So far, Borussia Dortmund has had too few shots and chances on goal. However, this is probably less due to the executors than to the preparatory work in midfield.
At least Donyell Malen should be in a good mood right now. Because Dutch striker scored both goals of Borussia Dortmund in the young season. He was personally not only responsible for the fact that the start with a win (1-0 against Cologne) and a draw (1-1 in Bochum) didn’t go completely wrong. It is also thanks to him that BVB has extended its series to 22 games in a row with at least one goal.
Now the stats are in football but sometimes a question of the period selected. Because the new season is only two games old. The 20 games before that belonged to the last season, which BVB almost finished as champions. The offensive game was second to none in the second half of the season (52 goals were the best in the league), but the attacking engine is still stuttering at the moment.
Malen convinces as a BVB executor
Whereby that is less a question of the pure executioner qualities in the storm. Despite BVB’s average performance, Malen improved his own tally to eleven goals in 2023 with his two goals so far. Nobody in the Bundesliga has celebrated more often since the winter break.
Sébastien Haller is still waiting for a goal of his own in the new season, but he too has a strong record in 2023 with nine goals and five assists. The fact that he will be absent in winter because of the Africa Cup is one reason why BVB is probably still looking for a replacement on the transfer market (window closes Thursday).
Few chances created: It is more of a problem in the game structure
Rather, it stutters in the preparatory work for the offensive department. Only Bayern has so far had more ball possession shares than Dortmund (62.2 percent), but BVB lacked the creative elements in the game going forward. “We still have a lot of potential in terms of playing,” said goalkeeper Gregor Kobel after the draw in Bochum.
The fact is: after only twelve shots on goal by Dortmund at the start against Cologne, there were only 14 on Castroper Strasse. Both opponents even had more goals than BVB (Cologne: 13, Bochum: 20). In addition, after these 180 minutes there is only a real Borussia big chance in the statistics.
Creative player Reus could get a chance against FCH
This shows that BVB has had problems compensating for the departure of the exceptional creative player Jude Bellingham. Dortmund lacked creativity, depth and speed in the game with the two new midfielders Marcel Sabitzer and Felix Nmecha and captain Emre Can – all more workers than classic game designers.
Borussia Dortmund’s ex-captain Marco Reus sits on the substitute bench in the game at VfL Bochum
Although Dortmund struggled offensively in Bochum for a long time without success and without inspiration, coach Edin Terzic left Marco Reus, the most successful goalscorer of all current Bundesliga players (150 goals), on the bench for the entire game. For the fifth time in his career, the 34-year-old, who gave up the captaincy before the season, stayed out a full game.
At the home game on Friday evening (September 1st, 2023) against newly promoted Heidenheim, he could possibly get the chance to set the urgently needed new impetus in the creative center. Or Julian Brandt, the most active Borussia player against Bochum, could move from the left to the middle.
In 2016, the knot also burst against a climber
In any case, BVB only scored two goals six years ago after two games. Possibly a good omen for the game against FCH: Already in 2016, on the 3rd match day, the knot burst against a promoted team, Dortmund won 6-0 against Darmstadt.
Against Heidenheim, Dortmund should again get most of the ball possession shares, but unlike Bochum, FCH revealed a few problems of their own in man-to-man duels. Although it could be exhausting for BVB: no other team ran as much as Heidenheim on the first two match days.
Incidentally, Borussia were last without a defeat after three games in 2018/19. With a win against Heidenheim, they would have their best start in five years – and maybe in the process get the offensive engine really going.
