Borussia Dortmund’s season was a success despite failure to win league title

While Borussia Dortmund fell just short in their bid to win the Bundesliga title this season, their season was certainly not a failure.

It has been a roller coaster season for The Black and Yellows in which we have had unforgettable moments such as the thrillers against Augsburg and Bayern to the soul-crushing defeats against arch-rivals Schalke and Dusseldorf. But the main issue always comes back to Dortmund’s title challenge. Should they have won the title? By February it seemed as if the title was in our grasp. But come May it was Bayern who ended up lifting the Meisterschale. And certain people labeling Borussia Dortmund as bottlers who gave up a nine-point advantage. While this may make one believe that the season was a failure you need to look at things in a broader context.

Looking back at the 2017/2018 campaign there is absolutely no doubt that the club has come a long way since then. The team under Peter Bosz started off promising by winning their first few games of the campaign and were top of the table until October. But Bosz went winless in 13 games which ultimately lead to Peter Stoger taking charge. Stoger ended up bringing back stability to the team but it was clear that Borussia Dortmund were heading into the wrong direction and needed a massive overhaul in order to get back up again. And then came Lucien Favre.

Lucien Favre re-ignited the Borussia Dortmund attack while also bringing stability to the defence and midfield. This was made possible thanks to smart and efficient transfers that addressed the many issues the club was facing on the pitch. Players such as Paco Alcacer, Abdou Diallo, and Thomas Delaney were all bought in address certain issues that the club was facing in the previous season.

One of the best signings of the season, Axel Witsel provided excellent defensive cover for the backline and maintaining a cool and creative presence in the midfield. Coming from the Chinese Super League there were doubts whether he could make it in the Bundesliga, but he showed just what he was capable of this season. His partnership with Thomas Delaney, who added steel to the midfield secured a solid presence in the middle of the park. Witsel kept the team running by being the engine in the middle of the park by contributing in every aspect of the game.

But going into the season it still wasn’t a Bundesliga winning squad. While there were some experienced names such as Marco Reus, Roman Burki, and Lukasz Piszczek it was still a fairly young squad with so many new names and a new manager. Furthermore, there were absolutely no expectations to win the league going into the season. Considering the disastrous 4th place finish in the 2017/2018 season in which the club even found itself behind arch-rivals Schalke, the goal was simply to qualify for the Champions League in the upcoming season, develop the players and get out of the rebuilding phase that they have been in for so long.

"“Lucien will not be overburdened with unrealistic expectations. Our objective is to qualify for the Champions League. We need some time to lay the foundations,” CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said at the start of the season."

The incredible start

But the Black and Yellows started the season in emphatic fashion. Less than 30 seconds into the new season Dortmund found themselves behind at Leipzig and most Dortmund fans must have thought, “Oh here we go again”. But it was not to be. The team rallied and come out on top in a comprehensive 4-1 over Die Roten Bullen.

What followed was one of the best Hinrundes in recent memory. Dortmund suffered just one loss and had a commanding lead at the top in the league. But the Ruckrunde that followed was well below par with games that completely turned the tide of the title race. The team picked up 3 losses and a handful of costly draws which ultimately cost Dortmund their place at the top. This is where the big question comes in. If you are cruising with a 9 point advantage at the top, on course for winning the league, but end up blowing it. Could this season be counted as a success? In short, yes. Now while it is extremely disappointing that we missed out on the title there are a lot of positives to be taken from this season.

If you look at the Hinrunde, the team was on fire. They were one of the most exciting teams in Europe, a team that was playing with great heart, fight and desire. The 4-0 victory against one of the best defences in Europe, Atletico Madrid, and the nail-biting 3-2 victory against record champions Bayern Munich were definitely the stand out moments. The team was playing well above expectations and there was a real feeling that they could take on Bayern for the title this season.

The factors which affected BVB’s title charge

But what ultimately cost Dortmund was the lack of depth in their squad. Crucial injuries to crucial players at the worst possible times adversely affected Borussia Dortmund.

When Akanji was unavailable we had to slot in a makeshift centre-back Julian Weigl, who normally plays midfield. While he did prove to be a viable replacement, Dortmund need to have a reliable back up. Same goes for Marius Wolf. When Lukasz Piszczek was out injured we replaced him with the ex-Frankfurt man who is a winger.

This also goes for the attack. Christian Pulisic who is on his way to Chelsea next season just wasn’t at his best for a player worth 60 million. We often had to put in youngster Jacob Bruun-Larsen or left back Raphael Guerreiro. Not having proper replacements in times of their injury crises was an issue for Dortmund that cost them vital points.

Axel Witsel was also on his last legs by the end of the season. And that is understandable, considering the fact that he was playing in the Chinese League last season, which is no match to the Bundesliga’s intensity and quality. But due to the lack of options in midfield, Lucien Favre could not afford him a rest.

But this goes back to my previous point on how this season could still be a success. The club have already started addressing these issues in signings such as Thorgan Hazard, Julian Brandt for the attack and Nico Schulz and the impending Mateu Morey for defence. While there is still a possibility that more players such as Dahoud and Guerreiro could leave the club, Sporting director Michael Zorc will always be there to address any of these issues and bring in reinforcements.

Lack of title winning know how

While our squad is ripe with young talent, its also important to mix it with the right amount of experienced players, especially at the back. Another problem that the team was facing this season was their ability to finish games off. While that statement can be rebutted considering the exceptional comebacks and late goals we’ve had this year, they got outweighed by the times we blew games from winning positions. If we had more experienced players in defence then there is a good possibility that a lot of our games where we lost the lead from winning positions could have been avoided. Lets analyze.

In our 7 draws this season we gave up leads in 4 of them. Our first one at home against Berlin where Zagadou conceded a late penalty only for the scores to end up 2-2. Should that have been Piszczek making the tackle it would have possibly been a different story due to experience that Piszczek has over Zagadou. While the 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt wasn’t a late goal Dortmund still had the advantage and failed to keep it.

The next one was probably the most infamous one that really put a dent in out title hopes. Borussia Dortmund were hosting Hoffenheim and were 3-0 up by the 66th minute. An error from Akanji gifted Ishak Belfodil Hoffenheim’s first. What should have been a straightforward win was bottled in the last 15 where the Black and Yellows ended up conceding 3 goals and dropped points in a key game in the title race. And finally the 2-2 draw away to Bremen which put the Bundesliga title race to bed.

While Dortmund have shown that they have the ability to score late as we saw against Augsburg and Wolfsburg. It’s important to also stay tight at the back when the opposition throws everything at you in the final minutes of a game. This goes back to my point of having the right amount of young talent but also a solid amount of experience in the squad. While Dortmund had the youthful exuberance in their squad, they were lacking some much needed title winning know-how and experience, which is something that helped Bayern get over the line first.

Both Favre and Zorc know what needs to be done in order for Dortmund challenge Bayern once again for the Meisterschale. A new and improved Borussia Dortmund squad will emerge in August and learn from the mistakes that happened in the 2018/2019 Bundesliga season. The players will also be much more mature and learn from this experience, which will help them be better prepared for their next title assault.

Final thoughts. Sure we blew a 9 point lead. It’s extremely disappointing but the fact that we were able to assemble a squad that managed to bring the title race to the last day since 2009 is an achievement in itself. What was meant to be a season in transition ended up being a full blown title fight. Borussia Dortmund exceeded all expectations this season and will come back even stronger next season.

From this season we know what needs to be done and how we can address it. That’s a win in my books because if our squad can be anything better than what we have this season then we’re only going up from here and it’s only a matter of time before we lift the Bundesliga trophy once again.