“In need of optimization”
BVB boss Watzke criticizes Ricken & Co.
05.02.2025 – 12:54 p.m.Reading time: 1 min.
At Borussia Dortmund it has been rumbling for some time in the newly compiled management. Now the still club chief commented on the quarrels.
Hans-Joachim Watzke criticized the sporting direction of Borussia Dortmund. At the Spobis Conference in Hamburg, the club boss commented on the cooperation between sports manager Lars Ricken, sports director Sebastian Kehl and consultant Matthias Sammer with clear words.
“It is solely” about the question of whether the trio work well, said Watzke and added: “And that is still in need of optimization.” Nevertheless, he showed calmly. “But they also do it together for half a year,” said the 65-year-old. In football there are also “always pronounced egos”, each testing its limits.
Ricken now has the task of ensuring “that everyone marches in the same direction”. If it turns out in the medium term that this does not work, you have to rethink the concept. “But that’s no longer my topic,” emphasized Watzke.
Watzke has handed over the sporting area to Ricken since summer and is therefore no longer involved in decisions. He also had no share in the separation of coach Nuri Şahin and the obligation of Niko Kovač. “I told him: You make this decision, you make the decision what happens under you in the sporting area,” he said. His area of responsibility is now somewhere else, he doesn’t want to change anything on the sporting events.