3 Biggest Positives for Borussia Dortmund Fans in 2015/16 Season so Far

Borussia Dortmund have enjoyed a very impressive 2015/16 season so far. In the first year with new head coach Thomas Tuchel at the helm at the Signal Iduna Park, they've won 18 of their 22 matches in all competitions, suffering just one defeat—a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich.

They sit second in the Bundesliga table, five points behind the Bavarian giants but—more importantly—eight points ahead of third-placed VfL Wolfsburg. It is the "second best season of all time" for the club at this stage, as the Black and Yellows headlined on their official website after the 3-2 win over local rivals Schalke 04 in the "Revierderby." 

In the UEFA Europa League, Dortmund are well on their way to win Group C, having already clinched a spot in the round of 32.

Dortmund fans must be over the moon with the way their club's season is going, especially after the ill-fated campaign of 2014/15. 

Here are three areas the Westfalenstadion faithful can be pleased with.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Smooth Transition

Jurgen Klopp was revered by Dortmund supporters. They came to love his larger-than-life persona, charisma and positive energy during Klopp's highly successful seven-year tenure at the club. In many ways, the charismatic 48-year-old represented the club in a one-man show.

His successor was portrayed by the German media as being a brusque know-it-all with a temper. The "sideline-pacing, referee-excoriating Tuchel," as Deutsche Welle called the coach, seemingly lacked the integrative qualities his predecessor had in abundance.

Four-and-a-half months into Tuchel's time at BVB, however, those concerns have disappeared completely. Dortmund fans have taken the 42-year-old into their heart, as the perception of his lacking in personality has proved to be hogwash.

Dortmund are better in every category compared to last year, and the supporters know they have Tuchel to thank for it.

Spectacular Football

The Black and Yellows have scored an astounding 71 goals this across all competitions this season. As ESPN FC's Stephan Uersfeld noted, fans watching Dortmund games get their money's worth—they get to see an average of four goals per game.

Thanks to Tuchel's playing style, Dortmund are very easy on the eye, with a lot of brilliant team moves preceding goals. According to the Bundesliga website, "26 of Dortmund's goals have come from passes—more than anybody else, including Bayern."

Led by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the Black and Yellows' prolific attack is the main reason Dortmund are still in shouting distance with table-toppers Bayern. While the supporters understand that a real title challenge is too much to ask for, the snap-shot is very welcome.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Great Stories

The stories a season tells can go a long way in determining how fans will perceive that campaign. Unless one is a fan of Real Madrid or FC Barcelona and one knows before the season that Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi will dominate the headlines, there's a lot of suspense for supporters—especially at a club making as big a change as Dortmund did before the season.

Twenty-two games into the campaign, Dortmund's season tells great stories: Mkhitaryan's redemption, Aubameyang's development into one of the finest strikers on the planet, Ilkay Gundogan's return to form or the surprising emergence of Matthias Ginter at right-back, to name a few.

One of the best stories of the season is one man's jump from afterthought to focal point. "Many expected Julian Weigl to arrive and act as something of an apprentice at Dortmund, learning the ropes from some of the best in the business and being primed for his own entrance," wrote the Bundesliga website.

The 20-year-old has made himself undroppable—he's the only player to feature in every one of the 22 games. His is a classic underdog story, which makes it so relatable for Dortmund supporters.

Lars Pollmann is a featured columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for Yellowwallpod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.