Three coaches who could take over if Borussia Dortmund decide to part ways with Edin Terzic in the summer

Thiago Motta

The current Bologna manager could, or at least should be a name thrown in the hat for the Borussia Dortmund job in the summer.

Motta has been there, done that as a player. A World Cup and two Champions League winners medals, two La Liga titles, one Serie A title, five Ligue 1 titles and multiple domestic cups across spells at Barcelona, Inter Milan and Paris Saint Germain.

There cannot be many questioning the Italian’s integrity or experience at the high level. Yet Motta’s rise to management has taken a more organic approach. His first whiff at management was in Paris, at U19 level. He would later move back to Italy with brief humbling spells as Genoa and Spezia. Motta’s tactical nuance went viral in 2019 after his ideas of a 2-7-2 bewildered football fans. Nine games later and he was sacked as Genoa manager.

Bologna took a chance on the former PSG player and have been rewarded for their faith. In his breakout season as a manager, Motta is flying high with I Rossoblù in fourth position in Serie A with nowhere near the budget of the Italian big guns surrounding his team.

One keyword in Motta’s excellence is adaptability. He is adaptable to shape depending on the opponent's formation and style of play. His common base is that of a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, but main features of his style of play are directness, quick movement, compactness and being opportunistic, yet effective with the ball.

Another impressive feature of Motta’s managerial style is that he is able to adapt to players and improves from within. There is no superstar name in this team, yet they are being created. Joshua Zirkzee, Lewis Ferguson, Lukasz Skorupski and Riccardo Orsolini are playing the best football of their lives.

A much aimed criticism of Edin Terzic is that barely, if any players have remarkably improved under him in 2023/24. Bringing in Motta could revolutionise the identity of a team playing second fiddle in terms of a budget (to Bayern), albeit at a much higher level. The Italian is still in his early days as a coach, but for a long term vision and a long term coach - Motta would be a candidate that could truly season his name under the bright lights of the Westfalenstadion.