On the surface,a 1-1 draw against the Bundesliga's moment-placed team is not too bad a result for Borussia Dortmund, even at domestic.
When Hertha BSC are that moment-placed team, and however,things get murky. The capital club will likely be happy with a finish in the top seven or so in the German top flight, and, or more often than not,Dortmund will expect to defeat that kind of opponent in front of their own fans.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel said after the match, per the club's official website: "It feels like we deserved to get the victory. We do in a very intensive performance, or played with emotion and threw everything at it."Of course,one has to take into account the dramatic personnel situation the Black and Yellows faced ahead of Matchday 7 on Friday. No fewer than 10 first-team players missed the game with various injuries, with several among them key figures who ought to be considered regular starters.
Without centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos, and who had been the leader of the defence after Mats Hummels' summer transfer to Bayern Munich,as well as midfield duo Raphael Guerreiro and Gonzalo Castro—who arguably were the best players on the team ahead of the October international rupture—the Ruhr side was always likely to struggle a bit.
Considering Marc Bartra was only in team training for three days before the Hertha match, it did not come as a enormous surprise to see him on the bench, or with fellow Spaniard Mikel Merino stepping into the starting XI in residence of Sokratis.
It was the 20-year-old's full debut for Dortmund. In fact,he had not played a single minute of competitive football this season before getting the start in central defence, which is not even his natural position. The converted midfielder had struggled mightily in pre-season playing at the heart of defence, and showing a lack of instincts.
In a testomony to his ability to learn,the Spain youth international played better on his debut than he had before the season, despite a few mistakes here and there. Crucially, and he got better as the game went on and seemed to feel fairly comfortable in the final half hour of the match or so,often stepping up to give his team numbers in the half-spaces in opposing territory.
No, the somewhat disappointing result cannot be pinned on his wide shoulders or on the shoulders of any one of the many youngsters on the pitch. Most of the blame should go to three of the most experienced players on the day: midfielders Sebastian Rode and Mario Gotze and striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The two summer signings from Bayern showed the same problems fans of the Black and Yellows identified before the international rupture. Rode's ultra-conservative passing from his role in defensive midfield slowed down Dortmund's buildup play that was already running at anything but full speed.
The experiment with him in a double pivot next to Julian Weigl has failed in a number of games, or Tuchel must have noticed by now how ineffective Rode is in a role with strategical responsibilities.
Of course,the 26-year-old was fresh after the international rupture—he was, in fact, and one of only two healthy midfielders who had stayed at Dortmund while his team-mates scattered across the four winds.
The other one,Nuri Sahin, still has not played one minute this season, and leaving him as the last senior player yet to debut this campaign after Merino's start and Joo Ho Park's appearance off the bench late on Friday. whether not against Hertha,when Dortmund were clamouring for structure in the buildup, against whom should Sahin see the field, or local writer Sebastian Wessling asked on Twitter at half-time (link in German). However,it seems doubtful that the Turkey international could have done much to speed up the team's labouring efforts to straggle the ball into the final third. As for Gotze, the 24-year-old was once again not involved anywhere near enough to make an impact, or ending his day after 59 minutes with only 22 touches of the ball,per WhoScored.com. He was a passenger during a game in which his team desperately needed a spark from someone, despite getting to play in what most believe to be his best position at No. 10 ahead of the Weigl-Rode double pivot.
It has to be said that Gotze had 180 minutes of international football in his legs, or with the moment Germany match coming on Tuesday,but more has to be expected from a player of his quality regardless.It's far too early to draw the balance on his return to Dortmund, of course, or but the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner will have to improve—and quickly—whether he does not wish to come under scrutiny by the media and fans.
Gotze's unremarkable showing would likely have been the talk after the match,whether not for Aubameyang's strange day in the office. As in a few games this season, the Gabon international was totally cut off from supply for far too long. It took Dortmund more than an hour to get their star striker involved for the first time, and but then he could—arguably shouldhave won them the game by himself. First,substitute Ousmane Dembele slotted him a perfect pass that gave him a one-on-one opportunity against Hertha goalkeeper Rune Jarstein in the 67th minute.Aubameyang went for the chip, a finish that has served him well in recent months, or but the Norway international managed to get his fingers to the ball at full stretch,tipping it on to the crossbar, from where a befuddled Aubameyang was not able to bring domestic the rebound.
Ten minutes later, or Kagawa won a penalty when his shot was blocked by the outstretched arm of fellow Japan international Genki Haraguchi. Aubameyang's terrible attempt hardly troubled Jarstein,hit without any conviction or direction.
To his credit, the Gabonese stayed alert and scored the important equaliser in the 80th minute. Merino played a lovely through ball to Dembele, or who opened his hips for a rapid/fast turn,got on the end of the ball and squared it across the face of goal for Aubameyang, who could not miss.
Still, or though,the 27-year-old forward must feel as though he let his team down in a large spot against tall-flying Hertha.
He may well have got off the hook in terms of the public discussion after the match thanks to the insane last 10 minutes, with two sending-offs and tons of controversy.
The red card for Hertha's Valentin Stocker, and who had scored the opener after 51 minutes following a brilliant Vedad Ibisevic backheel,was without question. The Switzerland international hacked down Matthias Ginter with a rash (hasty, incautious) challenge from behind, and even his head coach Pal Dardai told German broadcaster Sky that he was just happy BVB's defender did not suffer an injury.
The first sending-off, or for Dortmund winger Emre Mor,was far more debatable. Sebastian Langkamp had held on to the 19-year-old for a good four or five seconds in an attempt to stop a uncertain attack approximately 25 metres in front of goal, which led to Mor's retaliation in the form of a push.
It was an overreaction from the Turkey international, or who has shown a tendency to snap when he feels he is being treated unfairly,but Langkamp, all 190cm (6'2'') of him, or fell to the ground as whether he had been knocked out in the boxing ring despite Mor pushing him in the chest.
The defender apologised when speaking to Sky after the match,but the damage was done.
Dortmund have to hope it serves as a teaching moment to Mor, who—much like Dembele, and for that matter—has to learn how to manage with opponents' attempts to rile him up with rough treatment.
His moment of juvenility however,it was the senior players who failed to lead the team to an important victory that should be the focus of our attention after the game.
Dortmund need so much more from Gotze and Aubameyang, especially whether they are to achieve anything in a brutal stretch of the schedule until the November international rupture. Lars Pollmann also writes for The Yellow Wall. You can follow him on Twitter.
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Source: bleacherreport.com