Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund still searching for identity under Edin Terzic

RB Leipzig 3-0 Borussia Dortmund
(Orban 6′, Szoboszlai 45′, Haidara 84′)
Red Bull Arena, Leipzig

When Jude Bellingham and Marco Reus conspired to bump into each other and lose possession in the 21st minute, it summed up Borussia Dortmund’s sorry afternoon in Leipzig.

The Black and Yellows were already 1-0 down after Nico Schlotterbeck had switched off and allowed Willi Orban to head home a corner from 12 yards. And they were 2-0 down by half-time after Bellingham gave the ball away ahead of Dominik Szoboszlai’s screamer. Timo Werner unselfishly set up Amadou Haidara for a late third, capping a perfect start for new RB Leipzig coach – and former BVB coach – Marco Rose.

Not that it was necessary; for the first time since November 2019, Borussia Dortmund had failed to register a single shot on goal in a Bundesliga game, and were utterly harmless.

Julian Brandt and Marco Reus, so impressive in midweek against Copenhagen in the Champions League, were routinely bullied by the physical Xaver Schlager and Konrad Laimer in midfield, while striker Anthony Modeste was once again notable only for his terrible first touch.

Gio Reyna offered some width and creativity when he was introduced on the hour-mark. The American provided a pinpoint cross for Modeste, which the Frenchman blazed over wildly.

“Leipzig played good deep balls and we weren’t committed enough in our tackles,” said BVB midfielder Salih Özcan vaguely when asked by Sky what went wrong. Schlotterbeck looked equally helpless: “I don’t know,” he mumbled.

The pair, and their teammates, cut rather helpless figures ahead of a big week, with Manchester City away on Wednesday and the Revierderby at home to Schalke next Saturday.

Terzic: ‘We can’t always play quick passes deep in behind’

And no wonder, because a clear Borussia Dortmund style of play under Edin Terzic isn’t yet discernible – despite his understandable popularity and undeniably pleasant nature.

In mitigation, whatever offensive plans the 39-year-old had with Sébastien Haller will have been nullified by the Ivorian striker’s testicular cancer diagnosis in pre-season. But in replacing him with Modeste, Terzic has limited his attacking options to crosses into the immobile Frenchman, and admitted on Saturday: “With the personnel we have, we can’t always play quick passes deep in behind.”

Other than that, Dortmund are reliant on sparks of individual creativity and improvisation from the likes of Reus, Brandt and Bellingham, or on unpredictable inspiration from the bench, as in Freiburg recently.

In contrast, Marco Rose’s RB Leipzig set up on Saturday with two clear channels of attack: either a slower build-up involving the impressive Christopher Nkunku in a creative number 10 role, or via quick, deep, vertical passes into Werner, both predicated on aggressive midfield pressing from Laimer and Schlager.

“I’m satisfied that the lads implemented what we talked about so quickly,” Rose told Sky post-match, after just two training sessions with his new team.

The same can’t currently be said for Terzic and Borussia Dortmund.

Edited by Kalika Mehta.

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/bundesliga-borussia-dortmund-still-searching-for-identity-under-edin-terzic/a-63079767?maca=en-rss-en-sports-1027-xml-atom