Borussia Dortmund 5-2 Eintracht Frankfurt: Key Talking Points

Gregor Kobel exudes authority on his Bundesliga debut for Dortmund

While it would be easy for me to start this piece off by bringing attention to the absolute goal-fest Borussia Dortmund’s attack treated us to, I want to highlight something that I couldn’t really get over while the game was going on – and that was Gregor Kobel’s performance. There have been a lot of split opinions revolving around Dortmund’s new shot stopper, and I for one was very torn about the signing when it was announced.

Having watched him both in preseason and against Frankfurt now, I am very rapidly becoming a fervent believer that this man is by far the right person between the sticks for Dortmund going forward.

Kobel, despite the two goals conceded, had an immense performance, and it showed just how important communication between the goalkeeper and the back-line is for defensive solidity to be established in the long term. He was not afraid to communicate with his teammates when something needed to be adjusted in the defence. In fact, he didn’t even look like a new signing at all.

The way he and the defence worked together made it seem as if he’d been there for years. He was a commanding and confident presence, making quite a few good saves, and I really enjoyed the way he came out of his box to clear the ball in a sweeper like fashion. This to me was particularly exemplary as this wasn’t a massive part of his game at Stuttgart, and it shows that he is able to adapt his game to the team he plays in.

The culmination of adequate communication and confidence definitely rubbed off on Kobel’s teammates as well. Borussia Dortmund were playing with a makeshift backline of Axel Witsel, Nico Schulz, Manuel Akanji and Felix Passlack, something that might have worried fans, especially when coming up against a side like Frankfurt that has a lot of attacking quality.

Kobel’s presence between the sticks was so commanding that most defensive actions seemed to come with ease. The team seemed to know that they had a keeper behind them who could smother a chance if necessary, and this confidence in one another will be extremely important in perhaps rectifying the defensive woes of the past, especially once they can field a proper defensive line once again.