Last season proved to be pretty depressing for Borussia Dortmund as Bayern Munich cruised to the title unchallenged, once again. The main reason for their poor performances was the departure of Thomas Tuchel at the end of 2016/17, and the loss of key personnel including Marco Reus through injury.
When Peter Stoeger took over mid-way through the season, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was on his way to Arsenal and Dortmund were left without an experienced, proven forward to lead the attack. Luckily for the Dortmund, Reus returned shortly after the winter break and provided seven goals as the side scraped into 4th place and secured Champions League qualification.
Dortmunds captain was then selected to represent Germany at the World Cup in Russia, but the team suffered an early exit. This gave Reus the opportunity to make a full recovery during the summer and begin pre-season in good shape. Lucien Favre also arrived in Dortmund to manage the side and several key signings were brought to in, completing a summer of perfect preparation and the side have flourished ever since.
Key to their resurgence has been the coaching ability of Lucien Favre and how hes managed to get the best Reus talent. Below, I take a deeper look at his performances so far in 2018/19, but first, lets look at the changes implemented by Favre that have had an effect on him.
Dortmunds defensive and attacking structure under Lucien Favre
Under Lucien Favre, Dortmund have continued using an advanced midfield press when established in the defensive phase. Peter Stoeger implemented this press when he arrived last season and it was seen as a conservative move away from the high press used by the previous three managers. However, under Favre, the midfield press makes practical sense considering his philosophy and how this has shaped their play in possession.
In possession, Lucien Favre has made several adjustments to take advantage of the pressing flaws evident throughout the Bundesliga. Firstly, aside from a few top teams, most teams organisation and behaviour on the ball leaves them unprepared in defensive transition, and therefore in the defensive phase as well. Some teams use a direct attacking strategy, some use a possession based-approach and one or two use a counter-pressing style to create chances.
However, Dortmunds approach has allowed them to be relatively flexible enough to penetrate space and create goal-scoring opportunities against their opponents, regardless of strategy or style. The bottom line is that most teams usually lack the cohesion and quality required to consistently perform attacking actions while maintaining defensive balance simultaneously over an entire 90 minutes. This is especially true against a side as strong as Dortmund.
Favre has improved the side by ensuring effective attacking play whilst maintaining defensive balance through the use of a double-pivot in the sides 4-2-3-1. Thomas Delaney and Axel Witsels primary role in midfield is to dictate play while providing a defensive screen when possession is lost.
As a result, both rarely venture too far forward during the attack. This means that as Dortmunds no.10, Reus has had to take on the huge responsibility of leading the attack, without the support of a typical no.8. Lets take a deeper look at his roles and responsibilities as well as how hes performed over the first half of 2018/19.
Reus role and responsibilities within Lucien Favres system
During the build-up out of the back, Reus usually acts as an outlet in order to allow Dortmund to gradually progress forward or to continue the attack. When facing teams who defend passively he usually drops in and out of the no.10 position offering support to players on the ball. Alternatively, he stays continuously on the move to occupy opponents or drag them out of position in order to create space for his teammates.
Against teams that show real intent on winning the ball high up the field, Dortmund use their build-up play to separate their opponents defensive and midfield lines. They do this through the use of horizontal passes to stretch their opponents. Here, Reus role is even more crucial as the team needs to penetrate the spaces created through their passing. Reus provides an option to either the fullback or winger in between the lines where he can either carry the ball forward or lay the ball off out wide after escaping pressure.
We all know Reus is a highly skilled player but his best moments come from his simplest moves. His subtle but highly effective movement allows him to play quick passes which are really valuable when Dortmund break lines and transition into attack.The speed of their attacking play has been clear for all to see this season, and its all been down to his awareness and ability to beat a defender or two with only a few touches.
His movement in and around the box is also brilliant. The GIF below against Bayern shows how aware and composed he is when deciding on which areas to penetrate and where the ball might arrive.
