Three takeaways from Borussia Dortmund’s US Tour

Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a successful pre-season tour to the United States. The Black and Yellows managed to beat San Diego Loyal 6-0 and Manchester United 3-2, and drew 1-1 against Chelsea. Despite the impressive results, BVB’s overall performances weren’t perfect. The coach and players alike expressed their happiness with the results while stressing the need for improvement in some areas.

Here are the three of the talking points from Borussia Dortmund’s recently concluded US Tour.

Defence remains Borussia Dortmund’s weak link

Borussia Dortmund don’t seem to have a problem when it comes to finding the back of the net. But for years, the leaky defence has been an issue under different coaches. The case wasn’t any different last season as BVB lost the league title on goal difference. The team gave away too many silly goals at important stages of the season and it proved to be costly in the end.

During the friendly matches against Manchester United and Chelsea, Edin Terzic’s side was easily carved open by the opposition and ended up making big errors in the penalty box. If it wasn’t for the wasteful tendency of the opposition, the results would have looked a lot different.

Ramy Bensebaini has been the only addition to the back-line so far. He has shown his qualities in the pre-season games but another defensive player should be on the list of those in charge.

Borussia Dortmund are currently being linked with a move for Stefan Lekovic, who is expected to offer depth to the centre-back position, with injuries continuing to be a big worry.

As the popular saying goes, “Attack wins you matches and defence wins you titles,” BVB need to address the issues in the back-line by adding much-needed reinforcements and making sure that key players remain fit. There is a significant dip in quality when players like Gregor Kobel are injured and that will be an issue once the season starts if not dealt with here and now.