The next embarrassment in the Bundesliga: BVB under Niko Kovač lost a league game for the second time under Niko Kovač. It works wrong.
Many Dortmund players looked at the bottom of the Bochum, formerly the bottom of the table after the defeat on Saturday. “There is no explanations for this,” was a deputy statement by goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. The appearance at the Ruhr Stadium in Bochum, which ended in a 0-2 defeat, was too frustrating or too embarrassing.
Anyone who has hoped for the typical Dortmund upswing in the second half of the season or a boat that has often been made after a coaching change should be disappointed. Dortmund stuck in the lower half of the table – and in the worst case that will not change until the end of the season. A significant change in the game of the Borussians has not been recognized since Kovač’s arrival. In itself, Dortmund plays with a lot of possession of the ball under Nuri Şahin, without achieving the desired space gain.
BVB also had the ball run around the opposing block in Bochum, which means that both playmaker Julian Brandt and striker Serhou Guirassy were largely cut off from the game. “We created almost nothing in the second half. We had the ball, but were totally weak in front of the opposing goal. That is definitely not enough,” said Kovač.
At the same time, Dortmund remains extremely susceptible to this style of play. At the half -time break in Bochum, BVB had almost 67 percent possession, but only took a shot on Timo Horn’s goal. Meanwhile, Bochum had produced five shots in the direction of the Dortmund housing, two of them by the experienced Greek Giorgos Masouras.
Dortmund simply lets the ball run through the back rooms or on the outer lanes for too long. Ball losses are becoming more and more likely. Because either the defenders produce bad passes at some point, as was the case with the second goal in Bochum when Niklas Süles back pass to goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was too short. Or the Dortmund wingers are isolated near the sidelines and separated from the ball.
Incidentally, the failed back pass from Süle, which Masouras intercepted and converted into the second goal of VfL, was also a reflection of another Dortmund problem these days: Like Şahin, Kovač is now always trying to do new things in terms of staff. Due to the problems in the right -back position, the nominal central defender Süle has now been brought back to this position. If the 29-year-old had to turn off and play the ball with his back to the field, he was on his weak left foot. So also with the error before 0: 2. Emre Can also regularly commutes between defense and midfield.
And in midfield itself, Marcel Sabitzer, Pascal Groß, Maximilian Beier and Co. is constantly mixed. The automatisms that are much discussed in football cannot arise. Each player initially seems to have to do with himself and the acclimatization. Others, such as the fast outside players Jamie Gitten and Karim Adeyemi, try to come into play desperately, but it is difficult to possess the ball due to the systemic weaknesses.
Kovač, it seemed primarily fetched as a motivator and not as a tactic. And this team certainly needs mental construction work. However, if you make the same mistakes in the design of a game, Kovač also has to give new impulses tactically.