Borussia Dortmund: The pros and cons of sacking Lucien Favre now

dpatop - 08 February 2020, North Rhine-Westphalia, Leverkusen: Football: Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen - Borussia Dortmund, 21st matchday in the BayArena: Coach Lucien Favre of Dortmund before the match. Photo: Bernd Thissen/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Bernd Thissen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
dpatop - 08 February 2020, North Rhine-Westphalia, Leverkusen: Football: Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen - Borussia Dortmund, 21st matchday in the BayArena: Coach Lucien Favre of Dortmund before the match. Photo: Bernd Thissen/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to exploit or have exploited in the stadium and/or from the game taken photographs in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Bernd Thissen/picture alliance via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Dortmund coach Lucien Favre is on the sidelines before the game against Leverkusen (Photo by Guido Kirchner/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Dortmund coach Lucien Favre is on the sidelines before the game against Leverkusen (Photo by Guido Kirchner/picture alliance via Getty Images) /

Pro: Favre hasn’t shown he is capable of turning things around

Doubts were first raised about Lucien Favre’s future back in November. Then a small upturn in results followed. But two months later, Borussia Dortmund are back in a similar situation. Yes, a lot of their bad results have been down to catastrophic defensive errors. But at some point, the head coach needs to hold his hands up and be held accountable for his team’s performances.

Defensive issues have been haunting Borussia Dortmund for the last 12 months. A coach’s job is to fix the issues and solve problems. And there is no real progress on the pitch to suggest that Favre is capable of fixing Dortmund’s woes.

On paper, Borussia Dortmund have some of the Bundesliga’s most talented players. But Favre, who was brought in to add some defensive stability, hasn’t been able to give any evidence that he can get the best out of this squad.

The BVB bosses have backed him heavily in the transfer market, but he simply hasn’t been able to deliver the desired results. Most of Dortmund’s wins have been down to individual brilliance. And if the likes of Sancho, Haaland, Reus, Hazard or Brandt fail to produce something special, Favre often seems to be out of ideas.