Make or break: Three underperforming Borussia Dortmund players who need to step up

Thorgan Hazard

Thorgan Hazard has been a mainstay in the Belgium national team along with his brother Eden under Roberto Martinez. At the club level however, it has been a different story since his move to Dortmund from Gladbach in 2019. Injuries and inconsistency, coupled with a failure to build on an encouraging debut season with Dortmund have put his place in the squad under ample scrutiny.

Entrusted with a first start of the season against Freiburg, Hazard made little to no impact on the match. Consequently, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens replaced Hazard and sparked a comeback off the bench with a goal and an assist. He was then rewarded with a start over Hazard against Bremen, leaving the Belgian winger on the bench again.

Bynoe-Gittens struggled to make an impact and capitalize off of the Freiburg game, so Hazard was brought on in the 62nd minute and yet again failed to make an impression in the catastrophic loss to Bremen.

With transfer rumors always swirling, and questions about his future plentiful, Hazard will need to make a significant improvement if called upon by Edin Terzić or he could find minutes hard to come by. This could be especially problematic considering that the World Cup is only a few months away, and the player will likely wish to cement his place in the national side. The only way to do this will be with improved showings going forward.