Starter for 10 points: which Bayern Munich player said this about Thomas Tuchel recently?
“Of course we still listen to him. You could see that in many games in the first half of the season. We have also played a few good ones since the winter break, but not (consistently) for 90 minutes. We need to work on that. That last game we lost was all down to us, the players, because we lost control on the pitch. It didn’t matter who was coaching on the sideline.
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“When things don’t work out, the manager cops the majority of the blame, but that’s too simplistic. We have the quality — and the right idea from the coach — to play good football.”
It was not Thomas Muller or Manuel Neuer.
In fact, and apologies for leading you up the garden path, the quote above isn’t from a Bayern player at all, but from Borussia Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck, responding to questions about Edin Terzic feeling the pressure in an interview with local newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten on Saturday. Grave doubts about a manager’s ability to implement a coherent playing style and about his relationship with the dressing room haven’t been confined to Allianz Arena this season.
Boring football. Manic inconsistency. A lack of discernible identity. While the complaints sound familiar to those voiced in Munich, disgruntlement with Terzic’s coaching has come as more of a surprise considering how last season went. Terzic, a Yellow Wall regular-turned-manager, took Dortmund to within a goal of winning the Bundesliga 10 months ago and was moved to tears as Signal Iduna Park sang in defiance after the final-day heartbreak.
In him, Dortmund’s CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, had finally found the natural successor to Jurgen Klopp, someone beloved by the terraces who could harness the energy of the crowd and bring the whole club together.
Terzic, 41, is still immensely popular but trust in him as the perfect long-term leader has eroded during an uneven season that has Dortmund fighting to finish in the top four — fifth-placed RB Leipzig are one point behind — and miles off the pace set by leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
The Signal Iduna Park crowd have been noticeably less patient with the team’s regular failings in recent weeks. Frequent mistakes in possession and chronic problems against high-pressing sides in the build-up reflect the side’s tactical stagnation. You know things are pretty bad when Ruhr Nachrichten, a local paper loyal to the Black and Yellow cause, feel the need to ask Schlotterbeck whether Terzic still enjoyed support within the dressing room and could get his ideas across effectively.
But Terzic’s future, unlike Tuchel’s in Munich, is yet to be decided.
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He has shown himself a great survivor this season, pulling results and performances out of the hat whenever he needed them most. Dortmund winning their Champions League ‘group of death’ ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle United dialled down dissent over the winter break.
Just when a 3-2 home defeat against Hoffenheim two weeks ago amplified worries again, two away wins in seven days (2-0 at Union Berlin and Saturday night’s 2-1 success at Werder Bremen) quietened things somewhat before the season-defining second leg of their tie against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday. The sides drew 1-1 in the Netherlands.
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Dortmund were by no means brilliant at Weserstadion. Despite Werder playing into the visitors’ hands by committing too many men forward in attack — Dortmund have really struggled to open up more defensive sides — Terzic’s men created little in the first 20 minutes. Donyell Malen’s acrobatic overhead kick saw them take control, however, and Jadon Sancho’s first goal since his return to Germany was a fine reminder of their individual class up front.
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A red card for Marcel Sabitzer just before the break turned the second half into a defensive exercise, but BVB, for once, protected their goal resolutely. Terzic’s intervention, switching to a back five, also worked a treat.
“We can be proud of the work we did with one man down,” goalkeeper Gregor Kobel said after the final whistle. “We had to run a lot, the opponent had their tails up. We put our bodies on the line and performed well.”
Bosses and fans alike will be more ready to forgive a side’s struggles to play a dominant, easily identifiable style in tune with local passions if they get at least the basics right, as Dortmund did in Bremen. Defensive competence and fighting spirit are the bare minimum any coach should get out of the team — but Dortmund have been found wanting too often in that respect as well.
The question that has most troubled decision-makers and supporters is whether Dortmund’s arrested development has been caused by coaching or uninspired transfer dealings last summer. Both can be true, of course, and it was Terzic who said “nein” to a new holding midfielder as he believed captain Emre Can was equal to the task.
Strong support from Watzke should see him last beyond the season, provided he finishes in fourth place in the Bundesliga and progresses against PSV in the Champions League. Neither is a given.
If Dortmund don’t find consistency in the next few weeks, those pesky Julian Naglesmann rumours won’t go away.
(Top photo: Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)