Manuel Akanji bemoans Borussia Dortmund’s stupid mistakes in defeat to SC Freiburg
By Tushar Bahl
Manuel Akanji felt that Borussia Dortmund made a number of ‘stupid mistakes’ in their 2-1 defeat to SC Freiburg on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund suffered their first Bundesliga defeat of the 2021/22 season on Saturday, as goals from Vincenzo Grifo and Roland Sallai either side of half time helped SC Freiburg earn a 2-1 win. An own goal from Yannik Keitel helped the Black and Yellows halve the deficit at the hour mark. But they weren’t able to find an equaliser.
Freiburg played with a lot more energy and kept Borussia Dortmund’s forwards at bay with relative ease in the end.
Manuel Akanji was critical of his side’s performance in the defeat to Freiburg. The Swiss international felt that both of Freiburg’s goals were preventable, and BVB made things too easy for their opponents by making a number of unforced errors.
"“We made stupid mistakes. On two occasions. The first goal came from a mistake in the build-up play. It was a superb free kick, but we could have prevented it. The second was after a corner for us and we lost the ball and conceded on the counter.”"
Akanji also said that Borussia Dortmund cannot afford to keep making these types of mistakes if they want to compete for the top spots this season.
"“We can’t let this happen. We can’t invite our opponents to take shots, especially when we’re controlling the game. Sometimes we might lose to a team that is better than us. But we can’t be losing games like today. Now we have to carry on as we would after a win – and analyse the mistakes. If we want to compete at the top, we can’t let something like this happen. We have to concede fewer goals.”"
Marco Rose felt that Freiburg deserved their win. The 44 year old also said that his players passed the ball too slowly and took too many touches in some phases of the game.
"“Freiburg deserved the win, the way they performed. We had to work incredibly hard to create chances. In some phases it was okay, in others our passing tempo was too slow and we took too many touches. These are issues that we need to find solutions to.”"
dark. Next. Player ratings from Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 defeat to Freiburg
Borussia Dortmund now have some time to recover and prepare for their next game, with no mid-week matches scheduled for next week. Marco Rose’s side will be back in action on Friday, as they take on TSG Hoffenheim at the Signal Iduna Park. That will be their final game before the first international break of the season.