The crisis at Borussia Dortmund is coming to a head after the 4-2 defeat against newly promoted Kiel. The air is also getting thinner for new coach Nuri Sahin. Expert Marcel Reif doesn't mince his words on blue Sport.
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- With a 2:4 defeat at newly promoted Holstein Kiel, Borussia Dortmund have suffered a heavy defeat in the Bundesliga and are in 9th place in the table. BVB are in danger of missing out on international business.
- Young coach Nuri Sahin has the backing of the BVB management.
- For expert Marcel Reif, however, this could turn out to be mere lip service, as in many cases. The 75-year-old German believes that Sahin will be sacked in the event of another heavy defeat in the Frankfurt game next Friday.
Marcel Reif, on Tuesday Borussia Dortmund suffered one of the most embarrassing defeats in recent years with a 2:4 loss against promoted Kiel - is that the famous defeat too much for coach Nuri Sahin?
Embarrassing or shameful, that's how everyone from Ricken to Emre Can described it. If it wasn't for Friday's game in Frankfurt, the ice would be even thinner for Sahin. This short deadline saves his job for now, but it only saves his job until Friday.
If they don't win in Frankfurt - okay, a draw could also prolong things - but if they clearly lose in Frankfurt and don't show a dramatic improvement in performance, then I think they'll react. They will have to react, because otherwise the season will be in the dumps for good.
BVB managing director Lars Ricken put the onus on the players, saying that the coach is not an issue. Do you buy that?
What else is Lars Ricken supposed to say? Should he say that the coach only has so much time left here with us? No, of course he has to do everything he can to strengthen the coach. Because that's the crucial question. The team obviously isn't buying what the coach wants. Otherwise they would implement it. And that's the dramatic thing.
Either he manages to find access to the team now or he has lost them. Players aren't the kind of people who say 'yes, it was down to us', which is what Lars Ricken would like. The players always say it, but they think: 'Hey, let our manager make things clearer'. Players regularly put the blame somewhere else, even if they say otherwise. In the end, it doesn't matter what Ricken says. If the points don't come, that's the end of the matter.
What criticism do the management around Lars Ricken and Sebastian Kehl (sporting director) have to put up with?
The same as any club management that relies on a coach or squad that doesn't produce the right results in the end. So they did something wrong. Lars Ricken is far too new, he has the least experience.
But Watzke (BVB boss Hans-Joachim-.d.Red) and Kehl have changed coaches in recent years, like in a revolving door. It was like a sale at Globus. And nobody has managed to get this team back there.
On the other hand, they were almost German champions two years ago, only missing the last game. Last year they were in the Champions League final, but the consistency of a top club - that has never been achieved. They may have allowed themselves to be deceived by these peaks - this almost-championship and this Champions League final - and that is never good for those in charge. They can or must allow themselves to be attacked.
What are the arguments in favor of Sahin staying?
This revolving door has to slow down at some point. You have to bake the coach who can obviously manage that. The problem is that every self-respecting coach is now saying 'old fart, the fuse is short there and obviously can't be solved with the squad'. For whatever reason.
Not every top coach is lying under the tree or sleeping with the window open so that he can always hear Borussia Dortmund's call. What's the point? To pull through as long as possible, because they have also committed themselves to him and want to support him. But if the results aren't right, then this story is also over.
Didi Hamann said "Borussia Dortmund is not a job to learn" - do you agree with him?
Let's take a training club, we have to go to the 4th, 5th or 3rd division. Maybe a coach can learn there. Borussia Dortmund has the ambition to be the second power in Germany. They never get tired of saying that, even if they have now sunk to mediocrity. But they are the second biggest force behind Bayern. 'We always have the stadium full of 80,000 spectators and these dreams and then we were once in the Champions League final and then we were almost German champions and we used to be German champions. Is that a place to learn?
Of course a young coach has to learn. Of course he has to overcome phases like the one Sahin is going through now. But you lose points along the way. And if Borussia Dortmund don't finish fourth - which is enough to qualify for the Champions League - then the minimum goal has not been achieved. Then the coach will have a drop leg. And now they can think again, where is the top coach who can already do everything and doesn't need to learn anything new? It won't be easy - they're in a dead end.
