Mainz 05 3-1 Borussia Dortmund: Takeaways from predictable defeat

Nuri Sahin's late substitutions

Nuri Sahin's choices within this match are also a topic to be discussed. Even with the injury outbreak, consistently repeating the same starting XI could be potentially a risky move. Not only could it raise the risk of more injuries among the available players, but it could also lead to individual mistakes due to improvising players out of position.

Indeed, playing youngsters with little experience is a risk on its own, but they will never develop if the coach does not give them proper minutes at some point. It is not an ideal situation by any means; however, it could be more effective than putting players in positions where they will likely struggle.

This match is a prime example of that with the whole Emre Can situation. The team captain looked solid at centre-back in the last couple of games, but he eventually made a questionable decision in a position that is not his best. Afterwards, Sahin closed that hole in the defence with another improvisation with two young centre-backs on the bench.

With Felix Nmecha playing as a centre-back, he took way too long to recover from his initial clearance and, left Jae-sung Lee completely alone to score the first goal, and gave enough space to Jonathan Burkhardt to score the second. As much as fans might effusively blame the German international for the defeat, it is the coach's role to put players in a place to succeed.