Marco Rose does not support playoffs in the Bundesliga, but does the idea deserve any credit?

Borussia Dortmund manager Marco Rose has sounded off on the idea of a proposed playoffs system in the Bundesliga to foster more competition.

The idea of a playoffs system to determine the Bundesliga title race has been suggested by current CEO of the DFL Donata Hopfen. The idea has been proposed in response to Bayern’s overall dominance in the league. The Bavarian giants are getting closer and closer to winning the league title for the 10th time in a row, and their overall dominance has been one of the league’s main points of criticism over the years.

In Hopfen’s own words, a freshening up of the system could make the league more interesting for spectators as a whole:

"“The league would of course be more attractive if there was more competition at the top. If playoffs help, then we’ll talk about playoffs. We shouldn’t forget, though, that Bayern has done a super job in the last years.” – Donata Hopfen, DFL CEO"

The idea was warmly received by Oliver Kahn and Bayern, who described the playoff model as “exciting”. Much of the rest of the league was not so keen on the idea, however. Bayer Leverkusen’s Sporting Director Rudi Völler was one of the many voices which came out in opposition, calling a playoff format the “wrong approach”.

Borussia Dortmund’s own Marco Rose has now also expressed his distaste for the idea. During his press conference ahead of the Union Berlin game, the Borussia Dortmund manager stated that:

"“I have never dealt with that before. How are you supposed to organize that with 18 teams? For me, that’s not really an issue. I think football is good the way it is. Playoffs are not my thing.”"

By and large, Rose’s sentiment is very clear: the current system works just fine. The gap in quality between Bayern and the rest of the league stems mainly from the financial power the Bavarians possess, not from the format of competition.

In some sense, the idea that knockout football is more competitive has some merit though. If you take a look at the DFB Pokal for example, Bayern have of course not been as dominant and have been knocked out by weaker opposition in the last couple of years. This year’s iteration of the competition will have a winner not named Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich.

Despite this, there is a certain merit and prestige associated with the current league system, whereby a champion is crowned based on a year’s worth of hard work and graft to amass the highest points total. This prestige is irreplaceable and it almost seems ludicrous to think that a team which has outperformed the rest for almost an entire year would suddenly be dethroned by a team that placed fourth per se, some 15-20 points below top spot.

The idea of a playoff system is one that perhaps works in other sports because they were structured that way from their conception. The fact remains that a season of football is played throughout the entire year and the best team is decided by a points total garnered throughout the entire season. It seems rather unfair to suddenly determine the highest domestic honor in Germany by forcing teams into a knockout phase of the competition.

This doesn’t mean that the idea is completely without some merit however. A playoff system could indeed be instituted should the DFL look to create an addition competition within the league for teams to compete for. It would create an added incentive for teams to push for the top 6 or 8 spots, adding to the weight of the games being played. This would perhaps shake up the dynamic up top a bit more, without destabilizing a structure that has worked for well over a century in the sport.

Time will tell what changes the DFL try to institute a new system to determine the Bundesliga title, but I fail to see the majority of clubs getting behind such an idea, particularly in the form of a replacement for how the title is awarded at the end of the season.

The playoff system comes off as an invalidation of the hard work put in by the club that ends up in number one spot at the end of the season. Even if that club is Bayern Munich at the end of the day, the playoff system as suggested only papers over the real reason as to why clubs struggle to stifle their supremacy in Germany.