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One of the most intimidating sights for any opponent in world football is the sight of the ‘Sudtribune’ or the ‘Yellow Wall’. Luminous yellow and black shirts, scarves, flags, noise and the sheer size of 25,000 standing spectators egging their team can Schrecken the living daylights of the opponents.
These supporters idolise the players and they religiously flock to the Westfalenstadion only to revere Die Borussen, week in and week out. It’s this unconditional love that these spectators share with the Dortmund team that makes the relationship so special.
However, the last season the relationship faced one of its darkest times, thanks to a suicidal journey that Dortmund embarked on, which almost had them on the brink of relegation. Who can forget the endearing scenes from February when Mats Hummels and the goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller scaled the perimeter to apologize to furious supporters after their loss to Augsburg?
A tumultuous season saw an alarming decline in Dortmund’s performances, which went from pathetic to abysmal, the lowest point being when they were holed up on the 19th position in the league table.
Change of tactics, change of personnel and some strong willed performances lifted the side to a consolation 7th spot at the end of the campaign. The last season was nothing short of mockery for a team of Dortmund’s stature.
The new season has brought muted expectations for Germany’s favorite underdog. After all the Die Borussen have lost their prodigal son, a son who brought them unprecedented success and fame. On the back of last season’s performances, not much was expected of Dortmund. Yet they have started the season with a bang.
Even if it has been only two match days they are already on the top of the Bundesliga pile enough to muscle out Bayern Munich on the basis of goal difference. The Black and Yellows look finally ready to exorcise last season’s ghosts and there are few things that are contributing to this restoration.
The Prodigal son walks away
“I have always said that the day I feel that I am no longer the perfect coach for this extraordinary club I will say that. That is something I have thought about in every phase here at Dortmund and decided in the last few weeks, days, that I was no longer able to be absolutely sure about that. And then, because of the unusual relationship I have with this club, the trust we have for each other, it was my duty to tell the club.”
If there was ever a relationship that a neutral would never want to end was the one between the maverick Jurgen Klopp and Dortmund. It was like the perfect band story where the ultimate rocker had met his dream band.
They were just meant for each other. Klopp had led the team from a point of anonymity to Germany’s second super-power. Back to back titles in 2011 and 2012 and a European final berth led to the birth of a perfect blueprint for any club on a shoestring budget and lofty ambitions.
Yet, the team and the tactics had started deteriorating since 2013. Klopp lost his key players Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski to mightier vultures but losses of personnel every season was hurting Dortmund. Too many injured players and a cramped pre-season didn’t help his cause either. More importantly the innovative gegenpressing, counterattacking and continuous pressing and ball chasing tactics of Kloppo were archaic last season.
They struggled for fluency and looked out of sorts against most of the teams in the league as most of them had started to adapt and counter Dortmund’s style. In short, it was the Klopp’s failure to adapt and adopt a plan B which had Dortmund almost on the brink.
His decision to leave the place he revered seemed to be just the sort of liberation that the club needed. Klopp looked exhausted and it was apt that he left the club with his head held high rather than being the person who was instrumental in the club’s demise.
As Harvey Dent famously quipped in Batman, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Thomas Tuchel’s re-energized tactics
An unassuming and a soft spoken person, Thomas Tuchel, the ex-Mainz manager has turned the tide and fortunes of the team. The transition has been swift and Borussia Dortmund looks a revamped side due to the much improved tactics.
A self-proclaimed Pep Guardiola fan, Tuchel thrives for domination with or without possession. Tuchel has abandoned the quick long-ball of Klopp’s regime and got his team to go back to basics, focusing on keeping the game simple.
The team still has Klopp’s stamp all over it with strong pressing, constant movement, fast counter attacks, playing between the lines. But Tuchel has made a difference by emphasizing on possession styled play which has given the side a different dimension altogether.
His move of "tiki-Tuchel" has transformed the way the midfield and the attacking department is functioning, giving them a new lease of life. Technical players like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marco Reus and Shinji Kagawa are thriving under the new style as Tuchel’s tactics has brought their strengths to the fore.
Apart from his tactics, Tuchel has had an undisrupted transfer window and has managed to hold onto the core set of players important in Dortmund’s rise to the top. Beyond this, keen attention to smaller details like a new dietary regime (which includes the ban of pizza and pasta deliveries to the Dortmund training ground by a local restaurant), a new fitness coach and better player management are things responsible for Dortmund’s rejuvenation.
Better Team Cohesion
Dortmund’s superstar and key player, Marco “Rolls Reus” had a disjointed season and never looked a real force last campaign from the injury he sustained in the lead up to the World Cup.
A shadow of his own self, Reus struggled to find any consistency last season and he was not the only one. The returning Shinji Kagawa and the highly talented Henrikh Mkhitaryan also found life difficult under Klopp’s football last season.
However, Tuchel’s tactics of keeping the ball on the ground has lit these talented attacking players. Kagawa who was either played out wide or off the striker struggled for any fluency but a shift to top of the midfield diamond in a traditional No.10 role has “freed” him up completely.
Ilkay Gundogan has been pushed up the park alongside Kagawa where the two are running amok, as clearly seen in the last two victories. Mkhitaryan and Reus look sharp and fresh forming a dangerous quartet along with the two.
More than the quartet, it’s been the form of the 19-year-old Julian Weigl from 1860 Munich that has made Dortmund look irrepressible. A technical deep lying player, Weigl’s ability to hold the ball and play quick, efficient short passes is opening up spaces for the attacking players against deep-lying opponents.
His understanding with the attacking quartet in overloading one side of the pitch to free up space on the other side for overlapping defenders is what is creating chaos. This was the case in Matthias Ginter’s opening goal against FC Ingolstadt.
The team from the defense to the attack is functioning as a well oiled cohesive unit. An understanding of Tuchel’s tactics and his ability to manage games by tweaking formations has allowed the club’s defense to combine with the attacking outlet in counter-attacks.
Overall a healthy team atmosphere and camaraderie amongst the players led by a shrewd tactician might just be the missing ingredients that this team was looking for. When the true heir to Usain Bolt, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nicked the 4th goal against FC Ingolstadt after a great team move, it just felt that Dortmund were destined to achieve greatness again!
