Selbstzufriedenheit: Borussia Dortmund's Identity Crisis

BVB Central
Jul 20
7 min read

Updated: Jul 21

It's been 4 years since Borussia Dortmund last won a trophy. On May 13, 2021, Borussia Dortmund won the DFB Pokal, beating RB Leipzig 4-1. Goals came from Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho, who both scored braces, while Marco Reus assisted 2 goals. Jude Bellingham also started in the final, making it 3 world class talents starting for BVB. Since the success in Berlin, Dortmund has beaten RB Leipzig just 2 times out of the 9 games played.

In the past seasons, Dortmund has finished: 4th (2024/25), 5th (2023/24), 2nd (2022/23), 2nd (2021/22), and 3rd (2020/21). Only finishing within 10 points of the champions twice: in 2022/23, the year that broke our hearts, and in 2021/22, when they finished 8 points behind Bayern. It feels like the club forgets who they really are, turning into a UCL challenger rather than a title challenger.

The last two seasons have been the obvious worst ones, masked by a Champions League final appearance, and a 2nd half resurgence. While the 2023/24 season's UCL run was magical, the Bundesliga matches were not. BVB got into the UCL for the next season due to a 5th UCL spot being available to the Bundesliga, which did come from our Champions League run. Yet, despite the poor league finishes, only 9 new signings were made, only 7 will regularly be in the matchday squad, while there was little squad turnover. The same players who have placed 5th and 4th respectively, continue to be a large part of the squad.

Complacency or Selbstzufriedenheit is something that is evident throughout the club right now. Despite public claims otherwise, like Lars Ricken's quote: "It would be madness to declare the German championship as a goal after last season, when we were 25 points behind. Nevertheless, we must have the ambition to win a title again."

The board seems fine with these finishes, taking little action to change.

At the end of the day, actions speak louder than words, while the public ambition may be presented as title challengers, the actions, or lack of, present a different idea. Letting the same players who brought you these low finishes give you another season, expecting different results, would be madness, but instead it's reality. Each of these finishes have been evidently blamed on coaches. Edin Terzic left the club due to lack of support, and Nuri Sahin was fired halfway through the previous season. Between the 2 coaches, they both had their failures. They both had different ideas as to how football should be played. While Terzic elected to sit back against big sides, and let them dominate possession, Sahin wanted to be the ones controlling possession, ultimately failing due to players not being able to handle that style of play and not being able to build up from the back.

For a club as big as Borussia Dortmund, getting dominated by Mexican side Monterrey, who had more possession, more shots on and off target, almost 200 more passes, and more corners, is unacceptable, especially in a knockout stage game. Mats Hummels said this in an interview to German newspaper BILD before last years Champions League final: "I was furious because I was of the opinion that Borussia Dortmund shouldn't play like that - against any opponent in the world". Now we see this far too often.

Many often point to a mentality problem in Dortmund. Captain Emre Can lightly touched on that last season: "But I can't rule out the possibility that one or two players might sometimes think: Today, maybe 99 percent is enough in the Bundesliga... But that's not the case; the league is too strong for that". Players seemingly are locked into a starting role, no matter the performances, good or bad, the same 11 will likely be the ones going out in the next game. How are these players supposed to give it their all when they know they can play poorly for multiple games in a row, and still will be named a starter.

Transfer Policy

For a long time Dortmund was seen as a place for young talents to develop, players everyone sees as global stars developed in Dortmund: Dembele, Hakimi, Haaland, Jude, Lewandowski, Gundogan, and many more. Something over the past years have changed though. Since the 2022/23 summer window, BVB has only signed one player for the first team under the age of 21, Jobe Bellingham. Electing to sign 28 year old Waldemar Anton over 19 year old Dean Huijsen is the best example one could get, especially considering Anton's total transfer fee was higher than Huijsen's.

It all stems from a lack of willingness to go past what's familiar. Instead of going to get players from other countries, other leagues, Dortmund continuously signs Bundesliga players. 15 Bundesliga players, including 4 free transfers, have been signed since the 2021/22 summer window. Only 8 players have been signed from other leagues.

They're now getting beat at their own game. RB Leipzig continuously sign young players, they've had an incredible window, signing many top quality players, their most expensive signing this summer? Arthur Vermeeren for €20m. Before that, previous signed young players they developed (Nkunku, Szoboszlai, Gvardiol, Simakan, and Olmo) sold for a combined €310m over 2 summers, while Xavi Simons is expected to leave this summer, RB Leipzig put themselves in a great position with their new young players so they don't have to worry. Despite having a failure of a season, they acted to build quality within the squad, cheaper solutions that don't cost €30m each, but still bring a high level to the squad.

They're not the only ones, Eintracht Frankfurt has sold 3 strikers, Marmoush, Ekitike, and Kolo Muani, for €260m over the past 3 summers. Bayer Leverkusen as well, they sold Wirtz and Frimpong to Liverpool for €165m, they acted quickly, buying players early in order for them to be available for Ten Hag during summer training and preseason. BVB has made only 1 new signing so far, while Yan Couto and Daniel Svensson are both technically signings this summer, both played for the club this past season on loans. Funke Sport reported today BVB wants to save some budget for later in the window in case better players become available, the problem is the season may have already started by then, not giving players time to adjust to their new surroundings, and possibly leading to rushed, non-creative transfers.

Living in the Past

BVB had much success in the late 2000s to early 2010s. Winning the Bundesliga twice, DFB Pokal once, and the German Super Cup twice, also making the Champions League final in the 2012/13 season. Jurgen Klopp led the team, bringing rock and roll football and immense passion on the sidelines.

Since then, it seems BVB has been feeding on the past. Constantly comparing coaches to Klopp, even this past season with Mike Tullberg, with his celebrations of passion after every goal, after every game. He drew comparisons to Jurgen Klopp.

As a club, reliving your glory days is not the solution to any problems. It does nothing but stunt your growth and progression. We're now 13 years removed from the last time we were German champions. Not counting the Super Cup, Dortmund has won 2 trophies since then, the DFB Pokal in both 2016/17 and 2020/21. While it would be great to get the next Klopp, it would be better to move on, get the best version of whoever the coach is, and let them build their own legacy at the club.

BVB Ties

It seems every decision maker of the last couple years has had previous ties to the club:

Lars Ricken - Sporting CEO - Former BVB Player

Sebastian Kehl - Sporting Director - Former BVB Player

Matthias Sammer - Advisor - Former BVB Player

Sven Mislintat - Advisor 2024-2025 - Former BVB Scout

Michael Zorc - Sporting Director 2005-2022 - Former BVB Player

Nuri Sahin - Coach 2024-2025 - Former BVB Player

Edin Terzic - Coach 2022-2024 - Lifelong BVB Fan, Assistant/Interim Coach 2018-2021, Technical Director 2021-2022

There's a clear lack of willingness to go past their comfort zone, decision makers have consistently had previous ties to BVB, whether being a former player, or being rehired later after already working here, there's also a clear lack of creativity. There are very little outside voices, everyone has strong ties to the club, which is not a bad thing, but has not paid off recently.

Many take extreme pride in the club and love being able to work at the club again, but that's what club ambassador roles are for, like Patrick Owomoyela's current role at the club. Picking Lars Ricken to overtake the role of Sporting CEO instead of Markus Krösche shows the unwillingness to bring in outside voices. Picking Nuri Sahin to take over as coach instead of Roberto De Zerbi last season is yet another example. From their transfer policy, to who runs the club, there's a lack of want to get creative, and leave the BVB realm, or the Bundesliga realm, pushing back the advancement of the club, delaying sporting success.

Zukunft

For the BVB bosses, it's difficult to fix the problems, there are just too many right now. There's an overload in midfield, people don't like to think there is, but it's the deepest area of the squad overall, there just isn't a huge amount of quality. Many contracts expire in 2026, while unfortunately most of these players will leave for free without accomplishing much, it's a huge step in the right direction, less older players taking up playing time and a huge salary. These expiring contracts could unlock BVB to have more financial freedom in the future.

While it won't give the bosses the ability to compete with Premier League clubs in bidding wars, it gives them an ability to give higher wages to their key young players like Nico Schlotterbeck. It isn't all down for BVB, Gregor Kobel is one of the best keepers in the world, Schlotti is one of the best defenders in the world, Jobe Bellingham showed a lot of promise at the Club World Cup, and Serhou Guirassy is one of the best strikers in the world.

Add some developing players, like Karim Adeyemi, Maxi Beier, Julien Duranville, Felix Nmecha, and Daniel Svensson, there's a solid base for the club to build on. While some might only develop into solid/rotation Bundesliga players, others can excel into great players. Lars Ricken and the BVB bosses have expressed a want to go back to the youth market, giving hope for the future. Combining a solid base with strategic future signings, we may see more than the old Borussia Dortmund; rather a new club that thrives in modern football, restoring it's once glory.