On matchday 33, Borussia Dortmund finally made the runner-up perfect with a 3-2 win against Eintracht Frankfurt – a strong season for BVB, which, in the opinion of former Bundesliga professional Maik Franz, is not sufficiently appreciated.
“To be honest, it irritates me that many people only notice this casually. Dortmund’s performance and especially the work of coach Niko Kovac would have deserved much higher appreciation,” emphasized the 44-year-old in a “kicker” column.
Franz added: “Kovac took over the team in free fall in 2024/25 and sensationally catapulted them into the Champions League. This season, the coach and players have consistently confirmed this high level. Hats off! I find it absurd that massive dissatisfaction arose at times because the style of play was supposedly not attractive enough.”
Under Kovac’s direction, BVB collected 70 points before the end of the season at Werder Bremen on Saturday. In addition, the black and yellow have the best defense in the league with only 34 goals conceded. Nevertheless, there is always criticism in the environment of Kovac’s approach, which we find to be not spectacular enough.
Are BVB and Co. following an “industry trend”?
“Of course,” said Franz, “further football development is always desirable.” However, in addition to the right squad, this also requires “time and inner composure,” said Franz. “For this, in turn, positive results form the indispensable basis. Constantly dissatisfied clamoring for the much-quoted ‘next step’ instead of appropriately appreciating the difficult confirmation of a once successful performance has become an apparently contagious industry trend, not only around Borussia Dortmund.”
Franz emphasized that his former club Karlsruher SC, “where the work of coach Christian Eichner is no longer good enough for sports director Mario Eggimann,” is an example of this.
