{"id":583703,"date":"2021-02-15T09:37:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T14:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=583703"},"modified":"2021-02-28T10:33:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-28T15:33:29","slug":"borussia-dortmund-continue-to-struggle-but-new-manager-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/15\/borussia-dortmund-continue-to-struggle-but-new-manager-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"Borussia Dortmund Continue to Struggle but New Manager Announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

Borussia Dortmund<\/a> once again continued to struggle and dropped points, as they were held to a 2-2 draw<\/a> against Hoffenheim<\/a>. Dortmund took the lead, before falling behind, only for Erling Braut Haaland to snatch a late equaliser. Disappointment like this has become commonplace for Dortmund this season, this match provided a neat example for many of the reasons why.<\/p>\n

Marco Rose, who will take the job at the end of the season<\/a>, will have some task on his hands to prevent further Dortmund struggle.<\/p>\n

Borussia Dortmund Continue to Drop Points<\/h2>\n

Dortmund Fall Foul of Goalkeeping Struggle<\/h3>\n

The life of a goalkeeper can be a rough one. The current form of Marwin Hitz<\/a> typifies this. Currently, Dortmund’s first-choice keeper Roman Burki<\/a> is on the treatment table. The result is that Dortmund are having to field a significantly weaker option and are, therefore, facing a struggle to maintain form.<\/p>\n

The game against Hoffenheim was a masterclass in highlighting all the ways that a goalkeeper could struggle. The pinnacle of this came in Ihlas Bebou<\/a>‘s goal. All game, Hitz had looked somewhat unconvincing when it came to commanding the box. Hitz was reluctant to come out to claim a cross and when he did venture out, did so in nervy fashion. So when he tried to punch a cross in the 51st minute it came as little surprise that he did so in the direction of a Hoffenheim player.<\/p>\n

This is not to say that Burki is perfect, simply that the current option falls even shorter. The knock-on effect of a poor goalkeeper can become catastrophic. As well as instances such as this where direct errors are made, the long-term fear is that it bleeds into a distrust between goalkeeper and defence. A couple of fumbled crosses can very well spiral into a defender attempting to take matters into their own hands. Unless Hitz finds some form, this problem will not go away any time soon.<\/p>\n

An Overreliance on Sancho and Haaland<\/h3>\n

Every team has its talisman. Dortmund, in fact, have two. Inherently there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. To say ‘Imagine Team X without Y’s goals’ is often a pointless exercise given that it is often an intentional tactic to optimise the output of a particular player. The problem Dortmund have is more that their other players are not contributing at all.<\/p>\n

If you have two players capable of the top-level end product, you would expect the other outfield players to have impressive support numbers. A healthy dose of assists namely, maybe the odd goal. This is not happening for Borussia Dortmund.<\/p>\n

Outside of Sancho<\/a> and Haaland<\/a>, no other Dortmund player has touched five goals in the Bundesliga. The two main culprits in this instance are Marco Reus<\/a> and Julian Brandt<\/a>. Brandt has only notched two goals and an assist, and Reus is goalless since December.<\/p>\n

The result of this is a glaring vulnerability for Borussia Dortmund. If one of their dynamic duo is to suffer a lean patch or injury they would be hit particularly hard. It’s about time that other players start pulling their weight, otherwise Dortmund may find this poor form continuing.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>