Borussia Dortmund 5-2 Eintracht Frankfurt: Key Talking Points

Dortmund’s game doesn’t skip a beat despite Sancho exit

In the lead up to Saturday’s game, I had many questions about just how this Borussia Dortmund side would perform once the Bundesliga season got under way. I, like many others, had watched pre-season with great interest in the hopes of getting a better gauge as to what to expect with regards to the club’s new signings, as well as how Marco Rose would set up with the players at his disposal.

Of course, one of the main thoughts was: How would Dortmund perform now that Jadon Sancho was gone for good?

We’d seen Borussia Dortmund play without Sancho in the past, and the team was very flat at times without his creativity and attacking incisiveness. Dortmund’s performance against Frankfurt was able to answer this question quite resoundingly – we’ll be just fine.

Now don’t get me wrong, when I say that “we’ll be fine”, I don’t mean to say that Sancho’s output won’t be missed. Sancho is a natural winger able of splitting open deep lying sides like a knife cutting through melted butter, and that is an immense asset for any side to have, and of course, lose. When I say that Dortmund will be fine, I mean that under Marco Rose, it looks like the entire team has stepped up their game to help cover for the loss of Sancho.

In games over the past few years, Dortmund have become known for being a “second half side”. Under Lucien Favre in particular, Dortmund would often start games very sluggishly. The second half would often see an increase in intensity, but as soon as an advantage was established, that intensity would drop, which would lead to silly mistakes and gaps for the opposition to exploit.

What stuck out to me in this game the most was that Dortmund were awake and intense from the very first whistle till the final kick of the ball. There was an aggressiveness and energy to their play that we haven’t seen since the peak years under Jürgen Klopp. Everyone was alert and up for it.

Marco Reus was one of the players that most embodied this new energy under Marco Rose. Reus was absolutely everywhere. scoring, assisting and playing incisive passes in midfield to help his team go on to win the game. The team as a whole looked like they were on the same page, having bought into the idea of football that Rose has brought with him to the club.

I was lucky enough to watch the game with our Brooklyn Borussen fan club here in New York City, and one of our members and a good friend of mine, Mikal, said something that stood out to me when commenting on the creative aspect of Haaland’s game in particular. The Norwegian international is known for scoring goals but also registered a hattrick of assists in this match, to which Mikal said: “Haaland has just been like, no Sancho, no problem. I’ll be Sancho.”

This comment struck a chord with me because unlike the teams of the past few years, instead of being reliant on the likes of Sancho, Haaland, Reus and co. really stepped up their creative game and showed that there is enough quality in this side cope with the loss of the Englishman. It of course remains to be seen if they can keep up this intensity for the duration of the season, but the signs are very promising. The squad is showing a hunger that has already planted the seeds of hope in my heart for what this side is capable of achieving.