall picture a lot. That’s the shoe we have to put on, that’s the criticism we have to take.”
To make matters worse, there is also no consistency in the personnel selection of Dortmund’s eleven, indeed, there can be no consistency. In the 6-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach last Sunday, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Giovanni Reyna went off injured. The morning before the game in Glasgow, Raphael Guerreiro was hit by a muscle problem, which prevented him from playing. In the match itself, the recently recovered Thomas Meunier, who according to Rose possibly re-injured the same spot as before, and captain Marco Reus (blow to the thigh) were absent. After the game, Emre Can’s back was pinching him.
Does the next danger threaten in the Bundesliga?
Goal scorer Erling Haaland has only been able to look on for weeks anyway, as has Manuel Akanji, who is also currently injured. All of this provides explanations, at least in part, as to why things have not progressed this season under Rose, who is supposed to make BVB attractive again in terms of football, but rather backwards as it feels. However, it does not provide an excuse for the many individual lapses.
The only thing that remains for BVB in this lost year is the Bundesliga, where they still have a theoretical chance of winning the championship, only six points behind Bayern, who are not completely stable at the moment.
Eleven games are still to be played there. And that with a more than comfortable starting position. Is the next danger possibly looming? “It is now more than ever our task to see the season through,” said Rose on Thursday evening, defending himself against the suspicion that his team, which is as disappointing as it is disillusioned, could end the year prematurely. How justified this assumption really is, however, will perhaps already become apparent on Sunday. Then BVB, once again short-staffed, will play in Augsburg – and Rose should hope that he will not have to answer the same questions again.
