AEven after his best game so far for Borussia Dortmund, Donyell Malen still looked a little intimidated. With a restless look, he told the club TV about the “boost” he felt after he had scored his first Bundesliga goal in front of the yellow wall. Behind his nervousness, however, there was also a great joy. For BVB’s late 2-1 winner against VfB Stuttgart five minutes before the end, Marco Reus was allowed to celebrate, but the greatest gain in knowledge on this rather gray working day for Dortmund was the appearance of Malen.
The 22-year-old Dutchman has been referred to as an “introverted foreign body” (ran.de) and “king transfer without a crown” (Reviersport) over the past few weeks. Coach Marco Rose had also become clear and had demanded that Malen work on his “mindset” and do more for the defensive. Now the critics have received a strong response.
The duel against VfB wasn’t actually a striker’s game because the combinations were rarely continued into the Stuttgart penalty area. But Malen somehow rummaged through the fray, looked for duels, poked and held against it. He had the best Dortmund opportunity in the first half, but headed just wide of the goal. He later went on to other strong deals, “That was a benchmark for Donny in many areas today,” said Rose. Malen finally “didn’t wait for moments, he worked for moments”.
For 30 million to BVB
That is nice praise, which also contained a few background information on the past few months. Apparently, Malen somehow longed for his breakthrough, but did not work actively enough towards it, which increasingly worried those responsible. After all, they spent 30 million euros on the attacker in the summer. The son of a Surinamese father and a Dutch mother is the most expensive player to join the Bundesliga last summer. The plan was for Malen to replace Jadon Sancho and, ideally, to complement and relieve Erling Haaland. He was never met these expectations.
In the meantime he had seemed quite frustrated in this difficult situation, especially since every viewer could see this stark contrast to the incredible Erling Haaland goal machine. Compared to the Norwegian, Malen looked like a rickety Dutch bike next to an opulently equipped racing bike. That was bad for self-confidence. Against VfB Stuttgart, Malen had more ball actions after half an hour than on other days in 90 minutes. And his goal was somehow symptomatic of a game that was shaped more by willpower than playful finesse. His 17-meter shot was deflected by Hiroki Ito (56th). “It’s a great feeling to hit the yellow wall, I’m very happy,” he said.
Rose was particularly pleased that Malen had made his small break in a game like this. It was tight and competitive. “We didn’t shine too much,” admitted Mats Hummels. But painting was still very present. This is real progress over the past few weeks. “I think Donny needs self-confidence,” said Emre Can of the colleague. “It’s not easy when you get away from home.” Holland is not far away, but Malen is a rather reserved person who may need a little more time to integrate than more extroverted colleagues.
Whether the final phase of the first half of the season, which began with this twelfth matchday, will, in retrospect, be considered a time of liberation for Malen remains questionable. The striker scored a very important goal in the Champions League, the 1-0 win against Sporting Lisbon. At that time, too, there was talk of a breakthrough – a misjudgment. Now Malen and his team are traveling to Portugal for the second leg, where the delicate feeling of the upswing could quickly evaporate. In the event of a defeat, there is a risk of premature exit from the Champions League. But perhaps the “boost” that Malen was given from the south stand is actually strong enough to still have an effect on Wednesday.
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