After an unprecedentedly short preseason capped-off with an emphatic 2-0 win over Juventus Turin, Borussia Dortmund’s season is set to begin in Europa action against Wolfsberger. With just over four weeks of preparation under their belt, the number one question on everybody’s minds will be – are they ready for the tasks ahead?
The numbers look encouraging, of six preseason encounters against mostly formidable teams, Dortmund clinched five wins including a 6-0 and 6-1 gala on their first ever tour through Asia. The one-off against German second-division club VfL Bochum has been labelled the result of a depletive week of training and will not have been something coach Thomas Tuchel lost a lot of sleep over. So, how much value can we attach to these results? Is it deceiving to think that a month of sedulous training can establish the fundament for a lengthy but successful 2015-16 season?
Both on-and-off the pitch, players and officials are starting to drop hints as to where they feel the team are at, and what is transpiring ought to get BVB sympathisers excited.
Positive impressions from back to front, Tuchel content
It appears like everything at Dortmund is currently falling into place. Long-time injury ridden players such as Adrian Ramos, Kevin Grosskreutz and Jakub Blaszczykowksi are all on the mend, the defence – led by a reinvigorated Mats Hummels – looks finally watertight again and no matter who Tuchel decides to deploy up front, there are goals galore. It is good news left, right and centre, almost a bit eerie for some of the supporters still recovering from last year’s heartaches.
While undoubtedly at an early stage and – perhaps more worryingly to some – similar to last year’s solid preseason form, you cannot help but notice that the tone and atmosphere among staff and players has changed. Coach Thomas Tuchel, known for painstaking work and being economical with praise, allowed himself to speak with genuine excitement about the progress the black and yellows have made so far after the test win against Juventus.
“We have just turned a solid week into a top-notch week. Beating Juventus after a physically demanding week like we had testifies to the spirit we already have.”
It is the first time that Tuchel himself has made a public comment on his team’s stride and he looked elated compared with earlier times, where he had still unequivocally preached caution.
The squad stands: Most important new arrivals are consistency and wellbeing
One of the most crucial pieces in the puzzle of success is unquestionably the legs in a team. Tuchel and his staff will know that just like Jurgen Klopp did, however, the new boss has put an interesting spin on it. After Ciro Immobile’s departure, most media outlets started speculating on a potential replacement to Robert Lewandowski’s aborted successor, but it starts to crystallise that Tuchel, against all predictions, has not requested a new signing. The three players he brought in earlier (who all made clear that they were contacted by Tuchel first and joined specifically because of his efforts) are arguably more on the side of low-key signings and native German speakers. Tuchel has made clear that he wants to restore the integrity of the squad by unifying a side that showed uncharacteristic cracks last season.
Even more meaningful, however, is Tuchel’s insistence that the current squad is good enough to have a real crack at the Bundesliga’s top four. By his account, it is not quality in the form of players that has been insufficient at the Westfalenstadion, but simply the lack of continuity and injury-free spells that brought BVB to their knees. Dortmund fans will agree expressly and probably pen a mental thank-you note to the new coach.
The fact that over the course of last season Dortmund had 13 players that were out injured for longer than six weeks is jaw-dropping and Tuchel’s analysis of it dead-on. As mentioned above, the long term injuries are all slowly returning home to the training pitch (and it is reported that Tuchel actively helped Grosskreutz overcome his problems) and it looks the active players are not being overworked, plus all match efforts are distributed evenly through rotation.
Sporting Manager Zorc: Short preparation a balancing act
Former Borussia Dortmund player Michael Zorc, now in charge of sighting the market for new signings and contract negotiations, summarised the intricacies of a shortened preseason explaining that,
“It is a balancing act between occasionally exhausting your players in order to toughen them up for a long season and the fact that our preseason has been cut short. We need to be ready for the Euro League Qualification round in less than a week and cannot strain the players to a degree that potentially fatigues them for a longer period”
He too spared some words regarding Dortmund’s form after a month of collaboration with the new headcoach and his staff, whilst anxious not to malign Klopp’s work, he conceded that the team was longing for new stimuli. The outcome is accordingly positive. The side is said to be extremely thirsty for new inputs, vigilant in training and always on.
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With the imminent kick-off to BVB’s first Europa League Qualification match against Wolfsberger AC, effectively kicking off their 2015/16 season, the team by all accounts looks refreshed, sharpened and well-balanced. If that impression can hold up when push comes to shove, we will find out shortly.
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