Marcel Sabitzer hails the impact of Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin at Borussia Dortmund

Marcel Sabitzer has said that the Borussia Dortmund players are delighted to have Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin back at the club as assistant coaches.

Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin sealed spectacular returns to Borussia Dortmund during the winter break, joining the club as assistant first-team coaches. The former BVB midfielders have taken on a very hands-on role at the club, and have also implemented new ideas on the training pitch.

Marcel Sabitzer believes that the duo bring a lot to the table at Borussia Dortmund, and praised their impact in an interview with Bundesliga.com. "The processes on the pitch during training have changed a bit because Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender take on half of the responsibility, and lead some of the drills to try to teach us some new things. We try to then implement these ideas and it gives us new impetus, which can certainly help. They both have a lot of experience, so we are very happy to have them with us and we all want to work towards the same aim."

Sabitzer also spoke about Borussia Dortmund's disappointing first half of the season. The Austrian international admitted that their form in the Bundesliga, especially in the weeks leading up to the winter break, was not good enough.

"It’s definitely mixed. If you look at our experiences in the league in the last few weeks, then it certainly wasn’t enough. We definitely did not pick up enough points and I think we managed just one win in the last eight games. With the expectations and the quality that we have, this is simply not enough. We also had a lot of very good games in which we beat difficult opposition. This is why the situation is a little strange, but we are certainly not satisfied."

Borussia Dortmund have enjoyed a much-improved start to 2024, winning both of their games in the Bundesliga since the turn of the year. Sabitzer - who joined BVB from Bayern Munich in the summer - has featured in both those games and has made a total of 21 appearances so far this season.