Analysing the Importance of Mats Hummels to Borussia Dortmund's Defence

Borussia Dortmund were once again undone by the most unexpected of foes this week, when bottom-of-the-table-side Stuttgart held their resolve for a stunning 2-2 draw at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday night. 

If not for a smart finish from Ciro Immobile in the 88th minute of the game, Jurgen Klopp's team would have faced their third defeat in just five games of the new Bundesliga season. This side were just minutes away from no points earned and possibly the onset of a full-blown crisis. 

What will trouble fans the most is how this team of stars continue to fumble and fall against almost every foe that they face in the league this season. At the heart of these troubles is the manner in which Dortmund seem determined to ship goals in each and every game they play. Nine goals conceded in just five games is a worrying stat for teams hoping to avoid relegation, never mind a club with title ambitions. 

Despite welcoming back Neven Subotic alongside evergreen central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos—two strong, experienced defenders in their own right—the problems that Dortmund face have become abundantly clear; they desperately miss their captain, Mats Hummels.

Hummels' importance to this Dortmund side can best be summed up by looking at what he did for Germany this summer, as his national team managed to overcome all else and win the World Cup. 

Joachim Low's side have a much larger, stronger side than Dortmund or Klopp have ever had yet it was near enough impossible for the international side to find a replacement for Hummels, despite how hard they tried. 

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

It was only once the 25-year-old was back in the squad, usually alongside Bayern Munich's Jerome Boateng in a flat back four, that we saw the best of Germany. Few would have considered it before the start of the tournament, but Hummels was arguably one of his nation's most crucial players in that competition. 

What the former Bayern youth player brings to a side is impossible to overstate. Like all modern defenders, Hummels can physically intimidate the strongest of forwards in the air yet his true talents lie in the technical ability he uses to get out of any situation. 

Often compared to the great Franz Beckenbauer, the Dortmund central defender brings a very notable calming influence over any defence he leads through his demanding of the ball and how he quite comfortably dribbles and passes it out of defence like some of the best midfielders in the game today.

As a natural leader, Klopp's side need him back now more than ever as they seemingly float from one game to the next.

On the face of it, Dortmund with and without Hummels is as clear as night and day. 

Last season, Klopp's side won 78 percent of their Bundesliga games when the commanding centre-back was fit and able to play. When he was either injured or suspended, that percentage dropped down to 36. A figure that drastically states that without Hummels Dortmund only won half as many games. (Via Transfermarkt) 

Such figures are almost replicated when we cut it down to each game that Dortmund dropped points in. With Hummels, the black and yellows dropped points in 21 percent of their games—meaning a draw or a loss every five games—but when he was out of action it jumped up 63 percent. 

Such a dependence on the German central defender becomes all too apparent when we look back on Dortmund's title challenge last season. 

With Hummels leading from defence in Dortmund's first seven games, Klopp's side burst out of the traps at the start of the last campaign with six wins and a draw. Setting the pace in a title race that many considered beyond their control. 

Unfortunately the critics would eventually be proven right about this side, but for all the wrong reasons. By the time the winter break had come along, Hummels had missed eight of Dortmund's 18 league games and his club had dropped to third place in the Bundesliga. 

Following this week's action, Klopp's side once again find themselves already burdened with chasing a Bayern side that have quickly took to leading the charge towards another Bundesliga title. Although Pep Guardiola's team are only four points ahead, they sit seven spots above Dortmund in first place. 

At this moment in time, Dortmund once again look completely incapable of keeping up with such a pace until they can welcome back their captain and star central defender from injury. For without Hummels in this side, Klopp's team have little hope of winning this season's Bundesliga title. 

@SBienkowski