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Banter Bar exclusive interview with Borussia Dortmund legend Patrick Owomoyela

By Brian Szlenk Straub

DORTMUND, GERMANY - MARCH 17: Patrick Owomoyela of Dortmund is seen after winning the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and SV Werder Bremen at Signal Iduna Park on March 17, 2012 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)
DORTMUND, GERMANY - MARCH 17: Patrick Owomoyela of Dortmund is seen after winning the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and SV Werder Bremen at Signal Iduna Park on March 17, 2012 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, UNITED STATES – JULY 15: Nico Schulz, Thorgan Hazard and Julian Brand of Borussia Dortmund during a sightseeing trip as part of the Borussia Dortmund US Tour 2019 on July 15, 2019 in Seattle, United States. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund via Getty Images)
SEATTLE, UNITED STATES – JULY 15: Nico Schulz, Thorgan Hazard and Julian Brand of Borussia Dortmund during a sightseeing trip as part of the Borussia Dortmund US Tour 2019 on July 15, 2019 in Seattle, United States. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund via Getty Images) /

Start to the Season: How Have Brandt, Schulz and Hazard fared?

A lot of questions have been raised about Dortmund’s start to the new season, especially coming off of what has to be one of the clubs most successful transfer windows in some time. The additions of Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard and Nico Schulz are all very high profile signings; signings that perhaps many people would have thought should propel the club to instant success. As it tends to be in football, it has not been as simple as the Dortmund faithful would have hoped, a sentiment that Owomoyela seemed to resonate with.

"“I think overall it was an ok start to the season, and obviously we would’ve liked [it to have been] a little better, not losing against Berlin…but, you know, it’s a long season. There is still so much to come and I think the team is still trying to find it’s real DNA for this season for this team, at the moment.”"

In many ways I think Owomoyela’s thoughts are justified here. While the signings of Brandt, Hazard and Schulz all signify Dortmund’s intent to challenge for the league, intent alone is not enough to guarantee success. The team itself is in a process of gelling and coming together. They are still trying to find the synergy and cohesiveness that will propel them forward as the season progresses.

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The sentiment that perhaps Dortmund should do more with the quality they possess comes from the overachieving start the team was graced with last season, where all the new pieces were instant hits and the team was soaring going into the winter break. It is clear, however, that it will take more than the individual talent of the newly signed players to bear positive fruit. Brandt, Schulz and Hazard have all had fantastic performances, as well as more quiet showings.

Taking the first couple games against Augsburg and then Köln, for example, Julian Brandt was on fire, scoring in his debut in front of the Yellow Wall and putting in yet another solid performance off the bench against 1. FC Köln. His introduction in that game started an influx in the amount of chances Die Schawarzgelben created. His turns and dribbles were sublime and his play had all the qualities of a player so highly rated both in the Bundesliga and around the world.

On the other hand, in other games such as the one against Union Berlin, Brandt seemed to switch off at times, playing erring passes and allowing himself to be dispossessed one too many times. Even when taking the most recent draw to Freiburg into account, Brandt’s final pass didn’t find it’s target on enough occasions, and while these missed passes didn’t create many dangerous opportunities for the opposition, they did cut attacks short and stifle chances that could’ve put the game to bed.

Nevertheless, the mixed bag of performances hasn’t marred Owo’s opinion of the new signings one bit.  When asked about the feeling he had about the new signings, his answer was simple, totally positive:

"“…it’s great talent we have on the team, these new guys, Thorgan Hazard as well, they bring so much more to the team, and that could be the missing link that was lacking last season…all these guys are really good, otherwise we wouldn’t have invested that money into these guys and I can’t wait to see them develop into the season because its a process that takes a little, and we’re only 5 (now 7) games down the road so there’s more to come.”"

Owo’s thoughts are a sentiment that I too share. Focusing on Brandt alone, despite the varying performances it’s easy to see just how good he is and how much he can really provide to this team when he’s fully on it. It is a process however, and one has to have faith that they will gel into a cohesive unit as the season rolls on.