The Dortmund Downfall

Dortmund are languishing at the bottom of the Bundesliga table

From winning the DFB Pokal by humiliating Bayern Munich,playing fast, attacking and eye catching football last season, Borussia Dortmund are now rock bottom of the Bundesliga, battling hard to survive the drop.

Borussia Dortmund’s domestic form this time along has been absolutely woeful to say the least, with 13 games already gone, last year’s runners up have managed to win only 3 drawing 2 and losing 8 matches. But surprisingly they managed to cruise through their Champions League group stage and into the knockout phase by winning 4 of their 5 matches.

Problems have piled up for the German Giants left,right and centre. From an inconsistent back 4 to a lacklustre and out of form frontline with the added injury crisis of star player Marco Reus, Dortmund’s performances have been hit by everything all at one go.

An Inconsistent back four

Dortmund’s defense has let in plenty of goals, but teams ahead of them at the table have let in more, but the problem lies in the fact that Dortmund defenders have pretty inconsistent and have committed all the wrong sorts of errors at the most crucial of situations. Giving away silly free kicks and committing fouls in the final third has been an almost common sight.

Strikers missing goal scoring opportunities

Borussia Dortmund have hit the woodwork 8 times this season with only Bayer Leverkeusen hitting more times than the Black and Yellows. Dortmund’s strikers have been ruing their missed opportunities this season, with the side losing out on star striker Robert Lewandowski in the summer, strikers Aubameyang and Immobile have failed to make up for the loss. Even the return of Shinji Kagawa into the mix hasn’t been as fruitful as hoped.

Klopp’s men have failed to make their mark this season.

Long line of Injuries

Missing out on key players is a major concern for Jürgen Klopp.Important players like Gündogan and Kehl are taking time to return and with Mats Hummels facing ligament problems, the team management are sure to face plenty of problems given their domestic woes. The squad line ups have been changing consistently and the defensive the back-four that played in the 2013 Champions League Final at Wembley - Hummels, Subotic, Piszczek and Schmelzer - has not managed to line-up on the pitch together since!

Marco Reus

Reus has played an important part in Dormund’s success since he signed for them from Borussia Monchengladbach. But the talismanic player suffered from a serious injury setback, which prevented him from playing for the German National Side in their World Cup campaign this year. But he hasn’t been able to return back to his full potential. When playing he has been either wonderful or just unable to link up play. There is nothing in between for the German superstar, but sadly he has been out for most of the campaign and amidst much speculation over his future at the club, with a number of clubs interested in him. Reus is currently out with another injury and the Dortmund outfit won’t have him back till 2015.

Reus is out with an ankle injury till 2015

Despite the poor domestic run of form, Klopp insists he will not leave unless he is told to by the club.

"I am responsible and as long as no one comes and says 'we have someone who can do it better', I cannot go yet”.“As long as there is no better solution then I cannot leave. The responsibility that I feel is great. If it's just that our luck has run out and a new coach will bring back good fortune then call someone and give me a guarantee, then I will make way. But it is not easy." said the Dortmund manager

Dortmund fans are known throughout Europe for their extraordinary support, but they showed their discontenment towards their clubs performance by whistling the players off the field in the team’s latest loss against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Borussia Dortmund need to turn around and that too as soon as possible,if they want to avoid an astonishing relagation only a season after ending the league as runner up.The fans would desperately be hoping that their side will bounce back and return to their glory days.