Borussia Dortmund runs behind its own expectations and suffers the next bitter defeat. The focus is on a sad figure.
Dear Holstein Kiel, please do not misunderstand the following lines. They only have to do with the shockingly weak and indifferent performance of Borussia Dortmund and not really with the strong performance of the Kiel team. Because: How else can such an abrasion be classified? 0:3 already at half time? Final score 2:4 against ten Kielers? Hardly explainable, not just for BVB fans.
You have to put it this way: What Borussia Dortmund is doing at the moment – and actually all season long – is an indictment. Last season was already ups and downs, but it ended on a somewhat reconciliatory note with reaching the final of the Champions League. And now? You can twist and turn it however you want. Losses due to injury, bad luck in sports, a flu epidemic – all facts. But also: playful inability, listlessness, a touch of indifference.
This inevitably puts coach Nuri Şahin in the spotlight. A former player becomes a coach – before the season it sounded like pure football romance. But with the result in Kiel, this magic has finally disappeared. His term in office may have come to an abrupt end.
As “Bild” just reported, things no longer seem to be right between Şahin and some players. At least: Captain Emre Can supported the coach after the bankruptcy, and BVB managing director Lars Ricken also ruled out a separation (read more about that here).
Şahin described his team’s performance after the game in Kiel as “absolutely shameful, an absolute non-performance.” But it is his responsibility to push the players to their best possible performance. He doesn’t seem to be able to do that anymore.
Şahin and BVB? That was a nice idea, but it has now failed miserably. Dortmund, which started the season as Bayern hunters, has to act. Change all players? It does not work. So once again it is the coach who has to be sacrificed. Also in this case. Otherwise the rude awakening will come. If the minimum goal of “Champions League qualification” has not been achieved.