Only about two weeks after the 0:4 in Amsterdam, BVB gets the chance to make amends against Ajax. Coach Marco Rose calls for better and bolder play going forward.
Marco Rose knows what he is talking about. “Football is a day-to-day business,” the Borussia Dortmund coach stressed on Tuesday, one day before the Champions League match against Ajax Amsterdam – the, even if it is otherwise the wrong term in the group stage, perceived second leg.
For a fortnight ago, BVB’s works outing to Amsterdam and the impressively loud Johan Cruyff Arena ended in a sobering 4-0 defeat in which the black-and-yellow visitors were shown the limits – playfulness, aggression and counter-attack were largely absent.
Since then, however, Dortmund have already played three more games, all of them wins, and the performance at Ajax was quickly put into perspective by much better performances at Bielefeld and against Ingolstadt and Cologne. “We still know how that game turned out, but a lot has happened since then,” said Rose.
“Results from previous games have no effect on upcoming ones “
Nevertheless, ahead of the second clash, the focus was now on what lessons the coach and his team have learned from the first, what needs to go better in their own stadium. “We want to win the game at home, be dominant and not give the ball away too often and too easily,” says Mats Hummels and is “very sure that we will put on a completely different face”. The centre-back does not believe that he and his team-mates still have this 0:4 too much in the back of their minds: “Results from previous games have no effect on upcoming ones. “
With all the tactical considerations about a three-man or four-man backline or the level of pressing, Rose believes that his own style of play is also crucial. “We have a strong team coming up that is looking to dominate. For us it’s about making the right decisions with the ball, playing better and more courageously going forward.” So, unlike in many situations in Amsterdam, “making the right decisions at the right moments”. Because there, the coach looks back, “it didn’t look pretty at the back, we can’t let it get that far. “
However, Hummels stressed that it was not due to the idea of the game or a lack of adjustment in the course of the match: “If we had implemented the tactics better, we would have played a better game.” The team had “tried to do that for 90 minutes”.
“Enough confidence” after three wins
But the apparent lack of execution had no long-term consequences. Neither the vice-captain nor his coach felt any “insecurity” afterwards, even though Rose confirmed that the result and performance had “already bothered, annoyed and angered” him. After the three victories afterwards, however, there should be “enough confidence”.
In terms of personnel, not much will change compared to the game against Cologne on Sunday, says Rose: “No one will be lost, but no one will be added either.” Whereas, he will be able to welcome one addition to his squad as he did for the game in Amsterdam: Dan-Axel Zagadou will be in the line-up again after his 69-minute comeback in the U 23 at Viktoria Berlin (1:2) – and is definitely “an option for a few minutes”. And preferably, as the coach added with a wink, “when Mats has scored his two headed goals and needs a break at the back”.
