TV expert Lothar Matthäus criticized Borussia Dortmund’s style of play and was surprised at how Edin Terzic recently sent his men onto the field. He also gave the BVB coach some advice.
“Borussia Dortmund thrilled me with offensive football in the last second half of the season,” said Lothar Matthäus in his column for “Sky”, looking back on the last season, in which BVB almost snatched the title thanks to a furious comeback with sensational games. He added soberly: “But this season Edin Terzic is letting his team play more defensively, as they did recently in Leverkusen and in the cup exit in Stuttgart.”
Legendary reporter Marcel Reif recently criticized the black and yellow coach in a similar way. “Neither in Leverkusen nor against VfB was it a story of mentality! Instead, an approach was chosen that as a team you put yourself at the back, let them come and then counterattack. Is that Dortmund?” asked a surprised Reif in the program “Reif is live” a few days ago on “Bild”: “Is this Dortmund football, which was already operated on by coach Edin Terzic in Leverkusen and then yesterday [beim 0:2 im Pokal gegen Stuttgart, Anm. d. Red.] again?”
Against RB Leipzig (2:3) last weekend, the picture was rather unintentionally different. Because BVB had been decimated for a long time by the early red card against Mats Hummels and had nothing left to lose by being behind, Terzic’s team was able to play more freely.
Matthew noticed this too. “Against Leipzig, you saw again in the second half that Borussia’s DNA lies in the offensive,” said the TV expert about the Dortmund game, who almost managed to equalize in their pressure phase.
Matthäus: “This is the better alternative” to the current BVB game
“With speed in the wing positions through Adeyemi and Malen or young players like Bynoe-Gittens. Reus in the center, Julian Brandt can also be played in the double six, plus a real clearer and a back four behind them. In my view, that’s it better alternative to what Terzic is doing,” Matthäus gave the coach a tip.
The 62-year-old explained that by signing players like Marcel Sabitzer or Niclas Füllkrug in the summer, they actually set an example. “You bought the offensive, but you play defensively. It doesn’t fit together,” was the TV expert’s clear verdict, which Terzic could also read as instructions for action.