Well… Somehow I’m actually not too surprised by this performance. Bodø Glimt have slain a lot of giants in modern Champions League history—Manchester City and Atletico Madrid being examples of two teams who couldn’t withstand the harsh, cold north. And you must give the Norwegian darlings a lot of credit, because they haven’t achieved these results by accident. In basically every aspect, Kjetil Knutsen’s team outplayed and outclassed Borussia Dortmund tonight. They were more clinical, more forward
thinking and played with a lightness that almost made you forget that they are one of the lowest seeded teams in the competition.
To be perfectly honest, BVB just weren’t up to it tonight. At least not for the first 70 minutes or so. Did they underestimate their opponent? Probably a little bit. It’s really something to be brought down to earth, huh? First against Bremen, and now against Bodø. Niko Kovač sure has brought some stability into this Dortmund side over the past couple of years, but the fact is, that Borussia Dortmund is still very much Borussia Dortmund.
Here are my observations from tonight’s 1-0 defeat against Bodø Glimt.
Struggles in the final third
An xG of 0,78. That was all BVB had to show for this game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if almost the entirety of this total was accumulated in the last 10 minutes. BVB simply weren’t a threat. Not in possession, and not on the counter. Bodø must have studied Bremen’s performance this weekend, because they deployed a very similar tactic to what we witnessed on Friday. A short, intense press when losing the ball upfield, and quickly turning to a low block if BVB looked to get into settled possession. Not rocket science, but it simply works. I personally think teams are very right in doing this. Neither Daniel Svensson or Maximilan Beier are big threats from wide areas. They aren’t the types to beat a man and gain an advantage upfield, and that means whatever team BVB are playing against simply have to just put a player in front of them. Almost everything good that BVB has been doing in these past games has come from midfield—namely Felix Nmecha, as he’s one of the few players who is able to do quick, offensive drives and one-twos. You also saw today that Fabio Silva simply didn’t manage to impose himself on the game. A world in difference when the bench got brought on. And speaking of that.
Bench to the (not) Rescue
Nico Kovac pulled the handbrake on the makeshift team relatively early. Problem was that it didn’t get the team going immediately. Guirassy, Nmecha and Ryerson took some time to find their rythym, but it’s clear that the team is much better with these players on the pitch. I personally think the wingbacks goes a bit wasted in a game like this where BVB is expected to have much of the ball (which they actually didn’t), because all they can really do against a low block is try a cross now and then, which was exactly what they did, and to no great effect. It was basically the game picture as against Bremen. There is no doubt that it strengthens the defensive foundation, but there is also a reason why BVB are struggling to generate goals, and I think this point about our wingbacks is not totally irrelevant in this aspect. Not that I think BVB should necessarily copy this approach, but Leverkusen’s title winning team also played with wingbacks, and those profiles were vastly different in Frimpong and Grimaldo. Something to think about at least.
Where Does Verrman Fit in?
Now, this is not meant to be a bashing of this specific player, because he doesn’t deserve it at all, and he hasn’t really settled in yet. But am I the only one that thought this signing was weird, when he in profile is basically just a younger, more inexperienced version of Pascal Groß? I think this signing is 100 % a result of BVB looking at Veerman’s eight goals and fourteen assists from last season and activating a release clause without much though put into how he’s going to fit into the system. The 27-year old Dutchman is still waiting for his BVB breakthrough performance, but I’m having a hard time imagining how it would look, as he seems like an odd fit for this system. He’s obviously meant to create and score goals, but that seems more like Felix Nmecha’s job at this point. And he’s not as strong defensively as Jobe Bellingham. This specific type of player—we could call the the Toni Kroos archetype, is obviously best when teams are settled in possession, but tonight’s game was just way too fast and messy for Veerman to really showcase what he’s good at. To be fair to him, I think tonight’s starting XI didn’t offer him too much to work with either, and on top of that, Bodø just did a damn good job in taking Inacio totally out of the game.
Your thoughts?
What are you takeaways from tonight’s match, and how do you see Joey Veerman fitting into this team? Let me know in the comments!
