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Borussia Dortmund II suffer fourth straight loss but contributing factors are beyond the control of Enrico Maaßen

By Benjamin McFadyean

Enrico Maassen. (Photo by Matthias Kern/Getty Images)
Enrico Maassen. (Photo by Matthias Kern/Getty Images) /
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Borussia Dortmund II will be hoping that their injury situation eases up soon. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)
Borussia Dortmund II will be hoping that their injury situation eases up soon. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images) /

How can Borussia Dortmund II find their form again?

Borussia Dortmund II have more than enough talent to hold their place in the 3. Liga, the highest league a Bundesliga club’s second team can play at. The likes of Luca Unbehaun, Berkan Taz, Marco Pasalic, Tobias Raschl and a number of others have shown that they are capable of getting the job done in the third division of German football.

In the short-term, Enrico Maaßen’s team crucially can look forward to the return of some of the key players. The coach said on Saturday, “We had Immanuel Pherai back for the first time against Meppen after two weeks of illness, Niklas Dams was also not yet at 100%. Midfielder Marco Hober is only now slowly coming back. These are also important players,” said Maaßen. Defender Kolbeinn Finnsson will also be fit soon after his injury. And more importantly, Maaßen can also count on Germany U-20s goalkeeper Luca Unbehaun again soon.

In addition, with the return of Dan-Axel Zagadou, Maaßen also does not expect Antonios Papadopoulos to be needed in the Bundesliga team for much longer. And summer signing Soumaila Coulibaly may also be used in the U-23s squad in the coming weeks following his return from injury.

The immediate focus for BVB II now seems to be a focus on more mundane things: “Due to the international break, we now have a little longer. We will now work intensively on our finishing and then we will be successful again,”.

In spite of the current run of poor form, the second-string Dortmund side (which has a market value of $15 million, almost twice that of fourth-placed Eintracht Braunschweig or second-placed VFL Osnabrück, both newly relegated from 2. Bundesliga) appear to have more than enough quality in the side to stay in the division if the demands from the first team recede. And they have one of the country’s most talented young coaches in Enrico Maaßen, who will no doubt help turn the tide again soon.

Next. Four players who left Borussia Dortmund too soon. dark

The next match for the eleventh-placed Borussia Dortmund II is at Hallescher FC, who have lost their last two games, on 20 November after the international break. And Maaßen will certainly be hoping to have the majority of his big names back fit and available again by then.