Fear the Wall's Borussia Dortmund Holiday Wish List

01/02/2025 04:58 PM

Which areas we think Dortmund need to improve in (hint: it's all of them)

The holidays mean different things to different people. To some, they are an opportunity to spend time with friends and family. To others, they are a time off from work or school to relax and enjoy the smaller things in life. To others more, they are religious times, meant to reaffirm a sense of spirituality and a connection to a higher power.

Well that's all well and good, but we're not dealing with any of that poppycock today. Today, we're going to treat holidays in the same manner as kids bursting down the stairs to a big pile of gifts under a Christmas tree: what are other people going to give to us?

During Borussia Dortmund's mediocre first half, it has become readily apparent that the squad, and moreover the club as a whole, are filled with holes.

Sean: Midfield Reinforcements

Right now, Dortmund essentially have two midfielders playing well enough to justify full-time roles in the squad: Felix Nmecha and Julian Brandt. In a perfect world, Pascal Groß and Marcel Sabitzer would be included in that category, but so far both players have failed to find their footing under Nuri Sahin.

Of the two, an attacking midfielder would be better. There aren't any other players in Dortmund's squad who can replace Brandt's creativity and vision, other than Gio Reyna on a day his hamstrings aren't made of Styrofoam.

Patrick: Defensive Depth

"Oh no! Another defender is injured and Emre Can will be forced to play as a center-back! This club is so unlucky!" As a Dortmund fan, you have heard this a billion times this season. But what if I told you that the club was not unlucky but were, in fact, stupid? With only three natural center-backs since the dawn of time, Borussia Dortmund has repeatedly struggled for defensive stability. This season, Dortmund only had all three defenders fit for eleven of their twenty-two matches - that's half! The club has been forced to attempt all possible solutions from fielding Felix Nmecha as a center-back to reanimating Schlotterbeck's corpse after he destroyed his leg against FC Barcelona.

All I want for Christmas this year is one more center-back. It can be anyone! I just need one more poor soul protecting me from watching Emre Can lead the team in defensive errors.

Zac: Cohesive Attacking

Dortmund have been as bad to watch this season at the back as they have been boring at the front. Teams typically either have an ethos of out-scoring their opponent, or preventing the opponent from scoring. When it boils down to it, those are the only two ways to win a game. BVB have been so poorly manned on defense and so underwhelming in attack at neither of these plans have been executed on. Jamie Gittens has gone above and beyond in his ability to will the ball into the goal when his side desperately need it, but it would be hard to call that a successful attacking strategy. In truth, BVB have been poor in attack, and even summer signing Serhou Guirassy is now struggling to find the back of the net.

Maybe it's down to the absences of Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt toward the end of the Hinrunde, but Dortmund need to get the ball toward their opponent's goal. If not for anything else, for the sake of our entertainment.