Its amazing to think that Dortmund finished last season
trophy-less. They failed to defend their German crown being replaced by Bayern
as kings of Germany and were also piped to the European crown by the Bavarians.
Despite this, Dortmund enjoyed an amazing surge in popularity and recognition
that was long overdue, having impressed no-end two seasons in a row prior to
last year. Only now however after failure is Klopp receiving the plaudits he
deserves for building such a talent ridden squad on a budget smaller than many other European rivals.
There is an air of optimism surrounding Dortmund, last
season they came so close, but instead of having finality about it, (all good
things must come to an end.) There is instead a new breath of fresh air for
Dortmund. A real feeling that last season was just the beginning of something
successful. Not many clubs could lose in the Champions League final, lose their
league crown and lose their best player yet come out the other side appearing
stronger.
One key element of this is the fact that Klopp has built a
young squad, rather than a team whose best days are behind them. Dortmund are
yet to reach their potential best. Of the side that started the Champions
League final only the Goalkeeper Weidenfeller was over the age of 30. They lost
their key player in Mario Gotze, but this is nothing new to Klopp. In the last
3 seasons he has lost his best player every summer. Sahin, Kagawa and then
Gotze all left the club, one has returned (on loan) and there is an inevitability
that a return is imminent for the other.
A similar situation to loosing Gotze was when Spurs sold
Modric two seasons back. Instead of replacing him with one like for like
replacement they instead replaced him with a few players which in turn gave the
side more variety and choices. Something similar has happened in Klopp’s
strategy. One of Gotze’s strength was his ability to play both wide and
centrally behind the striker. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was purchased after a very
impressive season both domestically and on the continent, and he looks to fill
the void left by Gotze centrally. In addition to the Armenian (as seen in the
first game of the season) Klopp can also push players higher up the pitch. In
particular Ilkay Gundogan graduated from the central of midfield to the apex of
the midfield triangle with prodigal son Nuri Sahin coming in. Aubemeyang had a
stand out season in Ligue 1 last year and Klopp brought him in as competition
for Lewandowski. This was a smart move because Julian Schieber hasn’t really
challenged the Pole effectively. Like Schieber, Aubemeyang also gives Klopp wide
options with his blistering pace and his goal scoring exploits.
Blaszczykowski continues to impress with his craft and
incredible workmanship out wide, he finished last season with 12 assists.
Despite this Kuba has never really been valued as high on the continent as he
has to Dortmund fans, but there is absolutely no doubting his importance to
Klopp’s side. No other player sums up the equilibrium between ability and work
rate so valued by Klopp than Blaszczkowski. Groβkreutz is another who has
similar qualities, he is a natural left winger by trade but has effortlessly
filled in the right back slot made vacant by Piszczek’s injury.
Dortmund has received another boost out wide with the
youngster Jonas Hofmann. The youngster changed the game when brought on against
Eintracht Braunschweig scoring and then winning a penalty. The 21 year old
graduated from the Dortmund youth team after being purchased from Hoffenheim
and has bolstered their options out wide which is their strongest area of
attack.
Dortmund are four games in domestically and have maximum
points. They sit on top of the Bundesliga as Bayern have dropped two points.
The appointment of Guardiola invigorated an already energised Munich but one
minor drawback is that Guardiola has made changes to the style of play.
Changing a winning formula may cause problems and may result in a few dropped
points here and there. Dortmund have kept a formula and a style which has
proven that it works for them and they have added to it, strengthening in a
number of positions as mentioned before. Klopp also added the former Milan
defender Sokratis to his ranks from Werder Bremen to give more of a challenge
and more options to his backline.
Having strengthened smartly and well, the upcoming Champions
League campaign is filled with both expectation and optimism for a young
Dortmund side gaining more experience at every turn. They made a huge pre-tax
profit as a result of last season’s so should disaster strike Klopp has
resources in January. With all these variables added up, for the North-Rine
based club and perhaps for European football in general, the future is bright,
the future is black and yellow.
No comments:
Post a Comment