[ad_1]
BAlmost as determined as before on the field, Erling Haaland acted after the final whistle. The Borussia Dortmund striker threw his shirt at his rival Jorge Meré, who apparently had requested this precious memory in time, and entered the locker room shaking with rage.
Even to his 2-2 goal shortly before the final whistle, he had not reacted with joy, but with evident anger. Haaland, who contributed both Dortmund goals to this tie, decapitated the post and generated almost all other dangerous BVB actions in front of Cologne goal, he was very lonely at the time.
“We will help him so that he can help us,” coach Edin Terzic said after a game that gave Haaland good reason to accuse his colleagues of not providing assistance. “This will to win is what sets him apart,” Terzic said, and the public forced an unspoken addition: others lack this direct determination, without which Borussia Dortmund will hardly be able to qualify for the Champions League again.
This amazing boy from Haaland
BVB had played as a team that relied on the very special abilities of a single player. “You can’t defend Haaland for more than 90 minutes, that’s impossible, almost no team in the world can do that at the moment,” said Cologne coach Markus Gisdol. “That is the outstanding quality of a single player, which is really good in dominant terms.”
This was not the first time that this domain was so prominent that the idea of team sport threatened to wither away. The BVB sometimes seems like a bunch of athletes who are very happy that they don’t have to take on much of their own responsibility in the offensive game because there is an amazing guy up there.
In the good phase of recent weeks, Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus had weakened the problem: Reus with his commitment and leadership and Sancho with his football brilliance. But these two attackers are currently wounded. The other offensive players are increasingly suspected of not having the level for the top of the Bundesliga: Thorgan Hazard does the job according to regulations, Julian Brandt celebrates a festival of inaccuracies in almost every appearance.
Giovanni Reyna completely lost his form in the first phase of the season. Mahmoud Dahoud somehow always plays at his own pace, which looks good when others act like clockwork. On days like Cologne, however, he seems overwhelmed. And Jude Bellingham and half-time substitute Youssoufa Moukoko are 17 and 16, and they need a functional structure to play efficiently.
Haaland scored one of these very special superstar goals against Cologne immediately after three minutes, which was preceded by a crafty acceptance of the ball. This actually solved a main problem that BVB had to face against teams from the lower areas of the table. Cologne had to act, the Dortmunders had rooms. It was actually a Haaland game that had room for deep runs. But colleagues rarely provided adequate allusions.
And so the star forward’s impressive strength made it clear where this team’s weaknesses lie: other than Haaland, there are no offensive players who are reliably present when Reus is injured, which is known to be very prevalent. In the fall, this team was accused of suffering from a tendency to overestimate itself against weaker opponents and not play with full energy. Now this problem could have developed a new form: some people rely on the presence of Haaland, who can decide the games alone. But not every day either.
