Borussia Dortmund have used the final days of the transfer period to discard a number of popular but increasingly idle employees.
The transfers are consistent with coach Tuchel’s vision, but are they free of risk?
Kevin Kampl, Jeremy Dudziak, Oliver Kirch, Jakub Blasczcykowsi, Kevin Grosskreutz. Five players whose services Juergen Klopp routinely relied on, five late departures this summer under Thomas Tuchel. The latter had, for weeks now, openly discussed the possibility of renowned players leaving in an attempt to further thin out the squad.
Thus, when Dudziak’s and Kirch’s departure were made official it did not raise too many eyebrows. Kampl seemed a misfit destined to change sooner or later. Blasczcykowski’s exit took more supporters by surprise however, and fan favourite Grosskreutz’s announcement to ditch BVB for Galatasaray in some cases proved the final straw. It stands to reason that Tuchel’s rather cynical handling of much-loved players means the beginning of the end for football romanticism at Westfalenstadion, but even if true, who would argue with the man who single-handedly propelled BVB back to the top of the league table?
If Tuchel’s past is of any indication, the 42-year-old tactician usually aims to work with a body of 17 to 18 versatile players, all of which he endows with a great deal of responsibility and trust. If a player happens to be part of that one-and-a-half dozen then good on him. If not, however, chances are the bridges between coach and player are burnt before you know it. Tuchel had those issues in Mainz and the fact that Grosskreutz rather leaves his beloved BVB at this instant, never mind he is not eligible to play for Galatasary until 2016, hints at similar antics behind the scenes. As ruthless as it looks though, Tuchel has the right to make those calls and ultimately ensures that unwanted players can no longer voice or cause disharmony within the team.
With five players gone and BVB competing in three promising competitions, maths dictates one or two new signings for Dortmund. Yet, contrary to most of the speculation last week, the Black and Yellows decided to refrain from making additional acquisitions. Instead, in Manchester United’s Adnan Januzaj, Tuchel loaned a multi-faceted, unquestionably mouth-watering young talent until the end of the season. It could have been a stroke of genius, a very Dortmund-esque coup, except management failed to secure an option to pull the trigger on the young Belgian after the season. Because of that, the bottom line of Dortmund’s transfer efforts reads fairly sobering: five departures, one arrival on loan.
So what exactly is to gripe about? Possibly not much. Dortmund, at this stage, play beautiful football and just added a deft United player to the mix, one that has the potential to both complement and enhance Dortmund’s game. Nevertheless, something does not sit quite right and it might merely be the sheer number of midfield players leaving. All five departures had been deemed midfielders by Tuchel before they were passed on, one has been added in return – for now.
The most obvious peril of Tuchel’s gutsy decision to forego all those illustrious names is that the quality coming from the bench has notably deteriorated. While the starting XI around offensive trio Marco Reus, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Shinji Kagawa looks daunting enough, the bench as of now only features Jonas Hofmann and new boy Januzaj as one-on-one attacking midfield replacements. Two players is not an awful lot in terms of options for the coach, provided both players are in good form and healthy. Those two variables, again, are properly fleeting, especially taking into account Hofmann’s injury stricken past and the simple circumstance that Januzaj is a complete stranger to the squad. The popular sentiment around Dortmund is that players require the first season to get acclimatised in Black and Yellow. Januzaj will have 31 matchdays to disprove that theory.
Form aside, Dortmund have expressed their confidence and belief to go far in all three competitions this season, which, by default, necessitates enough players to rotate and rest key players from match to match. In view of a pretty economical midfield contingent, it raises the question: how does Tuchel plan to field a vivacious, mentally alert team on a crucial Bundesliga weekend after having travelled and played three days earlier in Azerbaijan, by way of example?
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Nobody wants to jinx it, but the feeling that having disposed of experienced players like Blasczcykowski could backfire will most likely quietly linger for a while. In related stories, both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reus have reportedly suffered minor injuries on their national team travails, giving Tuchel a taste of what he might have maneuvered himself into in the future. If his players do manage to steer clear from injuries this year, nothing seems impossible. That said, let one or two players sustain a lengthy injury and Tuchel will be in hot water for the first time in his young Dortmund career.
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