Opinion: Borussia Dortmund should allow Maximilian Beier to start alongside Serhou Guirassy in attack

After Borussia Dortmund’s 5-1 drubbing at the hands of VFB Stuttgart this past weekend in the Bundesliga, questions have begun to arise about the direction the season is heading in. While still very early, it’s still a worrying sign to see Dortmund look so deflated and allowing such a damning result to transpire.

The final scoreline itself was a result of varying factors. On the player side, Julian Brandt put it best when he said that results such are this are no surprise when players “play with so little passion”, which is a commendable level of accountability for Brandt to show.

On the coaching side, head coach Nuri Şahin’s choices both in terms of lineup, as well as substitutions during the game have been questionable not only in the fixture against Stuttgart but in previous games this season as well. Despite exemplary showings coming off the bench, Jamie Gittens has mostly retained the role of super sub. Talented Belgian youngster Julien Duranville has also been a general no-show, despite having a good pre-season and making his debut for the Belgian national team. Marcel Sabitzer, despite actively signaling to Şahin where he can make the most impact (in a more central role), is still being played out wide and blocking players like Gittens and Duranville from getting minutes.

Among these curious decisions is also the lack of minutes we’ve seen new signing Maximilian Beier get since Serhou Guirassy’s fitness began to improve. While it was clear from the off that Guirassy, once fit, would be the club's first choice center forward, Beier’s 30 million move to Dortmund was, at least in my eyes, seen as both competition and a complimentary move to Guirassy’s signing.