Hans-Joachim Watzke defends Borussia Dortmund’s start to the season as he blasts social media abuse

Outgoing Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke believes that the criticism being faced by the team, especially on social media, is unfair.

The season has not gotten off to the best of starts for Borussia Dortmund, who find themselves ten points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich going into next weekend’s Der Klassiker.

Borussia Dortmund’s inconsistent performances in the Bundesliga have resulted in a lot of criticism of the team, with head coach Nuri Sahin and club captain Emre Can often coming into the firing line both on social media and legacy media.

"There's always unrest" - Hans-Joachim Watzke blasts Borussia Dortmund criticism

But Hans-Joachim Watzke is of the opinion that all this external criticism and unrest is over the top. During Borussia Dortmund’s AGM on Sunday, the club’s outgoing CEO called for more solidarity.

"I sometimes have the feeling that solidarity has been replaced by impatience. Are we fighting against relegation? We've just come out of the CL final and were millimeters away from the Bundesliga title the year before. We're more financially stable than the vast majority of clubs."

"I get the feeling that there’s always unrest. Social media is merciless and the media lets itself get carried away by it. And maybe we do too a little. But we can't do that as BVB. Our strength has always been solidarity. Borussia Dortmund doesn't mean creating a shitstorm, it means sticking together."

There has also been some criticism of Borussia Dortmund for not hiring external voices. Lothar Matthäus suggesting recently that adding an outside voice might be what’s needed at the club. But Watzke also rubbished that idea.

"We are proud that our sporting director, CEO, and coach come from our own academy, Sebastian Kehl has been a Borusse for 23 years. The three of them have won everything. That's supposed to be bad? That's Borussia Dortmund! Most clubs would like to have that."

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl’s current contract is set to expire at the end of the season. But during the AGM, Watzke’s successor Lars Ricken announced that the club would like to extend his contract.