Kehl breeds beauty in times of dreariness |enhanced
Sebastian Kehl's signature today was more than a casual issue on Michael Zorc's agenda. It was a strong signal showing that valuable players rediscover Borussia's ambition. Moreover, the difficult position of "the No 6" is certain and does not need to be rethought. Thus, having a look at next season today's outlook seems just fine. At least better than the seasons before.
Firstly, if Sebastian had not signed, Borussia would have lost the only player to which everyone at Strobelallee refers as a leader, a man who has potential to be the chief on the pitch and who is important for the young (but still quite inconsistent) within the team. He is the one that, as far as it reaches the Public, leads the team, starting with his invitations for a joint dinner, a team debate and ending - most importantly - with him giving the instructions during matches. All these roles make him be a very important, one of the sole figures tying together the squad. In times of a Borussia that cannot attract potential leaders at the moment, he has a value which is difficult to price.
Secondly, we should also have a look at his skills. Although being regarded as being quite slow, his aggressive 
style of defending (accompanied by similar play from Tinga) is vital for our defensive midfield and today's weak defence. Also bear in mind that he is the tallest in our midfield and thus important when it comes to corner kicks or free kicks. But his offensive tasks are important as well: Think of his assists against Bremen and Hoffenheim or his goal against Duisburg. He definitely has the ability of distributing passes and build of the match.
Surely - his passes sometimes miss their targets. But note that he was absent for quite a long time. Let's have a look at his performance in one month or so and we will see more than the current 75% ...
Thirdly, think of Borussia's attractiveness if somebody like Kehl (market value around 10 million) had left Dortmund. This would have marked the sad low point of our club's uncared standing in Bundesliga and Europe after Bastürk, Rohzenal, Lehmann, Hinkel, Marcelinho etc. had all declined their offers. Both, substantially and economically speaking: Kehls loss would have meant that Borussia loses a figurehead of the team who is one of just a few single reasons that allow other clubs and the Public to believe in Borussia regaining strength and international reputation.
So, what else?
Think of other perils coming up in the following years. The financial capacity will slowly rise as we got back into the profit zone. Furthermore, the Sportfive deal will expire which generates bigger income. Hajo Watzke regards it as a fact that starting with 2010, there are additional 18 to 20 million bucks left. All this sounds, if true, promising since we can also expect the income from TV deals and certainly the additional money from competitions such as this year's "DFB Pokal".
Since Federico and Hajnal will probably make up the core of our creativity (next year) the management has to (!) concentrate on our biggest weakness: the defence. All of our central defenders are not fast and aggressive enough, nor do they have exceptional strength and opening the game. And most critically: They foozle too often! It is absolutely evident that we need two known, well-established central defenders. There should be some candidates since contracts of players such as Kyrgiakos and Pasanen are expiring. Imagine next year without Sebastian: We would not only have to find to suitable candidates for the central defence. We would also need to search for somebody for one of the most important roles in modern football.
So, what can we say about the future? There is nothing definite, except for the fact that the future will probably look better than today's conditions.
But as for this moment, as for today we should be happy to have Sebastian here for some more years - there could not have been a better fundament if we want to continue dreaming. Thank you, Sebastian!
Domi, 29.02.2008
