Hannover - Dortmund - how to give away three points

After a night of sleep I still can't get over yesterday's result. Actually Hannover is a terrific team and there is no shame in losing against them, but there is when you lose like we did. It was one of our most unnecessary defeats, and we had a lot of them. So how did that happen?

First (laudable) 70 minutes

The first 70 minutes were a classic Borussia Dortmund match. Very dominant, much possession, lot's of chances and none taken, except for the beauty scored by Shinji Kagawa. Our pressing was good, Hannover set back and waited for their chances on the counter, which was to expect since Hannover are a very good counter attacking team, who have problems to make the play themselves, as the 0-0 draw against Standard Liege has shown.

Even though Dortmund had no defensive minded defensive midfielder (funny, isn't it?!) as Sven Bender and Sebastian Kehl were injured/suspended many important tackles were won by Gündogan and for the rest some last ditch tackles by Subotic had to be done but nothing too dangerous by Hannover.
Perisic started from the beginning to replace a tired Kevin Großkreutz and in my eyes he did very will for the first time, linked up well with Kagawa and Lewandowski, created danger space and my favorite part: He is capable of holding the ball, a quality Großkreutz and Kuba are lacking of.



No concept after Kagawa's goal

After Dortmund scored their first goal the game didn't really change, Hannover set back, Dortmund tried to break down their defense. Generally there is nothing wrong with that, but in our situation it would have been smart to sit back and let Hannover to try to break down our defense while we get spaces for counter attacks, in such a season with so many games we have to think economically.

But we didn't and thus we lost our game because we were not clever enough.
Our major problem was that our back line didn't pushed high enough while our offense pressed deep into Hannover's half, chasing for balls you usually don't chase for 10 minutes before end. So we were too stretched and were only chasing shadows.
Another effect of our style of play is tiredness, even if you still got the legs you sometimes lose your focus and more and more 50-50 situations went towards Hannover's direction. Which ultimately led to unnecessary fouls resulting in unnecessary standard situations, from which Hannover scored their equalizer that gave them the euphoria to score the second.

Oh captain my captain


Another problem was, with Hummels subbed off, there wasn't a leader in our team anymore, who could have stepped on the ball and calmed the game down, give commands or anything else. I wish Klopp would have said something like "hold the ball" for once, since we immediately attacked after gaining possession. Taking the pace out of the game would have brought time and mental relaxation, which could have brought the focus back (would, could, should... I know, I know). Roman Weidenfeller might be the captain, but let's face it, he can't do much about it though. Everyone was occupied with himself in the last minutes which certainly is another reason why we lost.


Tactical errors


As I said, we didn't play it very cleverly this time. In the dying minutes of the game our offensive midfielder's chased the ball while our defense was sitting too deep, which left a huge space for the opponent, even though we have the ball in figure 1, we will be easily out numbered if Hannover gains the ball which is irresponsible 5 minutes before the end. Standing compact and defending as an unit (till the end) would have won us the game.

Figure 1
Huge Gap between defense and midfield

Mistakes before the 2:1

Here we have a good example of what went wrong in the last 10, 15 minutes: As you already can see in figure 1 the gap between offense and defense was wide, there was no defending as a team, neither was everyone behind the ball, nor did they put pressure on the opponent, which in other words is: refusing to play Bundesliga football.

Here are two approaches, how Dortmund could have dealt with the situation, but also the whole last 15 minutes of the game.
In figure 2 you can see again, how huge the gap between offense and defense is, even though there is no real danger yet we aren't putting any pressure on the ball, but still far stretched. Headless.

If those two players in the black circle would have waited for Hannover to come over the midfield line before they put pressure on them, we would have had something called an "organized defense", Hannover 1:0 down (not in this picture, but I'm trying to make a point here) would have had much more trouble to break our defense down and probably would have failed, but also'd have given us space to counter attack.

Figure 2
Black circle = striker's actual position
Orange circle = where they should be
Yellow space = space and time attacker can pick out his pass without pressure

Figure 3 is pretty much the same, but with a higher defensive line and a higher defensive midfield, which a) wouldn't have given Hannover so much space to attack, but b) and more importantly we could have chased Hannover and put pressure on them as we usually do, without a gap of the size of Australia between our lines. However figure 2 and figure 3 aren't that different, one more attacking, one a bit deeper-lying but both with one huge similarity: Compactness.

Figure 3
Violet line = where defense is
Pink line = where defense should be
Blue circle = where defensive midfield is
Red circle = wehere defensive midfield should be
Orange = gap between Defense and strikers, aka freedom for the attacking player

I hope Klopp will fix this problem and our boys will mature and maybe get a "dirty" 1:0 win in the future instead of losing 1:2. Also Großkreutz should have made it 2:0 before, but I didn't want to mention it for the sake of my blood pressure. (YOU ALSO GOT A LEFT FOOT FFS!!)

Heja BVB

feel free to comment, criticise, rant or whatever is on your mind.

Dortmund - Arsenal - we came to stay

Proud to be back

I can't tell you how excited I am to see my team play in the Champions League. After eight long years of absence we are finally back, and we have every reason to be proud of that. Because we earned it, with very little financial power we signed the right coach and pulled off many great transfers. Dortmund is a real team again. Our team has an immense spirit, they are basically friends with each other and you often can see that on the pitch, when one fights for another. Fans can identify again with a team that gives 100% every match. Borussia Dortmund managed to win the title with honest work, no Sheik, no backing by a huge company or anything else that goes into the direction of financial unfairplay. Now the first game knocks on the door and it's Arsenal, a fixture many people hoped for.


Special Atmosphere

The stadium was sold out within minutes, an indicator that Dortmund fans look forward to this match. 65000 is the capacity for international fixtures, 3000 are usually reserved for away fans but Arsenal brought only 1500.  For those who don't know yet, international fixtures involving Dortmund are usually very tense and emotional. And as we all know that English teams often are not that good anymore, once they left their little island. So our great stadium packed with our great fans will be a magnificent advantage. Once the referee makes a poor decision the thing will be boiling.


Two teams not in form

If Dortmund's season would have started off better nobody would talk about the lack of Nuri Sahin, but with Gündogan we have a great playmaker for the future, not for the presence. Dortmund's creative moment is only provided by Mario Götze at the moment and that is just not enough. Many of Dortmund's players are out of form. Shinji Kagawa, who was injured half a year, is only a shadow of what he usually is: a goal threat with virtue, ideas and the technical abilities to execute them, but at the moment he is lacking a good first touch, ideas and impulsiveness. He couldn't manage to put his mark on a match so far. I expected at least one goal after 5 games but the chances he had against Hamburg went begging and in the other matches he disappeared somewhere in the middle. Kevin Großkreutz is another good example for not being in form. He lacked composure and also disappeared somewhere in the last two games.

However, Arsenal can't be at their best with many injured key players plus many new signings who first have to adapt to Arsenal's automatism and style. This is actually a big factor and may Arsenal cost the game. Vermaelen, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky all injured Wenger still has enough options to field a terrific eleven though.

Don't be fooled though, Dortmund's poor start of the season has also to do with international breaks and very deep-sitting opponents. Since Arsenal won't sit deep, so BVB won't look as bad as they did against Hoffenheim or Berlin, because they will get spaces to combine fluently.
But it also doesn't matter so much who plays, but more how both teams play as a unit. Both teams have offensive power, so I think it will come down to the defense behavior, where I see an advantage for Dortmund. Arsenal will face a pressing opponent, who won't be not afraid to run the extra kilometer. If Arsenal lacks discipline in their defense they will be in trouble.

Mental factor

One good advice for Arsenal is to attack right from the beginning. Dortmund might be nervous, because it's the first time these boys hear the Champions League anthem before a match and they have already shown in the previous European encounter that they make unusual mistakes. But there is also a different approach to that topic: greed. Something that Dortmund completely lacked against Hertha Berlin, but maybe their minds where already with this match on Tuesday. All these young players will be extra motivated to enter the big international stage and will make this match even more intense, so bad news for Arsenal.


Open Match

Arsene already said that he want to attack, which is good news for Dortmund and neutral spectators (for Arsenal fans, too of course). Dortmund's plays their best football when the opponent attacks, they need spaces for their quick transmissions from defense to offense. Klopp said that his first priority is to "stand compact", but that doesn't mean, that we won't attack. So, I expect an open match with end to end stuff.
Arsenal's offense is good enough to bring even a good defense as ours into trouble, and luckily their defense is shaky enough that we also can create chances. I expect goals. Mertesacker already knows what I'm talking about, he had knots in his legs when he played in Dortmund the last time.

The Szczesny factor

Dortmund is famous for their nonclinical finishing, they especially have the great ability to make goalkeepers look unbeatable. Szczesny is a worldclass goalkeeper, from what I've seen. It may be that he will win the match for Arsenal, as he denies Dortmund. Last years European campaign was pretty good for Dortmund, we dominated all 3 opponents in every match, but failed to take our chances. The reason why we went out so early. It may be Déjà vu for BVB, as they often fail to unleash unstoppable shots.
If we want to progress in CL we need to work on that, especially against Marseille and Piräus we won't get many chances.




Lucky No 44

I'm talking about Ivan Perisic, chances are high that he will start instead of Großkreutz. His "luck-bringing" number is 44, but he is not allowed to wear it in the Bundesliga, because of stupid nonsense Germanness.
He is wearing the 14 on his back in the domestic campaign, but all his attempts on goal where very unlucky. He hit the post, or goalkeepers denied his shots per inhuman super saves. Football is full of miracles and I would not be surprised if he finds his scoring boots with the 44 on his back again.

Enjoy


As Jürgen Klopp says in a commercial, he advised his players to enjoy the match. He reminded his players, that it's always important to have fun, because they were losing a bit of their lightness in the recent matches. But it's the best advise I have for anyone who will watch this match: Enjoy!

Line Ups

Dortmund

Arsenal - I hope I've got that one right

BVB - Hertha - the wall of Berlin still stands

Wrong Line Up


We lost this match for many reasons.
It all started with Klopp fielding the wrong 11, he should have brought Perisic for either Großkreutz or Kuba. Both were poor, neither of them were in the game at any point, while Perisic managed to create Danger, as in every game he played so far.


Berliner Mauer (wall of Berlin)


Dortmund's major problem is that they don't have an answer for deep-sitting opponents. The reason for that is pretty easy: they never trained these situations, or at least not enough. Dortmund are famous for they quick transmission play and to use their spaces on the counter. But Hertha did what they had to do, they never let this kind of situation happen. Two quick offensive players were enough to score two goals on the counter and after a corner resulting from a counter respectively. And if Raffael would have been a bit more effective and Weidenfeller not as a great goalkeeper as he is, it easily could have been 4-0.


No passion, no glory


I'm most upset about the fact that my beloved Borussia wasn't the Borussia I know. Usually, even if we play bad, we fight, we work hard and play with 100% passion. Nothing of that was to see in the first 80 minutes, until Berlin scored the 2-0. Klopp talked about tempo-variations before the match, but to me it all looked like old age pensioner jogging. If the opponent sits deep, you have move a lot and rotate all the time so you can create spaces and holes where your teammates can pass through. Where we are at the next talking point: passing! I can't remember a game where we had so many easy losses of possession, many passes were played sloppily into an Hertaner's foot. It was too easy to intercept our passes, the receiver just stood there and waited for the ball to come, while the marker (who usually was right behind the receiver) just moved towards the ball and gained possession plus extra free space. The king of dreadful-pass-land was Gündogan, he head a dreadful game without any creative moments or danger creating Ideas, so he was expelled to bench-land at half time. Da Silva was at least a little bit better.


Dear, Jürgen Klopp


Where was Moritz Leitner? Oh, yeah, right on the bench. Awesome. We need more creativity?! Okay, let's throw Zidan in the game, yeah, that'll work. NOT.
Yes, this might be kind of a rant, but I'm still full of burning lava-rage...
Zidan, was a good player, but he is a kind of striker, and he is not famous for his many assists. Not the kind of player you sub in when you are looking for creativity and somebody who can create space and danger out of nothing, like, for example, Leitner.


It's just that easy to beat Dortmund

yellow lines = spaces Dortmund were allowed to use

However we have to pay a huge compliment to Hertha, they defended very well, with a 4-4-1-1 system. They closed the middle very well and forced us to attack over the wings, which was a good plan since Kuba and Großkreutz couldn't leave any mark at all. The middle was very dense, Gündogan and Kagawa were taken completely out of the match by Niemeyer, Ottl, Hubnik and Mijatovic. Bundesliga teams have figured out how to beat Dortmund. A thing Klopp has to work on. For example we need more shots from distance! It can't be that Sven Bender is the only one who shot from distance, and he isn't famous for long-distance shots, at least he struck the bar. But a Dortmund game without a nice shot at the woodwork wouldn't be a Dortmund game, right?

Now the "English" weeks start, maybe it was a very secret test of trying to win a match with only 50%, I don't know. However Dortmund never look good after international breaks and I'm curious how they will deal with the Champions League mentally. Will be a great test for our boys... Let's hope we learn from this defeat and will bring it on again against Arsenal.






HEJA BVB!

BVB - Hertha Dortmund without Götze

Borussia Dortmund - Hertha Berlin (10.09.2011 15:30h cet)

Eventhough I'm too busy with thinking about the match against Arsenal on Tuesday, Dortmund has to play a bit of football in between. After a year in 2nd division Hertha Berlin is back with a rather mediocre squad, but this is still the aftermath of Dieter Hoeneß. However Berlin never really managed to get something in Dortmund and I don't think that this will be different on Saturday. In other words Dortmund will win this!

Too scared

Berlin's games this season all looked pretty much the same: Two deep defensive lines, a wide gap, and then.. I don't want to say offense, so let's call it forward orientated players. Hertha's major problem is fear. They are afraid to go forward! They usually don't even try to before halftime and maybe in the 2nd half, when they manage to wipe of their fear. No wonder that they scored most of their goals so far in the last 10 minutes. Actually it's not that they aren't moving forward, but in modern football it's all about quick transmission from defense to offense. A counterattack with only two or three players is not enough and it takes ages until Hertha's midfield is moving forward, I hardly saw a sprint, and the defensive line looks like it was stuck with hard glue on an imaginary 22 meter line. But it's probably the right thing to do. They can't afford to get caught on the break and to concede, because then they would be confronted with a task they can't execute at the moment! Making the play.

Dortmund's next Mario Götze (by Jürgen Klopp)


Since Götze is suspended for two games, Jürgen Klopp has to adjust his starting IX. Götze creates space, bounds defenders, creates assists and scores goals. Who will replace him?
The Candidates:


Ivan Perisic
Little fun fact right at the start: Ivan Perisic nearly was a Bundesliga player in 2009, when he was on a trail-training at Hertha Berlin, but Lucien Favre sent him back to Belgium. I like Lucien Favre. Perisic has already shown what he is capable of! He created lots of danger so far but was a bit unlucky that he only struck the woodwork twice for Dortmund and his great volley was saved by Leno against Leverkusen! He certainly is a great option because he is a constant goal threat and he is the most 'complete' player of those three. He is both-footed, great header, quick and for Berlin it'd be hard to predict what he'll do and where he plays. I would love to see what he is capable of over 90 minutes, this is certainly a good chance for Klopp to start him from the beginning, also Perisic needs more playing time to adapt our system. Also his physical appearance will be the most effective against Hertha's rustic defense. My personal favorite for the job. We need somebody to score goals, something that Kuba and Leitner can't provide in his style.




Kuba

After a great game against Germany, where he even scored a penalty (lol). So maybe Kuba gained momentum. His advantage is that he is not a stranger to Dortmund's system and knows all the automatism. Also links up great with Piszczek on the right side! He is a hard working player, who gives more stability to Dortmund's defense but is not that of a goal threat as Perisic is. I often forget how good he really is until I watch closely what he is doing on his right side.






Moritz Leitner

Now this little kid right here is interesting and I really can't wait for his debut in Bundesliga. Moritz Leitner comes Götze's abilities closest to all three contenders, because his technical ability is great, his cheekiness reminds a bit of Mario's and his game intelligence and his vision is greater than Gündogan's (but that's only a personal opinion). It did happen one or two times that I accidentally mistook him for Götze, when I watched Dortmund, since they look pretty much the same from far away, but also the movement is quite equal, too. Maybe he will only come for the last 15 minutes, but he is a joy to watch. He linked up very well with Kagawa and Götze in preseason, certainly someone who brings more chaos to opponent's back lines.


So however Klopp will decide, he will decide right. Mario Götze may be a gem, but Dortmund has enough depth to replace Götze without a huge dip of quality. I'm glad that I don't have to make the decision.

Line Ups:

Dortmund

Berlin

What to expect

I expect a match where patience will be key. Hertha will sit deep with the task to destroy the game, I'm sure they'll be happy with a 0-0. But the game in Hannover has shown that Dortmund can't sit back after they score, if they let Hertha play they will! It's not like they are unable to attack. But if Dortmund scores early this easily could be a hammering, but I wouldn't count on it. My prediction is 3-0.

Heja BVB!

Leverkusen - BVB a trip to Neverland

This match day's top match is Leverkusen - Dortmund. (Saturday 18:30h cet)

Leverkusen is one of those clubs that shouldn't be in Bundesliga.
It's a little "town" between Cologne and Düsseldorf with 160k inhabitants and the club surely wouldn't
exist without the pharma giant Bayer. It's not the idea of Bundesliga that companies are in charge of a Bundesliga side and as a result they have not many fans, not really a fan culture. Most fans come from foreign countries, because they didn't know better. A big Bundesliga team should have many fans, shouldn't it? I mean, what's the point? It's like Metallica play on a huge festival in front of 5000 ppl. When Leverkusen played Wolfsburg last season SKY couldn't even measure people watching it. Sad. And such a club represents Germany in the Champions League (they never even were champions). Pathetic.

Leverkusen's trophy vitrine

But hey, the funny part is, that Leverkusen just won't win anything. Every time they come near a title they choke and collapse. There is no side that finished second so many times like Leverkusen, which is why they are called Vizekusen (a term, that Leverkusen trademarked, btw) or Nerverkusen.
Probably, because it's a soulless side, without proper support... but that's just a personal theory.

However, this match will be a top match! Leverkusen has many expensive players and a good squad that is very competitive.
With Robin Dutt they gained defensive strength, a feature they usually lack.
After a rather pathetic loss in Mainz they managed to win 1:0 at home against Bremen and also 1:0 in Stuttgart. A quality we usually know from Freiburg. Exactly.

It will be the last and only test against a really competitive side for Dortmund before going into the first Champions League match against Arsenal, no offense Hertha.
So it's a key match, for several reasons! For one, I hate losing against Leverkusen! Also it will be a good test, to see how a game looks like when an opponent is NOT sitting as deep as possible in his own half.
Jürgen Klopp already said that his "matchplan" will be: Standing compact, focus on the defensive duties first. With Robin Dutt on the other side I'd usually predict a very tactical and boring match, but looking at both offensive lines it can't be! Even though it's still uncertain whether Mario Götze plays, there are still names like Schürrle, Augusto, Sidney Sam, Kagawa, Großkreutz, Perisic... Yes, I left out Kießling and Lewandowski, but you all know why. This clash also never produced a 0-0 in the history of Bundesliga!

If Dortmund wants to get anything out of this game, they better get their act together. If they start the game like they did in Hoffenheim or the first half against Nürnberg, we won't have the slightest chance.
I really hope that Shinji Kagawa will find his form! His last good game was in Japan (3-0, two goals) and he still hasn't scored yet. Also I'm pretty sure that Perisic will score his first goal on Saturday! Just a feeling.
Also it will be very interesting, which of the Bender twins will win more tackles. All in all I hope for a pretty exciting match with a sweet win over Vizekusen!

How to beat Leverkusen?

Well, usually I would draw some tactical stuff here, but there is no need.
Easiest recipe: Deny Leverkusen for 50-60 minutes, they'll get nervous and then collapse.
It has worked so many times! Or just wait until Ballack comes on! Haha... I'm joking.. I'm Joking... am I?
Maybe a little tactical annotation: Leverkusen is very vulnerable down the flanks, so it will be key in this match for Dortmund to make runs down the flank (Piszczek, Götze, Großkreutz, Schmelzer) to create width. Also a task for Kuba and Perisic. Werder Bremen showed that it's very easy to spread Leverkusen's attack this way and they often lose the coordination in defense. Creating this lack of orientation is one of Dortmund's specialties when it comes to transmission (Defense -> Offense).

I still love to watch the "5 minutes of Leverkusen" from last season! I even got the video on my mobile and I watch it from time to time when I'm waiting for the bus or so. Dortmund scored 3 goals within 5 minutes! Leverkusen completely collapsed. It's a beauty! Here, watch!

Heja BVB!

So matchday 3 is finally over! We beat Nürnberg in a very scrappy way, but winning those games, too is just what a championship winning team needs. However, there are still a few things, that are bothering me after MD 3, for example that Schalke is still in front of Dortmund in the table! (Effin Mainz)

First half was completely forgettable,
you can have 10 creative players in your team, if they don't move enough to create space, nothing will ever happen. There were several aspects why we didn't create chances in HT:
First of all Gündogan is not able to hold a ball and distribute it well enough to create momentum and space on the pitch. It was clear that we are going to miss Nuri Sahin, but he is not leaving an impression on the pitch at the moment. But to be fair he was closed down very well from Hoffenheim and Nürnberg. It looks like he still needs much more time to feel comfortable and knows where his team mates run. He needs to anticipate the runs of our players which is easier when you played with your side for 2-3 years (in case of Sahin) or are on your 5th match for a team.
Another reason is that Shinji Kagawa is still tired, he lacked freshness, creativity, cheekiness and quick thinking on the pitch, which left our center pretty harmless, but hey, he was injured for such a long time. He will be back. But I'm really disappointed with Lewandowski so far. Not only is he wasting so many good chances (should at least have scored twice!), but also his inability to hold on to the ball is making me want to barf. Something that Barrios is doing so well and Lewandowski is trying, but not doing so well. It's a key in our game for the offensive transmission! Lewandowski gets a long ball, holds it, passes it back, turns around and runs in the box. When Barrios is back Lewandowski will be my first candidate for the bench. Also we got lucky that we didn't concede when Weidenfeller ran out of his goal, just to realize halfway out that he was going to be to late, but managed to get a hand to the lop.

2nd Half brought everything that Dortmund is

Even though we didn't made our best game, we managed to bring on the pitch what we stand for: Hard work. Finally we ran the extra meter, and won more important tackles. We scored the 1:0 by a quick transmission after Nürnberg's corner. Lewandowski's technical error to accept the ball was the key, because Götze came on the ball and he made the difference. He spun around two defenders, had a one-two with Piszczek to go around the third and laid a fine pass back to Lewandowski, who mishit it into the net.
From there on it was easier for us, since Nürnberg, who planned the 2nd half to be a bit more different, gave us more space. It's really astonishing, how Mario Götze steps up and decides games for us! Once again his individual skill led to the 1:0, the most important goal in football.
Positive impacts came from the bench, with the substitution of Lewandowski and Kagawa, who had not their best games. Perisic and Kuba came on. A very interesting tactical tweak by Klopp.
With Kuba on the right, Götze could move to the center, where he is most dangerous and Perisic replaced Lewandowski 1 to 1 in the striking position.
Perisic is more of a goal threat to me than Lewandowski, he is much better when it comes to holding the ball and it seems like he has a better instinct. Though he is pretty unlucky, he hit the woodwork twice now.
So he will definitely score against Leverkusen. FACT! I'm very happy with Perisic and it looks like he was worth every penny. He always came from the bench, but had no trouble at all to find into the game and is creating danger from the first second. More on him later this season.

BVB - Nürnberg, wide awake.

Matchday 3
It's match day and the excitement of the Bundesliga is starting to rise.
Borussia Dortmund take on Nürnberg at home, while there are some other crackers going on in this weekend. This matchday will be an indicator for the next few months (at least I think so).
The first one actually already finished, when Gladbach outclassed Wolfsburg 4-1,
but there is still a classic going on:
 Bayern - Hamburg, sadly it won't be as classic as it usually is, since Hamburg is..hmm how do I say it?... crap, their defensive effort in the last two games was not Bundesliga worthy. Maybe they can defend against Bayern though, since it's one of the easiest tasks at the moment. Once the Bayern attack has been encrypted, the Bayern "system" lacks creativity and surprise.
The next game I'm looking forward to is Stuttgart - Leverkusen! Stuttgart is a side I think will be in the top 5 this season and I see them ahead of Leverkusen at the moment. Both sides definitely got good players, but Stuttgart got the mental edge, which Leverkusen never has... though they won luckily against Bremen last week, I don't think they have enough confidence to beat Stuttgart in their "new" stadium. The atmosphere makes a big difference in Stuttgart's game, I guess and since they finally have a bit of consistency, they might live up to their potential for once. This game will actually be a cracker because I think both teams have enormous firepower, but have their funny moment's when it comes to defending. So if they don't play too careful, I expect a 3-2 or something like that.
Also I hope Mainz can gain another three points this weekend, as they face Schalke, who had a bit of a bad day in Finland. Tuchel is certainly the guy who can snuff out the defensive flaws Schalke has.. just a nice win for Mainz is what Schalke needs to get the bad flow going, with all the distortion with Raul. :-)

Well, to Dortmund now.

The loss in Hoffenheim is well analysed and in the past. One of the big factors of last week's defeat was tiredness, a factor that certainly won't appear today. Götze wasn't scoring against Brazil and Kagawa wasn't in Japan. It's not 100% sure, but it looks like Marcel Schmelzer and Neven Subotic are fully fit again and will start. This means that Dortmund's last season's title winning back four is reunited and Klopp's "Starting XI" is about to shape up. Only Barrios is missing, but since Lewandowski is stepping up (he improved his skill of holding the ball quite good in off season) we will be almost at full strength again. I'm wondering whether Leitner will make his Bundesliga debut, since he is a kid who can bring in the unpredictable chaos. He linked up very well with Götze and Kagawa during the preseason matches and his kind of cheekiness will maybe be the key to an 0:0 after 60 minutes.
Maybe it will be an advantage, that Gündogan might know his old side very good and knows where the gaps and holes are where he has to put the ball to create chances, who knows.
I'm wondering how much focus Dortmund will lay on width this game, it certainly lacked against Hoffenheim, since we attacked too seldom over the wings and it was certainly analysed and will be improved, though it won't be as important as it was against Hoffenheim. Nürnberg is more vulnerable at flat, quick, combining through the middle than high crosses into the area. Also this is a game for Sven Bender, since he will face tough opponent's in midfield and the tackles won't be soft in this one, so keep an eye on him.



We like Nürnberg

If Hoffenheim is our bogey-team, we are certainly Nürnbergs. The last two seasons they were certain 6 points and I don't see a reason why they should be in this, maybe a reason why they only bring 3,5k supporters with them. Last season they brought 6,5k supporters. So the might Westfalenstadion won't be sold out! Boooo!

With Schieber, Gündogan, Ekici, and Wolf they lost a lot of quality, though their activities on the transfer market weren't too bad either. With Feulner they've got a quality Bundesliga player. who certainly has his extra motivation since Klopp hasn't as much use for him at Dortmund as he had in Mainz. His free kicks and long-range shots are always a threat, and he also knows, just as Gündogan, his old team very good, since he used to play against them every day. With Thomas Pekhart they've got a good striker from Belarus, who looked very calm in front of goal and scored their only 2 goals in the campaign so far.
All in all Nürnberg has a very young side with lot's of potential to develop and have a bright future. They have very talented defenders with for example Wollscheid (one of the upcoming gem's in German football.. he might play alongside Mats Hummels in 2014).
I have seen the two Nürnberg games and I have to say that they are very organised, and can make a game look very boring and awful, which is a compliment in this case, though I'm not sure how they will react after they conceded. But a 18 year old will try everything to prevent that: Patrick Rakovsky. Since Nürnberg's captain and goalkeeper Raphael Schäfer is out injured for at least 10 weeks, the young goalkeeper will debut in Bundesliga, and I have the bad feeling that this is just the occasion to have the "game of his life". (as we all know, goalkeepers always gain top marks against Dortmund, since we always aim at them.. ugh) It's not an easy task though, since the experienced Schäfer gave many commands during the game, which now have to come from Rakovsky, who will hopefully be too impressed by the Yellow Wall.
I think this game can be close, but Nürnberg is certainly good for one or two individual and tactical errors, which we have to punish. We also should make sure we score two goals, since Feulner will certainly try to squeeze one in.

Heja BVB!

Why Dortmund can't beat Hoffenheim

Groundhog day

Matchday 2 is over. Bayern lucked their way to three points, my friends from Herne-West won 5-1 against Köln, who collapsed after they conceded a controversial penalty. Leverkusen scored their winner AFTER Michael Ballack got subbed off and Mainz, who were too crappy to beat Gaz Metan Medais, lead the table.
Typical Bundesliga stuff.

And of course we lost in Hoffenheim. Again.
It was not our best match, but there are several reasons why we lost.
First of all we overslept the first 10 minutes. Hoffenheim were pressing brave and high, we lost too many tackles in the midfield and in our own half which lead to nervy losses of possession. Too often we tried to pass the ball over 2,3 meters and we ended up losing the ball because Hoffenheim players were quick enough to interfere. A situation like that was the reason why we conceded a freekick, which Salihovic converted in a perfect way.
Of course, it was lucky, but not undeserved at that point and it was already our kiss of death.
Hoffenheim's tactic from now on was: Hold the 1-0, destroy the game and wait for counter attacks.
And I guess, there is not a better team in the Bundesliga when it comes to destroying a game. They know how to defend! They work very hard, are always in a good position and near their opponents. And if their opponent has a little advantage they just foul. Nothing serious, just a little push or a little shove that gets the opponent out of his rhythm and so they gain possession, or concede a free kick but usually don't concede a Yellow even though it was a tactical foul.
Also many of our players were tired from the international break so there wasn't as much movement on the pitch as it usually is, which forced our defenders to operate with long balls, not a good idea to search for Shinji Kagawa who is covered by one of Hoffenheim's tall guys.
Mario Götze and Shinji Kagawa were too tired and they shouldn't have started in the first place. They completely lacked freshness, which lead to many sloppy first touches and mistimed passes.

Jürgen Klopp has a lot of work to do. He has to teach the kids to use the wings more when the middle is too dense.  BVB often tries to carry the ball into the goal with little one-two's and flicks through the middle, which won't work so well in every game as it worked against Hamburg.

We really didn't manage to creat many chances this game, and those we had were executed poorly. Starke was never really forced to make a superb save. Kevin Großkreutz with the best chance in the game, but he made the wrong decision when he aimed for the near post. Of course we were a bit unlucky when Kagawa was fouled in the box, but I can't blame the ref, because it wasn't easy to see and Vorsah touched the ball (after he "touched" Kagawa's legS). Another good example why we should have referees based at the goal-line.

Positive impacts

Yes, there was not much positive for us to draw out of this game, but there is one: Ivan Perisic.
He came on in the 56. minute and had many good actions over the left side and was very unlucky when his header only hit the woodwork. But it showed that Perisic can be a very important player for Dortmund this season.

Also, it may sound stupid, but having a bad game like that early in the season is always helpful, as long as the team got a healthy amount of confidence. There are many things Dortmund can and will learn from. Learning from mistakes was and is one of Dortmund's greatest strengths under Klopp. We always came back after defeats, so watch out Nürnberg!

Hoppenheim - Dortmund

A trip to the village

After a exciting first matchday and an international break Bundesliga goes into round 2.
Dortmund will travel to Sinnsheim, a little town, nay village, which is too small to be Bundesliga-worthy.
However, a certain Ditmar Hopp has pumped enough money to generate an artificial Bundesliga club in the middle of nowhere. But before I reach too far we better get to the sport. ;)

Dortmund's first match was very impressive and the 3 points were never really in danger.
If you think it'll be as easy against Hoffenheim as it was agaianst Hamburg, think again!

Line-Ups

Dortmund has a few question marks, because some players picked up some knocks.
Götze, Hummels and Kuba picked up knocks, but Götze and Hummels said on Wednesday that it would only be "minor". Also Jürgen Klopp said that it's not 100% sure whether Shinji Kagawa can play, who had a brilliant game against South Korea (as you can read here), he is maybe too tired because of the jet-lag.
Also Marcel Schmelzer is still not 100% fit and Neven Subotic and Lucas Barrios are definitely out.
So our team could more or less look like that:

But Probably it'll look more like that, anyway.

Hoppenheim

Hoppenheim is a team that can't dictate a game (which was easy to see vs Hanover and Windeck). They are a defensive minded, counter-attacking side.
They usually don't make many tactical errors, which is why Dortmund has to bring their passing to a very precise level. The village-team is playing in a 4-2-3-1 but tends to defend in a 4-3-3.
They have many strong, physical players, who play very rough. So I hope none of our players gets injured from one of the many fouls today.
They are good in the backwards-transmission, but lack a bit of consequence on the way to the goal. It takes too long until they have enough bodies to play a quick counter, so they are pretty harmless, even though they shouldn't be.
With Tom Starke they've got an excellent goalkeeper and I have a bad feeling that he will score big points in every fantasy game today.

Dortmund had problems to beat Hoppenheim in the past because of their destructive game, but I guess, that's the past.
Though the TSG was the only club we couldn't beat last season (which is of course the fault of Mr. Stark, the "referee"), and the only goal we managed to score was a beautiful free kick.
Sadly, I don't have any more time to write but you may enjoy the goal again. + Netradio.

BVB - HSV- Let the games begin!

 Friday, 05.08.2011 20:30 (cet)
Dortmund should win this with ease.


Finally. I can't wait any longer! Bundesliga starts for us with a cracking home match. Dortmund - HSV, always a prestigious match. After the opening ceremony with flag-waving and confetti involved, the Südtribüne will finally come to live again and hammer their chants towards the pitch. Jürgen Klopp will troll around at the sideline and Götze and Kagawa are ready to entertain! Yes, Bundesliga, we missed you! And we are gald that your are back!

Preseason has shown that Dortmund is in a really good shape, meanwhile many other Bundesliga teams are still struggling. Still not everything is perfect yet, Barrios is injured for at least 6 weeks, Schmelzer will miss at least the first game and also Bender missed a lot of the preparation. Luckily we can replace Marcel Schmelzer
with Chris Löwe, who really managed to impress everyone (Jürgen Klopp & co. including) in test matches. His teammates were often looking for him on the left side and not afraid to give him the ball. He had good games at the Supercup and the DfBCup. Löwe will need a bit more support in defense, which Kevin Großkreutz can provide, but his runs forward and his
crosses are pretty great. Chris Also has a great shot, would be funny if he managed to score his first Bundesliga goal, since Marcel Schmelzer is still waiting for his.
Also there is still no decision whether Bender or Kehl will start in Hamburg, but either way I'm not unhappy.


This is the first match under competitive Bundesliga conditions and now it really counts. I hope we don't waste too many chances and get a good first match, with a dominant win to gain a flow that takes us through the season.
If we lose 2-0 only to comeback and win the last 16 matches of the hinrunde, I'm okay with that.

Probable line up against HSV:

I'm really looking forward to Ivan Perisic's debut, who will probably come on for Kevin Großkreutz after 65 minutes. Perisic managed to impress me during preseason with his physical appearance. Perisic is a bigger goal threat than Kevin Großkreutz and will probably score some deciding goals coming on as a joker.


HSV fans only smile when they discover themselves on the video wall


Usually this is the point where I point out the strengths of a team, but I've watched all recent HSV matches and I found none. Of course, they've got lots of individual skill, especially in their offense.
But Hamburg has to worry about their defense at the moment. Westermann is captian, good joke, I know!
Mancienne showed that he is a good kid, but he needs guidance. Something Westermann can't provide since he is too busy with himself, standing too far away from opponents.

But it's not only the defensive line that leaves wide gaps, it's also the gap between the back four and the two defensive midfielders. It was very easy to spot that HSV lack structure in their defensive and composure in their offensive attempts. If it wasn't enough they seem to lack team spirit and often look quite demotivated on the pitch. In one sentence: Hamburg looks pathetic. But maybe 80k ppl will bring their winner-side out, who knows?
Before you say anything, yes Hamburg are in times of renewal and of course they won't be at their best. But Hamburg has a exciting team and there can grow something, but that needs time. The Game is on Friday. :)

So how will Hamburg play?
Probable line up:

I guess, as Hamburg did it in the Liga Total! Cup,
they will try to park the bus in Dortmund.
Actually they don't have much of a choice, if they try to play as they did vs Valencia they won't have much of a chance.
Oenning will bring Töre on Friday, he was the only one who managed to vitalize a poor Hamburger side.
I'm really sure though that Son will have a great season and score many goals and maybe provide assists, since he is now in the play making role, he has a great first touch and good finishing qualities, but I'm not so sure about his distribution skills. We'll see about that. Also Guerrero will come back with an impact on their Hamburg after a great Copa America, but luckily that won't be the case on Friday :)











Pep talk

I discovered that Hamburg is really vulnerable when their opponents are using the Zorro-tactic.
Which is excellent news, since Dortmund is training that very often and have scored many goals that way last season. Also against Hamburg last season.

The Zorro-Tactic is pretty easy. A winger or wing-back makes an over-lapping run to the base-line (Piszczek, Löwe) and lays the ball back (flat) for the upcoming  offensive midfielders like Götze or Kagawa. Lewandowski's job is to pull the defenders even more upfront to open the gap in the box. This usually allows a free shot on goal, it's often played fast and surprises the opponent's defense. Since Hamburg's defensive midfielders are often too far away from their defense, they'll probably react to slow and Kagawa or Götze will have all the time in the world to pic their spot.

Valencia tried that tactic 4-5 times and they created a good chance every single time.















You can check out here, how that looks like in reality:

Season starts, Dortmund is ready.

I'll take a quick look on the foundations we need for a very challenging season. So here we go.

Spirit

The cup has shown, that my loved Borussia has what it takes after a title winning season.

Mental edge. In a post-match-interview Sebastian Kehl was asked "This looked pretty easy!?" 

His answer was a statement of our philosophy. "No, it was hard work."

Laying foundations for a season does not only mean getting in a good physical shape (which, of course, we achieved),

but also gaining mental fitness. The will to win is always game deciding in sport! The more you got, the better.

Dortmund has it.

Soft skills become more and more important in modern football, the quality of football clubs in Bundesliga becomes more and more balanced and chemistry on and off the pitch can often makes the difference.

But what means "will to win?"

First, every individual player needs it until you can say "This team has the spirit to win!".

It means to go over your limits, when it's needed to be. Keep your focus up over 90 minutes on high a heartbeat/minute level. It means that you want o make the extra (probably useless) run, to create space, attack.

It means you can only play for Dortmund if you are greedy until the final whistle has blown and you are always ready to go beyond your limits week after week.

It is an open secret that Dortmund's team spirit plays a huge part in their success. Klopp said "It's more important to have a harmonizing and functioning team with weaker players than having a team full of better, but disharmonious players." Also a reason why Man City is crap. A real team with harmony and friendship is something you can't buy. You have to choose your characters wisely and hope it grows. A process that hapenned/happens in Dortmund and creates identification and joy, also better working conditions for players and staff.

But BVB has also a temporal advantage: Confidence.

It's a result of our success and will carry us through the next months (at least). 

You can only play your best football if you know, that you can play your best football and don't start to 'think'. Everyone knows that.

That doesn't mean that we underestimate our opponents or take any game easy, if you were hoping for that.

Vollgasfußball

Jürgen Klopp's philosophy is "Vollgasfußball" (full-throttle football).

It's focused on the play without the ball and the transmission when gaining the ball and again the transmission when losing the ball - and everything as quick as possible. In other words it means you are always running.

Step 1.

When the Opponent has the ball, you chase him and press him like there's no tomorrow. (running)

Step 2. 

You finally gain the ball. Now it's your job to run forward to outnumber your opponent.

Step 3. 

You created a great counter attack with a marvelous combination and found an even more awesome way to waste your glorious chance.

Step 4. 

The opponent has possession now, it's your job now to think defensively. Bring bodies behind the Ball ASAP,

get your defensive structure in tact and start over with step 1. 

So where is the pause? ... Exactly. (That's why fitness and greed are so important)

A little video that captures all that pretty good.

Get ready for Plan B

That is usually how Dortmund played and scored goals last season, but this season might be a whole lot different, since opponents will try "to park the bus". I expect many teams to play with two deep-lying defensive lines that will focus on destroying our combinations and place (as we call it in German) "needle stitches".

Good thing we have Kagawa and Götze, who can split up defenses with their individual skill and

Wing-backs that overlap and go forward to the base line to create width.

Bad thing Dortmund had some problems with very defensive minded opponents, as losses in Hoffemheim and Gladbach prove, so I hope Klopp has worked on that during preseason.

A system called 'variety'

Dortmund will face a season with international football, so depth and rotation

will be key elements of this season (unlike last's, where Klopp tried to rotate a minimum possible [never change a winning team]).

A player who wants to play for Dortmund has to fulfill different criteria, flexibility is one of them. And a very important one.

Gündogan for example was signed for the defensive midfield-role, but can also play in offensive midfield,

same counts for Moritz Leitner, and Ivan Perisic can also play on the left side, right side + defensive mid.

Kagawa and Götze both can play on every position in the offensive midfield (they will probably often switch postions during a match), Götze also can play in the creative-minded def-midfielder role.

Kevin Großkreuzt (my personal favorite in this) can play as a right/left-winger but also can play as a right or left back (and pretty good at that. Awesome, right?

Oh, I forgot to mention Julian Koch (injured for at least the first half of the season) who can play literarily everywhere.

So there is a lot of competition going on within the squad, something that Klopp wanted, so nobody will take a little "we are champions-break". (Something that is very important as we have learned from Bayern last season).

The system is not based on individual players, but every player knows his role/roles in the system and the ones of the others. This is a huge quality which allows Dortmund to rotate players without changing the System. Will be even more important when "Key-players" are injured.

A phenomena that was great to observe during friendlies. Klopp just exchanged 7 or more players but the quality didn't dip recognizably. (Liga Total Cup 2nd Half = perfect example)

Kuba, Zidan, Leitner, Perisic, Lewandowski, Kehl, Da Silva etc. will probably all enjoy a lot of playing time this season, even though they might not be in the standard starting XI.

Verdict

I'm pretty confident that Dortmund has it what it takes to go into the next season, and fulfills all the above mentioned points. I can't wait to watch the boys battling through the season with breath-taking, pacy, skillful football.

DFB Cup - Stage 1 - SV Sandhausen

The season finally starts!

Traditionally the season starts with the DeutscherFußballBund Pokal (yes, it really sounds that lame).

All teams of 1. and 2. Bundesliga are seeded and will play against cup qualifiers like SV Sandhausen, or Amatuer clubs, if I'm not mistaken any team could qualify even some 8th tier side.. (if there is an 8th tier?!?)

Anyway, Dortmund's younger history isn't really bright, we got kicked out of the cup twice in stage 2 by 3rd. league sides (Osnabrück, Offenbach). And MAYBE we learned from it. 

Let's get this over with

Alright, I'd love to tell you more about Sandhausen and their team, but actually I don't know anything and

I don't really care either. All I know is that they are on a 14-games unbeaten streak (very impressive) and that Sandhausen is in a area where the German (if you want to call it that) dialect makes me want to barf.

Both coaches said pretty much the same what they always say before these matches.. 

Sandhausen's coach: "Bla Bla Bla, we are the underdogs but we have a tiny little chance that we want to take."

Klopp: "Bla Bla Bla, we have to be careful and aware and take them serious and everything..."

So I just want to go there, win and don't care any further about Sandhausen. Now someone will say "Hey, show some respect!", but I won't. Haha. I expect Dortmund to cruise along even with all the cautioning words before..

It's Dortmund's duty to take this Sandhausen side seriously enough to get a win, (without extra time, of course), not mine.

Maybe this year it's gonna be different

The DFB Pokal is of course the shortest way to win a title,

and so everyone is hoping that this will be "THE YEAR"!

So of course, I'm stupid enough to believe that Dortmund might make it far this year (third stage would be a success). 

But what I really hope for is finally a DFB-Pokal HOME MATCH! 

I can't even remember when it was the last time when Dortmund had a home match in the DFB Cup..

I mean, we have this great stadium and with our Südtribüne and our atmosphere we would have a huge advantage, so please make this happen!

Personal problems

Marcel Schmelzer probably won't make it, so he will be replaced by Chris Löwe.

Kehl, Gündogan and Perisic aren't 100% sure, they picked up a knock.

But we should still have enough quality to beat a 3rd tier side.

K. THX. BYE.. see you at the post match report.

Supercup - Positive disappointment

Practice penalties! (FFS!)
We lost, "luckily" in a penalty-shootout, not during regular time.
We scored 0/5 penalties in the last season and I can't remember when Dortmund won their last penalty-shootout. It were good tactics for Schalke to sit back, wait for the opportunity to counter and to prioritize 'holding on for a draw', since Ralf Fährmann saved 2 penalties for Frankfurt against Dortmund last season, so no surprises there. So, congrats to Schalke to their only title in the next 10 years or so.

Anyhow, the defeat might be bitter, but it's quickly forgotten when I think about the game itself.

Line Up:
Weidenfeller, Piszczek, Santana, Hummels, Löwe, Kehl, Gündogan, Großkreutz, Kagawa, Götze, Lewandowski / Subs: Bender, Perisic, Leitner



We can build on a good foundation

As Jürgen Klopp said after the match "I rather lose a match where we played good football, than winning the cup with a shitty performance!". And he is absolutely right about that. Over many parts of the game it looked pretty much like last season and even better when Götze (with two swollen toes) and Kagawa linked up and showed some mind-blowing combinations. But let's start with the important part, the movement without the ball!
Pressing, positioning and aggression were all already pretty much on spot, even though we lost more tackles than we usually do, but I guess Sebastian Kehl can't replace Sven Bender and Chris Löwe, who was besides one, two shaky moments pretty solid and vitalizing on the move forward, won't replace Marcel Schmelzer in a bit.

We still managed to keep Schalke away from goal, who had most of their chances through standards and two per individual skill. Especially the second half looked better, we dominated the game, or should I say Schalke left us the ball. It was certainly Rangnick's tactic to sit deep and wait for good counter opportunities and play fore-checking in phases, but not constantly. It pretty much worked out, besides that it didn't. Our switch from offense to defense was great! I really enjoyed it and it will make me sleep good at night, but our switch from defense to offense wasn't always as fluent as it usually is (I blame it on the preseason).

 It was the last pass that didn't worked out for us, even though we had almost always a man in a good position we weren't capable of finding him, OR it was Lewandowski who has a good first touch and a bad last touch (Yes, I'm really disappointed with his effort today! He lost nearly every ball, and his golden chance alone in front of Fährmann was a lame effort.)
It was always one flick too much or one missing pass to score. And all our efforts on goal were really poor! A point we definitely have to improve.
Kevin Großkreutz took a few shots on target, but my prediction is: he will never score against Schalke! NEVER. He just can't, I don't know why but even his penalty was sooooooo poor.

Mario Götze had again a terrific game, as always, but he is still not as dangerous as he could be. He usually has some sort of an assist-fetish, but announced before the season that he will be more selfish.
Well. The problem today was, he wasn't selfish when he should have been and he was when he shouldn't have been, but that wasn't only the case for Götze today but for everyone really and it's the reason why we couldn't score today.

But that's exactly why I am positive.. this is the kind of situation we can easily improve, since Jürgen Klopp will analyze it and the boys will probably learn from it (good to know that we have mostly intelligent players). You remember Leverkusen? First Game? 2-0 defeat? And how we came back? It's probably the same here, since there is only fine-tuning required.
The defense structure stands pretty much and with Bender, Schmelzer and Subotic coming back it will be even easier for the rest to work backwards, so not much to criticize here.




Taking Chances


But in the end I'm still very frustrated that we are still struggling to use our great opportunities we have properly and waste one chance after another. Ilkay Gündogan said after the match "We wasted so many opportunities! I never experienced such thing before!" Well, mate, get used to it.

I think the chance/conversion is a very dramatic issue regarding Uefa Champions League, where you don't have many chances per match and you have to be efficient to make it far in the competition. In fact, it was exactly the same problem that got us ruled out of the Euro League last season. We absolutely dominated PSG and Sevilla but we couldn't pull of a win, even though we had plenty of excellent chances.

But there is hope! Kagawa and Götze will become more clinical with time (regaining form in Shinji's case) and from my latest impressions Perisic won't be such a lousy chance-waster as Lewandowski is, which will pretty much mean that Lewandowski won't get as many play time as he did last season.

But hey! A bad chance/conversion rate and crappy penalties were our trademark last season and we still won the title.. it is one of our few weaknesses and when we improve that.. yeah well, then the rest of BL is pretty much effed! HARHAR goodnight! :)
Heja BVB!

Supercup - Derbytime!!!

Schalke - Dortmund [23.07. 20.30h (cet)]

You can look up in italics written terms in the dictionary. ->

"The next game is always the most important."

Our season starts with the Supercup, where last seasons' Cup winner and Champion meet.
The mother of all derbies starts 2 weeks before the Bundesliga kicks off and is a good occasion
to see where the teams stand in their preparations.



But it's not only the Supercup, it's also THE derby against our biggest rivals and I wanna frickin win it. Badly.
Not only because I couldn't stand seeing Scheiße 04 winning a cup,
but also because a derby win has a long-term value for our campaign.

As Jürgen Klopp once said the 3-1 derby win in the Turnhalle was one of the reasons why Dortmund won the title after all. (because of the great reception at the Dortmund Stadium when the BVB-Bus returned from the match.) He said that it made it even more clearly "why we do what we do" and how much this means to the fans, which formed an even greater spirit in the team and gave extra motivation for several months. It also strengthened the bond between the fans and the team and showed newcomers like Shinji Kagawa what Dortmund is all about.
I hope we can re-do this for our newcomers and set the first highlight of the season,
winning a cup at the rival's home is just what we need to get a good flow for the further stages of our campaign. Also Schalke is a club with a great tradition and we want to keep the tradition up, since they lost last years' Supercup against Bayern Munich.

'derby reception 19.09.2010' - Großkreutz with a Megaphone                                            
So, it's an extra important match and I'm already nervous as hell.
I won't make any predictions who will play for S04, because I clearly lost track of their transfer activities (Yes, that's how much I care). The one thing I know is that there is no Manuel Neuer who will save their asses this time.

And Jürgen Klopp has also a hard time figuring out a starting XI. The defensive core should be the usual though.
 (Weidenfeller, Schmelzer, Hummels, Subotic, Piszczek).
 Also Lucas Barrios will definitely not take part since he is on international duty with Paraguay at the Copa America.



The Comeback

A certain player will definitely play since he is already leaving incredibly good impressions in training.
No, I'm not talking about Mario Götze, even though he'll probably play and is also leaving good impressions.
I'm talking about last seasons derby hero Shinji Kagawa.
The young Japanese will finally fully return from his injury and is already highly motivated to play a good season (and more importantly: full season). Observers say that his actions on the pitch look like he was never
missing, which of course is music in my ears and a tinnitus for all Schalker. :)

There is not much left to say than: I'm really really really really excited to see him combining with Mario Götze and scoring goals.

Here is a little reminder of what he is capable of.
KAAAGAWAAAAA SHINJIIIIIIIIII, SCHALALAAA SCHALALALALAAA!

5 3/4 new signings minus Nuri Sahin

Before the new season starts we first have to talk about Dortmund's new players and how they will deal with the loss of Nuri Sahin. Jürgen Klopp said "Our squad is stronger than last years." A statement.
Dortmund had several reasons to sign new players:

a) Nuri Sahin transferred to Real Madrid
b) More depth for Champions League Season
c) Dede's departure
d) Keep the pressure and tension high within the squad

So here are the new boys:

Ivan Perisic

Ivan Perisic is Dortmund's top transfer. The midfielder came for 5,5 million € and has many
attributes. He will be a constant goal threat, since he scored 22 goals in Belgium for Club Brügge.
Ivan is left and right footed, has a strong header, is quick but also strong and a very clinical finisher. Jürgen Klopp loves variable players and here comes one of the main reasons why he was hired: He can play on every position in offensive midfield, but also on Nuri Sahin's position (8) and of course he can play as a striker because his behavior in the box is just as a striker behaves. His position has still to be figured out but Kevin Großkreutz should be wide awake, since Perisic played as LOM last season at Brügge.
Tactical tools for Klopp: Ivan is not only quick and a good dribbler but also makes a physical appearance. So if he plays alongside with Kagawa and Götze his job will certainly be holding the ball (as Lucas Barrios often does), make runs into the area to head the ball in and last but not least to help in defense/support Marcel Schmelzer/Lucas Pisczeck as LOM/ROM or even Sven Bender as DM. Since it's still uncertain who will be in charge of free kicks, he is definitely one of the candidates!
I personally hope that he is a bit more clinical than Robert Lewandowski and our chance/conversion rate will improve with him.

Ilkay Gündogan

22 Years old, comes from 1. FC Nürnberg, defensive/offensive midfielder, first candidate to "replace" Nuri Sahin. His stronger foot is the right foot. His qualities are winning the ball, opening the game, overview, control of the ball and is also capable of scoring goals. Playing on position 8. (the more offensive defensive midfielder of the double-six) will be a heavy burden for him since he has to fill a gap that Nuri Sahin left. (Which of course isn't what we expect of him since we all know that Nuri Sahin is a footballer of world class format). Ilkay has to grow in his role and he has the potential to do so. I'm looking forward to him and since it's not too hard to integrate into our team I predict he will have a great first year in Dortmund... and hopefully many more!

Moritz Leitner

18 years old - Investment for the future. Dortmund actually bought him in winter from 1860 München for 1 million €, was on loan for the rest of the season at promoted Augsburg. Now he will be in the Dortmund squad. He is a really gifted player, talented, but still raw. His position in München was the creative/offensive part in defenive midfield (Sahin role), because he has got great vision and overview, is of course right and left footed and of course he can score goals! He has a solid shot from distance.
He can also play in the offensive midfield... but not that we would need another offensive midfielder (Kagawa, Götze, Großkreutz, Kuba, Perisic), however the kid has still much to learn, even though he was one of the characters in Augsburg until he broke his arm, he is, of course, still lacking experience and needs to gain some muscles since he is falling a bit too easily. Never the less Dortmund can look forward, because watching Moritz play is always joyful and entertaining. Also he is in best hands for his further development.


Julian Koch

Julian Koch is a player I'm really looking forward to,  even though he is injured and will come back in the 2nd half of the season. He was on loan at 2. Bundeliga club MSV Duisburg for one year, where he really blossomed.
His usual position is right back, but he also successfully played central midfielder and play maker in Duisburg, who reached the DFB Cup final, where Julian Koch scored important goals and was mostly responsible for the success in the cup. He was vice captain which is only one indicator that he has a strong character. Besides the mental strength his tackling ability, also his agility and speed, his good understanding of the game, positioning and opening of the game are a skill set that could make Julian Koch to one of the future stars in German football. Ops, I forgot that he is also great in setting up chances or scoring himself (mostly by head). He will definitely vitalize our game and will make his appearances in the next season and leave impressions, I promise.

Chris Löwe

22 years old, was signed as a left-back backup from 3rd tier side Chemnitz FC. The ambitious left foot, who is Dede's replacement, is also capable of playing offensive, so just as Marcel Schmelzer, will run up and down the left side when Marcel is injured/suspended.








Marvin Bakalorz

Marvin Bakerlorz (21) is coming from Dortmund's u23 and is a central midfielder. I really can't say much about him, since I've never seen him play before. But his promotion for the first team should be proof enough that he is capable of playing football.