At Borussia Dortmund, the question of quality is being asked at the latest after the poor performance in the 1-2 defeat in Stuttgart. While BVB had initially hoped that the 0-4 defeat against FC Bayern a week earlier was just a blip, the poor performance in Stuttgart probably opened the eyes of many.
Borussia Dortmund is currently in fifth place in the Bundesliga table, far from the claim it made before the season of wanting to become German champions.
In the SPORT1 podcast “The Dortmund Week”, SPORT1 chief reporter Patrick Berger and BVB reporter Oliver Müller examined the question of how much the team’s loss of quality has to do with the transfer decisions of the people involved.
One thing is clear: the departures of the super talents Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham in recent years could not be compensated for. However, the development of the young players Jamie Binoe-Gittens, Gio Reyna, Karim Adeyemi and Youssoufa Moukoko did not go as well as sports director Sebastian Kehl and coach Edin Terzic had hoped for various reasons.
Before the season, Kehl and Terzic were faced with the question of which transfers could be used to bring in the necessary quality to finally topple Bayern from the championship throne again.
Berger: “Kehl and Terzic don’t always agree”
Kehl and Terzic “did not always agree,” as Berger emphasizes – even if it was stated to the outside world that they had agreed on the transfers.
If you go through the transfers of the recent past, you will notice that some players were favored by Kehl and others by Terzic. With Ramy Bensebaini, Kehl “decided very early on,” says Berger. “That was a transfer that Sebastian Kehl wanted. He enforced it early on.”
On the one hand, the decision was understandable, as the SPORT1 chief reporter points out. Ultimately, the left-back was brought in from Borussia Mönchengladbach on a free transfer. It was also suspected early on that Raphael Guerreiro would not stay at BVB beyond the summer.
On the other hand, they may have missed out on Alejandro Grimaldo, who had also been offered to BVB and “is now completely lost in Leverkusen,” says Berger. In contrast to Bensebaini, who is nowhere near Guerreiro’s performance in Dortmund.
“30 million is way too much for Nmecha”
Julian Ryerson, who was signed by Union Berlin for five million euros last winter, was also a Kehl transfer. He was recently one of the better BVB players, but is not one who “takes BVB to another level in do-or-die games,” as Berger states.
Felix Nmecha and Marcel Sabitzer “were approved by both Kehl and Terzic,” explains Berger. “Kehl suggested Nmecha and immediately opened doors for Terzic.” But 30 million euros were “far too much for this player.”
Müller at least believes that both players “can get even better over the course of this season.”
However, Berger has his doubts about Sabitzer. “He’s not one for the really big and important games either. He still has to show that. “He is a transfer that has not only caused great celebrations in the club,” he says.
The filling jug personnel was also controversial. “Edin Terzic really wanted to have another tall striker, although one or two voices, including Sebastian Kehl, said that it would be better to look for a central or full-back,” explains Berger. “In the end, we decided on the striker Füllkrug, also because the coach wanted it.”
In retrospect it was a good decision, considering that the alternatives Sébastien Haller and Moukoko are either completely out of shape or totally fluctuating in their performance.
“This team has lost quality”
Müller’s conclusion is: “If you currently look at how the new signings are performing or – in relation to most of them – not performing, you have to say that this team has lost quality.”
Berger concludes that the main culprit for this cannot be identified. But he too is of the opinion: “One or two misjudgments were evident.”
2023-11-16 08:58:57
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