By Ben McFadyean.
On the pitch, Borussia Dortmund are starting to see some good returns from its investment in new coach Niko Kovac. Progressing into the last 16 of the Champions League was followed by a stunning six-goal thrashing of Union Berlin at the Westfalenstadion — a defeat only exceeded by the Union’s 7:0 drubbing at the hands of FC Cologne in the 2. Bundesliga in 02/03.
A hard-fought 2:0 at St Pauli’s Millerntor followed on Saturday, in which the team showed hints of the kind of fighting spirit that die-hard Schwarz-Gelben love the side for. Once more former Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy, who opened the scoring just after the break, was the inspiration. The lightning fast Karim Adeyemi put in another outstanding performance and was rewarded with the second goal of the day.
On Tuesday, they face a challenging last-16 home tie against 2021 Ligue Champions LOSC Lille and will hope to take advantage of the side’s low morale following their 4:1 defeat to PSG at the weekend.
The 8-time Deutsche Meister will be without Julian Ryerson but can build on Yan Couto who put in a strong performance against St Pauli. Otherwise, with the exception of Felix Nmecha, Kovac’s side go into the game with a full complement of players.
BVB have only played Lille once before in the fourth round of the UEFA Cup with Dortmund progressing on away goals in 01/02.
Lille, fifth in the French league, has dropped only six points in the last six games. Crucially, they are without France’s international center-back Samuel Umtiti and center-back Tiago Santos in defense. Kosovo international winger Edon Zhegrova is also out for the tie.
Currently, 6 points off a Champions League place in tenth in the league, BVB will go into the tie with the bookmakers having them as slight favorites but needing to preserve their chance at European football at the Westfalenstadion next season.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, managing director Lars Ricken, who took over from Hans-Joachim Watzke in the role in April, is reshaping Borussia Dortmund after his mold and solving problems. However, he has not achieved his long-term goal of seeing BVB resurface as a title contender.
Ricken is still well-remembered, as he is depicted on block 15 on a mighty concrete pillar in the south stand. The image, one of many dotted across the Westfalenstadion, depicts the former striker, 25 meters in front of the Juventus goal, lobbing the ball with his head held high, Angelo Peruzzi too far out for the 3:1 in the Champions League final.
“I relish the challenge now just as I did when I was a player,” Ricken commented in an interview with Reviersport on his approach to leading Germany’s second most successful club. The only difference is that back then, the players were young and impetuous, and the side was reigning champions of Germany – now the club legend is finding himself having to firefight to put out the multiple little sparks that threaten to engulf Borussia Dortmund’s progress and is increasingly getting hot feet.
After a less-than-impressive first few months in office, which includes a slump down the table, a DFB Pokal exit, and rumored disagreements behind the scenes, Ricken is starting to sharpen his profile in his new leading position of authority at the Ruhrgebiet club.
In the first instance, the 48-year-old has started focusing his power and sliming down the golden circle. The group of leading decision makers at the club, which is beginning to feel excess to requirements, is being whittled away. Coach and former teammate Nuri Sahin was fired after several inconsistent performances in January.
Squad planner Sven Mislintat is in his second era at the club after an 11-year stint which ended unceremoniously after a bust-up with then-coach Thomas Tuchel in 2017. Managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke will leave in the autumn. Ricken’s role in all these decisions is unclear, but the former idol of the Südtribuene was promoted ahead of Sebastian Kehl and wrestled the top position from Aki Watzke.
Watzke always attended the monthly meetings of decision-makers and what’s more with strong opinions, and for a long time, also a longstanding and highly accomplished sporting director, now board member Michael Zorc, and sports consultant Matthias Sammer. The decisions that have changed the makeup of the top brass were made there and then within the inner circle, without wider consultation, and communicated downwards from there.
Ricken flexed his muscles concerning consultant and club legend Sammer by demanding he no longer work as a video expert for BVB games on Amazon Prime following highly critical comments on the club’s performances on the channel. This curious dual role has been resolved; Sammer chose to walk away from the TV work and, for now, has kept his job.
So it’s all good? No. Not quite. After all, there were also a few moments where the new managing director had to learn the hard way: For one, Ricken held on to his former teammate and friend Nuri Sahin for far too long. His desire for a turnaround was so pronounced that he overlooked what others could see: That it would never come. Although undoubtedly a visionary, Sahin does not have the experience and lost the dressing room.
Ricken broke up the paralyzing power struggle between former Arsenal and Ajax head scout Mislintat and Kehl. That was much needed. However, according to widespread media reports, the option of releasing Kehl from his position was non-existent.
Quite the opposite, the contract with the sporting director, Kehl, was extended shortly before the decision was made to sack Mislintat, despite persistent rumors of internal dissatisfaction with the squad composition.
According to Reviersport, Ricken has also introduced a daily three-way meeting between himself, Kehl, and new coach Niko Kovac. The sessions aim to ensure the vision of his appointee, the Croatian-German coach, including transfer decisions, are implemented.
Despite Ricken polishing up his image in the club, he is much-welcomed by his supporters, including former teammate Kehl, the biggest sheepdog who still watches over the herd. Internally, despite the sixty-five-year-old being mainly involved in the DFL, where he is chairman of the supervisory board, Watzke’s word continues to carry the most weight, even in the new, leaner structure, in the club.
For now, Watzke, who has been with the club since the early 2000s, is keeping a conspicuously low profile, preferring Ricken to consolidate his power base.
The proof of the pudding is, of course, in the eating; for now, the reunion with former BVB defender Thomas Meunier and the European tie v LOSC Lille is on the cards. A win and the sparks of recent successes can become an all-out fire, but a loss, which would set up in place the potential exit from European competition, and it’s back to square one for the new managing director.
The Kovac signing was born out of necessity and has, in spite of the coach’s successes achieved at Bayern and Eintracht Frankfurt in particular, not been popular with the fans.
European qualification is essential to keep the sponsors on board, for income and the top players, it’s the minimum the fans want to see, for now a series is starting to build but a few bad results and that decision, and in particular the backing given to Kehl, could start to unravel Ricken’s strategy, and efforts to stamp his authority on the club, once more very fast.
COMMENTS