BVB coach Nuri Sahin is already under pressure on matchday 9 after a poor start to the season. Would the 36-year-old be out of a job if he loses against Leipzig on Saturday? Alex Frei's assessment.
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- After 8 games, BVB are in 8th place in the Bundesliga and 7th in terms of points lost, but would still miss out on international business.
- Coach Nuri Sahin is therefore already under enormous pressure. However, blue Sport expert Alex Frei does not believe that Saturday's match against RB Leipzig is a game of destiny for the BVB coach.
- Whether Sahin, his former teammate at BVB, will still be coach at Dortmund at the end of the season is something Frei is anything but sure about.
- Frei talks to blue Sport not only about coach Sahin, but also about BVB's fundamental problems.
Borussia Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin is already under enormous pressure on matchday nine and has to prove himself in the Bundesliga thriller against RB Leipzig.
Four days after being knocked out of the DFB Cup, BVB will host RB Leipzig on Saturday (18:30 in the live ticker on blue News), who are unbeaten in 19 consecutive league games. Dortmund are still without a point at home, but have suffered three consecutive defeats away from home in the Bundesliga. Sporting director Sebastian Kehl recently expressed his confidence in coach Nuri Sahin, but will he do the same after another defeat at home? Bitter news for Dortmund: Gregor Kobel will miss the top match due to hip problems.
blue Sport talks to Alex Frei about BVB coach Nuri Sahin, whom the blue Sport expert knows very well from their time at BVB, and BVB's problems in general.
Alex Frei: "Sometimes simply inexplicable"
Alex Frei, you played 44 games on the pitch with Nuri Sahin. What qualities did he have as a player?
Prudence. He was a very calm player, not a leader in that sense. More like a leader by playing. He was a very reliable player. And above all a strategic thinker.
To what extent do these qualities now benefit him as a coach?
Above all, his strategic thinking helps him. He's showing something in the style of play he wants to play, which isn't quite there yet because of the results. But you can see that he is slowly getting to where he wants to be. However, the results will ultimately decide how long he stays there.
Where do you currently see the problems at Borussia Dortmund?
BVB has a bit of a problem with consistency, i.e. also with inexplicable results. Let me give you an example: you win 7:1 against Celtic Glasgow in the Champions League on Tuesday and then you go to Union Berlin on Saturday. Without wanting to offend Union Berlin, but it should be BVB's aim to win in Berlin. But you lose 1:2, which for me is partly explainable and partly simply inexplicable. They simply lack absolute consistency at the moment. That also has a bit to do with the fact that they're a relatively young team.
Do you think Sahin will still be Dortmund coach at the end of this season?
It's difficult to say. But the way I know the decision-makers, be it Aki Watzke (BVB managing director; editor's note), Lars Ricken (head of sport; editor's note) or Sebastian Kehl, they are all level-headed people who also have patience. Which is also an advantage for Nuri: he comes from Dortmund, he's a Dortmund boy, if you like. That's why the credit is even greater.
What we all can't judge: How does he work? How meticulous is he? How is he received by the team? How strongly does the team back him? None of us know. But the three decision-makers do. That's why I believe they will give him time. Also because he is a young coach and, in my opinion, a young coach is allowed to make mistakes. Then there's always the question of ambition and reality. Where can the path lead, where is it going? Do you have the quality to get to where you want to be? The fact is that the defeat in Wolfsburg in the DFB Cup didn't necessarily help. It was a bit unnecessary because Wolfsburg aren't the absolute top team in the Bundesliga.
Is the pressure even greater for Sahin, precisely because he is a "Dortmund boy"?
It's more of a problem for yourself. I'll just say something now: Let's say you come from Finland and become FCB coach. Then it's actually just a job for you. And you know that if you have to leave, you'll just leave again. You don't have that connection to FCB or the club where you are. It's much more difficult for Nuri. In the sense of: You come from there and it hits you harder if it doesn't work out because you totally identify with what you're doing.
Could the game against Leipzig be a fateful match for Nuri Sahin?
No, I don't think so, because Leipzig are the co-leaders behind Bayern Munich. Leipzig are in a great mood, in good form and very difficult to play against. I think it would be close to a liberating blow for Nuri or, above all, for Dortmund as a whole if they win. But it's not the last game for him, I don't think so.
The coming days will show whether blue Sport expert Alex Frei is right in his assessment. After the Leipzig game, Dortmund will continue their Champions League campaign on Tuesday with a home game against Sturm Graz, who are still without points (21:00 live on blue Sport). Sahin will almost certainly be expected to win there at the latest. If he fails to do so, the young coach will probably be out of the job he took up in the summer.
