Dortmund’s disappointing derby draws criticism

Welcome to the Dortmund Dispatch.

Thanks very much for subscribing and welcome to those receiving this for the first time.

If you find this newsletter of value, please recommend it to friends.

VfL Bochum 1, Borussia Dortmund 1

It was Donyell Malen to the rescue, once again. The Dutch forward’s 57^th- minute strike canceled out Kevin Stöger’s cracking opener to make the game 1-1. Despite having the superior squad and most of the second half, Borussia Dortmund did not find a second goal and the Little Revierderby finished in a disappointing draw against a team that are unfancied relegation candidates.

If you’re looking for solace in the underlying stats, then there is not much for you. Borussia’s XG was superior to their opponent but only by .3 %. Bochum had more shots on target, won more tackles, and had more interceptions. Dortmund had more of the ball but that would always have been Bochum coach Thomas Letsch’s game plan.

While Dortmund remain unbeaten, this is a disappointing start to the season given the club’s ambitions to challenge for the title. That said the season has barely begun and you could argue that two derby games is not the ideal start to a campaign. However, there can be no disputing that we’ve seen this team produce much better performances in recent months and there needs to be significant improvement.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are already calls for the coach Edin Terzić to be fired. All fans are entitled to their dark thoughts, especially after a disappointing game, and with former Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann still in the wild, so to speak, we could all be forgiven for contemplating a future with him in charge. Personally, I’m not sure that entitlement extends to posting your feelings on social media and calling for a man who bleeds black and yellow to be fired after two games, and to clarify it is most certainly not my view.

I don’t doubt that there are some analysts who look at the team’s recent performance under Terzić and build a case that he is not an elite-level coach or not suitable for the squad or both. It’s possible that this analysis is correct. It’s also possible that you could find enough evidence to support the opposite conclusion. However, ultimately football clubs exist on relationships, performance, and results. Edin Terzić is a boyhood Dortmund fan who has won the DFB Pokal and came desperately close to winning the Bundesliga. In the intervening period when he was not the coach, he was Technical Director. Terzic is embedded in the club. Also, despite the poor performances, the results are not that bad. So according to my criteria, Terzić has the relationships and results to remain.

Of course, if the team does not improve then sooner rather than later the results will get worse and things will change very quickly so let’s be under no illusions. But for the foreseeable future at least, the coach should stay.

Needless to say, this position will be harder to defend if they screw up against Heidenheim this weekend. More on that and them shortly.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga

Here in the UK, Sky Sports interrupted their half-time coverage of the Newcastle v Liverpool game to show Harry Kane score his penalty in the game against Augsburg that took place at the same time, last Sunday afternoon. The spot kick was one of two goals scored by the Rekordshirtseller in Bayern Munich’s 3-1 win at the Allianz Arena. That’s three goals in two games for the England captain. As impressive as that is, Kane is still not the leading goal scorer. That honour is shared between VfL Wolfsburg’s Jonas Wind who scored his second successive brace in his team’s 2-1 win at Koln. Union Berlin’s Kevin Behrens is also on four after scoring in their 4-1 win against Darmstadt. The Berlin club were down to 10 men for much of that game and scored eight goals in two games. That’s why they are top of the table.

Leverkusen made short work of Borussia Mönchengladbach in the big game on Saturday evening. New signing Victor Boniface scored two and Jonathan Tah the third. Xabi Alonso’s side look formidable. They play Bayern Munich straight after the international break, so we’ll know more about both sides after that game.

Leipzig were a goal down the Stuttgart at halftime but after a series of defensive calamities bounced back to win 5-1. Freiburg’s sustained pressure over Werder Bremen finally took its toll and they grabbed an injury-time winner to keep their 100% record. Like Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt played their second successive derby game. This time a 1-1 draw with Mainz. And that leaves us with…

Up next: 1. FC Heidenheim

Who scored their first-ever Bundesliga goals and went 2-0 up in their home game against Hoffenheim. Unfortunately for them, they lost the game 3-2. Andrej Kramarić scored an injury-time penalty to take all three points.

Heidenheim are a remarkable football club. Formed in 2007 after it split from the original sports club, the team have progressed from the regional leagues all the way to the Bundesliga under the same coach, Franck Schmidt. Few people will be expecting them to stay in the top division and after having conceded five goals in just two games, few people will be minded changing their view.

Anything other than a win for Borussia Dortmund will be a huge shock when the two meet for the first time in the Bundesliga on Friday. However, an early cheeky set piece goal from Jan-Niklas Beste could set the crowd on edge and I can easily see BVB making hard work of this result.

This is the last match before the international break. The best possible outcome for Dortmund would be a comfortable win so we can all take a mini-breather and start again on the other side.

Other news

Apparently, Dortmund have 8.3 million euros to spend on a backup striker. Crystal Palace’s Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Augsburg’s Mergim Berisha are among the names in the frame. Let’s all try to contain our excitement, shall we?

Thanks very much for reading this far. I’m on holiday next week so there may not be a newsletter after that is the international break so I’ll try to cook up something interesting for you to read while we’re all complaining about the absence of club football.