Focus on tactics
Dortmunders experienced different tactical systems over the past years: From van Marwijk's 4-3-3 to Doll's „power-football" - NB: Taking Doll's quick changes into account this was neither a consistent system nor powerful at all. Nevertheless, these eras are history. So let's have a look at Jürgen Klopp's tactical alterations so far.
What do we have until just a few days before the first match takes place against Leverkusen? Klopp always stresses that the team wants to play a type of football that satisfies the crowd in Westfalenstadion. The fact that many journalists write about an active, aggressive (but yet fair!) type of football rather stems from Klopp's dynamic personality than on his precise statements. So we will have to rely on the performances of the team so far and especially on the one in the DFB Pokal in order to assess the team's tactics. Let's try that for all parts of the team.
Defence:
Assuming that Neven Subotic und Mats Hummels are to be the defence in the starting eleven, there is a huge turnaround to last season: Both are just 19 years old and thus the youngest pair of defenders in Bundesliga. Remember, last year Wörns and Kovac constituted the oldest (and weakest) defence within the league(!). Is that just a desperate change? Probably not, since Hummels and Subotic are highly talented and very promising. And do not forget Dedé and Rukavina, who set up some experience. What will be different regarding the strategic orientation of the defence?
First of all, the gap between the defence and the midfield will be marginalised. On the one hand, this is achieved by the defence moving more upfront. On the other hand, the midfielders, especially Kehl and Hajnal, will help out in the defence too. Note that Hajnal is the first real "number ten" (which means supporting the defence as well nowadays) since Rosicky.
But then it is obvious that both Subotic and Hummels are modern defenders, ready to help the midfield in setting up the game, in contrast to the conservative style followed by Kovac and Wörns. In addition, the preparatory matches indicated that Rukavina seems to interpret his role as a more offensive one in comparison to last year when he strictly sticked to the defence.
However, though we will see more movement in the midfield to support the defence, there is still one risk in this type of gameplay: Being to offensive, the defence might be overrun by counterattacks. That is why Jürgen Klopp and his defenders need to find a well balance between contributing to the offence and securing the back.
Midfield:
One thing is almost sure: Tamas Hajnal is a damn good power-injection for the midfield! In almost all the prep-matches and in last weeks DFB-Pokal he has been the playmaker we have looked for since Rosicky. Moreover, he supports the defence as well (s. above) and has finishing skills. A great deal!
Until now, Hajnal played a slightly different role than actually reserved for him: Since Tinga still suffers from his injury Hajnal plays alongside Sebastian Kehl but of course with a stronger emphasis on the offence. And this is why there might be a small question mark: What happens if Tinga is back? Assuming that he will be part of the starting grid alongside Sebastian Kehl: Will Hajnal be allocated his place rather on the left side as attacking midfielder? Or will we even see 5 midfielders? Time and success of the current team will decide over this in the coming weeks. At least there is a fair degree of competition within the team this season.
While it is certain that Kuba's best position will the right wing, it is likely that Florian Kringe will act on the left wing. Buckley might be an alternative though. Since Kringe is not a real left winger, it will be interesting to see if a decision will be made on acquiring a player for this position (the deadline is the 31st of August). But this is unlikely to happen. Nevertheless, it seems as if we will see four midfielders, with Kehl and Hajnal in the center and Kuba and Kringe on the wings. This may change due to Tinga's comeback which would mean that he would replace Hajnal who will take up Kringe's post on the left wing.
Attack:
Alex Frei and Mladen Petric make up a very competitive striking team in Bundesliga. However, due to Frei's injury, it will be Valdez' call to finally play out his strengths in Dortmund. Given his goals in the prep and DFB-Pokal, this is not unlikely - and then things would become quite interesting. Valdez would stand himself in a massive stead if he scores because he ideally fits Klopp's pressing-style football. And Mladen Petric could not show last year's great performances so far. In a nutshell, this year could provide a head-to-head between the three strikers. But so far, Mladen Petric and Alex Frei still have some credit in being the promising duo if both do not suffer from injuries.
Miscellaneous and mentality:
One thing is sure: Coach Klopp's positive attitude is contagious to all fans and players. Let's thus hope to see the squad never surrender and fight until the very last second. Another important issue: The team shall not - as it was in previous years - stop being concentrated after having gained the lead. This has often been a reason for losing a match in the last quarter. However, in the DFB-Pokal the team continued to dominate the opponent even after the 3:1. Hopefully they'll not forget that.
As for now, the team's tactical setting looks reasonably good this year. But keep in mind that experts equally assessed the team one year before. Shortly before facing a bitter loss against Duisburg in Westfalenstadion...
