Avoiding Scapegoats: Why Hans-Joachim Watzke must take the blame for Borussia Dortmund’s struggles

What went wrong this summer at Borussia Dortmund?

With the Black and Yellows not passing the eye test to start the season, much has been made of shortcomings of the coach, players and the front office staff at the club. At the front and centre of the controversies are Edin Terzic and Sebastian Kehl, who have faced their fair share of the blame for this summer’s transfer window mishaps.

However, the man behind the two, Hans-Joachim Watzke is currently the one most at fault despite escaping blame for years now.

The most public controversies were between Terzic and Kehl. These disputes were discussed across multiple tabloids and media sources and seem very real when looking at serious transfer links before decisions were made that were in conflict with the next one.

The most high profile of these disagreements was the transfer of Edson Álvarez. After holding interest in the Mexican midfielder for several months, Borussia Dortmund ended up calling off the chase for his signature and decided to extend Emre Can’s contract.

While it may be normal for these matters to be disputed, what is not necessary is for these matters to be handled in the press. Additionally, with the backing of the coach over the sporting director in these matters, Watzke has created an unnatural hierarchy.

With Can off to a bad start, this is a big failure for Terzic and Watzke. The club CEO’s failures were then exacerbated with the biggest signing of the summer. Felix Nmecha’s price rose well above the initial links of €15-20 million to 30 million euros plus add ons, even though he only had one year left on his contract. This was once again a player Terzic admired, and fan protests were ignored as the club decided to sign him.