Mahmoud Dahoud’s progression key to Borussia Dortmund success

With the 2018-19 Bundesliga season nearly upon us, Borussia Dortmund will be looking to younger players to lead the team’s next generation to prospective glory. One such youthful player that will need to take his game to a new level is enigmatic midfielder, Mahmoud Dahoud.

They say a team equipped with a robust central midfield will inevitably enjoy fruitful results. This has certainly been the case for the likes of perpetual Bundesliga winners, Bayern Munich and 2018 World Cup champions, France. Borussia Dortmund have been void of such a luxury in recent years.

Gone are the days of relying on the likes of the defensively resolute pair of Sven Bender and Sebastian Kehl, coupled with the long range marksmanship of a youthful Nuri Sahin to fuel the Black and Yellow machine. Instead, the motley crew of routinely disappointing Gonzalo Castro, the declining Nuri Sahin, coupled with the oft-injured duo of Julian Weigl and Sebastian Rode, have recently left much to be desired in the center of the Dortmund pitch.

BVB’s Football Director Michael Zorc did his best to address the situation in advance of the 2017-18 season, with the signing of riveting midfield prospect Mahoud Dahoud from Borussia Monchengladbach.

"Zorc said at the time, “Mo Dahoud is a very talented and exciting player for the central midfield”, said Zorc upon inking the U21 German midfielder. “We have scouted him very intensively for many years. He has proven that he can play on a very high level.”"

Zorc was well within his rights to be excited at the prospects of the Syrian born maestro controlling the Dortmund midfield for years to come. During his time at ‘Gladbach, Dahoud displayed a utopian mix of superior technical ability, a propensity to eloquently distribute to teammates – regardless of distance, as well as exhibit a bit of a nasty side.

Have a look for yourself:

After ascending through the Die Fohlen youth ranks, it was during the start of the 2015-16 season that Dahoud secured a senior squad position under the tutelage of none other than Lucien Favre. Unfortunately, Favre was sacked after the team lost its first five league games.

Nevertheless, Dahoud enjoyed a highly impressive freshman season, registering 32 games played, notching five goals and a whopping eight assists to boot. He played a pivotal role in helping his club achieve the unthinkable: a top four Bundesliga finish and Champions League qualification.`As a result, Dahoud was rightfully selected as one of 40 nominees for the prestigious Golden Boy Award – recognizing the best young footballers in Europe.

After a relatively successful sophomore campaign, it was officially time for Dahoud to spread his (then) 21-year old wings elsewhere and continue his upward trajectory to being one of Europe’s best young midfielders.

Well, let’s just say that things did not go according to plan last season.

Throughout the disappointing season, it was quite evident that Dahoud’s style of play would not optimally fit Peter Bosz and Peter Stöger’s style of play and their predominantly 4-3-3 arrangements. As a result, the pacy German would routinely be downgraded to cameo appearances, stuck behind the likes of Castro and Sahin. This culminated in a goalless season across all competitions for Dahoud.

And now here we are. The new season is nearly upon us with last year’s disappointments but a distant memory. With this in mind, it is prudent that Dahoud treat last year as nothing more than an anomaly and embrace the serendipitous nature of his reunion with one of his biggest fans (Favre).

Whether Favre decides to roll-out the 4-4-1-1 he masterfully utilized at ‘Gladbach or pivots to the 4-3-3 setup he used while recently managing Nice, Dahoud must lift his game to new heights. With the recent signings of midfield enforcers – Thomas Delaney and Axel Witsel, Dahoud must see this as a challenge, rather than a slap in the face.

He is arguably the more skilled of the trio, but possesses a fraction of the gumption that the newly added internationally capped duo possess. As a result, Dahoud may fold up like a cheap suit and allow the newcomers to secure starting XI roles. Or, he could allow the tenacity and craftiness of his new teammates to permeate to him to aid his progression into a world class footballer.

Make no mistake, Dahoud is not Jonas Hoffman, nor Mikel Merino. He is destined for stardom… under the right circumstances. Should the stars align and Dahoud begin to develop chemistry with his teammates and recapture his ‘Gladbach form, 81,000 crazed home fans will instantly become believers.