Borussia Dortmund Crisis

            Borussia Dortmund has seen three wins in three games in the Champions League group stage while losing three consecutive games in the regular season as of now. It’s this reason why Dortmund tried to use their Champions League “luck” in their season game against Hannover today. After receiving permission from league authorities, Dortmund chose to wear their Champions League jerseys in the game, but the luck did not seem to carry over across leagues. After a tie at halftime, Hannover snuck by with the win due to a free kick that gave them the 1-0 victory against hopeful Dortmund.

            Now with four losses in a row, it is only getting harder for Dortmund and fans to provide excuses or reasons for the lack of form. Many, including coach Jurgen Klopp, have stated that “We have made little from a lot, the others a lot from little,” (ESPN). While Dortmund does have plenty of opportunities and many of them turn to nothing, this does not really look at the root of the problem. Hummels states the frustration of losing despite being the better team, and he describes it as “inexplicable”. Even media in Germany and elsewhere can’t come up with a sound theory as to why the team lacks, and typical questions float around regarding the coach or the system, but still no answer. With no real lack in talent or opportunities going forward, I believe the problem must lie somewhere in the team aspect of the players. As there are no other real solutions, I wonder if there isn’t a disconnect between players or something wrong with the unification of the team. No matter how strong a team may look on paper, if they can’t be put together as a working team, the end result won’t ever be a success. While there is no evidence or rumors supporting the idea of a lack of team bonding, there just doesn’t seem to be any other explanation for a strong team to be losing games that they should easily win.

To fix this, Klopp’s strategy is to just persevere and play the way they have been while trying to improve on what they can. He feels that eventually the problem will resolve itself and the team will fall into form. With games coming up against strong opponents such as Bayern Munich, Dortmund needs to fix this problem if it wants to have any success in the future.