Schalke 0-4 Borussia Dortmund: Talking points from dominant Revierderby win

Reus and Dahoud impress in midfield, while Brandt continues to struggle:

A large reason for Borussia Dortmund’s improved performances in the last couple of games has come down to the impact both Marco Reus and Mahmoud Dahoud have had.

In terms of our captain, it is safe to say that we have not seen the best of him this season. Reus has spent a lot of the season underperforming, scoring less goals and creating less chances than we’re used to from him. More recently however, we’ve seen a resurgence in his performances and have been reminded of his importance to the side. His pressing, pass accuracy and involvement has gone dramatically up since the loss to Freiburg and draw against Hoffenheim in particular. His pass completion against Hoffenheim was particularly bad at 62.5%. This shot up to 82.9% in the Schalke game, and it paid dividends as he registered an assist on Rapha’s goal in the second half.

His movement looked more dangerous and he was much more involved in the game, attempting a total of 41 passes in comparison to his measly 16 against Hoffenheim, for example. While he isn’t scoring as much as he would perhaps like, his involvement and play is becoming much more precise in a crucial time for Dortmund, and has been behind quite a bit of the good play Dortmund have shown over the last two games.

Mo Dahoud also registered his second consecutive start after putting in a strong performance against Sevilla. Especially in the first half, he was part of a Dortmund midfield that pressed Schalke hard, forcing turnovers and attempting to intercept the ball at every juncture possible. He was second in the team in terms of the number of times he applied pressure to opposition players receiving the ball with 15 instances, only behind Mateu Morey, who also had an exemplary match in this regard with 16 pressures. Dahoud also boasted an impressive pass completion percentage of 90.5%, ensuring a performance that will hopefully see him receive more minutes on the pitch as the season goes on.

Julian Brandt, however, continues to struggle. It is almost amazing how many times you would hear Edin Terzic yell Brandt’s name, attempting to encourage the player who seems to still be suffering from a lack of confidence. We saw a timid approach from Brandt in terms of getting involved in the attack. A pass completion percentage of 75%, 35 touches and 0 attempts to dribble past opposition are an underwhelming showing for a player who has the potential to be world-class.

Both the body language and overall involvement in the game was lacking, and perhaps it is once again down to where he is on the pitch, in addition to the lack of confidence. The best performances from Brandt in Black and Yellow have always come from the middle of the park, and I wonder if, especially considering Gio Reyna’s continuing struggles as well, Terzic should allow Brandt to provide cover for Reus in the 10 position, especially with some very important games coming up after next weekend’s clash against Arminia Bielefeld.