Among the many questionable decisions that Niko Kovac took in their Champions League loss against Bodo/Glimt on Wednesday, was starting Fabio Silva as the lone striker upfront.
Away from home at a venue where some top guns have slipped up on their artifical turf, it was truly surprising. Why would you bench Serhou Guirassy in a potentital banana skin like this?
Yes, the BVB have games coming thick and fast this month, but there are easier games to rest the Guinean international than this one, which ultimately resulted in a defeat.
It's not to say that Guirassy alone would have rescued the side, but at least he would offered a bigger attacking threat that Silva, who isn't a conventional striker.
The Portuguese forward thrives off a striker in a No.10 role; he excels in pulling defenders towards himself and creating space for others to run into rather than being the battering ram that tears down defenses inside the box.
It's no coincidence that his best performances in Dortmund colors this season have come when Silva played in such a system. Because we've seen last season that starting him up top as the main marksman blunts their offensive vanguard.
The result was the same on Wednesday night too, as Silva virtually offered no directness or aggressiveness up front to rattle Bodo's defense, struggling to hold up or offer any creative outlet.
He was caught offside thrice in the match but more importantly, was poor at retaining possession while his passing was off too, completing only eight from an attempted 15. Far from testing the Superlaget, Silva didn't muster a single shot in the match for 60 minutes.
Once Guirassy was throw in, alongside a few other first-team stars such as Ethan Nwaneri, Marcel Sabitzer, Felix Nmecha and Julian Ryerson, Dortmund became increasingly menacing and started taking initiatives from an offensive standpoint.
Guirassy is a traditional centre-forward who offers attacking firepower, can occupy centre-backs, and attack crosses, which Silva failed to. It's not to say write off the 24-year-old entirely, it's just that the tactical system Kovac employed that night in Norway doesn't suit the player.
The forwards have shown to compliment each other when playing together, with both also assisting each other a few times this season. They understand each other well and their communication is almost telepathic.
It was remiss of Kovac to overlook this. Hopefully in the games ahead, we get to see Guirassy and Silva playing off each other, with their burgeoning attacking partnership reaching new heights in the process.
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