The 2018/19 season was nearly something special for Borussia Dortmund. Despite holding a seven-point lead in the Bundesliga at one stage, they succumbed to the pressure, and Bayern Munich once again took home the Meisterschale. After missing out on what would have been their first league title for seven years, Dortmund has brushed off the disappointment and continued to build their squad this offseason. Could the new season bring silverware to the Westfalenstadion?
This scout report will look at whether they have made the right moves in the transfer market, and how their new signings can fit into the tactics employed by Head-coach Lucien Favre. It will also delve into the strengths of this Dortmund side and what improvements can be made, and there will be a tactical analysis highlighting BVBs formation preferences.
Lucien Favre
Last season was Favre’s first year in charge at Dortmund, but the Swiss manager is no stranger to the German league. He had successful spells at Hertha BSC and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before moving to France to take over the reins at Nice.
Favre favours patient build-up play, and Borussia Dortmunds uncanny knack of scoring late goals is down to this disciplined approach, rather than any perceived luck.
There is also an emphasis on wing-play, which saw Jadon Sancho become the breakout star of world football last year. His wingers are given license to play close to the centre-forward, allowing the wing-backs space to push on, or play wide themselves, isolate the defender, and either cross or take on the full-back. With Sanchos pace and dribbling ability, as well as finishing instinct, this makes Dortmund very hard to defend against.
Favre has also provided plenty of opportunities for younger players. Jacob Bruun Larsen, Dan Axel-Zagadou, Abdou Diallo, and Christian Pulisic all saw significant minutes throughout last season, with the latter two players sealing big-money moves to European giants Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, respectively.
It appears this trend will continue in the 2019/20 season too, with Claudio Reyna’s 17-year-old son, Giovanni, attracting attention with his pre-season performances for the first team. He could be one to watch this season, as could new signing Mateu Morey, once he is back at full fitness.
Morey is one of several improvements Favre has made to the squad.
New signings
Both Julian Brandt and Thorgan Hazard have been two of the most consistently performing wingers in the Bundesliga in recent years. In his first five seasons of professional football with Bayer Leverkusen, 23-year-old Brandt has scored a total of 40 goals, and 35 assists in all competitions. Hazard has just been just as effective, and in the same time frame has scored 47 goals, and made 32 assists. Both of these players are going to come into the side and contribute straight away. They will take a lot of the creative burden off of the shoulders of 19-year-old Sancho.
Hazard may well see game time at centre-forward as well as on the wing. He had a short goal-scoring cameo as a centre-forward against Udinese last week before an injury saw his afternoon ended prematurely.
Despite the disappointment of losing Abdou Diallo after only prizing him away from Mainz 05 this time last year, they have moved swiftly to fill in the considerable gap left by the French defender. Former player and serial winner Mats Hummels has returned to the Westfalenstadion, as well as proven left-back Nico Schulz.
Dortmund fans may well take a while to warm to Hummels after he left them in 2016 to rejoin his boyhood club, and Dortmund’s biggest rival, Bayern Munich. However, he will bring much-needed experience to the side, and having won everything as a player so far in his career, Hummels will be an excellent role-model to Dortmund’s fleet of young stars. Schulz will slot into left-back seamlessly, where Diallo spent much of last season.
Schulz, on the other hand, is an attacking left-back with excellent dribbling ability. He likes to play high and get behind the opposing full-back. This is exactly the type of left-back that Favre wants in his side a left-sided Piszczek. Defensively he is strong too, with a 56.5% defensive duel win ratio. He also makes a respectable 3.46 interceptions per game.
To top off their summer business so far, BVB signed last season’s top scorer Paco Alcacer permanently, following his loan spell.
After coming so close to a title last season, and having made these moves in the transfer window, there is naturally a lot of buzz in Dortmund going into the new season.
Tactics
We can see Dortmund favoured a 4-2-3-1 for much of last season, however, it wasn’t uncommon for them to play a 4-4-2, or a 4-1-4-1.
From both 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2, they concede 1.19 goals per game, and 1.18 goals per game, respectively. Dortmund are a free-scoring team and average 2.1 goals per game in their 4-2-3-1, but a staggering 2.73 goals per game with a 4-4-2.
Above is Dortmunds most used line up from last season. Schulz will compete for the left-back position, as will Hummels for a starting role at centre-back. It would be surprising, too, if Jacob Bruun Larsen can keep the likes of Julian Brandt and Thorgan Hazard out of the starting XI.
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