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You can see a pattern. A match after which Borussia Dortmund and, above all, coach Lucien Favre are criticized, is followed by another with which the waves quickly soften again.
Since the Swiss started working for BVB in the summer of 2018, the team has only lost two games in a row in the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the DFB Cup. Last season, this was the case in February. The cup start at Werder Bremen was followed by a 3-4 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. It was a spectacular soccer game in which Favre had made four backs on defense for the first time in months.
Later he gave up this training, which he preferred to pure teaching. However, the results spoke in favor of three central defenders even after Leverkusen’s night, and players and supervisors are said to have suggested this option as well.
Before the Revier derby on Saturday there was a change of opinion. After the 3-0 victory against FC Schalke 04, Mats Hummels reported that he had spoken with Favre “in great detail” and “very intensely” about the basic formation beforehand. After the Champions League performance at Lazio Roma, which was also described as “bleak” from within, Lukas Piszczek’s weak form, Dan-Axel Zagadou’s injury and finally the positive corona test at Emre Can, the decision should have been easy. Hummels gave another reason: “It was clear that we needed one more offensive player on the field with such massive coverage.”
Personnel changes, like those of Julian Brandt and Mahmoud Dahoudin in the starting eleven, were also compelling, as was holding on to Thomas Meunier, who was the weakest among Rome’s underdog.
The fact that BVB dominated Schalke throughout the match was also due to the majority situations in the opponent’s half, which arose thanks to the wingers pushed forward and a patient but nevertheless quick passing game.
Favre Mountain is in front of
Favre left open if the change in the basic formation was a decision for the next weeks, in which he will continue in rigorous rigors in the Champions League and the Bundesliga. You want to be flexible. In the eyes of the opponents, you will find good arguments for this, because in the league the game at Arminia Bielefeld is followed by the game against FC Bayern.
The master of Munich is the mountain Favre stands in front of. Only when he conquers it and walks with ease on the hills of Cologne and Stuttgart do the critics fall silent. “That doesn’t interest me at all,” the coach said on Saturday when asked how he perceived the renewed reprimand after the game in Lazio.
A slight change has been noticed in the nearly 63-year-old soccer teacher in recent days. While still in Rome, he promised that BVB would survive the group stage of the Champions League, in which Zenit St. Petersburg and Club Bruges are the other opponents. Before the derby, he promised a victory. It minimized the usual warnings that it would be “very, very difficult.”
Stable on the doorman question
When asked about his goalkeepers, Favre avoided betting on a regular cast even after the game against Schalke, in which Roman Bürki returned to goal without having to don work clothes. Both sporting director Michael Zorc and his designated successor Sebastian Kehl had publicly mentioned that Bürki was number one and that they saw no reason for a change. Favre reacted indirectly to ZDF when he approached reporter Claudia Neumann: “I don’t like the question.” In other interviews, he let it be known that in the future he could also imagine being flexible when choosing a goalkeeper.
Mats Hummels, who was in a good mood to chat after his first goal in derby 19 against Schalke, said: “It is legitimate that Lucien does not want to reveal so much. If you want entertainment, you have to tune in to Pro Sieben from 23:15 hours”.
