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Three takeaways from Borussia Dortmund’s defeat to Mönchengladbach

By Lewis Fowler

Borussia Dortmund suffered a disappointing defeat to Gladbach (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Borussia Dortmund suffered a disappointing defeat to Gladbach (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images) /
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Borussia Dortmund conceded three set piece goals against Gladbach (Photo by WOLFGANG RATTAY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Borussia Dortmund conceded three set piece goals against Gladbach (Photo by WOLFGANG RATTAY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /

Set-piece issues highlighted once again

An incredible 42% of the 26 goals conceded by Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga so far this season have come from set-pieces. Dortmund’s lack of press resistance at times leads to silly mistakes in the defensive third, resulting in giving away needless freekicks and corners.

In these set-pieces, Edin Terzic’s men are setting up with a high offside trap, in a bid to allow Bürki free-space to command whipped deliveries. However, as we saw against Gladbach, there is not always the greatest anticipation of (first and) second balls in the area from Dortmund. Sure, Bürki has been guilty of pushing the ball back into dangerous areas at times, but the collective marking/defending of areas is not always good. Clear examples of this can be seen in the two goals each conceded from corners away at Union Berlin and FC Köln.

And they were visible against Gladbach as well, where there was simply no semblance of organisation in the back-line. There was a lack of communication between the two Dortmund defenders before the first goal, as Mats Hummels rushed towards the ball immediately, playing everyone onside. While Manuel Akanji was too slow to react, leaving Elvedi with ample time to get his header down.

And then after going 2-1 up, the experienced Hummels made a clumsy challenge on the edge of the box on Neuhaus after the midfielder rolled the ball nicely away from him. For some reason, Reus (who was standing in the wall) jumped out of the way of Stindl’s shot. And then Burki pushed the ball straight back onto the onrushing Elvedi who tapped home. No Dortmund defender was alert to the potential danger. Then the defence fell asleep once again, allowing Marcus Thuram to get a free header and make it 4-2 in the second half.

Bürki’s lack of command in the penalty area, combined with some criminal marking, or its lack of, means that Dortmund will continue to drop points unless they start working on set-pieces in training.

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