Jurgen Klopp faces huge tactical calls in another ‘rebuilding’ season at Borussia Dortmund

Jurgen Klopp will have an acid test of revamping Dortmund’s attacking formation next season.

Westfalenstadion. The mere mention of the name or recollection of the jam-packed and unworldly crowd in Dortmund is enough to get one to his wits end; now no one would want to be in Jose Mourinho’s boots at 4-1 down in Germany.

The historical stadium has been in the limelight in the recent years that have been illuminated by Jurgen Klopp’s success in the city. Though these fans are always seen at their nosiest and creative best at any given point in the season, it seems a monumental task for you to stay composed if you are a Borussia Dortmund follower these days.

Despite the fact that Bayern Munich is the oldest football club and right now the hottest property after the arrival of a certain Spaniard in their camps, this past decade is definitely going to go down as the rise of Borussia from the ashes of near shut-down.

At the time when the world outside Germany started noticing Dortmund, Klopp had the likes of Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa, Mario Goetze, Robert Lewandowski, Kuba and a younger Lucas Barrios in his ranks.

Despite the fact that the team won back to back Bundesliga titles and demolished top clubs enroute to the CL finals, the fact that money and power continues to rule was proven aptly as the big boys like Real Madrid, Manchester United and Bayern Munich were able to snatch away major talents. The most recent departure of the prodigal Mario Goetze to now fierce rivals Bayern has definitely put Klopp’s project off the mark.

Kagawa’s departure had seen Dortmund lose the medium to connect the midfield with the strikers, and though on paper Goetze slipped into a similar role, Klopp’s transfer of Marco Reus from Monchengladbach turned to be the key in this regard.

As was clearly evident from the Madrid game, Goetze and Reus had become quite comfortable in exchanging roles of pushing towards the wings from the centre and vice versa. This along with Lewandowski’s involvement with the midfield by falling much deeper than a normal number No.9 does was highly crucial in all their victories.

Other key clogs were the presence of the tireless winger Blaszczykowski or Kuba on the right and Ikay Gundogan in the centre. Though the latter did not burst into the European scene until late last season, the German international’s stability in the centre alongside either Bender or Kehl has given Klopp’s attack a stable base.

No wonder Gundogan, a Manchester United target now, is considered as Schweinie’s successor in the national team.

This setup was seen as 4-2-3-1 last season with the right flank having all the wing-play and the left containing attacking midfielders on a rotational basis. But now Goetze’s departure has mitigated the potency from their armour, and with Lewandowski entering his last year of contract, the plan needs a thorough revamp.

Bayern’s president released a statement saying that Lewa would join them next summer for free, and this has created a situation of urgency amongst the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City who were vying for the Pole’s signature.

Mario Gotze’s departure has left a gaping hole at Dortmund.

Lewa’s impending departure has allowed Klopp to act quickly in the market, and the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from AS Saint-Etienne and the announcement of a deal for the impressive Mkhitarayan from Shakthar is indeed encouraging.

Neither of the aforementioned duo were household names in world football before a couple of seasons back, or in fact some might claim that they aren’t so even now. But the arrival of these two are definitely going to affect Dortmund’s style.

Aubameyang, a Milan youth who spent most of his time out on loan, is predominantly a central striker with a tendency to attack from the wings at times. His lanky frame ensures him enough pace to beat the quickest in the opposition. His finishing is no doubt precise and as any other watcher of his YouTube video will agree with me, he often shows traits of unselfishness in setting up the onrushing midfielder/winger.

This point comes as the key when we look at Klopp’s recent signing of Mkhitarayan. The ex-Shakhtar player’s capture from the grasps of Liverpool is going to be major wake-up call for the Merseysiders but that is another article in itself, but the £22 million signing shows promise.

He has 24 goals in his last 28 games from an attacking midfield position. Apart from being almost Goetze-esque in his deft flicks and through balls, Mkhitarayan’s finishing is what separates him from others of his ilk..

Though Mkhitarayan and Aubameyang will be interesting additions to the Dortmund setup and an influx of extra goals is a certainty, both their styles is going to cause a bit of stirring to the current setup.

Klopp’s tendency of arrowing his attack towards one flank while pressing wingers forward on the other, does not leave much scope for a No.10 to attack directly at goal. And pretty certainly, players like Reus and Gundogan would not be preferred as the No.10 if Mkhitarayan is in the squad.

Also this would mean that Klopp now functions with a striker who likes the ball played over the defence and space to run at, rather than Lewa’s style of falling back and allowing Reus or Goetze to rush in on goal. With Aubameyang looming higher up at the edge of the defence line and Mkhitarayan also playing in an advanced hole position, Marco Reus’s position on the left becomes very interesting.

If the German survives the rumoured interest from Real Madrid, playing him on the left flank would make Klopp play Gundogan and Bender pretty flat to adjust such an attacking quartet upfront.

While attack remains the order of the day, Dortmund’s back four remains my personal favourite of the year. The duo of Hummels and Subotic are majestic in the air and in grounded tackles, and other than the not-so-rare mistakes by Hummels, there is no need to voluntarily change the duo.

A constant threat of Barca bidding for Hummels has forced Klopp to bring in Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos, and treating him as a replacement for the departing Filepe Sanatana would be a better option.

Right-back Pisczchek will be out of action for the initial months with a hip problem, and his menacing presence on the flanks will be major miss. Veteran stopper Roman Weidenfeller has been nothing short of brilliant this season.

The one concern that Klopp might have identified is the left-back Schmelzer’s erroneous tendency of rushing forward to attack the opposition winger, which leaves a huge gap between him and Hummels.

Jurgen Klopp’s resolve in this Dortmund project seems to be really genuine as the German was barely tempted in the absurdly huge flip-flop of managers this summer.

What stands as a season of major rebuilding for Klopp, the most interesting aspect lies as how will he incorporate the strengths of two totally different sorts of attackers into his system of pressing and counter-attacks.