“Doesn’t make us better than we are” – Terzic distrusts the trend
Borussia Dortmund has fought its way up to three points from FC Bayern with three wins in a row. After the victory in Leverkusen, coach Edin Terzic warned against overly optimistic forecasts.
FFor Edin Terzic it was also a confirmation on his own behalf. Part of the problems Borussia Dortmund had in the past calendar year stemmed from the difficult personnel situation. Where there is no competitive pressure, there is no friction – the BVB coach had always taken this view. And he had expressed the hope that this could change if he had more alternatives again.
Terzic now has it – and that ensures that new dynamics have emerged. “It was probably the best bench Borussia Dortmund has ever had. There were almost only national players there,” he explained after the 2-0 (1-0) win in Leverkusen, the third win in a row. Youssoufa Moukoko, Gio Reyna, who recently scored the winner twice as a substitute, Raphael Guerreiro and Donyell Malen remained on the bench for the entire game on Sunday. Marco Reus and Mats Hummels came on late. Tororgan Hazard and Mahmoud Dahoud didn’t even make the squad.
“I have to make tough decisions, and it’s not easy. But I prefer that to the situation last October, when the team sorted itself out,” said Terzic. He is now spoiled for choice and has shown a knack for making decisions: Dortmund started for the first time with Sébastien Haller in the center forward position, who recently made two brief appearances. This was good for the statics of the offensive game: The Ivorian still lacks liveliness due to his long downtime, but he gives the team significantly more than Moukoko, who recently started twice in a row.
The team is much better defensively
Terzic has different options again: Mats Hummels rotated out of central defense, Niklas Süle in. Winter signing Julian Ryersen replaced Thomas Meunier, one of the few players currently injured, on the right in Mainz last Wednesday. On Sunday he played left for Guerreiro. Marius Wolf played right-back in Leverkusen – and was one of Borussia’s best.
Terzic can change in all parts of the team and set stimulus points. As in Mainz, Emre Can made it back into the team in midfield and became an anchor of stability. There is one trend, albeit a more subtle one: The team, which was subject to major fluctuations before the World Cup break and had to concede many avoidable goals, is defensively much better again. Your presentation is still not perfect, but less error-prone.
Borussia Dortmund fishes 16-year-old top talent
Borussia Dortmund has caught the next top talent. BVB signed the 16-year-old Belgian U19 national player Julien Duranville. The winger last played for Belgian champions RSC Anderlecht.
“We can take this game as an example. If you’re tough in a duel, everyone works for the other, you can win a lot of games without a clean sheet,” said Can. So far, however, this has only been achieved once after the restart. In the 4:3 against Augsburg, BVB lost a lead three more times, in the 2:1 in Mainz there was a goal after just two minutes. On Sunday, on the other hand, there were hardly any dropouts – and if there were, goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was there.
This is a reassuring realization for Terzic – but nothing more. “Doesn’t make us better than we are,” he warned. “We still have a few issues.” Above all, it’s about the outstanding proof of sustainability. “Are we ready to take the next step? Are we doing less now and then have to catch up? Or do we stay right in the middle by keeping our foot on the gas pedal?” says Terzic. They are rhetorical questions – which the 40-year-old had asked in one way or another in the past few months. The answers at the time, however, were not in his sense.
Now Terzic is making a new attempt to stabilize BVB. With only three points behind FC Bayern, things are looking very promising at first. “We want to stay in the regions where we are now,” said the coach. So far, however, this is at best a declaration of intent.
